Friday Music

OK, Let’s get the request out of the way first. This is for who asked me last Satuday for some Blues. I was tempted to put up some mid-1930s Robert Johnson, but I decided to go with something a bit more standard, complete with Mojo, John The Conqueror Root, and the whole Hoodoo shebang: Muddy Waters – “Hoochie Coochie Man.”

One of the coolest things about the soundtrack to Velvet Goldmine is that they put in quite a few original songs, which appeared in the film as the music of Bryan Slade/Maxwell Demon. These songs were recorded by groups made up of various artists like Bernard Butler and Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Thurston Moore and Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth. This is one of my favorite tracks, recorded under the group name The Venus In Furs — the stutter-step jazz drumming on this really gets to me, and the melody manages to convey a sense of ethereal beauty. My description does it no justice. Listen. The Venus In Furs – “2HB.”

Occasionally, you have a really bad week. In times like those, you obviously need to listen to not-safe-for-work, kung-fu-movie-based hip-hop. I mean, DUH. This is one of my favorite tracks from the absolutely classic 1993 debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) — Wu-Tang Clan – “Wu-Tang Clan Aint Nuttin Ta Fuc Wit.”

How bad was the week? Let’s put it this way: The Bronx – “Shitty Future.” This is a hellacious song…love it. Of course, the group is called The Bronx….and they’re from L.A. Naturally.

Special for : A Propellerheads track that she hasn’t heard, because it’s not on the CD that she keeps stealing from me, decksanddrumsandrockandroll. This is a track from a follow-up EP, called, ingeniously, Extended Play. Propellerheads – “Crash.”

Another track from Rob Zombie’s new album, Educated Horses, which I’ve been listening to quite a bit since its release. Rob Zombie – “Let It All Bleed Out.” Needs more monster movie samples, but aside from that, I like it. :)

A track by Moby which was used as the opening music from the mediocre-but-fun car-heist movie, Gone in 60 Seconds. I like this kind of stuff from him the best — where he mixes new music from old recordings of blues, gospel and the like: Moby – “Flower.”

I just discovered this group, and I’m blown away by how beautiful this song is. I don’t know anything about them right now, but I’m planning on remedying that soon. Midlake – “Young Bride.”

Hope you enjoy this week’s selections. Here’s to better weeks ahead.

Decider….or Not.

George W. Bush, April 18th, 2006:

” I’m the decider and I decide what’s best. And what’s best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the secretary of defense.”

George W. Bush, April 19th, 2006:

“It’s going to be hard to replace Scott, but nevertheless he made the decision and I accepted it. “

Man, it’s gotta suck when you can’t stick to your bullshit posturing for even 24 hours……

Gaming: Wuxia-genre playtest?

If you’re seeing this post, it’s because I’ve added you to a super-secret filter of local folks who game.

Please do not publicize the information in this post, because none of this has been made officially public yet.

My company, Adamant Entertainment, has entered into a deal with Green Ronin, regarding their forthcoming Dragon Fist wuxia (Chinese fantasy) RPG. We’re going to be writing and editing the first two adventures published for the game — they’ll come out with both the Green Ronin and Adamant Entertainment logos on them. After that, Adamant will be producing an exclusive line of PDF support products for the game.

Green Ronin has sent me the manuscript. I need to write the adventures….and playtest them, which is where you come in.

If you’re interested in doing a few sessions of over-the-top wuxia action, please let me know. I’m thinking of trying to get it together once every 2 to 3 weeks or so. My schedule is flexible, so we can hash out a good day and time once we know who’s involved.

You’ll be credited as playtesters in the final products….and, actually, if we end up making comments which effect the core rulebook itself, you’d appear as playtesters for that as well.

The adventures are already titled: Tianguo Ghost Story and The Burning of the White Lotus Temple.