Ay Valeria!: Bringing the party

The Los Angeles area is a host to a wide variety of Latin groups and styles; however there is no group with a sound I like that of Makina Loca as far as I know. The sound, style and, format of the music is truly original (something very hard to find the LA area despite the large number of groups). Of the many albums they have put out I think my favorite of all the albums would have to Ay Valeria! This album features many of the bands strengths and has a special feeling that has influenced me much in deep way, much like The Lonesome Brothers and, Gypsy Wrangler’s have (I will get a review on them soon). Since this is truly original content, it has to be heard to understand completely, but I will do my best to describe its style in this review.

The style of Makina Loca is very hard to define and, at the same time clearly influenced by multiple musical traditions. Makina Loca borrows most heavily from African and Cuban musical traditions, though it also contains little bit Mexican and, American style as well. These styles are then fused together into one sound that it is all it’s own. This is the sort of music that has it’s own flavor of sound, which is hard to relate really to other works, much like the sound found in the album Purple Cha Cha Heels.

The instrumentation of Ay Valeria! is very much what you would expect to find in a group doing Cuban music. The band has multiple trombones, trumpets, a rhythm section, drummer, a (stellar) guitar player(s), a bassist, vocalist and, a piano player. What is really fascinating about the group is the use of these instruments, which created a wonderfully coherent sound. Each instrument is used to create this sound by the weaving of complex rhythmic hits to moving the music. This system gives every instrument an important part in creating the complexity of the piece and, at the same time makes the music sound clear and coherent. This use of instruments is far from how instruments are typically employed in Latin groups.

What really sets this apart from most Latin jazz is the style it employs. Most Latin Jazz emphasizes the soloist and, a single strong melody played by the horns, which backed up by a rhythm section, which create pulse and feel. Ay Valeria! emphasizes creating a song through the process of growth and development and complex interweaving of instruments. Ay Valeria! uses the entire range of the instruments in it to drive the melody and rhythm at the same time. Instruments play off each other in a variety of ways creating various mixtures of sound. Another note worthy element of the music is the variety of languages, used by the group’s leader Ricardo Lemvo and, the amusing singing style of John Robert in the song FikoFiko Ko. The music reminds me a lot of James Brown’s music because; many of the tracks are created through building grooves. There is also frequent use of call and response, with driving horn parts, which is also strangely enough, can also be found in Brown’s music. It is clear that even though there are solos, the music does not revolve around them like in most Jazz, but instead the sound of the group.

Minka Loca is a unique band with special sound, nowhere is this shown better then in Ay Veleria! This album shows off the bands unusual use of instrumentation and, ability to shape and develop its sounds. It is definitely different from most Latin albums, which is what makes it so worth having and, hearing. This album is one of my all time favorites and, is a most have album. It may be difficult to find especially outside of the Los Angeles, but it is certainly an album worth having.

Hats list of top video/arcade games: part 1

Sorry to take so long to post new content, but I have been working hard on setting up this list of great games. This is a list comprising my all time top 50 video/arcade games I have played. These games have had a huge effect on me, and in some cases changed my life. As in many list I am enforcing the one game per franchise rule to avoid to repeats and, will be releasing a description of five great games a week. So enjoy and hopefully you’ll see some new games that are worth investigating.

50. Double Dragon Arcade: This is a great game because the concept is so simple for it; you’re a buff dude who beats up thugs take away your girlfriend. Your goal is simply to get her back by beating up hordes of villains. Double Dragon is one of the greatest beat em’ ups I have ever played, because it keeps things simple and to the point. It might not be the most creative or memorable game, but it give you what you expect out of it (something that can’t be said for all games), a chance to beat up hordes of thugs. This barely made the list, but is still incredibly deserving game that does the job right.

49. Wario land: Though I have played a number of good Wario this game always seems to stand out in my mind as one of the best. It is the best Game Boy platformer I have ever played beating out other good ones like the Mario games to be number 1 due to it’s clever use of a two goal objective. The first goal is simply to beat the game, this isn’t too difficult on it’s own, the next objective however is to make as much money as possible is not so easy (finally giving a good reason to collect coin/rings/other objects in a game). On top of that there are treasures hidden after the game that bring in a great deal of money. This game has some of the classic Wario humor, but mostly focuses on good game play. Still this game simply can’t compete is size, music (though the music is so bad it’s good many times), graphic or content with system platform adventure, but for an early portable platformer it is definitely is the best game of it’s kind.

48. Battle toads: This game can either be incredibly frustrating or exciting, but what can be said about it is that it is based one of strangest concepts ever. You are an anthropomorphic toad with a gross name who is dropped by a bird from a ship in outer space. Your mission, to rescue your friend from the clutches of the evil Dark Queen by traveling through one of the rockiest planets ever conceived. To make things weirder whenever you attack their body can transform, enlarging their hands and legs, turning them into wrecking balls and many other weird things. Despite the bizarre plot and cartoonish nature of the game it is incredibly difficult. I’ve never even made it close to beating it, because of the difficulty despite playing it many times. The music and other parts of the design aren’t that stunning though is why it’s so low on the list.

47. Sunset riders (arcade): Ever wanted to play good game where you lay down the law in Wild West, with your six-shooter by your side? Well then this is the game you’ve been looking for. Though I only have played this game once at an arcade, it quickly caught my attention as a great arcade platformer. The basic premise of the game is that you’re a sheriff or bounty hunter after a boss characters bounty, to do this you must survive running on top stampeding cattle, speeding trains and surviving the deadly minions of your bounty before finally defeating him. My biggest complaint with this game is that is too easy to die and, that to continue playing you have to pump in the quarters into the machine.

46. Ultimate Mortal Kombat: Mortal Kombat is a fighter better known for shock value then it’s system of fighting. That being said Mortal Kombat might not have the greatest fighting system, but it is an interesting system that is easy to play. Ultimate Mortal Kombat combines the mass amount of characters and stages from MK2 and 3 all into one. This game is definitely a Mortal Kombat players dream having everything included in the two best 2d games. The music is sub-par, but it makes up for this with neat character designs and the gruesome fatalities (where a defeated opponent is killed in violent and flashy way). Overall the novelty of the fatalities and digitized graphical style has some what subsided, but with easy to master controls and, different sort of fighting system it is still entertaining.

Film Noir meets Manga: Benkei In New York

Benkei In New York is probably the Manga (and perhaps comic) that best represents the film noir style. The art, story and characterization all are perfectly in tune with the film noir style. From the shady background and characters dressed to the nines, to the dark unrelenting story with a grey sense of morality, Benkei In New York seems to fit in all the many great elements of a Film Noir. This is definitely a niche Manga, however if Noir is your thing this Manga will leave you more then satisfied.

Jiro Taniguchi captures the story perfectly with his dark and detailed artwork. The art is modeled clearly off of film, with a variety of panel sizes and angles. It also mimics realism present in the genera with a realistic character design. At the same time it takes advantage of the manga style to capture the expressive nature of the characters faces. The imagery stands out so well, that it many times can stand completely. The best example of this occurs in the story “Throw Back.” Perhaps the most shocking element of the work is the immensely detailed moody backgrounds. Jiro is clearly a master in the art of shading; his work is filled with a variety of shades and hues despite being in black and white. The art of Benkei In New York is stunning and one of the best (if not the best) of it’s kind.

Benkei In New York has a story stuffed full of various elements taken from the Film Noir genera. Although each story has the main character Benkei perform a different task, all the stories revolve around the theme of Benkei giving out various forms of revenge. New York is portrayed as a dark, crowded and lonely place filled with desperate people and criminals, just as it is in many Film Noir films. Each story is written so that it stands alone from the others, Benkei’s and his girlfriend are the only real reoccurring characters. The dialogue and pacing of the story both resemble a film noir film as well, with dialogue like, “You like the night?” “It’s more honest than the day,” being commonplace. If you love film noir or, dark short stories then Benkei In New York is the manga to read.

The characterization in this manga is what really allows its stories to be convincing. Although Benkei seems to very skilled (he is master forger, revenge hit man, and barman) the way he is written in a way that is believable. He is neither an entirely good nor evil man; though he ends up helping some people his methods are brutal and cruel. Neither is he a content man, he rarely smiles and typically has a gloomy expression on his face throughout most of the stories. Benkei is very much like many leads in film noir; both gritty and humanistic. Although a few targets of Benkei are truly evil most of them are ambiguous figures, which have made questionable choices. The same is true for his clients who many times higher him to brutally murder, making his clients just as dark as his targets are. The characterization of Benkei and the people in the story set the dark mood of the story up and allow it to seem at the same time convincing.

Benkei In New York is pretty much a series of short Noir films in book form. Everything in its design emulates classic Film Noir movies. This is definite the type of book that’s either a love or hate. If you have any interest in Film Noir this manga is a great choice to pick up (even if your not a manga fan) and, will not disappoint. However, if you dislike Film Noir despite the great quality of design of this book it probably isn’t the manga for you.