Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

Like many things (cell phones, microwaves, Coldplay), I came to Katamari Damacy late. Although it's been a cult hit for a year or two, and certainly been popular with co-workers, I never picked up Katamari Damacy (henceforth referred to as "KD) until last weekend. It just seemed kind of... simple. I tend to be wary of things that seem to be wildly popular for unclear reasons, and thus steered clear of it. However, I was just at Game Stop with $20 burning a hole in my pocket. Besides, I thought Susie might like it.

The appeal is undeniable. Although the mechanics are quite simple, the game design is ingenious. You basically just roll around the environment, picking up stuff and adding it to your katamari (which is apparently a sticky ball-thing). Your katamari grows as you pick up stuff, enabling you to pick up larger objects. As you grow, your perspective changes. Much of the satisfaction of the game derives from this progression. One minute, you're picking up pencils, then cats, then people, then cars, then houses, then clouds, oil tankers and entire islands. At first you might be picking up tacks and dodging dogs. The next minute you might burst out of the house and tumble down the street picking up shopping carts and small children.

Throw in some trippy cinematics and truly bizarre music, and you've got yourself a fun party game.

Gameplay: 10 (of 11)
Graphics: 8 -- oddly stylized, but satisfying
Sound: 9 -- really weird, no, really, but it works
Price: 11 -- At $20, how can you say no?
Overall: 9

Porcupine Tree: Deadwing (2005)

I was fortunate enough to stumble onto veteran British prog rock band Porcupine Tree thanks to Amazon.com and its gracious musical recommendations. I suppose my recent trend of collecting recent Dream Theater albums was what led them to connect us. A few samples on the site convinced me to pick it up, even though it's the most recent effort from a bad that's been around since the 80's. But hey, new music sounds better anyway, right?

If Porcupine Tree is the evolution of progressive rock, prog rock is in excellent hands. Far from the symphonic wanderings of 70s prog or the instrumental noodling and showy virtuosity of 80s prog, PT's songs are intelligent without being pretentious, interesting without trying too hard. The band is fluent in a wide variety of styles, yet each song, and indeed the album as a whole, is a coherent unity. This is a band that can write a completely natural-sounding chorus in 5/4, or write a 12 minute song and leave you wanting more.

The band's sound instantly identifies itself as unique. The soundscape ranges from atmospheric electronica, crunching metal riffs, to floating Pink Floyd vocal harmonies, yet each song, and in fact the entire album, presents a unified front. No instrument ever seems out of place. Each contributes to a unified whole. The group makes good use of their wide range of sound to present widely varying effects:

"Open Car" begins with a crunchy, distorted line that leads to a delicate, catchy pre-chorus featuring harmonized lines over a piano chords. Heavy guitar power chords crush and announce the chorus, and Steven Wilson's effortless tenor soars above them. The heavy rock feel of the song eventually dies down to an acoustic rendering of the chorus, perfectly expressing the song's theme of nostalgic, lost love.

"Lazarus" is a striking song; gentle vocal lines float above guitar strumming and piano arpeggios, creating a folksy, catchy groove. This pleasant arrangement is contrasted with excellent effect with slightly creepy lyrics.

The last song on the album, "Glass Arm Shattering," is a slow, warm acid-trip of close vocal harmonies and ambient effects that smoothly brings the album to a close.

Complexity: 9 (out of 11)
Virtuosity: 8 (out of 11)
Lyrics: 10 (out of 11)
Emphasis on Correct Syllable: 11 (out of 11)
Overall: 11 (out of 11)

Hot Spots: Lazarus, Arriving Somewhere But Not Here, Open Car, The Start of Something Beautiful

Weak Spots: None

Bottom line: I cannot get this disc out of my CD player. If you like rock, you should give some of these songs a listen. If you are a fan of progressive rock, your collection is imcomplete with out this disc.