Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

PES 2008

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The Pro Evolution Soccer series has survived because of one thing – it simulates the game of soccer really, really well. Although there was a bit of a hiccup with PES 6, with Konami leaving out half the leagues and the ability to edit teams, players and strips, it still outshone its competitors last year.

This year I want to compare PES 2008 with its main competitor, and it’s not FIFA 2008. What made me think this was a friend’s younger son who is soccer mad and absolutely loves Adelaide United (Go You Reds!). He is so excited about being able to play the A-League that even though I tried to tell him PES was a superior game, he just wouldn’t have it. To him it wasn’t better because it didn’t have the A-League. Sure, you can edit player and team names and stats, scan in team badges, and so on, but that’s “too much messing around”. And he’s right. People don’t play FIFA because it’s the superior soccer game; they play it because it’s got all the teams and players’ people love, straight out of the box.

So, to me PES 2008 biggest competitor is actually PES 6. Because PES has superior gameplay, as long as they don’t tinker with the game what is there to encourage you to buy the latest version? Well thankfully a lot. PES 2008 addresses nearly all my issues with the previous incarnation of the game. Yet there are still a number of issues to be found here, making it far from perfect.

As always, PES truly shines in its Master League. This year is no exception. With more teams and leagues on offer than the previous year, the depth is even more remarkable. You can jump in with the ‘default’ team, and this will provide quite the challenge. You’ll really have to pay attention to the way the team works together, and take advantage of transfers to bolster your side else you simply won’t progress far.

Selecting a good team makes the season easier, but it’s still no walk in the park. Even with a team like Barcelona it’s still a very challenging game.
Part of the reason is the new adaptive AI called ‘TeamVision’. Apparently designed for PES 2008, the AI team will learn your plays and adapt to your tactics, and does so pretty admirably. I found that if I was constantly attacking down the left wing, my players would be shut down. This in turn makes you adjust your style of play. I tend to always counter attack hard down the wings, but found myself playing the middle and controlling the ball, drawing fouls and slowing down the pace. It’s nice when you realise you’re learning from a game.

If anything has changed, it’s the amount of scoring that occurs. In PES 6 I had a string of nil-all draws. PES 2008 has a higher score line, but it’s never unrealistic. And given the score lines in real matches in the EPL this year, I have to take my hat off to Konami for being so accurate. This doesn’t make the game easier to beat either; working to score a goal, and preventing the AI score in return, is still as difficult as ever. It’s just you’ll tend to have 1-all draws instead of nil-all draws.

One addition that raised eyebrows when announced is diving and shirt pulling. Some people see this as a travesty; I see it as a more accurate representation of the game, as sad as that is. However, it doesn’t have a great impact on the gameplay itself. I’ve only managed it a few times as the button combo isn’t the easiest to pull off, and only seen the AI do it a few times. Plus it’s funny to take a dive, especially in the penalty area.
Graphically the game is good up to a point. Playing the game is fine, with the players looking good, crowds looking adequate, and the interface is much slicker than previous years. Gone are the unlabelled, obscure menu icons, replaced with simple descriptive words. Saving is done by highlighting “Save”. However, there is a real problem with replays. When watching the replay action after getting a foul or scoring a goal the frame rate takes a big dive and looks like slow motion. Playing back recorded replays is fine, and it’s unnoticeable if you skip the replays, but the fact it’s there is troubling.

Sound wise the game is a massive improvement over last year. There’s a variety of music now, some of it even quite enjoyable, although I think most of it was created especially for the game. They don’t even tell you the artist of the track, just the genre, which range from rock to drum and bass, but they’re pretty loose definitions of those genres. The game sound like being at a soccer stadium, but the commentary does tend to repeat itself far too often.

I mentioned Team and Player editing earlier, and it’s found its way back into the game. You can edit everything from the position of the badge on the strip, amount of colours on the team strip, position of numbers on the shorts, and everything in between. You can use the Xbox Live Vision cam to take shots of your favourite teams logo and make them more true to life. You can even import your own face, although the lack of editing tools and low quality of the camera make that more trouble than it’s really worth. If you plan on doing this, make sure you’ve got good lighting.

You can share your options with a friend if you have a memory card, though missing is the ability to share these over Xbox Live. Lacking the patience to do this myself, I would have loved the option of sharing another’s option file. I understand why this was left out though – I don’t think Konami would like to have their name sullied because some childish soccer hooligan decided to remake Chelsea with penises on the foreheads.

Speaking of Live, avoid playing this online. I’ve played a couple of games and the lag was terrible. Admittedly I’m on a slower connection now, but I’ve played other fact action games without a hiccup. This was unplayable – players warping around, goals missed as the lag tried to catch up, it was just a horrible, horrible experience. I prefer playing PES against someone in the same room, and it’s great for getting a bunch of buddies around, but avoid online play until there’s a patch.

Conclusion:
The simple fact of the matter is Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 should have been released last year. PES 6 for Xbox 360 was a gimped version of PES 6 for Playstation 2. This year we get the full game, and it’s still PES, but that works for and against it. Yes, it’s still got the awesome soccer feel. Yes, it’s controller breakingly frustrating to play at times. Yes, it’s got the ability to edit teams and players now.

But still, it feels a bit like we’re getting the same game over and over. Like the Tony Hawk series, it’s beginning to feel stale. There’s nothing extraordinarily different in terms of the actual gameplay despite the ‘TeamVision’, and he flaws it does have – the slow down in replays, the terrible online play, indicate that maybe Konami are starting to rest on their laurels slightly.

Pros:
Excellent simulation of the beautiful game
Scoring goals takes is easier, but overall play is still challenging.
Long and deep Master League.
Create your own leagues.
Ability to edit teams, players and strips is great for the fans of real clubs.
Greatly improved music.

Cons
Steep learning curve could put off players of other sports games.
Extremely laggy when playing online.
Should have allowed sharing of edited teams over Xbox Live.
Commentary gets repetitive.

85/100

dB Magazine, Interview, Music, Writing

Katalyst

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Ashley Anderson, better known as Katalyst, has many fans both in Australia and around the world. Co-Label and one of the men behind Portishead Geoff Barrow is a big fan, and DJ Z-Trip recently showed his love for Anderson by playing his debut album around Europe and the USA. “We actually hung out on the Good Vibrations Tour,” Anderson says proudly, “and I found out he’s a fan of my first album.”

The reason I mention Z-Trip is Katalyst’s second album, What’s Happening is very similar to Z-Trip’s debut Shifting Gears in that not only are some well known MCs used to great effect, but rock artists are also thrown into the mix to produce striking aural delight. Furthermore both shirk the “hiphop” genre without losing their individual identity. “I didn’t want to be pigeonholed as a producer of party and hiphop tracks,” Anderson explains. “I wanted to show case different styles I’m into and that I can get my head around but still give it a unified sound across the record. It was something I set out to do and it influenced the guests I decided to get on the record.”

The album is also very political, which has become a passion for Anderson recently. Whilst never directly attacking any one political ideology directly, the songs speak of the state of the world today, with some of it quite biting. “I think it’s an important thing that people are thinking about what’s going on in the world. Without wanting to preach to people and turn them off of the music I thought it would be nice to include some political subtleties on there and give the album a theme that would help the artists focus onto.”

The soulfulness of What’s Happening is refreshingly surprising, especially from a hiphop artist, and I wondered if this was a response to all the crap hiphop that’s coming out, especially from the USA. “I think it may be a response to the crap hiphop,” Anderson laughs, “but I think it’s just a reaction to all the crap music out there as well. A lot of the electro people seem to be into these days has very little soul. For me the thing that defines good or bad music, or music that I’m into or not, is whether it has a certain degree of soul in it, so there’s an underlying soul to the stuff I do or the stuff I’m attracted to.”

What’s Happening features MCs Hau, Ru C.L and Nfa from Australia, Yungun from the UK, and J Live and Diverse from the USA. But Anderson doesn’t confine himself to hiphop, utilising soul singers such as Steve Spacek and Stephanie McKay, as well as folk and rock performers such as Katie Noonan from George and Adalita from Magic Dirt. And this wide assortment of players will be accompanying him on his national tour.

“It’s going to be a big show and I’m excited about doing a live set rather than the traditional DJ based format I’ve played before, so I’m really looking forward to,” he says sincerely. “I’ve already worked with a lot of the guests on various things and we’ve got the band together – Leeroy Brown on turntables and one of the finest kepboard players in the country Stu Hunter (who’s played with Portishead, silverchair, the John Butler Trio amongst others) on keys and bass, and I’m rocking drum machine / sampler. Steve Spacek is based here at the moment and we’ve been jamming together, Ru C.L. and Hau are able to be here for rehearsal and Steph (McKay) is coming out a few weeks before for recording, so we’ll get some serious sessions in between there. Having done stuff off her first album and forthcoming one we’ll probably do stuff off there. And J Live is such a seasoned MC, he doesn’t need to practice!” Anderson laughs.

This will be accompanied by an audio visual show that was created by Anderson in conjunction with some friends. “I’ve played some smaller shows and had a really good reaction to them,” he says. Whilst the visuals aren’t exactly interactive in the way that Coldcut are, they have been designed to flow with the music, and will add an extra dimension to what is already sounding like a great experience.

Katalyst plays with his band and guests on Thurs 22 Nov at The Governor Hindmarsh, and his second album What’s Happening is out through Inertia now.

dB Magazine, Music, Review, Writing

Chemical Brothers – We are the Night

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Listening to the Chemical Brothers is a little like eating at your favourite restaurant every day for a year. You know exactly what you’re going to get, and as time passes it’s not as great as it should be, but you keep heading back simply because of the familiarity and the cute waitresses. But, even if the waitresses were offering blowjobs, it’s very hard to continue servicing this establishment.

The album starts off strong with the title track, ‘We Are The Night’, which whilst stereotypically Chemical Brothers still maintains some of Tom and Ed’s genius in melding sounds that shouldn’t go together into a groovy whole. Disclaimer – Strong, in context of this album is a bit like celery that’s been in the sun for 3 days.

‘All Rights Reversed’ sees the first collaboration on the album which happens to be the Klaxtons, who I think are overrated anyway, and this does nothing to discourage that belief. It’s just plain boring. ‘Saturate’ is another throw away track, sounding like the most generic house track possible, whilst ‘Do It Again’ featuring Ali Love sounds like the most generic electro track possible. When will people learn that electro and house is not good music? It was good music 10 or 20 years ago when these sounds were fresh to ears not used to electronic sounds, but in a day and age where even coffee cups beep it’s just stupid.

‘Das Spiegal’ is a bit of fun, with accordions sounding synths squeaking over the Chemicals signature beats. ‘The Salmon Dance’ with Fatlips is also a bit of fun, easily a favourite, although I have a love of songs about fish. ‘Burst Generator’ is possibly the closest they come to their old glory days, but it’s destroyed by the ‘A Modern Midnight Conversation’ which follows it. This tune with its Thompson Twins vocals and 80s mentality is bound to be featured in a dance scene in this season of Queer as Folk. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but there’s a time and a place for that and it’s not after a really rocking track.

Battle Scars with Willy Mason is forgettable, Harpoons is too much like a too long interlude between tracks, and ‘The Pills Won’t Help You Know’ featuring Midlake pretty much says it all – no matter what drugs made you enjoy the Chemical Brothers in the past, they’re not going to help you get over how average this album is.

dB Magazine, Event, Review

Parklife @ Botanic Gardens Adelaide on Sun 23 Oct 2007

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“All the people, So many people” pretty much sums up Parklife in Adelaide on Sun 23 Oct. And it has to be said, Adelaide really came to the party. The sun, the park set up, the crowd, and the music were absolutely perfect. The inaugural Adelaide show proved that Adelaide has the population and the will to go out to a large event that isn’t rock orientated.

I got there and did my usual scoping out of the joint. There was a lot of eye candy of both the male and female variety, and it’s the best looking crowd I’ve been a part of in Adelaide, by far. There were three stages spread across the park, a good number of bars and toilets, and enough variety in food stalls to fill up the fussiest eaters.

I really wanted to see Greg Packer, and was very surprised to see MPK behind the decks, which were promptly moved to the side of the stage so Shapeshifter could do their thing. MPK looked bemused, but coped well with the disruption, and still danced and clapped although almost invisible behind the roadies and equipment.

Shapeshifter began with their mellower dnb, but brought in the rolling basslines quickly and amped up the crowd as their set progressed, concluding with an almost hard rock feel leaving the crowd screaming for more. I was so entranced by Shapeshifter that I only saw two of the Greenskeepers tracks, but they had a decent crowd who were really enjoying the performance which was high energy and full of fun.

As I drifted back between Shapeshifter and Stereo MCs, who were playing nice beats to a small and enthusiastic bunch of nutters, I thought I’d at least try and understand why Ajax is inthemix’s number one DJ. Unfortunately I still don’t see the appeal. Kid Kenobi and MC Sureshock didn’t inspire me much either though.

DJ Craze was up after Stereo MCs, and although I’ve enjoyed Craze in the past, there was something not quite right about it this time. It was a little more varied musically, but was a bit messier. A friend mentioned that it was a bit like Z-Trip, and I have to agree, but where Z-Trip excels is his flow. Craze lacked that, and was poorer for it. Still enjoyable though. The Herd were their usual self – great and lots of fun, although they seemed to be lacking a bit of volume. Adam Freeland was pretty predictable, although the crowd loved it.

The Scratch Perverts were the highlight of the night, their ability on the decks unsurpassed. Although it was a mash like Craze’s set, the flow was a lot more conducive to jumping around and having fun. Following them was Lyrics Born, who is always a fine performer and didn’t disappoint this time either.

Digitalism were great musically, although all I could see was smoke and flashing lights and two silhouetted figures behind keyboards and boxes. Busy P joined Justice behind the decks for a massive mashup, starting with the Jackass theme song, and playing all sorts of funky shit. MIA ended the night with her own brand of crazy hiphop and amusing stage antics.

One of my favourite things about Parklife, and the reason I’ve journeyed to Sydney in the past to be a part of it is the variety of music. And although I felt there was a lack of variety here in Adelaide compared to previous years, I wasn’t left wanting at all. I just think there could have been different styles of breaks beyond the electro stuff, and a little more dnb thrown into the mix. But all in all it was an excellent day full of great music and wonderful people.

dB Magazine, Interview, Music, Writing

Kid Confucius

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Having eight people in a band, you’d tend to expect a lot of conflict between members. Especially when not in the studio recording, those members are out on the road touring constantly. But Bart Denaro of Kid Confucius enjoys the time he spends with his band mates. “It’s almost like a school camp with us,” he laughs, “because there’re at least 10 people in the entourage and it’s just a lot of fun. Even if you do have a problem or a problem comes up you can distance yourself from it because there’s so many people [to interact with].”

Kid Confucius are promoting their sophomore album ‘Stripes’, a soulful exploration of funk and hiphop, inspired by the likes of Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder, with a little bit of rock thrown in. “Personally as a drummer,” says Denaro, “I would say my biggest influence would have to be John Bonham (of Led Zeppelin fame), but then it moves to the old soul session players like Bernard Perdie and Al Jackson, and those kinds of bands. Our influences have changed though and me and a lot of the band have a strong rock influence”.

“When we got together the first song we jammed on was Suck My Kiss by the Chilli Peppers,” Denaro explains the rock link further. “And that kind of party funk thing we were doing in the beginning, that is appealing to anyone on the level that you go out to a club and don’t really know the song, but still dance to it. And for a young band that’s really appealing. You don’t need people to know you, you don’t need to be on the radio to be able to do a good gig, the people just get into it because it’s got that groove to it,” he smiles. “Then we started looking a bit deeper into the music we were listening to. We started looking at those who inspired the funk, like Stevie and that, and started focusing on those elements for this album.”

Not only have the influences evolved, but also the whole song writing process. “In the beginning Andrew (Guirguis aka Pre Fab, the band’s MC) penned pretty much most of the songs on the first album. Since the first album I’ve had a lot more to do with the production side of things because I spent a lot of time working with our producer Buckman (Tony Buchen). Also Rob (Hezkial, the bands main singer) became more involved with the writing process. The songs start from one person’s idea, say a verse idea or chorus, and grow from there. We did about 4 months of pre-production in which we brought those ideas to the table and worked through them as a band. So ‘Stripes’ was a much more collaborative thing than we’ve ever done before.”

Their tour,called ‘The Street Corner Soul Tour’, celebrates Soul music in a similar way to Aretha Franklin’s Fillmore West concerts of 1969 by playing at traditional rock venues around the country. “The Fillmore West was traditionally a rock Mecca in San Francisco and the very gesture of Aretha Franklin playing there was a real statement for soul music. She sold out two nights there which was a real landmark for soul at that time. This idea really struck true for us because we live in such a rock centric country, and we wanted to do something in the same vein – play rock venues and pubs and brazenly play soul music.”

“We kicked the tour off with two nights at the Annadale in Sydney, it’s THE pub-rock venue in Sydney,” Denaro explains, “and we’ve had a couple of gigs there before and haven’t had the greatest time because of therock status. But going in there with this premise, with the word Soul in the tour name, we had two of the best shows we’ve ever played there!” he grins.

They also hit the street corners in the literal sense. “We get as much of the band out there on the street and do an impromptu performance, and the response has been awesome! So far we’ve done a performance in Sydney in Newtown, Brisbane in the Valley, and on Brunswick St in Melbourne. We’ve bought a little battery powered speaker we can plug a couple of guitars and the vox mic into, and we drive around the city, look for a nice spot and then do it as quickly as we can before we get any police attention!” he laughs.

He’s pretty confident it will happen in Adelaide, so don’t be surprised if you see a Tarago pull up to somewhere around the city, and eight musicians pile out and start playing sweet soul music. But if you don’t manage to catch them this way, they’re playing Fri 12 Oct at the Governor Hindmarsh.

dB Magazine, Interview, Music, Writing

The Scratch Perverts – Tony Vegas

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Commencing life as an eight person monster hiphop crew, set up to challenge the dominance of the Americans in the DMCs, then whittled down to just three amazing performers, The Scratch Perverts now epitomise all that is good about dance music. They’ve grown and matured from the hiphop scene, playing a diverse and clever range of music that encourages people to listen to stuff they wouldn’t normally listen to, and which prohibits the group from being pigeonholed into any other category than “simply superb”.

Tony Vegas, the man who originally kicked off the Scratch Perverts isn’t afraid to speak his mind. When I mention the fact that some people choose to criticise them for playing stuff other than hiphop in the begining, he shoots off into a massive, well though out rant that has us both chuckling throughout. “People always want you to be the person they want you to be,” he begins philosophically. “It’s a fact of being a performer to a certain extent. If the Red Hot Chilli Peppers played in Australia tomorrow night and just performed stuff off their yet to be released new album, people would be like “what the fuck! I wanted you to do Under the Bridge” and so on. People want you to be who they want you to be, and personally I have no interest in that. You’re there to show them who you are and who you know yourself to be.”

“People can interpret how you perform however they choose to, but if any of those who’ve criticised us for playing stuff other than hiphop can tell us that the hiphop scene is so good that we shouldn’t play stuff other than hiphop, I’ll gladly listen to them. But as far as I’m concerned the whole hiphop scene is on its arse, and has been for ages; it’s shit!” he chuckles. “Yeah ok Kanye West’s new album is going to come out and it’s going to be good, yeah definitely no doubt,” he concedes “but where is everything else? There’s just not good stuff coming out anymore and it’s not 1989 anymore.”

“We play music that affects us emotionally and we like as a crew,” he states. “Hiphop was never about one particular ‘thing’, it was always about interpretation of music, and that’s what I still consider it to be. I’ve been into hiphop since the early 80s and I’m old in that game and I’m pretty sure in my opinion of what hiphop is meant to be. It’s not about a guy with a microphone rapping over a fucking Scott Storch beat; it was never meant to be that and was meant to be more than that. If people’s interpretation of it is simply that then they’re welcome to it, but I don’t think it’s really fair for people to, in a bitchy way, challenge other people’s interpretation of music. I think it’s just a bit weak to be honest.”

With that out of the way, we discuss the fortunes of the group. “The DJing thing for us seems to get bigger all the time. It’s really good to be busy, especially at home as we’re doing two to three shows a week, though we try to not do more than that,” Vegas says. “We’ve been in the studio a little, and are working out a clothing range with Maharishi to represent the brand we see our name being. But we’re mostly focused in the studio. We hibernate and look at our monitors for 12 hours a day and gradually go mad,” he chuckles.

The Scratch Perverts are known for combining hiphop and drum and bass, so I asked Vegas if they had anything special planned for Australia in the way of tricks. “If people think us playing drum and bass is a headfuck then they should wait to see us play in Australia,” he says mysteriously. After a bit of prodding, he explains a little of what we can expect. “We’re going to work out a few trick things to include,” he mentions casually. “We play a little dubstep now, so we start with that and move into hiphop. We’re influenced by the French scene at the moment, Diplo, Justice, Switch and those kinds of guys, and we think the stuff in the middle will really surprise a lot of people. I don’t think anyone making music at the moment can ignore Justice and the quality of their production. You can’t but help to be influenced by that and if people want to ignore it they’re being childish,” he rants again. But to all those who love dnb, don’t fret. “We end up with drum and bass and so you’ll hear 180bpms a minute, and end up bleeding,” he laughs.

Scratch Perverts play Parklife alongside Adam Freeland, Justice, Digitalism, Stereo MCs and more, held at the Botanic Gardens on Sun 23 Sept.

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

Tenchu Z

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Ninjas are the ultimate in cool. Their history and purpose is surrounded in myth and mystique. Secret assassins of the Shogunate and Japanese nobility, they have enraptured the minds of the Western world in film, books, comics and video games. So it’s always a big let down when a game starring ninjas turns out poor. And poor is the perfect adjective for Tenchu Z.

The story of Tenchu Z begins in feudal Japan, and involves you, a ninja obviously, being hired to take out various marks for your Ninja master. There is some kind bad blood between various villages, and you have to kill people because they’ve done bad things to other people. It’s one of those annoying Japanese stories, kinda like Dynasty Warriors, where you’re not sure if everything in the story is connected or not, and if it is, it’s lost in translation anyway. For example, you get to create a fellow ninja who appears occasionally in the story, but doesn’t seem to do much except spout some weird Confucian crap now and then in cut scenes.

Many Japanese games have odd, hard to follow stories, but make up for that with cool action or great graphics. Unfortunately Tenchu Z has neither. You are given a mark to kill, and you’ll find them within a complex, usually a Japanese temple. They’re not always temples, sometimes it’s a restaurant, sometimes it’s a dock, and other times it’s a whole village. But the design from level to level is so similar that it doesn’t matter what it actually is, it looks like a Japanese temple. You’re never told exactly where that mark is located though. You see a cut scene that gives a basic idea of what the character looks like and the surrounding location in which they’re to be found, but that’s it. They’re not marked on a map nor are any other clues given. I suppose that, despite to all the evidence to the contrary, ninja organisations had really poor intelligence back in the 1600s.

Now, initially this doesn’t seem like it would pose a problem. You’re a ninja, right? You can sneak around and scout out the place yourself. And to aid you in that endeavour you have a meter that shows you how hidden you are, how aware the enemy is of your presence, and how far away to you are from each other. Whilst good in theory, in practice this fails due to the most frustrating game AI ever encountered in a game.

On the one hand the AI can spot you through walls and roofs. This makes sneaking about and avoiding being detected a little difficult. And if you open a door and there is an enemy in the room, you instantly alert them to you presence. The problem is compounded because the mark is nearly always in a room with a door that is closed. Open the door and the mark is alerted to your presence, and you’re rushed by guards. At first I thought this was just me, maybe I was doing something wrong, but time after time, door after door it happened.

Yet on the other hand the AI has the memory of a gold fish. Run behind another building, or jump over a wall, and the alarm is dropped. Worse still is that AI will automatically go back to its predictable patrol path, meaning you can attempt to sneak past or kill the enemy again and it will be rather blasé about the whole thing. What this does allow you to do is race through the whole level until you find your mark without much hassle. It doesn’t matter how many alarms and guards you alert, there is no punishment apart from the fact you get less gold at the end of the level.

Gold is used to buy new outfits, weapons and skills, including new stealth kills. Whilst these make playing the game slightly more interesting, this is no real incentive to play through the game stealthily. The AI is so poor that the pay off to do a stealth kill never seems worth it. And with all the stealth moves you’re meant to be doing, when it comes to the boss levels, such as the one on the docks that was in the demo, you’ll find that all gets chucked out the window and you’re forced into confrontation. Because you’re used to sneaking about, the direct confrontation is a jarring jump in terms of gameplay.

The control set up has to be one of the worse ever. You need to press a button to draw your sword, and another to strike it. When sneaking if you see a guard and pull out the sword, he hears and is alerted to your position. But if you don’t have your sword out, you can’t do half the stealth kill moves. Likewise, to throw a star or grapple you have to press a button to go into first person view, then press another button to throw the star / grapple. Again, this is frustrating as you will often get seen before you have a chance to position yourself well. On top of that, the camera is horrid. It’s free moving to allow you some sense of situation awareness, but it feels completely awkward as it never snaps back, so you can get thoroughly disorientated.

Graphically the game is the very ugly stepsister of Team Ninja’s Ninja Gaiden on Xbox. Although the locations are quite well realised, as mentioned they all pretty much look the same. Considering you’re on the rooftops most of the time, a bit of variety might have gone a long way. Although the character animation is smooth, the overall feel is of a PS2 game. The enemy characters all look the same, with textures and models reused over and over again, sometimes making it impossible to tell a mark from a guard from an “innocent”. In fact, I didn’t even realise there were “innocents” in the levels until I saw in my end of level screen that I had killed one. And even more incredibly, there is no facial animation for any character in any cut scene. They talk, but mouths and eyes don’t move. I was stunned by this – I thought we were in the next generation of console gaming!

Sound is probably the best aspect of the game. Drawing your sword has a satisfying ring as it emerges from the scabbard, and the footsteps of your enemy get louder as they approach, giving you a greater sense of your surroundings and situation. When you do battle the stereotypical ninja battle sounds can be heard – swords classing, yelling out “Kiiyyaa!” and so on. The music is also as you would expect from a ninja game set in the 1600s – lots of oriental flute and harp.

Conclusion:
Tenchu Z is pretty craptacular. Admittedly there is a bit of fun to be had here when you do stealth around maps, but as soon as the AI sees you through a wall, or you open a door and it alerts the guards, the fun is over. Moreover, the fact you can run through a level, alerting everyone to you presence, and still complete the level makes a mockery of the whole concept of a stealth game. Unfortunately for Tenchu Z there are games that do the stealth action genre a hell of a lot better, and with nothing else going for it other than ninjas, this one is best left alone.

Pros:
You play a ninja
Lots of customisable outfits
Nice sound

Cons:
Worst AI you’ll find in a game
Can complete levels without being stealthy
Really bad controls and confusing camera
Looks terrible

49/100

dB Magazine, Interview, Music, Writing

Digitalism

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Born in Hamburg, Germany, signed to French label Kistune, and distributed throughout the world by Virgin and EMI, Digitalism seem to have the world at their feet. Like the mighty Daft Punk before them, from who they draw influence and are often compared to, their strongly European irrelevant sense of fun gushes from their electronic instruments onto the vinyl of DJs and then to the dance floors of the world.

Jens Moelle and Ismail Tuefekci met in a record store when Moelle was behind the counter and Tuefekci an eager punter. “I had known the record store owner for a number of years and was really good friends with him,” Tuefekci says is a smooth German accent. “It was a really cool atmosphere in there. When Jens had exams I worked there in his place, and when he came back I found out Jens produced at home and I produced at home.”

“The owner had a party, and because Jens and I come from the same generation he billed us to play together. And that night was so funny because Jens knew what I would play and I knew what he would play and that. When we DJ we need some exciting stuff,” Tuefekci explains. “I’m not looking for particular labels or artists. I’m interested in music, not who’s producing this song or which label that. We like to throw different types of music in a mix, not just keep it one way for a whole night. We might throw in some punk, rock, electro, dance or whatever.”

In 2002 Digitalism formed their studio. “We and another friend had a stupid idea to start a studio,” laughs Tuefekci. “We were bored of all the records, you know working in a record store so long we were just searching for something new.” That studio was set up in a bunker in Hamburg, Germany, which helped to create an unique atmosphere to record songs that have an irrelevant feel. “We play a strobe light when we are producing, we don’t have windows, and after three or four hours there’s no fresh air. We can’t take it seriously,” he chuckles again.

Hamburg, being a small German town, has a big influence on Digitalism. Tuefekci explains that Hamburg doesn’t have a big dance scene, but it’s the home of German hiphop, but unlike in other places the hiphop is influenced by electronica and vice versa. “We’re not in a French scene or London scene or Berlin scene. We know the people there in those and are talking to them a lot, are friends with them, but we aren’t in a scene. And we don’t want to focus on one scene, we want to take all of that and mix it together. It’s really cool because we have friends in those scenes, but we are very isolated, not in a bad way but in an interesting way.”

After wooing crowds DJing and doing a few bootlegs including The White Stripes’ 7 Nation Army and the Cure’s Fire in Cairo, their catchy electro-pop caught the ears of French label Kitsune, “After Zdarlight,” one of their first popular singles, “they sent a girl from the label to talk to us and they were really excited and were looking for more and more.” That led to their debut album ‘Idealism’, a fresh take on the booming electro scene spearheaded by Justice and Australia’s Presets. “We were helped out by Kim from the Presets on Pogo,” Tuefekci mentions. “We have a prodigious output and the label helped a lot with choosing songs and graphics. It’s not like they are a major label, we feel like it’s an independent and it’s a really cool feeling for us as artists.”

Digitalism are keen to hit Australia for Parklife, which is hitting Adelaide for the first time this year. When asked about their set up for the gig, Tuefekci explains that they like to keep it simple. “Our sound is between a band and electronic artist, you know? Jens and I are a duo and it’s important for us to stay together without four or five in the whole band thing when on the road. When on stage Jens is singing and I am on E-Drums and then we play on our electronic gear – synthesisers and sound controller and samplers,” he says, but stresses that even so they contain a lot of energy and like to have a lot of fun.

Digitalism play Parklife alongside Adam Freeland, Justice, Scratch Perverts, Stereo MCs and more, held at the Botanic Gardens on Sun 23 Sept.

dB Magazine, Interview, Music, Writing

Jamie Messenger

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When your knowledge of classical music comes from Disney and Warner Brother Cartoons, it’s  hard to conceive questions for one of Adelaide’s foremost classical composers. However, Jamie Messenger doesn’t fit the mould usually conjured up by the words “classical composer.” He plays keyboards, guitars and sings in bands, has produced and arranged numerous pieces for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO), including shows ‘All You Need Is Beatles’, ‘Zeppelin Flies Again’ and ‘Orchestral Pink Floyd’, and of course is the composer behind the incredibly successful ‘Hard Road Restrung’ album with the Hilltop Hoods.

He even laughed heartily at my suggestion the Simpsons may have been an inspiration for the merging of hiphop and orchestration, giggling at the idea it was thought up whilst someone was stoned. So, what did inspire him to merge the Hilltop Hoods and the ASO? “Essentially it’s just a good idea,” he smiles. “I heard a lot of the Hilltop Hoods music before and I thought it had a chance of working – I didn’t know for sure to be honest,” he chuckles, “but I thought it was worth a try. When we did some work with the string quartet to start with (for the ARIAs) from that I got an indication of what they’re like and what they’d be happy with, which gave me a good grounding to do the orchestral score.”

“There’s certainly a lot of scope in rock, and even more so in hiphop, to add orchestral elements,” he explains. “With hiphop there’s not as much melody to clash, you don’t have to switch to a melody, and that, so you’ve got the whole gamut of melody and new harmony you can add to the music. Certainly with a lot of rock music there’s not a lot you can do with it and you have to chug along with the chords, but there is some rock music that gets more intricate. Hiphop music is based on samples repeated through the piece so you’ve got the option of writing one section and looping it or you can take the option I did and expand the piece right to the end and write the dynamics into it,” he continues. “Rather than take the sample and say ‘we’ll turn it up here’, I’ve used those techniques and put it into the actual orchestration, so instead of using a filter or effect, I get that sound just through the way I orchestrate it.”

I was surprised when Messenger told me the Hilltops were quite hands off. “The songs they really liked were those I had changed a lot and added some new melodies and things like that, so from my point of view it was great!” he grins. “The Hilltops didn’t really have much input or knowledge of what I was going to be doing but they weren’t checking up and saying we want this or that; they had enough faith in me and trusted me enough,” he laughs. “I was always a bit hesitant at how well it would work,” he confesses. “I was uncertain to how diehard hiphop fans would take to having an orchestra with the band but I’m really glad people enjoy it and get into it.”

And boy, did people enjoy it! ‘The Hard Road Restrung’ debuted at no 8 on the ARIA record charts, and the sellout concert at Adelaide Entertainment Centre saw 7,200 fans smashing attendance records for a local act. I asked Messenger if he had talked to any of the orchestra since and what they thought of it. “They were certainly blown away by the magnitude of the crowd and how they knew all the lyrics and singing along at the right time. The crowd certainly doesn’t act like that at a normal gig the ASO will play. The audience don’t jump up and sing along with the operas,” he laughs. “I think they can see how much people appreciate what they did, and who doesn’t want 7,200 people screaming and cheering for you,” he chuckles again.

If there was one criticism I could have levelled at the show it was the fact the orchestra were tucked behind the band and weren’t brought to the forefront of the show. Messenger assures me this was for the best. “We never had done anything to this scale before and the logistics of the concert meant it’s better to keep them back there. They have to be able to see the conductor the whole time, and the sound on the stage made it very hard to hear what was going on. Timing-wise it just makes it easier if they’re all together in one place.”

Messenger just finished doing the ‘ASO Plays Queen’ shows in Adelaide, and is taking it to other states, “although Freddy couldn’t make it unfortunately” he laughs. He says after this he will take some time off to concentrate on writing music for his band the Scholars, and it will be very interesting to hear what this talented musical maestro will come up with next.

The Hard Road Restrung is out now through Obese Records.

dB Magazine, Interview, Music, Writing

Benga

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Now, I don’t make these types of calls often as I hate coming across as a wanky music journalist, but it’s not very often these days you witness the birth of a movement of fresh sounding music. Sure, there are sub-genres of the popular standards that do very well and can sometimes evolve their own scene, as witnessed with “emo”. And there is music that simply sounds like older music, like “nu-gaze” which imitates and expands the genre a little but keeps so much essence of the original to be unoriginal in and of itself.

But it’s my opinion that Dubstep is a new form of music, different enough from its roots to be its own genre, and fresh enough from all the other music out there to not be a subgenre of something else. Although it has been around for a number of years, Dubsteps roots lie in UK dance genres Garage and Drum & Bass, but the music expands from its influences so much that it finds a wider and different audience, and is becoming more popular outside its UK homeland, expanding its reach into Europe, America and Australia.

One of its leading lights is Beni Uthman, better known as DJ Benga, a South London DJ who along with DJ Skream is at the forefront of the Dubstep movement. Uthman started off mixing Garage from an early age, but also listened to a lot of Drum & Bass. “I never really had a preference – I liked everything. When I started mixing it wasn’t because I liked garage more,” he explains, “it was because I had more garage around me at the time. All my brothers were MCs, and would MC to garage, and that’s how I got into it.”

He also got a lot of help from the guys at Big Apple Records in Croydon, South London, his home town. “Whenever I went in there when I was younger they were like “can you DJ, can you really DJ?” and I could. I remember one time it was quite late and it was shutting hours, so I said to them let me have a mix. So they let me have a mix and they were shocked because I was only 12 or 13! I could barely reach the top of the counter,” Uthman laughs. “They came out and saw me DJ out as well and were so impressed they gave me sponsorship and that,” he smiles.

Knowing the sounds he liked, they helped Uthman find tunes with the subbass and broken beats he liked. This was found mostly on B-Sides of garage and grime tunes, but wasn’t exactly to his liking. He had a passion for the darker sounds of drum and bass, but loved the dance beat of garage, and couldn’t find exactly the sound he wanted to play on other people’s records so with DJ Skream he started producing his own material, releasing tunes on the ‘Big Apple Records’ label. “My sound, I would say,” he muses, “come from drum and bass style synths, drum and bass style baselines, with a garage tempo drums. Because of my UK garage influences I have the rolling drums, but I still have that half-time beat… with a little bit of techno in there as well,” he chuckles.

Radio has been very important in promoting dubstep to a wider audience. BBC Radio 1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs championed the sound on her show ‘Dubstep Warz’ in 2006, and Skream’s own show ‘Stella Sessions’ on the infamous pirate radio station Rinse FM also fills the airwaves with the subbase synonymous with dubstep. But it also reaches a global audience via the internet. “When people couldn’t lock into a show, barefiles would host it so they could download it at any time,” Uthman says, talking about www.barefiles.com, the probably-not-legal website which hosts radio shows from around the UK. “Because of this, I’d go to Amsterdam, and be shocked because the people would know the songs I was playing. I expected to have to warm them into it, but they already knew what was big and that sort of thing.”

It’s Uthmans first time to Australia, and he’s looking forward to coming. Being the first dubstep international to play Adelaide, he’s especially keen to pop our dubstep cherry. “I remember Skream (who’s played in Australia but not Adelaide) telling me the people are really friendly and the scene will get bigger and better because the people really love bassline. Bassline’s an international language,” he laughs, “Everyone loves bassline, innit?”

Benga plays at Rhino Room on Sat 8 Sep alongside DJs Jayar, Stagga4wrd, Bennie Raw, Macro & Audioopticon

Gigs & Mixes from the 2020s. Writing from the 2000s.