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September 14, 2004
Kong in Concert
Welcome to today's edition of The Shelanman Review. Today I'm going to talk to you about Kong in Concert. To quote Digital Coma, Kong in Concert "is a collaborative arrangement project born from the music of Donkey Kong Country and created for the purposes of reviving, reinterpreting, and rearranging its entire soundtrack..."
If you have every played Donkey Kong Country, you will recognize many of the themes in this excellent album. You will also probably be unable to recognize the themes in several of the others.
Instead of focusing on a single musical style to build a complete album (a la Relics of the Chozo), Kong in Concert chose to allow the contributers to use whatever style they felt worked best with that particular track.
The result is a highly unusual album, spanning only two CDs, but many different musical styles.
I'm no expert on different musical styles, but I can point to a few memorable tracks...
- Godiva in the Desert: I hate to start off this review on a low note, but I'm going in order here. This first track was an arrangement of the original Donkey Kong Country theme track. It is very interesting, but I just don't quite get it. There is a weird opera-sounding choir thing going on, and I only feel the original towards the middle for about 10 seconds. This is an interesting piece of music, but I must confess disappointment. The DKC theme, being one of my favorites and one of the most recognizable, just needed to be more... cool... for me. Sorry Israfel, I know you were going for something unusual and creative -- and you found it. It's just not for me.
- Swing, Monkey, Swing: "Swing, Monkey, Swing" is a fun jazzy mix of "Simian Segue." Like all good jazz music, it is layered fairly thick, always at least 2, usually 3 or more things running at once. This is a very nice take on what I felt was a fairly plain original track. I do have one small complaint, and that is that the saxophone has a tendency to chop off the ends of its notes. Other than that, however, I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable arrangement. Of course, I am a little biased, as arranger Hemophiliac is a friend of mine, but I really do think you'll enjoy it.
- West Coast DK Island: This is perhaps my very favorite arrangement of the collection. I can't point to a particular thing that makes it stand out. I definitely can pick out the themes from the original "DK Island Swing" The muted trumpet is fun as the lead. Overall this just seems a very rich track, its upbeat, I enjoyed listening to it quite a bit. And the bits of birdcall in the background at the beginning were a cool added touch. I can tell that arranger JigginJonT had fun with this track.
- Cry of the Chasmal Critter Chain: Picking one of my favorite tracks from the original, ReMixer Adhesive_Boy has made what I feel to be a fairly conservative mix of the original. While the instrumentation is significantly different, I get a strong feel of the cavey-undergroundish theme that was the original. This is partially due to the fact that the theme is fairly recognizable throughout. That is not to say, by any means, that this is a simple reworking of the original. It is very complex, and it ranks highly among my favorite tracks.
- Funky Monkey Love: Arranger Vigilante has an absurdly amusing song here. The lyrics, though a bit suggestive, are hilarious. I don't know what to say about this track other than I thought it perhaps one of the most amusing and creative tracks in this colleciton. This is a mix of Candy's Love Song. Look, I can't describe it. Just listen. You'll enjoy it. It sounds good, the singing's pretty good, and... I warned you already about the lyrics. Nicely done Vigilante.
- Arboreal Ascent: This is yet another fun jazzy mix, this time of "Treetop Rock." Unlike "Swing, Monkey, Swing," this piece has a quieter, calmer, more loungeish style feel. I no longer have the sound of "Treetop Rock" firmly implanted in my brain, so I couldn't tell you whether the theme is recognizable, but it does have that vague Kong feeling, and it has a very nice sound to it. Smf has put together another tasty track for this collection.
- Aerofunknamics: bLiNd has put together something entertaining for his mix of "Funky's Fugue." Don't know if it is just me, but I am strongly reminded of Propellerhead's "Bang On!" (which incidentally had its place in the videogame world -- as one of the background tracks in the Nintendo 64 game "Wipeout 64." At least, I think that's what it was called). Give this track a listen, let me know if I'm insane or not. Either way, Aerofunknamics is an upbeat electronic deal that... well... belongs in the background of a racing game!
- Dolilop Do Wop: Arranging "Ice Cavern Chant," the theme from, well, the Ice Cavern, Analoq puts together another of my favorite tracks in this collection. It has a cool quiet beat to it that I find very nice. Filled with quiet synthy-sounding instruments, this track is very much up to Analoq's usual standards. As always, his entry is cool, unusual, and very nice. Again a bit of my personal bias undoubtedly comes into play, Analoq is another good friend of mine. Go give Dolilop Do Wop a listen. You'll like it.
There you go, I've picked out a good number of tracks, and given you my take on each of them. Now, why don't you go download this collection and listen to it for yourself. A word of warning however, listen at home; you will have a strong desire to go grab your old cartridge, or your favorite emulator, and spend an evening with the 800 Pound Gorilla!
Very Strongly Recommended
4.5 Out of 5 Stars
Want to Hear It?
Kong in Concert
Kong in Concert BitTorrent
Posted by andrew at 06:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 13, 2004
Shenandoah Cafe
Last night I ate dinner with my family at a little place called Shenandoah Cafe in Long Beach. When I say a little place, I really do mean it... it had perhaps 15 tables, and maybe only 12...
I am unable to come up with a single phrase that describes what kind of food they serve. They call in American Regional Cuisine, or something like that. That seems reasonable -- it is food from all over the U.S. with a particular emphasis on the South.
Yes, that means that there is an opportunity for nice fried foods, along with some good southern barbeque, but they have other tasty items as well...
Shenandoah's menu claims to be all about giving you the feeling of mother's (or perhaps Grandma's) home cooking, but since my family has never lived in the South, and we're not generally much for southern cooking, I wasn't so much reminded of "back home". But then, I'm living at home now, so I suppose I don't need to be reminded of it.
While I was not reminded of good old fashioned home cooking, I did enjoy my meal (and the few bites of everybody else's meal that I tasted).
So... My meal consisted of:
- Seafood Gumbo: A delicious cajun-style seafood soup. This was surprisingly flavorful and delicious, especially given that it was very much not spicy
- Broccoli Cheese Soup: This tasted more like Cream of Broccoli than anything else. I have to say that this was the low point of the meal. It was so-so, everything else was really good.
- Cajun Rib Eye: Sensing a pattern here? I told you I was a steak person. To be fair, I did consider the Bacon and Hazelnut Crusted Halibut too, but they ran out of that (price I pay for going there Sunday night). This was very tasty, and only slightly spicy. It was served with a very thin dark brown sauce that was slightly sweet and slightly salty. The sauce was good, but I borrowed a bit of the barbecue sauce that came with somebody else's ribs. The barbecue sauce was seriously good... I really want a big bottle of it.
- Apply Fritters: Every meal at Shenandoah includes these delicious little fried treats. They come around carrying a basket full of them every 15 minutes or so, and you get two of them each time (if you want). They remind me of nothing so much as apple cinnamon donut holes -- but they are very tasty. Alas, but they are also artery-cloggers -- I can just tell by the way they taste.
- Shenandoah Rolls: Also included with every dish are these rolls. They are roughly the shape of muffins, and they taste... different... I can't really describe it except that they were slightly sweet and pretty good. The do have the unfortunate tendency to continue rising in your stomach long after you consume them -- making it hard to eat the rest of your food.
- Country Rice: My steak was served with something called Country Rice -- which is essentially a sort of wild rice dish. It was fairly good. It didn't get finished, but that's mostly because there was so much other stuff to eat, and because it didn't taste good mixed with the barbecue sauce (can't you tell, I loved that barbecue sauce).
Overall, it was more food than I could eat, and it was very tasty. I also borrowed a quick taste of the Artichoke Hearts appetizer which was quite nice. I'm told the Fried Green Tomatoes were good, but they were all gone before they made it to my end of the table...
Unfortunately, Shenandoah is a fairly expensive place. I don't recall exactly what my meal cost, but here's what I can tell you...
Dinner for 6, including 3 appetizers shared, a dinner apiece, no dessert and no alcohol cost somewhere around the $200 mark.
The seafood gumbo was probably about $10, everything else in my personal menu list above was included with the Cajun Steak, and I'd bet that it was either $19.95, $22.95, or $24.95... so definitely not a place to go every day... (or every week or month even, at least not on my budget). Not that I'm suggesting it is overpriced, mind... just that it is expensive. It was worth the price, neither a bargain nor overpriced.
Oh, one other thing... the inside of the restaurant looks very much like I would expect a traditional southern home to look like. Having never been to the South, my opinion of a southern home is probably wildly inaccurate, but it looked pretty southern to me -- quilt on the wall and everything.
Also, Shenandoah is open only in the evenings -- they open at 5:00pm, and they are closed Mondays. And apparently they are pretty quiet on Sundays -- a good time to go, except that they may be out of the more popular items.
One last thing -- for real this time. Meals come with soup or salad. I had soup, but if you have the salad, they make it in front of you. They bring a plate with the lettuce mix on it, and then a basket with radishes, onions, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, and (I think) cucumber. You pick out what you want, and they build you a salad. It was neat, and looked good. I'm not a salad person, so I didn't have any, and thus won't tell you if it was good.
Recommended
3.25 out of 5 stars
Want to try it?
Shenandoah Cafe
4722 E. 2nd St.
Belmot Shore, CA 90803
Phone: (562) 434-3469
P.S. The lower rating of only 3.25 stars has more to do with them being out of several items and being out of my personal price range than a reflection of actual food quality or quantity. I rated Shenandoah down heavily for being out of several items -- especially because they didn't tell us until we ordered them.
Posted by andrew at 05:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 01, 2004
Kobe Bryant Wins.... and Loses
Today the Kobe Bryant criminal case ended when the prosecutor filed a motion to dismiss the case. Well, it didn't actually end until the judge accepted the motion, but there would be no doubt that such a motion would prevail.
I have no personal opinion as to whether or not Kobe Bryant actually raped the unknown accuser. I was not there, and the bits of evidence that I have seen suggest that it would be very difficult to prove that anything illegal occurred. However, I do not have all the evidence, and in actuality there are at most two people who know whether rape occurred.
All that said, I definitely have an opinion about the ending of this case. In my opinion it is good that the Kobe Bryant case ended in this manner -- both because the trial never happened and because Kobe was not convicted. Read on and I'll try to convince you I'm right.
I believe that it is wonderful that Kobe Bryant is not going to be further dragged through the mud (at least in a criminal case -- as the civil case is pending, he may yet have his name dirtied more). Why, you ask?
I believe that the manner in which this case has proceeded is very unfair to Kobe. The accuser was allowed to simply come out and declare, for all the world to hear, that Kobe was a rapist. Then the District Attorney filed criminal charges against Kobe, adding a certain merit to the charge. All of a sudden, Kobe's name is mud. He loses valuable endorsements, his career is irreparably harmed.
All this is fair and appropriate if Kobe Bryant is a rapist. But consider the supposed victim (my use of the word supposed indicates uncertainty, not discredit or disbelief). We aren't allowed to know her name. Indeed, news reporters qho (entirely legally) discovered her name were forbidden by an improper court order not to divulge the information. (The order was improper because it is an instance of illegal prior restraint (source: Wikipedia).
This means that, by simply accusing him the unknown person (well, I guess we know that it is a female -- but that's all we're allowed to know) can destroy Kobe Bryant's name without any personal risk. If we all discover, during the proceeedings, that she is a terrible person who is simply out to cash in on what she sees as a golden opportunity, we can never know to hold it against her.
For this reason I am glad that the case has ended -- even if it was for all the wrong reasons. I will not speculate as to any payoff that Kobe did or did not make to get the girl to shut up.
Now, while the criminal case is over, the civil case is not. That's right, our beloved victim has filed a lawsuit against Kobe Bryant asking for an "unspecified amount" of money. Incidentally, the judge in the civil case has compounded the inequity in this case by forbidding the media from divulging the name of a plaintiff in a civil case. This should be a matter of public record, regardless of any bogus "Rape Shield" laws.
I am working under the assumption that Kobe Bryant believes that he did not rape Ms. What's-Her-Name. I am not assuming that he didn't rape her -- only that he doesn't think that he did. In that case, I believe that it would be appropriate for Kobe Bryant to file a counter-claim demanding that the plaintiff pay up to cover the damage done to his career for this claim. I'm not a lawyer, so I can't say that this is good advice, only that I think it is "right".
</RANT>
Posted by andrew at 07:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack