Hard to pick a fave from Zuzu’s recent stuff but for today I’m going to go with Lie To Myself for skillfully, and perfectly, getting the lyric “that was a dick move” into a slice of indie pop perfection.
Anyway. Go listen to Zuzu. They’re great.
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Zuzu: Lie To Myself
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Dungeonoid
After so many years playing Breakout games with a whole bunch of modern conveniences, whether that’s flipper bats as in Gunbarich or more curvy bats as is the trend in casual (and the excellent Shatter), Dungeonoid’s lack of such things certainly ensures I find it a wee bit more challenging than a lot of more recent efforts.
It doesn’t help that my enjoyment of Breakout games is matched only by how rubbish I am at them and Dungenoid is no exception.
My problem, largely is one of impatience. I enjoy a lot of the more hands on arcade games because I am constantly pressing buttons, they’re as much something to fidget with as to play. Breakout, by design, includes plenty of moments of downtime as the ball bounces from brick to brick. I get twitchy waiting and when I get twitchy I inevitably muck stuff up.
Dungeonoid does compensate for this somewhat. Clearing a level is not necessarily a matter of clearing all the bricks, nor a matter of taking out all the enemies or or treasures littering the place, instead it’s just a matter of reaching the exit. Get your ball through the door and whoosh, next level. You won’t score so much in a game that’s about scoring the most but at least it can mean a level is over quickly if need be.
Despite my impatience though, I do love a good Breakout game and have done for a long time now, pretty much since Thro The Wall had me hooked all those years ago and Arkanoid and the lovely Batty cemented it. I’ve been really enjoying Dungeonoid even though my progress through it is incredibly slow.
It absolutely is defiantly old school in its design (and yes, that does include the dreaded ‘reverse controls’ power down), tough as old boots and asks for a lot more patience than most modern takes do. I must admit, this is largely why I love it. I wouldn’t want every game to be this tough for me to progress through but every now and then, the right one comes along and that’s Dungeonoid alright.
Dungeonoid is on the Switch and it’s quite cheap, really. Recommended but with the caveat that it is far from an easy ride.
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Robyn Hitchcock: The President
I can almost hear it raining.
Nothing ever cheers me up faster than listening to some Robyn Hitchcock, from The Soft Boys to The Egyptians and now it’s been a steady run of songs that just hit that magical spot. Some more than others.
Element Of Light (1986) has some of my favourite lyrics of all time nestled amongst it (“I’m going to burn your bongos tonight” is an unreasonably special one to me) and my favourite Hitchcock song in Airscape. It’s one of those albums without a single duffer on it and runs the gamut from power pop to prog and so much in-between.
The President is one of a couple of the more “serious” tracks (it’s all relative) on the album and one of those I should really stop trying to sing along to because I completely strangle the thing. Ditching much of the surrealism and storytelling present in the rest of Element Of Light for a much more abrasive, heavier, sound and a kick at Reagan, it ticks along alright for a bit and then the chorus hits and it’s just sublime.
As an aside, I still remember a bearded guy at the table opposite the first time I rolled up to a Hitchcock gig. He leaned over and asked if it was my first time seeing him, to which I answered yes. Moments later he followed it up with “if you can leave here without him becoming a favourite, you’re a better man than I. Have fun!” and returned to his pint.
I was categorically not the better man. To be honest, I don’t want to be either.
