Reviews

HAL 9000

Ever wonder what it's like to be facing the infamous antagonist in one of the most celebrated science fiction stories of all time? I'm talking about the sentient on-board computer in, Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey, HAL 9000. Finally, plenty of sci-fi geeks are getting a chance to have their own sentient, "evil" computer right on their very own desktop. For those who are familiar with the film or the books, this one easily helps kickstart the imagination and lets users play pretend on what it must be like to become an astronaut on your way to the biggest planet in the Solar System. Having that red eye camera lens from your screen definitely brings its own category of cool. Give it a download.

Yawn: a new EP from the windy city

I know there is more genres of music than many of us can even count but listening to the new EP by Yawn I am thinking we should probably add a new one the list, just this once. Yawn (formerly known as Metrovox) uses a combination of tropical grooves, tribal rhythms, energetic drum loops, just a touch of 8-bit, and some great guitar all dressed in a electro pop and psychedelic finish. Often compared by the blogosphere to the music of Animal Collective, the band consists of Adam Gil, Daniel Perzan, Jorge Perez, Sam Wolf and already has a number of success stories behind their work.

Crash Landing

Ever wonder what it must be like to drive and land your own spaceship? What controls do you need to use? Is the physics behind it all that difficult? Well, download Crash Landing and you might just find out how challenging it is to land your own space craft. This cool game is available for free download on iTunes. The game was created by Marketwall.com and was first released about 3 years ago. The game gives players a chance to experience manipulating their own space shuttle where the objective is to land their spacecraft upright without crashing. If you're up for a challenge (and trust me, you'll get plenty of it here) then give this one a download.

Declan de Barra – Fragments, Footprints and the Forgotten

Have you ever wondered what you might get if you crossed Johnny Cash with Nick Cave? I bet the result would sound quite a bit like Declan de Barra. Not only does he tell his song narratives similar to Nick and Johnny, but he can sound similar to each one at different times on this brooding album that goes by the name Fragments, Footprint, and the Forgotten. Born and raised in Ireland, Declan has recently moved to Los Angeles. He record his first three albums in Ireland and it will be interesting to see how his move here affects his music.

Blendimals

Blendimals is a cute puzzle platformer where you'll need to blend various animals together to create exciting news ones. You'll then need to use the abilities of the newly created animals to overcome the various obstacles in the game. Don't be fooled by the bright, eye popping, colorful graphics; this game isn't just meant for children but it's perfect for adults and kids-at-heart as well. The game was created by DADIU production (Danish Academy for Digital Interactive Entertainment,) with 11 students manning the helm for the project. The team calls themselves the Exploding Cow. Plenty of quirkiness and lots of fun, you might want to give a go.

Josh Woodward – Sunny Side of the Street

Josh Woodward is no stranger here in the Frostclick blog. Some of his records have been featured and reviewed right here; these include: The Simple Life, Only Whispering, Bread Crumbs, and Dirty Wings. Like most of Woodward's music, the albums are mainly pop songs with a touch of quirkiness embedded on the lyrics. He always manages to create an enjoyable record that anybody will enjoy on their quiet time. Sunny Side of the Street is no exception, it features beautiful, upbeat tracks with funny lyrics. It's also licensed under Creative Commons and available as a free download. It's not tough to fall in love with Woodward's music. Just pick and listen to any song from this record and you'll find out what I'm talking about.

iProcrastinate

Need a good tracker for the different tasks or projects you need to get done? iProcrastinate is a helpful tool that might become your best friend. Let's face it, we all love to procrastinate at some point. Whether we simply hate organizing things that we're supposed to do or just like to put things off on purpose; this little program could help you sort things out. Developed by Craig Otis, iProcrastinate is available as a free download for the iPhone and Mac. It's a helpful organizer that's perfect for students, moms, or anybody who needs help getting things in their to-do list done.

Life Flashes By

Ever wonder what life be like if you had made different decisions than you had before? Life Flashes By gives you a glimpse of what could've been in the life of Charlotte. It's a graphic adventure novel/game created by Deirdra Kiai. This is the first for the developer and he describes it as a game that tackles "success and failure in following one’s dreams, about finding love and losing it, and about feeling isolated and out of step with the rest of the world." The game takes you on a journey through the life of the middle aged protagonist as she takes another look at her life decisions. Even though the game features an odd premise and unlikely hero, it is quite interesting to play. So if you are looking for something new and a little out of the norm, then give this game a go.

Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty

Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty, directed by Nicky Phelan and produced by Brown Bag Films, first came to the screen in 2008 and already has won a number of awards while traveling across vast lands of Ireland, America, and Australia. This wonderful 5 minute creation takes us inside of the little house where an old granny is telling a good night story to her grandchild. The story, however, does not come with a magical happy ending we would all hope for. Everything dressed in the stunning visuals is more than expected from an animation that found its way on the shortlist of 10 films for Oscar nominations in 2010. A definite little treat for just about everyone!