Mongo Nation

Dilated Peoples, Michael Franti & Spearhead, more!

By Jeremy Azevedo

You’re in luck, because this months free MP3s are so rad, it’s like Christmas came early this year!

Or, you know, Hannaukau… or Kwanza or whatever, I don’t know. What do Scientologists celebrate? Thetan day?

(Sigh…)

It really doesn’t matter, never mind. You get the point. If I had to assign a visual reference to these songs, it would be this picture of Robocop Riding a unicorn:

What more do you really need to know?

Artist: Mindless Self Indulgence
Song: Never Wanted to Dance

Mindless Self Indulgence has been one of the premiere punk/electronica groups for over ten years now… partly because they’re one of the only punk/electronica groups anyone ha ever heard of, but also due to their incredibly awesome live performance and aggressively offensive lyrical content.

Never Wanted to Dance

Artist: Dilated Peoples
Song: The Last Is First

DJ Babu, Alchemist, Iriscience and Evidence return to shake up the underground one more time. While mainstream success continues to elude them, Dilated Peoples remain heroes of the club scene and forebearers of hipster-hop.

The Last Is First

Artist: Early Man
Song: Sinking the Blade

Stoner metal in the vein of Black Sabbath and The Sword, Early Man is one of the most exciting bands leading the charge of 70s style metal bands currently tearing up arenas everywhere.

Sinking the Blade

Artist: Jake One
Song: The Truth feat. Freeway and Brother Ali

Having spent the last few years producing for mainstream acts like 50 Cent, E-40 and Nas, Jake One’s first solo album is out on White Van/Rhymesayers, bridging the gap between the Seattle and Minneapolis underground and the already established LA/NY clicks.

The Truth feat. Freeway and Brother Ali

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Capcom’s retro fan service is awesome!

By Jeremy Azevedo

If you would’ve told me a year ago that I’d be playing a new classic 8-bit NES Mega Man game on my Wii today, I’d tell you that was crazy talk, and that you’ve been spending too much time with disgraced series villain, “Crystal Man”.

Apparently, someone over at Capcom listens to crazy talk and put together another great piece of fan service on the heels of last months “Bionic Commando” remake. Mega Man 9 looks, sounds and plays just like old-school Mega Man, before all the graphical changes and charge busters and secret characters and other bullcrap that would eventually obscure the series’ greatness. In true retro fashion, you must battle 8 renegade robots with specific strengths and weaknesses, take their weapons, and eventually take the battle to Dr. Wiley who is almost certainly behind it all!

Mega Man and Splash Woman, the first ever female evil robot master.

The first thing you notice, besides the colorful, charmingly familiar 80s style graphics, is the incredibly awesome music. Classic Mega Man games were known for their rocking midi-based music and steep challenge, and this one is no different. You will probably find yourself surprisingly slow at first when it comes to twitch action and platforming, something that has been absent from most modern games.

Another thing that the original Mega Man games were known for was the great characters and weapons. This roster, which includes Concrete, Jewel, Plug, Hornet, Magma and Galaxy Man, also includes the first female robot master, Splash Woman. Because the mega slide and charge buster have been removed, the earlier games reliance on utilizing the robot master’s weapons has returned, which makes the game quite a bit more strategic.

The fruitiest Mega Man screen-shot of all time.

Even if you are not old enough to have enjoyed these games back in the day, you should really experience what essentially feels like a lost classic from another era. There is even an option that simulates old-fashion slowdown and screen flicker! If this is the kind of thing that we can expect from publishers as a result of digital distribution, then we are certainly in for some wonderful surprises in the coming years.

Mega Man 9 is available now for the Wii, September 25th for PSN and October 1st for XBLA for about $10 on all platforms!

Why watch for free when you can pay for it?

Xbox 360 users will have something new to get excited about next week: Microsoft has struck a deal with Fox to provide episodes from the first two seasons of Family Guy over their Xbox Live service, at a cost of $2 per episode. Now you can watch episodes of a TV show that’s on two different stations twice daily for free only now you have to pay for it!

The Simpsons+more dick and fart jokes-tidy moral messages=Family Guy!

Family Guy is one of the most popular shows with the Xbox’s male, 18-34 target audience. Other seasons will probably become available soon afterward. It’s a great idea in theory, but I’m not really too sure that there is a single person within that demographic that hasn’t already purchased the show on DVD.

If Microsoft really wanted to be cutting edge, they might have done better by signing Cartoon Network and getting episodes of Frisky Dingo and Metalocalypse on there instead. For now, they’re playing it safe. Additionally, it’s a finger in the eye of iTunes, who has been trying unsuccessfully to secure the rights to Family Guy for some time now. And you can’t really fault them for that.