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Rilo Kiley More Adventurous
Rilo Kiley might be the cutest band in existence. Not ostensibly cute or the kind of cute that children and small animals possess, either. Cute with killer hooks. Everything about this band, its look, sound and honesty is so endearing, it hurts. This works to the band's advantage on More Adventurous, allowing them to whistle, clap their hands and sing lines like "I never (never being repeated 27 times) loved somebody the way that I loved you," all while retaining and enhancing cherubic glow.
enhancing cherubic grow.
After only three albums, Rilo Kiley have patented a universally appealing sound all its own: melodic folkronica anchored by Jenny Lewis' impossibly gorgeous vocals and Blake Sennett's effortlessly complex guitar harmonics. More Adventurois is a whirlwind of pop hooks, evocative guitar layers and lush electronic layering. Lewis embraces her golden larynx like never before, especially on "I Never" — a confessional country waltz where she howls like a Nashville superstar. Her emergence as one of rock's most talented female vocalists has taken Rilo Kiley to new heights on More Adventurous.
Adventurous.
There are no hiccups on this album, just great songs from Los Angelos that sound nothing like fabricated glam. Some fans might find Blake Sennett's lone vocal appearance on "Ripchord" distressing, as his vocal duties have diminished each album, but Lewis makes you forget all too quickly.
quickly.
After jumping ship from new indie-label leiathan, Saddle Creek, to a major label, some surely felt Rilo Kiley was the latest rock Judas. It's just that this band is too charming and universally appealing to be stifled by the clutches of hipsterdom. Few bands, big or small, are as talented as Rilo Kiley, and none of them are about to take over the world. Rilo Kiley will if people hear it.
Grade:A
— Dave Ruigh
Nintendo newest toys
Nintendo is revving up for the competition of the Holiday season. The company that created Mario and Luigi has waited until this time to start flexing their big guns with the games that made them what they
are today. Two representatives of Nintendo showed me the games they have lined up for the holidays.
The first game I tried out was Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. The game is due in stores Nov. 15. This game is predicted to be a big seller for Nintendo. Metroid has always been a staple
makes sence to switch to 3D mode," says Stephen Ward, Nintendo representative . After the success of games like Goldeneye, first-person shooters became really popular.
popular. The next game due out for the holiday season is Mario Power Tennis. This game is due on Nov. 8. This game has been in development for
always been a staple game for Nintendo and Samus has been an icon for Nintendo for years. Samus this time takes on a rescue mission. She crashes on a planet called Aether. The alien race called the Inge Horde attacks her and takes most of her weapons. You soon learn that the planet is split between a light and dark side and you must explore both to uncover the main mystery. The main thing about the Metroid titles on Nintendo Gamecube is the switch from third-person side scrolling to first-person shooter. "It
guns need development for years. New features have been added such as the Nintendo themed courts. Each court has different hazards to watch out for. I played on the Wario Factory court where you hit arrows to make
the court floor move. Also, each player comes with his or her own unique power shots for offense and defense. They come in handy when trying to get a leg up in a match. Mini-games have also been added. One game is Paint Face where you hit paintballs at a drawing on a wall and try to color it correctly. Possibly the biggest release for Nintendo this year will be it's new handheld system, the Nintendo DS. It makes it worldwide debut in America Nov. 21. It'll sell for $149.99. The Nintendo DS
is composed of two screens; one screen allows for touch input. The Nintendo DS comes with wireless features such as multiplayer and wireless chatting. The new system has the chatting software already installed into it. Some of the games scheduled for release for the Nintendo DS are Goldeneye, Madden and Super Mario 64 DS, a revamp of the original Mario 64 with even more missions and more playable characters. In this game the second-screen serves as a map of the level making it useful to locate items across the level.
it useful to locate items accessed
This holiday season should be a great time for gamers. Start creating a list now.
There's no telling how fast these Nintendo products will go.
— Chris Moore
Mortal Kombat: Deception
The newest incarnation of possibly the most well-known fighting game of all time blends together elements that made past games successful. Many older characters are brought back alongside newer ones, including Baraka, the metal-spiked arm guy and Nightwolf, the tomahawk-wielding badass. Another inventive character is Noob-Smoke, a combination of two characters. With a bit of practice, Noob-Smoke can dazzle its opponents from both sides of the screen with incredible speed. This time around MK:Dhas a few new modes of play. One mode lets you select a team of characters and play a sort of "chess kom-
places, on certain days, but spends
The new modes are only a side-track to
the konquest, which in the end is very
predictable. Overall, MK:D is a good fighting
game, but not quite as good as an adventure game. Definitely worth a rental or perhaps even a buy.
bat" with them. Another new mode is the puzzle kombat, which is basically a deadly game of Tetris. The konquest mode is held from the last game, but is heavily revamped. Konquest has an adventure-game feel with battles mixed in for good measure. A couple grips about the konquest mode: The voice acting is terrible and if you skip it, you won't hear the description of a quest. Further prodding produces only "Please, find 'insert object' before its too late!" Secondly, once you do find whatever it is that you're supposed to find, getting back to the person who gave you the quest in the first place can be difficult.
cult.
The krypt is back and massive as usual, but some of the koffins are locked with keys you can only find when you play the konquest mode. Look for this information on the Internet, because some of the keys only appear in certain worlds, in certain places, on certain days, at a specific time.
Grade: B+
— Nick Finnegan
11.4.04 Jayplay
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