Raycevick Recommendations: January 2019

Pronobozo – Hackwave

Electronic Music is often characterized by detractors as one note, generic, and repetitive. In fairness, that’s not entirely unfounded. It’s relatively easy for someone to make a catchy beat in software and call it a day. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t distinct artists in this field. Comaduster, Crystal Method, and my recommendation today, Pronobozo.

For those who used to watch Pure Pwnage back in the day, it may even sound a bit familiar, because he scored the brief Tetris Battle in the Season 1 Finale.

Now, I don’t wholeheartedly love this record. Some tracks don’t stick with me, and it’s not an album with the pacing to listen start to finish. But it’s distinct blending of fuzzy electronics makes for a sound I keep coming back to, and I look forward to see what Prono has in store for 2019, as he’s supposedly releasing his latest record soon.

Snatch by Guy Richie

Star Wars is important for sparking the imagination of so many people who’d go on to be artists in their respective fields because of how the movie opened their eyes, to fiction, filmmaking, and what art can do.

Snatch, is my Star Wars.

I’ll never forget when at the age of 10, hopping onto the computer to play Space Jam for the fifth time in however many years, my Father nearly lost it, but rather than shriek, he calmly took the mouse and played Snatch for me instead.

He then became very concerned for my mental health when I replayed the same sequence over a dozen times, studying the editing, continuity, and writing on display. It’s safe to say that I probably wouldn’t have gotten into editing, writing, and analyzing content had he never shown me that movie.

Thanks Dad!

Oh, and I guess you should check it out too. It’s a blast!

Alien Isolation by Creative Assembly

There’s something I call (not originally) Bioshock Syndrome. Basically, it’s a shorthand for saying a game falls apart in front of your very eyes within its final hours. Alien Isolation suffers from this big time, in-fact, perhaps more than Bioshock. So I think it says something that I still highly recommend it to people.

I’m not into Horror games but I adore atmosphere, detail, and tension, and those are all things Alien Isolation has in spades. It’s too this day one of the most beautiful games I’ve seen in how it nails the atmosphere for Ridley Scott’s classic, and facing enemies who are truly dynamic makes for a Horror experience you feel a part of rather than just strapped to the cart for.

But yes, the third act is awful, so be warned.