Danger Doom: The Mouse And The Mask Mini-Review

Danger Doom: The Mouse and the Mask is a great concept album but to sum it up that way would not do it justice. Danger Doom is one part Danger Mouse, one part MF Doom and a dash of Adult Swim. Add water and mix well and you have the album, the Mouse and the Mask. MF Doom always has rhymes to compliment any beat but Danger makes Doom’s words sound harmonious. Danger’s sound is a soothing motion of sounds blended with intense and atmospheric rhythms. What does all that mean, I don’t know but he sure makes it sound good.

Backing up Danger Doom on this journey is the Aqua Teen Hunger Force. All the characters deliver some of their funniest moments from Master Shake, Carl and all of the others. Space Ghost even makes a cameo on the album while Danger Doom tries to take over his talk show.

The Mouse and the Mask is already one of my favorite albums and will be on my playlist for awhile. Fans of MF Doom’s other projects will definitely enjoy this outing with Danger Mouse and is a great introduce to anyone just discovering the Mouse and the Mask.

E3 and Me (My First Experience) Review Part 2

Day 1: I walk in and my senses went into overload from all the lights, sounds and people. I can honestly say I have never been to any event quite like this. E3 goes all out, with displays, statues and booths with your favorite video game characters and trailers towering over you. The first one I see is a huge Mickey Mouse in a black suit holding a weapon. If I had no sense of dignity I would have ran up to it screaming like a little school girl but I played it cool and walked up to the kiosk to see people playing Kingdom Hearts II. This is my favorite RPG hands down besides Mushashi for the Playstation I and I have been waiting so long for a sequel. Next up was the Sega’s booth with too many games to mention. Then I stumbled upon the Square Enix’s booths and tried to get into the preview movie but all the tickets were gone. I stopped by the PC section to see games like Starship Troopers and Terra Firma from an independent publisher that has a game that allows the player to switch between third and first person shooter action. At this time I was not into PC games like I am now so I missed a lot of current and future titles. EA being the biggest company in the game market made sure you felt their presence at E3. EA’s setup lets you walk into this large circular room with games like Need for Speed for the Xbox 360 but that was not why everyone was there. Looking directly up you see that the upper wall is a huge 360 screen. The presentation (if I remember correctly) starts with a familiar song from the Godfather followed by a couple of scenes from the game making you crave more and they deliver with the next big game the Sims 2. The Sims 2 had different scenes happening on the circular screen so you had to turn around to see the different scenarios. Just as that finishes a car burns rubber and a cop car with sirens a blazing chase it to introduce Need for Speed: Most Wanted. The sound was incredible in this room; it almost drowned out the sound from the convention. The next huge game that demonstrated the sound system the most was Fight Night because they have two guys sparring in a ring. You can hear every punch with the occasional nearby gamer saying, “Oh no!” Believe me, it was that realistically looking and for the grand finale one of the boxers throw the finishing punch and his opponent’s face ripples from the punch but at the same time the floor shakes as if you were the one getting hit. Remember my school girl reference earlier well there were people who had no hang ups and let out there screams and dances. I even broken my calm demeanor and had to applause for that presentation. This wrapped up day one for me. I made a mental note of where to resume on day two.

Redman: Dare Iz A Darkside Review

For my first music review I chose Redman: Dare Iz A Dareside. You’re probably wondering out of all the vast amount of albums and artists. Why would I choose this one? One word: Consistency. Now that is the word of the day, consistency. Count how many other artists that have been around 10 or more years in the Hip Hop game and has never let you down. You can probably count them on your one hand. So for Redman to drop five albums that are all classics, is well consistency. Redman’s first album came out in 1992 called Whut? Thee Album and was pushed by the single Time 4 Sum Aksion. How about that for some speak and spell madness. I still remember that song being played at all the high school football teams at the time.

Now you are probably wondering why I did not start off with Whut? Thee Album (because I didn’t want to, leave me alone!). No that is not why it is because most artists’ first album is the best in their whole career and they can never live up to it. The sophomore album or sophomore jinx is usually the record making or breaking the artist. Redman does not have to worry because in my opinion this is the best Redman album even though in interviews he has referred to this one as his least favorite.

Dare Iz A Darkside starts out with the Dr. Trevis telling Redman to totally forget how he did the first album. Red is taking steps countless artists are afraid to do, he is giving you something fresh and new on his sophomore album. The next track jumps into Bobyahed2dis with Jeff Stewart and you know how he do it. If you heard the track you remember the intro. The beat sounds as if someone is in the back clapping their hands with muddy fingers, trust me. It is infectious and Redman’s delivery is there to match it perfectly. He does this style where it sounds like he is rapping and then comes in with a flow almost on top of the next verse giving an effect that two people are rapping or he is talking to himself, it is just ridiculous.

Afterward a Hiroshima bomb drops us in the Journey Troo Da Darkside with the haunting voice saying, One stop go to hell. All abroad Red proclaims, giving yet another delivery style of his words seem to be chopping up the beat. Switch, come with us to Da Journee where we find out that our dreams don’t make cents because we are loose change ending with sirens and a car crash. We are definitely going through the twisted mind of Redman on this one.

A Million And 1 Buddah Spots lets you know what one of Redman’s favorite past-times are and no its not baseball. Sorry all you batboys out there. Someone just scratched the record and a high pitch screech brings us to Nooratic. In about the middle of the song Red croons a Yeah in the background with him rhyming on top because he can get away with that. The chorus of the song seems to have a disagreement with Red and he responses appropriately. Now is the time for Red and friends to have a small Boodah Session. Random conversations turn into television static and the channel changes to Cosmic Slop. Here is a real treat for Hip Hop fans at the time: what happens when you take three of the nicest emcees in the game and put them together? Perfection on cassette, I mean CD, Erik Sermon, Keith Murray and Redman later to be known as the Def Squad. Another question, what happens on most records with posse cuts? One person out shines everyone else right, so does Redman do this? No because everyone is at top form here and actually compliment each, other which is what should happen in a group. Rockafella (R.I.P.) is a cut put on Redman’s album to let one of his fallen comrades shine on a track.

With twenty tracks on this album you are getting more than your moneys worth with this album. I just wanted to give you the first couple of tracks so you can see the direction Red is taking you on this album. The whole collection of songs on Dare Iz A Darkside is consistency laid down in musical form. I could talk about this album all day but it still would not do it justice. Redman gives you those hardcore tracks you love with some hiliarous phrasing to say the least, check out the tracklist. Charisma is something that is hard to display in music because you either sound too cocky or too laid back. But Redman invites you in with his hazy tales and lets us know he is the best at what he does to balance it all out. So I dare you to take that darkside trip through the mind of Redman and pick this one up.

CS:S Quick Update 2

Steam has done it again with another great map release in the form of cs_militia. Hands down this is one of my favorite maps and I have been playing it a lot in the past couple of days. There are so many ways of getting to the opponents on this map. You can jump on the roof or tunnel through the sewer or take the direct approach and rush the house. This map has so much going for it and in the visual department the map makes other maps look like monkeys flinging their feces. I know that is harsh but cs_militia has HDR lighting and perfectly fine tune details in every corner. Just as before you have to restart Steam for the update.

Free FPS on Wikipedia

I am becoming a first person shooter connoisseur and on my quest to becoming the FPS dominating human. I will need more games to feed my FPS frenzy. What better way to do this than with free FPS. That is correct my current broke or just finished another game people, we now have a place to fill our gap. It is located at the List of free first-person shooters – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. These are free FPS games so it may not be the most visually stunning or precise controls but it makes up for it in the free department. Try the free FPS at Wikipedia and let your money build for the upcoming FPS.

Dilated Peoples – Back Again

Dilated Peoples have always made music for Hip-Hop fans. Dilated just makes raw and pure music with the beats, rhymes and scratching that are cleverly put together. Dilated consist of DJ Babu, Iriscience (Rakaa) and Evidence. Together they have been on the Hip-Hop scene putting out 12″ vinyl records in the early ’90s. I actually walked into Fat Beats back when they were in Hollywood not Melrose and heard the DJ playing Work the Angles. I asked the guy who is that and he simply said, “Dilated”. I picked up two copies that day with the old man on the cover and spun the mess out of that song for months on my turntables. Fast forward to present day and Dilated is set to drop there fourth studio album. The album is titled 20/20 and is set to drop February 21, 2006 (date is subject to change). They have not lose their touch with the lead single entitled, “Back Again” . The video for the single can be seen at Dilated’s MySpace page towards the bottom. The concept is inventive because they do the whole video on a balcony with rotating props that tell a story to their lyrical wordplay. It is definite watch for any Dilated fan and a great introduce for any new Dilated brethren. So check the video and buy twenty twin twin (sorry I couldn’t resist).

Katrina Rebuilding, Funds Are Still Needed

Maybe a lot of people have already seen this video or heard this song from Mos Def called Katrina Klap. It was released after Katrina crashed in and devastated so many lives. I just wanted to bring this to the light again and let people know that funds are still needed for the rebuilding of Katrina struck areas. Mos Def’s politically charged video is ideal to remind us of the tragedy and the events that followed. The video and MP3 can be downloaded and streamed at PressTheIssue.org and has different places to donate for the Katrina Relief. Please donate even if it is only a dollar or more.