Valerie

Sunday Chocolate Club: You Look Much Better Undressed

German trio, Sunday Chocolate Club, establishes their brand of punk, power pop and indie rock. You Look Much Better Undressed is the group's second EP. It contains four tracks that are filled with rolling drums, fast and danceable beats, slightly nasal Brit singing and just good fun. The group was formed back in 2005 as remnants of bands, The Purse and Twist got together. This EP only contain 4 tracks but they are enough to showcase where the band is good at: creating danceable punk pop

netBloc Volume 31: Goodbye, Hello

BlocSonic once again releases their infamous collection of lovely, free tracks that music lovers everywhere can enjoy. The label unleashes several compilations throughout the year. This includes, maxBlocs, which consist of promotional maxi singles; Originals; Extended Editions, Extras and netBlocs, like this one. This is the 31st netBloc from them so far. For compilations like these, they gather up about 10 or more indie artists from all over the world; offering a peek at the music they play in the album. It's definitely an awesome way of discovering potential new playlist staples. The record is available for free download under three formats, simply choose which one you most prefer and enjoy!

Miles Drummond: Jigsaw

If you ever wondered what happened to those buggy Action 52 games released for SEGA back in 1993, wonder no more. Arthur Lee, with the help of pro game developers, has taken it upon himself to remake these games and add a modern flare to them. So far, 9 games have been given new life and one of these is Jigsaw. The game was remade by indie game developer, Miles Drummond. The result of his efforts is an interesting platformer that's filled with fun puzzles. Reminiscent of the Nails 'n' Scale game back in the day. Pretty much, the effort resulted in a cool game that contains fun gameplay with retro graphics. It's a bit short but enough to keep you busy on your break time.

Single Bullet Theory: SBT: 1977-1980

Single Bullet Theory is the punk band that should have made it big. Initially founded by Frank Daniel, Dennis Madigan and Michael Maurice Garrett; the trio have been playing music together since 1971. After a couple of years and several members later, they settled with the name, Single Bullet Theory. They play anything from fast paced, chanty songs to melodic beautiful rock ballads but their sound is mostly characterized by pop punk beats. They got as far as opening for Patti Smith and signing a deal under CBS Records. They also managed to release singles and were received quite good by the people. Unfortunately, CBS pulled the plug for promoting the group and most of the material they had never saw the light of day. Thankfully for us, it gets a second chance as a free download under a creative commons license. Pure genius art rock if you ask me.

Space Funeral

If you are into the weird and crazy, then you'll definitely enjoy playing Space Funeral. It's a Japanese RPG that centers on the unusual and the insane. Essentially, you play Philip and you have a sidekick named, Leghorse (don't ask why) and you set off in an adventure to find the lost City of Forms (will explain in a bit.) On your way, you encounter all sorts of monsters and creatures, from ghosts, goblins, hedonists, lions, gross out monsters and even Dracula! Filled with lots of blood and weird caves, plus a cool soundtrack that pits electronica with Japanese noise rock; this game will blow your mind away. The graphics are quite original and pretty colorful as well adding to the trippy vibe of the game. Essentially a pretty unusual but interesting piece of RPG that you can play in a little over 2 hours. Have fun and try not to crazy.

Shinobu: Strange Spring Air

Shinobu's Strange Spring Air is filled with tracks infused with a beautiful 90s feel. The alternative pop flavor of the album is refreshing especially for someone who grew up listening to 90s music. These California natives offer beautiful surf rock music that's intertwined with catchy hooks. All four members, "Matt Keegan: trombone, guitar, vocals, keyboards, aux percussion; Mike Huguenor: vocals, guitar, aux percussion; Bob Vielma: bass, vocals, probably aux percussion and Jon Fu: drums, wisdom, aux percussion, aux wisdom contributed to the making of the album."

Super Crate Box

Super Crate Box is one piece of arcade marvel that you'll either absolutely love or absolutely hate. If you hate 8-bit pixel art or retro, shallow gaming; then you might want to steer clear. However, if you have always fantasized reliving the wonderful times when players played video games just to have their names emblazoned onto that shiny and shimmery 'Top Score" list; then this game will be your best friend for a good while.

Lying in States: The Bewildered Herd

After breaking out into the scene in 1999, Lying in States found themselves touring alongside other American indie bands like Hot Hot Heat, Rye Coalition and Denali to name a few. These Chicago natives initially released this EP, The Bewildered Herd, back in 2002. Followed by a full-length album in 2004, Most Every Night, and a second album in 2006 titled, Wildfire on the Lake. These two albums were released under local label, Flameshovel. The band is made up of Justin Trombly -bass, Fergus Kaiser - guitar, Ben Clarke - vocals, guitar, Mark Benson - drums and Jeremy Ohmes - keyboards. Not quite sure whether the group is still alive and kicking after 2006. Couldn't find anything pointing otherwise either. Oh well, one thing's for sure. If you love shoegazer indie rock, then this is a record worth checking out.

Alchemy Classic

Do you love "brain games?" If you said yes to that, then you'll enjoy this free Android game. Alchemy Classic is a simple but highly addictive game where you pretend to be the alchemist and use your powers of deduction and judgement in passing the evolution path from bacteria to mammals. This puzzle game has been winning plenty of followers ever since it came out and it's really no surprise. Even though the game graphics might look boring, once you start playing; it's hard to stop. It was developed by NIAsoft and is actually a remake of an old MS-DOS game, titled, "Alchemy." Even though it's marketed as a puzzle game for Android, it's really a no-brainer to play. Just pure entertainment and fun if you ask me. Give it a go.