ARTSIN 12 I TUESDAY, Nov. 2, 2010 ALBUM REVIEW `Sidewalks ' Reviewed by Lindsay Cryer COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER The "Daylight" just never seems to stop shin ing for Matt and Kim. The duo known for the college anthem "Daylight" released its third album "Sidewalks" today. The band's last album, "Grand," was OK While "Daylight" was an instant hit, few of the other songs seemed to be worth a lis ten. In "Sidewalks," the band has continued the likeable qualities of that successful track into nearly every song. Matt and Kun has real- ly separated itself from other notable electro-pop bands such as Animal Collective and Passion Pit. The distinctive characteristic of the duo is in lead vocalist Matt Johnson's voice. It is clear and easy to listen to and, while not displaying much of a range, makes Matt and Kim that much more of a pleasurable, go-to act The opening track" Block After Block" proves to be a great introduction. The MGMT-meets-pop sound that made the band popular in the first place is heard beyond the first track and will cer tainly make the enjoyment of the album last. The thing that I liked the most about the album was the inclusion of various other genres. "Cameras" sounds a bit hip-hop. "Red Paint" and "Where You're Coming From" both sound like they sample sound effects from video games. "Wires" features a children's toy piano, strong percussion and bass beats, as well as some tech no sounds I didn't think that was possible. I really wish I had the space to describe each song. In efforts to use space wisely: "Silver Tiles" is ridiculously good and "Ice Melts" ends the album on sky-high note with a beat that sounds like "Apache" by the Sugarhill Gang. Take note: Almost every song has been men- tioned for how good it is. Johnson's voice is a perfect fit for the genre and for the sound the band seems to try to cre ate. Each song, while following a monotonous wanna-get-up-and-dance vibe, separates itself from the others and makes each listen enjoyable. The album is certainly worth a listen for music enthusiasts from almost any genre. The track "Daylight" really turned heads and the album "Sidewalks" will keep ears facing in Matt and Kim's direction for a while. Grade: A Download: "Block After Block," "Wires," "Ice Melts" To e-mail reporter: Ibcl46@psu.edu SAME REVIEW `Fallout: New Vegas' Reviewed by Chris Zook COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER War war never changes And neither does Bethesda Softworks Bethesda's newest game "Fallout: New Vegas," an open-world first-person role playing game released Oct. 19, was the much-anticipated addi tion to "Fallout 3." Unfortunately, the game feels much less like an addition and more like a copy. The game starts out in post-nuclear-holocaust America with your character getting shot and, miraculously. not dying as a consequence. You're brought back to consciousness and spend the rest of the game trying to find the gunman. But instead of taking place in the bombed-out remains of Washington, D.C., the game is set in the Mojave Wasteland essentially the Mojave Desert, but with even less life and joy. On the up side, this means the player is able to navigate the wasting issues of navi gating old subway lines. On the down side, basi cally the entire world is washed over in a dull, dusty brown. There are still the staples of every "Fallout" game, with super mutants, ghouls and the Brotherhood of Steel. Die-hards of the series will also recognize a few locations, including the New California Republic from Interplay's "Fallout 2." But novelty can only take a game so far, and for whatever sense of nostalgia or "hey, that's cool" these details convey, it can't cover for the game's downfalls. To put it lightly, "Fallout: New Vegas" is almost unbearably ridden with glitches. There is at least one potential technical problem for any possible scenario the player can imagine, and don't kid yourself they are game-breaking. But even with all its technical problems (or maybe because of them), a lot of the fun is in the leveling system, which gives the options of adding bizarre perks to the player's character. There are a ton of options, and each one does something unique. Still, this system was imple mented in the first "Fallout" from 1997, so it's nothing Bethesda's responsible for. All it did was beef up the graphics to current consoles. Basically, it breaks down to this: If you enjoyed "Fallout 3," you'll like "Fallout: New Vegas," mainly because it's more of the same. It would actually make sense if "Fallout New Vegas" was just another add-on to "Fallout 3," like "Mothership Zeta" or "The Pitt. With all the tech problems and the been-there done-that, "Fallout: New Vegas" wound up as a disappointment. Sixty dollars is entirely too much to pay for the same game twice. Grade: C To e-mail reporter. atMNNWPpsu.edu game without the time- wk'y,. It was this me sick half, one hand was covennt, my mouth and the other was covering mY eYes- All togetb er, I probably only saw 20 minutes of the movie without flinching or wanting to shield myself from what was haglening. It was ffi on the This fiat series took gore and it was the 31 my mind, even his crazy games. Seeing people's jaws off or their eyes get just made it all the mately more disgusting, The effects speak far themselvet. They are,: some and;gross, why part of the series' theruiot„ , Anything so goy makes me want tohe -, so on the poor otraugeo next to me is good book. ( *ening the love triangle was a. decision on director. Greutert's part ---- viewer in the mood'' THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
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