Reviews by Crooty

I discovered Slowreader's "Every Part of Nothing" on a sample CD their label Fueled by Ramen sent me when I ordered a CD of The Stereo. Needless to say I fell in love with it on the spot and did not hesitate one second before ordering the whole album.

As the first one I heard, "Every Part of Nothing", with its moody bass line and ah-ahs, is still among my favourite, and "Politics, Music and Drugs" makes you want to stomp and clap along. But in my opinion, "Anesthetic for the Amputee" surpasses all the others with its tremendous beauty... Repeat Track.

It's hard not to be full of praise for this record. It's got atmosphere. In fact, it is so addictive that if I try to come off it for a couple of days, I then catch myself humming "Politics, Music and Drugs"'s catchy tune while hanging up the laundry or washing the dishes... as the irresistible urge to put it back in the player rises up in me again... Repeat All.

Here's yet another tribute compilation to Weezer, and not the least surprising. Its originality lies in the fact that all these covers are played by Japanese bands, and I hope I won't offend any Japanese in the audience, but this record struck me as extremely funny. Ever tried singing with a potato in your mouth? You'll achieve the same effect.

However, there are also some pretty original and well-done covers on this record. The ones that immediately come to mind are: Bus Tribute, who changed the chords in Buddy Holly, Reach, whose I Just Threw out the Love of My Dreams is a waltz, or Natsumen & Idaka's Surf Wax America. At the same time, others are just too weird, such as Hermann H. & The Pacemakers' J-Funk In the Garage.

This record is of course a must-have for all Weezer fans, and a nice and funny way for J-Pop lovers to discover this wonderful band.

Weezer's drummer, the one and only Patrick Wilson, along with his buddy Atom, formerly of Rocket from the Crypt, are back with a brand new CD and it rocks!

It features some songs that were on The Special Goodness previous two albums, as well as others that appeared as demos on the band's website. So nothing really new for me, but what a pleasure to listen to these improved versions! The melodies and guitar sounds are fresh and clear like spring, and you can hear Pat's smile in his voice. A perfect soundtrack for a bucolic stroll in the sun (as the days are getting warmer).

And if you're a record collector, the CD even exists in three different sleeves. Of course, I had to get them all!

I've just finished The Wind Waker, the latest installment in Nintendo's famous series The Legend of Zelda, and even though I'm a Zelda fanatic, I can't help but have mixed feelings about this game.

On the one hand, the cute toon-shaded graphics are stunning. The gameplay, with its inven tive battle system where the hero and his enemies can pick up weapons dropped by other enemies, is irreproachable. The sounds, moods and music are captivating, even though there's no voice acting... but who'd want to hear Link talk?

On the other hand, it's not even that the game is too short, because actually the world is huge and the side quests numerous (although some might be a tad repetitive), nor that it lacks the traditional time/space warp (such as Overworld/Underworld, Young Link/Adult Link or Deku/Zora/Goron Link). It's that there are only five and a half dungeons! This can only leave you begging for more.

And this is what is so frustrating! The Wind Waker could have been one the greatest game ever made, but sadly it's not quite it, and I have no choice but to face the fact that it lacks the dimension of an Ocarina of Time, to name but one... So Mr. Miyamoto, when's the next one coming out?

In this game, you play as Ico, a young boy emprisoned because he has horns. Soon the shell-like cell where he's held captive breaks and Ico manages to get free. That's where you take up the reins.

Upon visiting your prison, you stumble across the girl Yorda and save her from a bunch of shadow-like monsters. Taking her by the hand, you can now escape together. You'll have to help her, and she'll sometimes help you in return. Don't leave her alone for too long or more shadow wraiths will try to drag her back to their holes.

In short, the game is series of puzzles where you have push crates, light torches, climb up chains and ladders, activate switches or throw bombs to open your way further, with a kind of "mix between Zelda and Myst" feel to it. But summing it up to this isn't doing Ico justice. Granted, it is rather short, with only about eight to ten hours of gameplay. However, it's set in a world so fascinating, so poetic and mysterious, the whole game taking place in one huge, breathtakingly beautiful fortress of sun-bathed sand-coloured stone with patches of bright green grass, that it's definitely worth a try.

The background story: Luigi has just won a house and Mario has gone to visit it. But the house is haunted, and Mario hasn't returned yet. Luigi has to overcome his fears and go and look for his missing brother.

The game: armed with a torch and a vacuum cleaner, Luigi has to suck in the ghosts who lurk in the furniture, in the approximately three dozen chambers of the mansion.

My opinion: I found this game particularly short and, aside from the final battle, not very challenging (my boy-friend and I finished it over the weekend). It is also rather linear and repetitive, as you have to solve it room after single room. The only thing that isn't linear is the tedious collecting of the 50 Boos but, like the money you can gather, it doesn't lead to any special reward. As for the graphics, and the technological progress such as particle effects, they're nice ok, but sadly the result didn't turn out as stunningly different from that of the N64 as I tought it would.

Having bought the Gamecube on Friday, the day it came out in Europe, and Luigi's Mansion being the only game, in the genre I like, available at the moment, I must admit I feel a bit disappointed so far. Let's hope Mario Sunshine and Zelda will live up to my expectations (I'm sure they will)!

OK, the graphics are absolutely stunning, but that they were already in Riven. The only real apparent technical progress (and not the least, mind you) is the 360 degree view, which lets you immerse into the breathtaking sceneries of six (or more acurately, five and a half) different ages.

The puzzles are in the same logical vein as usual, but sadly I didn't find them very challenging and I was able to finish the game in approximately 12 hours, which is much less than what I was expecting from the creators of the Myst series.

As a whole, Exile is a wonderful game, mysterious and beautiful, and the music sends you directly into another, totally magical dimension, but if you've already played its prequels, no doubt you'll be left begging for more. My guess is that people with less experience in the Myst universe will enjoy it much more. I can only recommend they play Myst and Riven (in this order) too.

I just started playing this game yesterday (when it came out in Europe). After playing for 7 hours, my first impressions are that this game is stressful: you only have 3 "days" (in fact approximately 72 minutes) to run on various errands, solve castle puzzles, etc. If you can't finish in time, you have to start almost all over again... And when I have only 10 real minutes left to find the big key, switch off crystals, jump from various platforms, find the temple boss and kill him, I start playing worse and worse, hehe.

However, the graphics and musics are as beautiful as ever, and it has all the typical Zelda sounds that make Zelda the best games ever! It just made my hair stand on end to see and hear all these things again! I just can't wait to play some more... and try to finally solve my first temple!

Grandaddy could be easily summarised as "Slow rock with synths"... but it's so much more than that!

I used to dislike synths in rock, probably because it reminded me too much of some crappy stuff from the 80's, but the way Grandaddy uses them made me change my mind: here they add space, they put you in a kind of peaceful trance, they sometimes are funny little noises but without ever being ridiculous.

The final touch, along with the always beautiful tunes, is the singer's fragile voice. Oh my... that voice! Soft and delicate, always on the brink of, but never breaking. It lies on the strata of synths and on the wall of guitars like a light feather on a calm lake.

I first came across Grandaddy on French TV (they played what became their hit single "AM 180") and I've been a fan since then. This record is their first album and contains this track. It is a good one to start with if you don't know the band, and a must have if you already like them!

Indeed, this e.p. is a compilation of two of their previous singles, Prime Time and All Over The Place. But it also features some bonus tracks: Is This Really..., a beautiful sad song, All Over The Place (Acoustic Live), Simon (Live), an "oldie" which was on their first album: Almost Pretty Cool (when they were still called Brainwash) and an early version of Tiny Tiger, which now features on their new album: Whattookyousolong. And if you like the latter, this Chewy e.p. is a must have!