If this is what happens when there’s a writers’ strike, we should have writers’ strikes more often.

Edit: Someone requested that I include the original art from Nathan’s webpage.  I have added a second pdf with the art added in.  It’s not anything amazing, mind you.

RISUS Dungeon Crawl

RISUS PDF with art

If Nathan contacts me with concerns about making this available, I will take it down.

The Dodos – Visiter

Of all my new acquisitions, this is probably my favorite.  It’s indie-pop, with some very folky undertones, but the music has a lot of really interesting textures and unusual instrumentation.  The album is amazingly strong througout – Anyone who’s ever ridden in a car with me will attest to the fact that I’ma track-hopping whore when I listen to music, and I’ll let this album play start to finish every time.  It’s also just very, very pretty.

The Black Angels – Passover

A great smouldering slab of droning, fuzzed-out psychedelia.  If Spacemen 3 had been into stoner metal, it might sound like this, though the Black Angels are unabashedly retro in a way that Spacemen 3 never were.  Weirdly, the cadence and vocal delivery here sometimes really reminds me of the Tragically Hip, though I wouldn’t compare the two bands in any other way.  The percussion on this album is also really distinctive, and sometimes feels almost trip-hoppy.  This album is from 2006, and they’ve got a new one, out last month, which is on my list for July.

Thomas Function – Celebration

This is another pretty retro-sounding album, this time more 60s-garage style, but it really transcends that sort of pigeonholing.  This is a really jubilant-sounding album, full of loud, uplifting hooks, great pop sensibilities, undercurrents of southern rock, and raucous, semi-shouted vocals.  No element in the mix sounds particularly new, but they go together perfectly.

The Bellrays – Hard Sweet & Sticky

I have been trying to like the Bellrays for years now, and with this album, I have finally succeeded.  The Bellrays play what I suppose could be described as bluesy soul-punk, and do it very well.  With their newest album, the Bellrays have added a melodicism and pop sensibility to a broader sonic palette which has finally allowed me to love, rather than respect them.  This is a hard-rocking and diverse album that’s well worth owning.

I’m not sure yet what I’ll do here, but at least at the start, it’s not going to be a very focused blog. I’ll talk about roleplaying obviously, and about exploring the indie game scene, but I’ll likely also be posting about new music, good food, and whatever else happens to strike my fancy.

Thanks for reading.