Maynard Ferguson - It's My Time: So Maynard Ferguson is known for being an expert trumpet player, and plays other brass instruments as well, so when I got this record, I was expecting more jazz with good solos. It turns out that Maynard Ferguson has two periods, the "bop" era which I am familiar, and then his "pop" era which this record covers. Which means that there are these elaborate pop compositions and every so often you hear a brass instrument solo. Sometimes it works very well, and other times it sounds like the equivalent of having some gaudy, off-putting plate-setting, and then a tiny piece of a medium-rare cooked steak in the middle. I grew to like it as it finished, but it isn't the best introduction to Maynard Ferguson, unless you really dig adult easy listening, then it is probably the best introduction you could have.
Wendy Carlos - Switched-On Bach: Switched-On Bach is one of my favorite albums of all time. The moog synthesizer with Bach's compositions feels as fresh and fun than as they did in the late 60's. Unfortunately, while it isn't hard to find a copy of this vinyl under $10, it is strangely (though maybe not that strange when you consider the music industry) not available on any music streaming services. It is a shame, because it is an amazing technical feat, and the original vinyl unintentionally dead-names Wendy Carlos, as it was made before they were open about their transition. I would love for this to re-released. Heck, I would probably re-buy the vinyl if there were any cool extra materials, but in the meantime, I will listen to this classic re-invention of classic music perfected.
Grand Award Dixieland Jazz - I put all my record collection in an app called Discogs, and for the most part, it seems to have all the vinyls one can buy, but for the life of me, I could not find this record in their database. I could find Will Bradley and Bobby Byne who play on it, but this specific record is nowhere to be seen. It seems to be a pretty decent selection of Dixieland Classics, but it is hard to really review with the idea that I don't even know if anyone else could even find it. If you happen to find this in some $1 bin somewhere, and you want some Dixieland Jazz, give it a whirl!
Piano Ragtime with the Phenomenal Dukes of Dixieland Vol. 11: Much easier to find, and with the 7 nerdy looking white dues in candy cane looking coats, it would be hard not to. My dad listens to so much Dixieland jazz that it is impossible for me to judge the music on any semblance of objectivity. It is the music that is painted all over my childhood, many car trips, and now my adulthood. Playing it just reminds me of my dad, which is something I need sometimes. I also appreciate it shouting out Buddy Bolden as this album could not exist without him. There is a sad irony about the back of the record sleeve calling him one of the "immortals" of jazz, without really going into how he apparently got diagnosed with schizophrenia and died in a mental institution. RIP to a legend.
During this past Thanksgiving, my dad gave me permission to take records from his collection in the basement, and I decided to do some short reviews of what I got. I plan to update this as I listen to more records. With no further adieu:
Mahalia Jackson's Silent Night: A lot of times you hear Christmas music, and it is dull, mediocre, and you forget why people even bother to play it other than tradition. Mahalia Jackson manages to make these cliche songs into something worth listening to again.
Koto Vivaldi: It is an interesting effort to bring something that normally played by a full orchestra to a quartet of koto, but it does highlight how sometimes you lose a certain quality in the conversion. For example, the presto of the Winter movement were made for a string instrument with a bow, and the koto just doesn't quite fit, as you can't really move your fingers in a way that matches the rapid succession that you can with a bowed instrument. It is a fun novelty, nevertheless, especially since on the back on the record it goes into the history of the koto, and the poems that Vivaldi may have wrote for the 4 seasons.
Pigs Eye Jass Fidelity First Vol. 2: The back of this record just describes sine waves, and the type of room they recorded in, and the only clue you have to what type of music the record has is that it lists the instrumentation of songs titled "mr. jelly lord." I thought it was going to be more experimental, but it is just a very solid jazz record. I should look Piges Eye Jass and see what their deal is, but good record overall.
Jean Miche Jarre Equinoxe: Such a classic electronica record. It
aged like fine wine. It is such a perfect encapsulation of what we thought the future and space were going to sound like.
The Steam Deck came at a perfect time for me, because I have been thinking of getting a gaming laptop for a good while, but due to circumstances, bad decisions, and other factors, I just haven't been able to really commit to any type of computer other than a phone. There was always this ratio of cost to how much I would actually use it that always came out not worth it for me. With the form factor of the Deck, it completely changed that ratio to something I think I would use a lot, and for the past 3 days, that has certainly been the case. While the controls and quirks of the system take some getting used to, I can now say that the money and time waiting for it have been worth it so far. Being able to play something like Sable on the go has been great, and getting access to my 300+ game library has got my hands full. That being said, with that many games, I have ran into some odd issues. Even games rated "Great for Deck" like Venineth are two accidental button presses away from being unplayable without either deleting your save, or doing some involved troubleshooting because the resolution only allows you to see a fourth of the screen. On the other side of the coin, games labeled as not usable on Deck range from seemingly fine, to runs at half speed, to not being able to boot at all. It is a PC through and through, but figuring it out hasn't been bad so far. Other than having issues running some games, the thing that really screams that this is a first generation device in the battery power length. The Steam Deck isn't something anyone should expect to even last a relatively short airplane ride. There are settings you can play with to extend it, but even with that, getting 3 hours out of the Deck is the max I can have it alive for before I have to recharge. Even with that restriction though, I noticed that my longest played game on Steam is 35 hours, but with the Deck, I can see this changing rather soon.
Minoria is a metroidvania search action game that feels like it got lost in the shuffle, and to be honest, it is hard not to think that perhaps that is what it sort of deserves. Not to say it is bad, no, in fact I had fun with it, but with the competition in the genre, especially Bombservice's own Momodora IV, it is hard to really recommend unless you have already played the better games in the genre. Talking about Momodora, Minoria feels like it is a game between Momodora 3 and 4, which is to say it is more linear like 3, but has more offensive options like 4. The big switch here is while the Momodora games are 2D sprites, Minoria is still a 2D game, but uses all 3D models. This switch to 3D makes the player character bigger than in most of their games, and while the attack and defend options still feel instant and good to use (especially when rapid-firing spells), it just doesn't feel as precise to me. It is probably also worth saying I played this on Switch, which did have hitches here and there. The characters feel like they have less personality then they would if they were 2D sprites, and other than some areas at the end, the entire game sort of feels dark and samey. I enjoyed the story and the bosses, but actually going through the map doesn't feel as good as it does in other search action games because going out of the way usually just ends up going to a place you can't access yet, and going too far ahead of an area just means you have to backtrack if you missed any items. Not enabling fast travel until you beat the game as far as I can tell was also an odd choice. It is telling that Bombservice seemingly canceled their 3D game, and their next game is back to their 2D sprite style. I think a Minoria sequel with what they learned from the first go around could be really good, but as is, I would only recommend playing this if you already played Momodora 3 & 4 first, and just want more of that Bombservice style.
Healer Girl Ep 1: When I realized this was actually a anime musical series, I decided to give it a shot. It feels like it is a idol anime with magical realism, but, as a fan of musicals, the singing and story works for me. Also avoiding the baggage of the idol industry is probably a good idea for a bubbly feel, with some serious moments. I'll happily keep watching this.
Don't Hurt Me, My Healer! Ep 1: Another healer show, but this is more of the wacky fantasy variety. As someone who is not a fan of Konosuba, the fantasy comedy that seems to have the most traction, I was wary of this show, but decided to give it a try because it technically wasn't an isekai. I watched it, and it sort of has an old school comedy charm. I feel like if this was animated 30 years ago, it would look a lot better, but the bit where , hit me just right. I think the characters are a bit annoying, but in that 90's anime way. I am ready to drop this one, but I'll keep watching for now.
The Executioner and Her Way of Live Ep 1: Talking about isekai, this show sort of half-heartingly attempts to make you think it is a generic isekai show, but the title alone sort of spoils the "twist," which is for the best because the premise of the show is more interesting than trying to trick people. The thing that intrigues me is that it does have a Yoko Taro-esque feeling of trying to find happiness in miserable situations, with maybe a bit more anime ridiculousness thrown in. It probably helps that the scene of everyone being turned into ash reminds me of the last boss of Drakengard and the Nier intro follow up. Not sure if this one will be a winner either, but I am interested to see where it goes.
Now, here is also some random manga reviews. Enjoy!
Catch These Hands! Vol 1: Catch These Hands! is the story of two high school classmates growing up, and figuring out how to be adults essentially. It is sort of billed as a lesbian romance, but it is really more of a comedy with a dash of romance as one of the characters isn't emotionally intelligent enough to be in any real relationship as far as I can tell. This character is Takebe, which I think whether you like her constant expression of anger/confusion/tiredness both in her face, and her general attitude, will determine if this is something for you. I was first annoyed that this wasn't really a romance story, but Soramori trying to help Takebe be the adult she wants to be (though she does have motives that don't seem to align with Takabe yet), and Takabe just sort of angrily going through each thing sort of became charming to me. I'll probably get the 2nd volume at some point just to see if it continues to be funny/interesting.
I Think Our Son Is Gay Vol 1: Sort of like Catch These Hands, it took me awhile to really vibe with this manga, but it got there. It is essentially the same sitcom situation in short from. The mother suspects that her son is gay, and the son is still in the closet, but isn't great at hiding it. The "I just want a boyfriend...GIRLFRIEND I MEANT GIRLFRIEND" situation happens at least once every other story. It gets repetitive in the first half, but once the boy the son likes enters the picture, and we get more into flashbacks, and how the mother figured this out, it became interesting. I ended up staying up to read the last chapter just to see what happens. Not sure if I'll get the 2nd volume yet, but I don't regret getting volume 1.
Here are some anime reviews. Enjoy!
Kotaro lives alone: This series gave such a bad first impression. Simple art-style + precocious kid = wacky high-jinks! is how I thought it was going to go, but it really goes in hard with why a kindergarten kid ends up living by themselves, and it firmly places itself in the "dramedy" category for me. The series can get a little too sappy, after-school-special-y in some storylines, but when it just lets something be sad, it was heartbreaking for me. It is also funny, but it is clear by the end of the series that he comedy is pretty much there to make you care about these people and the found family they created. Best surprise anime of the year for me so far.
Slow Loop: In a genre with recent entries like Laid Back Camp and Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater, this has a lot of competition. Unfortunately, I don't think it really lives up to those other series. It does have interesting angles with dealing with grief and forming relationships through a hobby, but by the end of the series, I was just sort of bored with explanations on how to fish. I know saying a slice-of-life show boring is like calling water wet, but as someone who likes the slower paced shows, even I just wanted it to be over by the end. Not a terrible show, has some good moments early on, but I would honestly only recommend if someone already watched other better shows in the same vein.
Ender Lilies reminds me of one of my top 10 games from last year Cyber Shadow, in that, on paper, it reads like a retread of games before it, but the execution is where it really shines. The Demon/Dark Souls and Castlevania SOTN DNA is so explicit, from enemy designs, jumping mechanics, the healing system, and I could swear it takes the exact same blood splatter effect from Demon's Souls, but it differentiates itself by making different choices. Things like corpse runs have been taken out entirely, and dying only is a set back as it throws you back to the last respite, and you keep all your items, experience, and map reveals. The map has issues (it could really use a cursor you can mark places with, and a way to just point to the save point you want to fast travel to), but being able to see if there are items you haven't collected in an area and what paths you haven't taken yet makes finding where to go next never an issue. The game ends up feeling like a mixtape of good game ideas and mechanics that make it when you are stuck on a hard boss or area, it never gets too frustrating. It ends up clearing the path of the story, which through music, notes, and cut-scenes after each boss, enraptured me to find out what exactly happened here. If you played Dark Souls or Hollow Knight, nothing will be a big surprise, but that is where the execution comes in again. How the notes inform who you will be fighting, or who you fought, combined with their often somber, sad boss themes (I loved the boss themes, especially since I found myself having to retry bosses several times, the more low key themes just sounded better than if the themes were trying to pump you up every time) paints a sad world that you are trying your best to set right again. The multiple endings do a good job of informing the final ending which honestly made me tear up. If you are looking for a 2D action romp through a sad, beautiful world, then Ender Lillies is the flower you should pluck.
