Features

Laura Jane Grace Isn't Going to Ruin Against Me, She's Going to Reinvigorate Them
Morning Glory's Recent Tour Felt Like a Symbolic Farewell to Ezra Kire's Past, Invitation to his Future
Handling Hecklers with MC Chris: An Exploration in Putting Up With or Putting a Stop to Bullshit

Recent Reviews:  To the Moon | Huebrix | Minus the Bear | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD | Awesomenauts | The Real McKenzies | Breton | Suzanne Ciani

Subscribe to our Podcasts: Sophist Radio | Unoriginal Soundtracks | Shuffled

May 30, 2012

Unoriginal Soundtracks Podcast: Max Payne 3 Edition

Every other Wednesday, I share a playlist of songs tangentially related to a single game or series. Songs about alien sex for Mass Effect, world leaders for Civilization, and so on. Searching for relevant terms on Spotify is a great way to discover new music and uncover hidden gems. Make requests to @USPodcast on Twitter.

As mentioned in the episode that dealt with Max Payne as an entire series, Max Payne 3 takes place in Brazil. Along with the change of scenery, the ex-cop's life has slipped deeper into drug addiction, self pity, and suicidal thoughts. The melodramatic themes inspire an Americana-focussed podcast of hardcore, southern rock, soul, and folk.

May 23, 2012

Shuffled #34: Be Our Guest!

Every other Wednesday either Matt or Alex C-Y share their love of music in an assortment of ways. Shuffled is a podcast whose format is as varied as their tastes in music, so hopefully you won't ever be bored and everyone can find something to enjoy.

I guess you can call it Disney Magic. I don't know what secret ingredients the song writers over at the House of Mouse use to cook in their kitchen, but you have to admit, a lot of the music they create is delicious. While not every Disney film features a music and dance number, it's hard to imagine them ever giving up on their tried and true formula.

This week I'm happy to have AJ Minotti of the Exploding Barrel Podcast join me on this musical journey into what makes Disney songs stand out as some of the most memorable music of our time. With the two of us being fans of this stuff, we go back and forth on our favorite Disney musical moments, as well as a bit of movie trivia. And now, we invite you to relax, let us pull up a chair, as Cerebral Pop proudly presents, the Shuffled Podcast!

May 16, 2012

Unoriginal Soundtracks Podcast: FIFA Edition



Every other Wednesday, I share a playlist of songs tangentially related to a single game or series. Songs about alien sex for Mass Effect, world leaders for Civilization, and so on. Searching for relevant terms on Spotify is a great way to discover new music and uncover hidden gems. Make requests to @USPodcast on Twitter.

FIFA is the video-game world's foremost celebration of association football. Welsh bubblegum punks, Scottish folk singers, and English dancehall emcees have recorded plenty of music about the beautiful game, and some Americans have even written songs I can link to FIFA in this week's Unoriginal Soundtracks.

May 11, 2012

Game Review: Awesomenauts


Awesomenauts is a side-scrolling, multiplayer brawler that mishandles its genre. Instead of a quick blast of action, it’s an excruciatingly slow slog. Matches are three vs three, with six character classes to choose from, and artificial intelligence providing cannon-fodder grunts. Humans and AI on each side attack the opponent’s turrets, slowly wearing them down before charging forward to hack away at the enemy’s “drillcore” to win the match. In the same way Battlefield puts you in the middle of an overwhelming fire-fight with tanks exploding around you, Awesomenauts puts you in the middle of a Tower Defense game with dumpy robots bumping up against turrets. Ronimo have created an interesting take on multiplayer deathmatches, but a tedious one.

The premise -- mercenaries and robots playing tower defense for control of mineral resources -- is dry and somewhat at odds with the ‘80s kids’ cartoon theme, and schlocky electronic music full of bright synthesisers, electronic drums, and distorted guitars.

Shuffled #33: Deep Heaven Then and Now Interview with Jinsen Lui

Every other Wednesday either Matt or Alex C-Y share their love of music in an assortment of ways. Shuffled is a podcast whose format is as varied as their tastes in music, so hopefully you won't ever be bored and everyone can find something to enjoy.

It happened again... The second guitar sacrifice in Ghost Box Orchestra's set at the P.A.'s Lounge. "I'm sorry, but that's it. We've ran out of guitars," apologized guitarist Jeremy Lassetter as he overlooked two battered and string-less guitars. As few people began to trickle out of the venue, suddenly a wild third guitar appeared out of the crowd! "I promise not to break this one," said Lassetter and proceeded to rock the fuck out for one more song.

Such is the nature of the current Deep Heaven Now music festival held twice a year in the spring and fall. For two nights between two separate venues, bands from across the New England area, and some from beyond, blast heavy doses of ear splitting shoegaze, experimental, ambient, and psychedelic rock. While compared to higher profile music festivals, this one is very low key. Still, for the amount of music that is played over two days, complete with visuals and effects, it takes quite an undertaking to bring all of this together. Just before everything kicked off last Friday, I spoke with founder Jinsen Lui on a busy corner at Union Square. Enjoy this quick talk about the history of Deep Heaven Now and where it is now, featuring a slice of music of artists from this springs festivities and some from years past.

May 02, 2012

Unoriginal Soundtracks Podcast: Bioshock Edition

Every other Wednesday, I share a playlist of songs tangentially related to a single game or series. Songs about alien sex for Mass Effect, world leaders for Civilization, and so on. Searching for relevant terms on Spotify is a great way to discover new music and uncover hidden gems. Make requests to @USPodcast on Twitter.

Bioshock, along with The Darkness, is one of this generation's stand-out examples of first-person storytelling. Apart from it's meta-commentary on how games manipulate you into acting in a certain way, it examined paranoia, addiction, and unchecked genetic modification. All of which makes for a playlist of ska-punk, rhythm and blues, soul, and more.

May 01, 2012

New Single from Infinity Shred (Starscream)


I sometimes wonder how a band comes up with a name. There are so many out there that it's easy to understand when there is some overlap. I'm sure it can be a real headache when trying to build an image and suddenly you have to start all over. Unfortunately for space prog-rockers Starscream, they had to deal with the same pain last week. Fret not, because while Starscream is no more, the new single the band has put out under the name Infinity Shred is just as far out and spacey as their previous work.

Wayfinder is a slightly different song compared to Infinity Shred's last effort. The synth beat used in the beginning reminds me a lot of the Mass Effect series, which I find very fitting for their sound. The slow build up with drums and louder guitar in the middle of the track also packs the same punch as their other songs. There's a bit of drone inspired experimentation near the end, too, that I hope is a clue into what the EP will be like. Overall, I really dig the progression of this single. The full on chiptune sound used heavily in the past has been scaled back a bit on this one, but the style and progression they have built still has me hooked. The full EP should be dropping May 15th, but for now, I highly recommend checking out their first single. Hit the jump to give it a listen.

Sophist Radio #59: Soul Downloads and Sugar Rushes


On this week’s show the Sophist Crew wastes no time, diving into their video game habits of the last month. Fresh from PAX East, Aaron and Harold share stories of games such as Bit.Trip Runner 2, Orcs Must Die 2, and not-quite-a-sequel RockBand Blitz. Meanwhile, James spent his non-PAX time with Catherine, Mass Effect 3, and Fez. All that plus some audio healing and a podcast-shattering announcement!