Reviews

Gino Pertot: Jew Nails

There are bands who never get discovered and there are artists who create their art only for themselves. Gino Pertot belongs to that second group and so it should come with no surprise that his Austrian psych-folk album Jaw Nails have never hit the mainstream - that is until Golden Pavilion Records, which reissues rare and often overlooked late 60's and 70's psychedelic, progressive, acid-folk and art-rock music, came across this lost gem after more than 34 years. The album was privately pressed (with only 200 copies) in 1976 and mostly given into the hands of friends with sporadic give always at concerts. The Golden Pavilion Records call the Jaw Nails one of the rarest Austrian LPs, and it's music honest and spontaneous, crossing paths between fragile folk and psychedelic dark undertones with a touch of glam, expressive lyrics and fleeting guitar lines. And as a little tribute to the artist, Golden Pavilion has released a limited 600 copies of the album in black vinyl and an additional 100 copies in coloured golden brown vinyl. The digital version can be downloaded for free.

Rush Hour

Rush Hour is a simple but very addictive game. The game tackles a subject that we are all too often familiar with, traffic jams. Your goal is to move all the other cars out of the way, so your virtual car can actually get out of the garage. The game works for both iPhone and iPad and is available in several languages. It was developed by Thinkfun and has gotten tons of great reviews from gamers and game reviewers. There's no denying that once you do give it a go, you'll find it hard to stop obsessing about how to clear out the way or make a path for your vehicle. It's definitely a fun-filled game that will keep you busy. Give it a download now.

Implode! Nature

Implode! Nature is a cool game that features fun graphics and physics-based gameplay. All you have to do in the game is to blow up stuff! Who could resist? This wonderful game is available for free download on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch. The game lets you blow up buildings by strategically placing dynamites around the field. It's definitely a fun game that you can try out. The game was developed by IUGO Mobile Entertainment Inc. It's a bit short but it's definitely awesome fun. Besides, who wouldn't want to blow up imaginary buildings? Give it a go.

The Monk & The Monkey

When I first stumbled upon this little cartoon I was convinced it was made by a team from a professional animation studio. Well I guess the two undergraduates (at the time) from Ringling College of Art + Design who created this animation are not as far off - as a result of the film both landed jobs at DreamWorks. The Monk & The Monkey is a beautifully crafted animation, with flawless design, composition, brilliant sound-work, (at least to my rookie eye) and simple yet lovely message. So let the story tickle your heart.

Mash Man

Mash Man is actually a remake of a classic NES Action 52 cartridge game. Redone by Curtis Kling, the developer creates his own take on this classic game that features a grape masher that uses his feet to mash grapes and create wine. Of course, all should be well and dandy for our masher until the townsfolk decided to buy themselves fancy machines to mash the grapes. The machines prove to be more efficient, hence, our protagonist is banished into the nearby forest to live in exile. For those of you that are unfamiliar, Action 52 was actually an NES cartridge touted as having 52 games in one. Despite the hype, the games contained plenty of errors and bugs subsequently, it was discontinued. Fast forward today and a group of game developers have taken up the task to remake these not-so-great classics and at least turn them into something slightly more tasteful. Mash Man is among the results. Check it out for yourself.

The Wild: Set Yourselves Free

These four Atlanta natives have a penchant for making complaining and criticism seem fun and positive. The Wild is a quartet made up of Kylee on drums, Dianna on vocals, Ben on bass and Steve on Banjo. Described by Asia Man Records as "four punks from Atlanta sing songs from the heart, à la Jason Anderson and Ghost Mice. Political, but not preachy. All members are quite active in their DIY community.." the group is not only making an impression in their own label, but also to a lot of indie music lovers online. Set Yourselves Free includes 8 tracks that contain a mix of indie folk and pop music. Each track seems like a blissful serenade at first impression but when you listen closely, it's actually filled with personal and relevant musings about life, people, relationships and politics. Cool album to check out.

Open Sonic

If you are a big Sonic the Hedgehog fan and enjoy the many titles that was released under Sega back in the day; you'll be glad to know that now there's a free version that you can download and play. Open Sonic is a free Sonic game that reflects the original style of gameplay (along with some modern twists). The game is released by opensnc.sourceforge.net. The cool thing about this game is that it contains almost everything that you've come to love from playing this blue hedgehog. The graphics are great and you carry almost every skill that Sonic and his friends have. Enjoy this awesome open source version of Sonic and his friends. You'll definitely have a grand time getting in touch with your inner kid.

Moby: Be The One

He worked with artists such as David Bowie, Metallica, The Bestie Boys, Public Enemy. He have played nearly 3000 concerts in his career and his music have been part of numerous Hollywood hits including Any Given Sunday, Tomorrow Never Dies, and The Beach. So I will keep it sweet and short. If you are a fan of Moby, and if you still didn't hear about the new free EP, take the opportunity to get it right now.