DeFalco on the Beach, Serving Tasty Drinks to GameChops

The fact that I could forget the source material until I hear that iconic hook is the wonderfully delightful proof of a original composition born of an indelible icon of video game music.  

Guile's Theme is a sound pattern you have no say in knowing and recognizing; it is bred into every gamer past a certain point of time infected with the sprites.  And retreading that path because of nostalgia is a fallacy that many creators attempt in an effort to elevate their own world.  Few make anything of value.  Even less create anything original.

Here, however, it is different.

Here; I can see the sun setting across the pristine white sands of The Americas, jeep parked askew between the dunes as a lone soldier sits, content to stare across tranquil waves.  A pair of shades sitting haphazardly across spiky, yellow hair that matches the golden hour in tone.  A still-cold can of Budweiser clutched in Guile's hand as he listens to the radio playing the only song allowed in The Americas; his theme.  This time acoustically between soft, gentle tones of midi chills almost masking that unmistakable melody, basking in a warm atmosphere as it leisurely drives back home to base, relaxed and ready to fight M. Bison.

DeFalco needs to be kidnapped by GameChops and a weekend sunset-vibe collection needs to be made. 

Also, I love this song.  

You can hear this song, and buy the single now here

Check out more of DeFalco as well

And of course, this came about with great love from GameChops, so make sure to love them back! 

Cody Vondell: Digital Pink, Pop and Power

There's a world inside Vaporwave that deals out nostalgia, reminiscence and mournful longing like cards in a deck, poker for one at night, 3 a.m.  And thats been the bread and butter of the movement, the remembering of a past you weren't apart of, unable to hold onto.  Something, unsure, but lost.

And then the sun comes streaming over the sand, and powerful pink hues wash over the CRT box and wakes you up.  Thats a newer sound; thats Vondell.

Up till 2017, a remixer and producer, he's just released a single out this month, "Hologram Girls" which takes on the idea of thrashpop, pulling together a repetitious line of indignance against substance-less beings, taking up space.  His previous worked built up a dance/trance and vaporwave background, throwing mutliple sources together in a more adult Jet Set Radio playlist and its so hopeful to see this become a much bigger step forward; a more energetic approach to the same Vaporwave sources of inspiration.

"Hologram Girl" runs with a mix of synth, pop and sugar thrown about with a fist full of pink punk.  The song you'll play nonstop in the car, in the summer or way too late at the club. I love it, I want it and more though. I want to see this idea brought to fruition.

Imagery Copyright of Cody Vondell

Taking Squid, Making It Better

Splatoon 2 comes back to the limelight with DLC, "OCTO EXPANSION"; 80+ missions and a single player campaign controlling Agent 8 as she awakens in a subway and seeks to discover where she has awoken.

Easily the most colorful, most energy and most fun game to come out of Nintendo's albeit small competitive market focus, Splatoon's sequel was already hype with a big new injection of content being slated for this summer tuned to a original track by Toru Minegishi that brought the jazz/funk love from across the ocean.  

But then GameChops producer, Ralfington decided to pour gasoline into the bonfire with a bass-boosted hard kicker of a remix this week.  Keeping with the brass instruments background, he's brought in more pauses and build like a traditional dance mix but kept the sound interesting by increasing the speed and keeping the clash of sound-bytes fighting each other for the repeat.  Its a kid's theme gone mature and I love it for that.

I don't even own a Nintendo console and I've got vibes for Splatoon 2 from this Ralfmix.

You can catch more of Ralfington here

Adding Color to Dark Metal

Its the interesting things that happen in the world that keep an otherwise dull world of music covers and remastered releases worth talking about.  So hearing a symphonic metal band has gone the ska route and started throwing in chunks of reggae, funk and rock, changed their name ad started smiling more I'm inclined to think that this is gonna be really good, or an utter trainwreck.

So to know about Added Color means we have to talk about Unconscious Disturbance; the name under which the band has existed for the last five years...until 3 months ago when they collectively accepted the realization that metal as a genre is only worth being all in as a band if the band is all in to metal with their music.  And when I say adding funk and rock and the other sound genres that now build their world sound, its better to say they recognized the truth of having a funk bassit and reggae band meber and how they weren;t using the strenghts given.
And while it was a slow build, cultivating metallic sound styles that rocked them through Brazil to the United States, now they've gone truly global with a new EP, Psycho, that works to raise them between a million metal bands.  

Does this mean they've gone acoustic drums accompanied by the wind alone? No, thankfully the aggressive punches of their earlier time in rock and metal stay consistent in this new shell, just less running through the tempo, more ups and downs lead by the bass.  It is an EP through and through, with just five songs, three being older tracks from the UnconDisturb era that they've kept and tweaked, so I already want to hear what something meatier from the new focus sounds like.  Especially when you hear Psycho, the single the EP takes its name from and how it slithers between funktastic chords, I hit next just wanting more goodness.  While the throwbacks are nice and they nailed the selection that was pulled from the previous, ultimately they come off as distractions to the bigger picture.

Which is a strong, twangy sound that's happy to bring large sections of rock and metal along for the ride so long as they both make themselves useful.  While its early to say that they've definitely captured the essence of world sound with this first EP, its built a strong foundation for them to stand on and push forward this new identity.

The hardest challenge for a band sometimes is forming their own identity, something that inevitably critics will call their own sound.  Its an even harder challenge to jump from something prebuilt to a newer, different sound and different image in the musical world, many a band has been sent retreating back to the safe and familiar from a failed venture.  Right now Added Color has taken the first right steps out from beneath the shadow of Uncosnsious Disturbance and with a good bit of work, I'll be happy to see what new work comes from them.

A Plate Floats in the Water

In NY last week, on a beach devoid of sand, took place a yearly festival lighting small plates made from pressed palm leafs remembering loved ones lost and thanks for futures ones to be born.

NY is a scathing frying pan dirty with stale stir fry oil, but it can still cook a mean Lo Mein. Despite this we sometimes get used to scratching out the grease and never tasting the noodles, thinking them over-priced.

Its worth your sanity and just a small measure of humanity to remember that there isn't such a thing as 0 hope. Not yet anyway and its small gestures like this, in the rain, the humid and dark weather, that serve to remind those still looking to be reminded.

Waves knocking plate after plate over, very few make it, rowboats scatter them aside in a desperate attempt to make the 12:30 ferry for lunch. Mutated Hudson monstrosities devour countless dreams, high as fuck off mercury and stale cigarette butts. And then of course, there's the subway to deal with.

And I'm happy to say, of the many lost to the briny deep, this time anyway, NYC made it. And consider me sentimental, but I'd like to think its because someone out there still cares.

So always care.

Hindu Lamp Festival/Pebble Beach/NYC