FIFA '08
PS3
Now you can get one-step closer to being one with your football idols, the way you can pretend to be Tiger Woods. It's a tad easier to simulate a golf game, quite another to get right a dynamic, constantly kinetic sport-like football. The newest FIFA game has the improvement in the overall physics of play to match the ever-advancing graphic presentation of sports games in general. But with better physics and more realism you also increase the difficulty of controlling players. Fine-tuning them on the software side requires players on the sticks to fine-tune their game controller abilities. Spend some time working FIFA's new feature, "Be A Pro" wherein you can try to master the skills of your favorite player. But the best part of the new title is online play. These types of sports titles are made for playing with others. That's when you'll truly reap the benefit of this improved FIFA '08. -tired ant
This
DJ Rekha
Presents Basement Bhangra
Koch Records
So wait, what's bhangra? Bhangra is the modern sound of South Asia, a celebratory mix of Indian rhythms and instrumentation, dancehall beats, UK attitude and all sorts of vocal styles. This mix CD came out of DJ Rekha's long-running New York nightclub, Basement Bhangra, where she's endeavored to bring this import sound to our fair shores. Standout tracks include DJ Rekha's own "Basement Bhangra Anthem" and Dr. Zeus' "Tin Cheejha," with its hypnotic, transformed vocals and slow-burn beat. This is seriously fun stuff, whether you're an Indophile or just like the occasional curry.
-Douglas Adams
Justice
Vice Records
It's unfair to call Justice, France's latest dance export, Daft Punk Junior, but it's hard to not see Justice as the robotic ones' progeny. The similarities: they're both French, they both make intense dance music and they both have a penchant for baroque melodies. But while Daft Punk can be slicker than a newly waxed dance floor, Justice just want to rock out. More Iron Maiden than Chemical Brothers, this is riff-heavy, distorted stuff, all midrange and intensity. "Waters of Nazareth" comes on like the nastiest rock anthem you've never heard, while "Genesis" just can't be epic enough. Like the best rock 'n' roll, it's party music, so grab a bottle of Jack Daniels, throw your TV out the window and rock out, a la France.
-Douglas Adams