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Post by brain galacki on Dec 8, 2021 14:42:38 GMT -6
GREAT,, it's that time of year again. I had to put this crap together again this year and I'll admit I haven't listened to all 110 of these local releases this year.
Gonna have a fun time on the forum posting MY TOP 2021 albums list from this year, and also... MOVIES?? Feel free to post yours, but I'm waiting until it's closer to the very end of the year for mine!
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Post by somejabroni on Dec 17, 2021 11:56:29 GMT -6
Jabroni's 2021 Best "Local" Releases in no particular order
Special Death - S/TThank you Mr. Rat King. I'm really happy I found this CD, it's been in my car's cd tray for 8 months and I've probably listened to it 500 times. Dexter Anodyne Dexter Anodyne and the D. SparrowsDexter Anodyne is the punkest band playing in Springfield and I'll throw hands to defend that. Just bangers on this record front to back. Fujiko - Absolutely FunPortland is one of the best indie rock epics that I've ever heard, full stop. The rest of the record is a party, a bunch of songs that you can bounce to.
Nectar - Routine
If this song is any indication Nectar is going to put out a national AOTY candidate next year.
Local Drags - Keep Me Glued
I really liked Shit's Lookin Up. I think this is even better. It's like if the gaslight anthem and the copys made a record, it's so good.
High Meadows - Handle with Care
I didn't catch on to High Meadows until this year, and I'm really glad I did. Low Budget slaps, but when they dropped the No Mind single I knew they were onto something. Great, chill tunes.
Blind Equation - Life is Pain
Really happy this record is starting to catch on. If you like chiptune you're going to find something on this that you love.
Marble Teeth - I Sit at a Terrible Incline, I Sit Feeling Terrible Inside
Came out last month, this is a really great collection of the folky rock that Marble Teeth is mastering.
Prevention - What Do You Say No To?
What Do You Say No To is Springfield's song of the year. It's perfect hxc. Also the album art on this is choice.
Aftersome - Coda/Buggy Whip
I got to see Aftersome and the amount of talent in that band is ridiculous. This is the only thing they've got recorded and I'm really excited for them to get more out there.
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Post by brain galacki on Dec 18, 2021 22:10:32 GMT -6
Holy cow SomeJaboroni, you hit the nail on the head with all of those. I've been feeling way less in touch with what's going on locally these past couple of years (I'm sure we probably all have right gang), but you did a great job of highlighting the highlights right here. Also that Dexter release blew me away on the first listen, the most unfortunate thing I feel like is that the project is NOT a band that's actively playing any shows (and not even sure if there are plans for it to become one).
I'm so behind on doing what I need to be doing to be getting the Activator Best Of 2021 poll together 
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Post by somejabroni on Dec 21, 2021 9:05:31 GMT -6
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Post by jeffradon2000 on Dec 21, 2021 9:15:35 GMT -6
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Post by brain galacki on Dec 21, 2021 11:25:05 GMT -6
Wow :') so many memories on the forum. So much good times. So many games!
Jeff, time to make a list of all of the games that we debuted in the arcade this year? And for us to rank them?
OK, here is my ranking:
1. SHREK PINBALL - you know what, I'm giving it the #1 spot in our arcade right now. It's the most popular game right now, and it will probably stay that way. It actually WAS worth the trade for turdles.
2. Fishtales Pinball (we got it at end of last year, but debuted at the beginning of February when we re-opened the arcade) - I enjoy this game. A 90's Williams classic!
3. Dolly Parton Pinball (a crowd favorite, that is still the perfect first game you see when you walk through the arcade tunnel. I don't think a 70's or earlier pin will ever top this one, and also honestly the highlight of my pinball career is breaking 2 million and setting the 2nd highest score in the world (which might actually be the highest)
4. CROSSBOW - I gotta admit I haven't played this (or beaten it yet) nearly as often as I should, but still appreciate this very weird and very rare game that is one of the things making our arcade unique.
5. TIME MACHINE - a good 80's pinball, but I have to admit we've all already forgotten about this game.
6. TIME CRISIS - I only felt the need to play through this game one time (and that was me sharing the gun with someone else) After I beat it, like back in February I haven't really touched it since. But people probably like it.
7. Orbitor1 - I freaked out when Jeff first brought this weirdo pin in, but now I absolutely hate it. It's gotten harder to get a high score on as time has gone on (maybe the flippers are weaker? not sure), and it is by far the worst game we've ever had to get left on in the middle of four games. It makes awful noises and then I go to reset it and an annoying robot voice won't shut up until I shoot one ball for no reason. This game has GOT to go.
I think that's everything. Maybe for another post I'll do a re-cap of all of the pinballs that were released this year by STERN and other companies??? JJP didn't release anything?!?
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Post by jeffradon2000 on Dec 21, 2021 13:51:08 GMT -6
I still need to actually vote on the 2021 best ofs, oops!
But it is more fun to write about pinball
I think my list is about the same but maybe a little different.
1. Shrek - obviously, it feels nice to be exploring a modern game for the first time, it's going to take a while for me to get bored of this one. I'm also proud of Brian admitting I was right.
2. hoo boy all the rest of them are kind of the same to me, I guess I say Crossbow as that's one of the 2 on this list that I'm not planning to replace next year. I also haven't played this one in a while as I figured out the path to pretty much beat it every time, but I still have not acheived the hi score, so there is still a reason to play. But as I figured this game is a novelty, fun to play a few times and that's it. After that I really like hearing people play it as the sounds it makes are perfect for the classic arcade setting
3. Dolly Parton - since this is the other game I'm currently not planning to get rid of next year. It's really simple but for some reason I still enjoy playing it. I'm still frustrated that I can't get all the bulb sockets on the playfield to work and would take a pretty big effort to really get to the bottom of it, but doesn't interrupt the game too much. I've noticed it gets pretty consistent play, there are people for each generation of pinball. Someone bought a Dolly Parton record from me the other day and I asked if they had seen our pinball yet and they didn't even know about, it really made their day!
4. Time Machine - boy I really lost my excitement over this one pretty quick. I always thought the theme and ideas put into this game were great, but now I see why other pinball nerds kind of ignore it. First it definitely wasn't in the condition as advertised and after a couple months of fiddling with it I think it's playing fine, but the actual design is frustrating. I keep getting balls rejected off the spiral ramp half the time and I don't think there is a way around that. The whole design of this game is very fiddly, the flippers have to be at just the right power setting in order to feel remotely right. I still like playing this game from time to time tho, so it may also still be around for next year, we'll see.
5. Fish Tales - I still play this game sometimes, mainly to make sure it's still working. I've never been a huge fan of this one and I mainly got it because I liked the guys running the barcade in evansville and it was a price I couldn't pass up. Once I sell it next year, it will make a tidy profit with the current sky high pinball market. I will say I'm very bored of this one but at least I finally got it all 100% working after fiddling with it for almost the entire time it's been here.
6. Time Crisis - I was excited to get this one, but Brian is right, there really isn't a point to play after beating the game. Also I had to do quite a bit of monitor work on it and it's still not perfect. I'm worried the monitor is going to completely fail one of these days and I kind of want to get rid of it before it does. It still has the original gun tho with the recoil. A lot of these games have been replaced with cheaper guns without recoil or anything cool. I bed this is the most played game in the arcade as many non-nerds are drawn to it, just like I was in the 90s.
7. Orbitor 1 - I think this machine is better treated as an art piece than as a regular pinball machine. I absolutely love the late 70s/early 80s sci fi look. I like how they tried something really different. I like the robot voice, I just wish it had cooler things to say than what it was programmed to say. Pinbot is a good example of doing a robot voice right, as the things Pinbot says are really weird like "lock my eyeballs". I think because this pinball was so different, they had the voice say very basic things so people wouldn't get frustrated and leave after the first ball. Everyone warned me this game would get old fast, and boy it did. Still, it's fun having it in a public arcade where everyone can enjoy the novelty of this one but this will be the next game to leave the arcade for sure. At least it's also in really nice condition after I finally ironed out the last of the kinks. I just need to get it out of here before something big and expensive on it breaks.
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Post by brain galacki on Dec 29, 2021 18:22:59 GMT -6
OKAY, here is my music list and I'm sticking to it (no one care ha ha):
(some of this is old music that was released in a new format this year)
1. Jeff Rosenstock - Ska Dream
2. Liquids - Life Is Pain Idiot
3. Beex - The Early Years: 1979-1982
4. Big D & The Kids Table - Do Your Art
5. The Fringe - Token For My Mind
6. Special Death - Special Death
7. Joystick - I Can’t Take It Anymore
8. Spread Joy - Spread Joy
9. Weezer - OK Human
10. Poison Ruïn - Poison Ruïn
11. Tee Vee Repairman - Patterns 7”
12. Soft Kill - Not Quite Dracula Music
13. Brown Acid: The Thirteenth Trip
14. Descendents - 9th & Walnut
15. Soup Activists - Riling Up The Neighbors
16. Turnstile - Glow On
17. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - L.W.
18. The Screamers - Screamers Demo Hollywood 1977
19. Local Drags - Keep Me Glued
20. Brown Acid: The Twelfth Trip
21. Elton John - Regimental Sgt. Zippo
22. The Copyrights - Alone In A Dome
23. Electric Chair - Social Capital 7”
24. Slant - 1
25. Spelljammer - Abyssal Trip
(thank you I will be back with my top "discovered music in 2021" list tomorrow)
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Post by somejabroni on Dec 31, 2021 18:40:07 GMT -6
That big d record is a huge omission from mine!
I wrote a lomg TV list on mobile but hit the wrong button and I lost it. Just gonna list it and maybe I'll come through and add Commentary later.
11. Great British Bake Off
10. Always Sunny (16? No idea what they're on)
9. Curb 11(?)
8. Wandavision 1
7. Top Chef Portland
6. Loki 1
5. Letterkenny (8?)
4. What We Do in the Shadows (3?)
3. I Think You Should Leave (2)
2. Joe Pera Talks With You (3)
1. How To with John Wilson (2)
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Post by brain galacki on Jan 1, 2022 11:58:43 GMT -6
Posting my "top discovered releases" for 2021 because this is a list I always make (and probably overall stuff I like and listen'd to more than the actual 2021 releases :-P )
Wild Flowers Of America - Lost In The Salvation Army
Oliver Tree - Ugly Is Beautiful
Budgie - Squawk
The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
Pentagram - Bias Recordings Studio Demo
Ditches - Ditches
Nikki And The Corvettes - Nikki And The Corvettes
Yes - Yes
Neil Young - Neil Young
MU330 - MU330
Slift - Ummon
Blue Meanies - Kiss Your Ass Goodbye
Idles - Ultra Mono
I Drive - I Drive
The Rain Parade - Emergency Third Rail Power Trip
Various - Bloodstains Across Illinois
Soup Activists - Useless Sounds
Various - Strum & Thrum
America - America
Protagonists 1983 - 1985
Mister - Espejismo EP
Erazerhead - The Rumble Of The East
Diamond Head - Lightning To The Nations
XO’s - (Pronounced Hugs And Kisses)
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