New Rendition Of Angel Island Zone For Brawl

Here is something special, it’s a new rendition of “Angel Island Zone” for the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl on Wii. The music is first heard in the Genesis/Mega drive game Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and is one of my favourites from the entire series.

Even though this arrangement of the tune is done by Jun Senoue (known for doing the majority of music in the later 3-D Sonic games), with the inclusion of his signature guitar sound, this new rendition sounds akin to the music heard in later Sonic games. Even so, upon first listen, I was instantly transported back to a happier time =)

Have a listen to it here.

Back To The Future

I’ve gone a little BTTF crazy over the past few weeks. I watched the trilogy through twice, and then watched the first one again until I stopped, thinking that if I saw II and III after it, I’d be doomed to re-watch the trilogy over and over and over. I had some money going spare so I spent it on the novelizations of part II and III and the soundtrack to the first film, which features Huey Lewis, more Huey Lewis, Etta James and Marvin Berry and the Starlighters (the fictional band in the movie).

Double Bassin’

Got my Double Bass the other day, as a present for my 18th, even though its not until the 27th as it was decided that it was more convienient to get it now rather than later.

I haven’t played it yet as I haven’t had a chance to set it up (put the bridge in place and tune it) but it looks awesome. I’ve spent quite a few times today standing with it to get used to the size. Its a 3/4 size bass, and although it has an adjustable end pin, its pretty much to right size for a person my height.

It came around 11am, in a huge cardboard box. The bass itself was inside a hard case, which is literally taller than our ceiling. I thought this would be too big but luckily, there was a gig bag thrown in, so I don’t have to use the hard case. The hard case came free by the way, and since I don’t need it, there’s no space for it for a start, I can sell that for around £120.

The bass is lighter than I thought it would be, and was surprised when I was actually able to lift it at all! Although, a double bass is a fragile instrument, and although I’m going to take care of it, I can’t help fretting. It can’t be stored in a place where it is too hot, the glue holding the pieces together would melt, and I can’t have it somewhere where its too cold, the wood would warp. I need to clean it every now and then too, but since its made of wood, any wood polish will do.

I hope the action isn’t too high once I set it up. If it was a regular bass all I would have to do is adjust the bridge or neck, in this case, if high action was the problem, I would have to take the bridge and sand it down until it was the desired size.

EDIT: I need sandpaper, or better yet, an adjustable bridge. I tuned to G string up to a G, but it was buzzy, so I assume I’ve tuned it to the wrong octave, which makes sense, otherwise the E string would be so loose, it would be unplayable. Of course, it was naive of me to think I’d be able to put the bridge in place, tune the strings, and be able to play straight away, but I’d prefer to learn how to setup a double bass myself, rather than wussing out and spending £60+ for a luthier to do it for me. Once I do have it set up and playable, expect piccys.

The Masses Of Humanity Will Always Have To Surf

Compare the cover art of Suffer, the 1988 Bad Religion album…..

To Surfer, the 2001 EP by NOFX.

 

 

Music From Regions Beyond Out Today!

Its 5th June, Tiger Army’s latest album was released today. Their myspace band profile has the entire album uploaded so people can have a listen, but its for today only. I’m listening to it right now, I’ve got as far up as Lunatone, which might be my favourite so far. The album sounds similar to III, so its really more of the same, but more of the same means its damn good. Here’s the tracklisting:

01. Prelude: Signal Return
02. Hotprowl
03. Afterworld
04. Forever Fades Away
05. Ghosts of Memory
06. LunaTone
07. Pain
08. As the Cold Rain Falls
09. Hechizo de Amor
10. Spring Forward
11. Where the Moss Slowly Grows

I have no idea why they dropped the roman numerals, there doesn’t seem to be a reason to not call the album Tiger Army IV, and keep the same title, “Tiger Army IV: Music From Regions Beyond”. Perhaps they did it for an explicit reason, I don’t know, neither do I really mind.