1/29/23-2/4/23
Art of Rally
I have an odd sort of love for racing games, especially when it comes to rallying and, honestly, I’m not sure why. It might have something to do with Dirt 3.
Anyway, Art of Rally can be thought of as Funselektor’s follow-up to Absolute Drift and, like that game, it’s a top-down driving game with a minimal aesthetic and a surprisingly detailed control system. If you’re playing on the easiest difficulty in the career mode, you don’t have to be an expert driver, by any means, but if you don’t grasp the basics of drifting and other mechani8cs, you’re not gonna unlock everything you could. Absolute Drift doesn’t feel like it requires too much skill to drive away novices, but it isn’t simple enough to become boring. Easy to pick up, simple to master.
The career mode is a love letter to organized rally, starting in the late-60’s and ending in the mid-90s. Each vehicle group is and approximate versions of those cars are represented nicely (I assume), with each group feeling different and each car having different attributes keeping your toes. There’s a surprisingly huge amount of variety to the vehicles, and there are even a host of non-rally cars that you can spend some fun time with in the free roam, custom rallies, and other events in the game.
Art of Rally is a clear labor of love from Funselektor and is enjoyable throughout. I honestly think it’s one of the best driving games I’ve ever played, and I enjoyed a good amount of relaxation time after work driving through the various countries and courses that have been packed into this game on my Steam Deck. It’s surprisingly deep, and Funselektor is still working on content for it. I can’t wait to see what this developer does next.
Airplane!
I’ve seen this a million times, and guess what? It’s still funny. What do you want me to say?
Kitsuné Maison Compilation 3 by Various Artists
Very little chaff here, almost wall-to-wall bangers.
Dissident Remixes by GLOK
Quarter Turns Over a Living Line by Raime
Light Noise by Tentacle
Ferrum by Electric Indigo
Inform – Educate – Entertain by Public Service Broadcasting
I don’t love all the educational BBC clips, but there’s some solid tunes here. I started getting into Public Service Broadcasting after listening to Bright Magic, and I still think that’s the best, and couldn’t help but see the rest of the discography as kind of a disappointment. The good news is that Bright Magic is their latest album, so there’s a good chance that PSB is going to just keep getting better.
Advanced Myth by Dialect
I Love Y.O.U. cuz Y.O.U. Ugly by Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire
I really like Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire, and this is pretty solidl.
Frengers: Not Quite Friends but Not Quite Strangers by Mew
Did I only listen to this because the video for “156” is made by Ron Regé, Jr.? Perhaps. The rest of the album is still good, but I just figure I’d highlight that track because I’m one of those indie comics weirdos your parents told you to stay away from.
Significant Other (Music from the Motion Picture) by Oliver Coates
(Artificial Intelligence): Electronic Listening Music from Warp by Various Artists
Fantastic, even though, for some reason, most of the artists featured here are using a different names than they would eventually be known for.
Surfing in Sine Waves by Polygon Window
Aphex Twin before Aphex Twin. I think I like it more than any Aphex Twin album I’ve listened to, but that’s just me.
Let Us Play by Coldcut
Stink-o!