3 l;!!i RVANKAMPHUIS ae@technewsll hm TuesdaySeptember132011 From the Vault: ‘Oh, Inverted World' by The Shins By Ryan Ka mphllis Aer EDlTOR Welcorre to the first artscle rn anew serres caled, “From the Vault” Eadr week rn From the Vault, sornehodywrl wrrte a revrew or one ortherr ravorrte alhurns An alhurnthat has stood the test orture to them and they reel needs to he shared Whether rt he an old Columbia pazr record rrorn the 1950:, arena rockrrornthe 1980:, or sorre gunge rrornthe 90s, thts sectlon ts where you can wrtte about It‘ 2001 was an trteresung year for rrrusrc hoy hands who donnnated the rrrusrc scene all through the late gas, were rn raprd declsne Daft Punk released therr orscovery alhurn, syrnholsnng the gowrng nrarnstrearn popularrty or tedrno nrusrc The hands that wold gow to define the nest decade rn rrrusrc werereleasrngtherrhrsttrs Arrndstthrshack drop ahard that had hoenperrorrnrng under varrous narres and lsneups throughout the 90s was sgnedtoleatles Sub Pop Records settled on alsneup and the narre “The Shins” and re leasedtlerrhrstreoord oh, lnvertedWorld oh, lnvertedWorld was sornethrng totally new lorluul Playmg asuhduedsurn rrer pop that harkened had to The heach hoys, the alhurn enpoyed good revrews and soldsales ltalsororrnallykrckedotrthecaroer orThe lhrns, and qrudklyhecarre one or the dehnrtrverndserodk alhurns ortheearlyzooos The reelng orthe alhurnss constant ly chargng Each trackrsunrque, and rnakes tor a drverse oorrplatson The common ele rnents throughout the alhurn are the dnll reel sng that The lhrns are known to, the undear sngng orlarres Mercer (The Shins’ rrontrnar and lead vocalrstl and the wrdrul chords that have an alrnost longng quality to then Ten years later oh, lnverted World ssyust as goodasthe day stwas released one sthrst carne out, The lhrns have enpoyedenor rnous suopess Mary ortherr songs were used rn rnovre soundtradks (rnovres lske Garden state andThe lpongehoh lquareparts Movrel they went on to release two more highlyetuce cessrul alhurns, and have heconre one or the gate rndse rock hands orthe past decade hut oh, lnverted World stsll sounds relevant in tact, I would clarrn that the alhurn has gotten hetter wrth age As The lhrns galnedpopular stythesr style changedandheranrernore altar natrve, losrng sorne orthe strong oos rolkrodk reel oh, lnverted World strll rs strongly rn touch wrth that ardrs nrore unquehecause or It. lt youre nto rock rnusrc I cant recommend oh, lnvertedWorld enough It’s sorrethrng dseerent and escrtrng, and can he enyoyedhy alrnost anyone imagerrtnosyhrhtrvtrhlokrtdrov row Bastion: reatgame in a smal package By Karl Ryballowski corrorzelrtecrtlcr At a glance hadronrs awhrnsrcal lookrng hrtesred rsornetrrchadk n slash ad venturernthevernororahloandrts dones hut wrth an astoundsng soundtrack, watercolor art desrgn, and a deoeptrvely addsctsve story rt ole rers alot n a very srnall package Add to that garreplay as casual or as rntense as one desrres rtomethlngyoucan drangeontherly andthe $15 prtce tag starts to look very compelltng hastson rs the dehut eeort hy rndse outhtlupergpart (lanes, and to a srnall garre (avarlahlevraXhos lsve Arcade andlteanr), rs averyarnhrtroushrsteoort ltrollows acharac ter tryrng to precethe worldhack together atter an apocalyptrcevent , the Calamity , lterally shatters it As the protagontst moves around, hrts and preoes or the world lterally rorrn rn rront orhun (a very cool effect to start wth, hut wrth thernatscurportanoe as rs slowly re vealed) The draracter prdksupahevy orweap ons to dereatroes onhs quest, whrle hndsng a srnall cast or survrvors and slowly learnng what hroughtthe Calarmty ahout The hero orthe story , srrrply known alTheKldrntl‘teulenttype huttherntroduc tron oranarrator , an old gnzzledman wth a gravelyvorce and aworldweary delsvery lets the central plot or the garne rnrold, prece hy prece, wrtheadr actson the protagonst takes Weapons or other rterns scatteredthroughout the garre get lttle hadkstones when prdked up andthe narratron allows the player to peel away atthe layers orthe story alsttle atatrrne wrthout sacrrhcrng any rnornenturnrn the ac tual garreplay hadrons rnusrc rs a rrns or elec trontcheats and strtngedtnstrurrents , guttar, ' hanro rnandolrn, even vrola , that gpves the garre aharoque Western reel The soundtrack - rtselr was recorded hy Darren l