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Arts

 

You win some, you lose a lot more

Luigi, it’s time for a party!

But-a Mario....we just had a party.
I’d-a like to-a stay at a *~~ —

a book tonight.

Luigi...It is time-a for a

party. What’s-a the matta
Luigi? Don’t you-a like-
a the Mini-stars? Luigi

   

By Allie Davison, Staff Writer

FALS
‘ve always been a big fan of the
[ee Party franchise. Over the
years, I’ve come to love those
virtual board games and their fun-
loving cast of mascots. But with
Mario Party 9 (released March 11),
things are a little too different.

The most drastic change in
Mario Party 9 is the elimination of,
well, anything other than luck. Gone
are the days of strategic Mario Party
playing, where the competition
of winning games and quick
movements bought you big shiny
stars. In this new series of worlds,
players stick together, travelling the

Romance, prescriptions, and chamber rock

By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor

(@)(©)(@)()(e)

ok at me Luigi

J

Eel ilvistiaceciiysOliven McTavish Wisden

map via “party bus.” On top of that,
stars and coins have been replaced
with “mini stars,” of which you can
win or lose massive amounts at the
mere roll of a die.

Now, I could just be getting
old, but I recall the mini-games
proposing a challenge. Here
however, they seem to have taken
away the need for skill, as the games
are easy to beat. And variety? Forget
about it!

Mario Party 9 lacks the
immediate appeal of its
predecessors. Are the days of glory
gone from Mario Party for good
though? It’s hard to say, but for now
I'd suggest sticking with good ol’
Mario Party 5 or 6.

 

Pure joy from ‘Mixed Emotions’

TANLINES

By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor

(©)(©)(©)(e)

— ES SS

rooklyn’s Tanlines released
B their debut album Mixed

Emotions on March 20. The
experimental pop duo, comprised
of Eric Emm (guitar and vocals)
and Jesse Cohen (drums and
additional instruments), had
everything to prove on this album;
how’d they do?

Mixed Emotions flows from
one head-bopping beat to the next,
with Emm’s vocals swimming
through each song. The liveliness
of the instruments is wonderfully
accompanied by Emm’s soft-
spoken, too-cool-to-care style of
striding through the lyrics. The
duo is perfectly in sync the whole
way through.

The album is deliciously “80s,

 

how to work together (even if the lineup has
changed over time). The band is led by singer
and guitarist Richard Edwards, who takes it

— SS SS SS

here’s a band that goes by the name of
| Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s. It’s an

American ensemble of several musicians,
and they have a wonderfully weird sense of
humour that reflects the freaky world around
them. Margot released its fourth studio album,
Rot Gut, Domestic on March 20, and the shaggy-
haired Ilama(?) on the album’s cover sort of
says it all.

Right away you can hear there’s a huge
team working behind every track. The
multitude of instruments reflects an intense
orchestra of masterful talents that clearly know

upon himself to be the ringmaster of this circus
of pessimists.
One song that practically sums up the

album in all its strangeness is “A Journalist Falls

in Love with Death Row Inmate 16.” It’s exactly
as it sounds, as this ballad-like tune co-sung
with a cute female voice uses violent imagery to
describe Inmate 16’s love for his sadistic young
lady friend. It almost melts your heart... with a
blowtorch.

Rot Gut, Domestic—while aggressively
surreal—is performed with expertise. Each song
is a unique blend of sweet energy that’s all too
aware of itself, and it’s amazing.

MIXED EMOTIONS

 

featuring hints of Duran Duran
and Oingo Boingo throughout.
Between tracks like “All of Me”
and “Yes Way,” it’s as if one’s
taken a trip back to the summer of
1985—sand, surf, and synth from
start to end. Is there a better way
to live?

Where one may feel like
getting some R&R though,
another may hear repetitive beats
backing a disinterested Yankee.
It’s all a matter of opinion, but if
another felt this is what the album
presented to them, unfortunately
the situation could understandably
go both ways. I personally love
the album, but I wouldn’t argue it
if someone said Emm and Cohen
were just a couple of dull boys.

Nonetheless, if Mixed Emotions
sounds even remotely like
something you’d enjoy, pick it up,
take a stereo out, and live up to
Tanlines’ name.