The Last Ninja™ - Live 'Metal' Cover Versions!

[ultrasteve]

Hi all.

Apologies if this is a bit on the edges of what you all do, but....

Just a heads up in case any of you were unaware of this, but the Fastloaders (Norwegian Metal band) are producing a covers album of The Last Ninja™ music. Along with the album there's going to be a gig at the Underworld club in Camden, London.

The Kickstarter is in its last day or so, and could do with a final push. There are some great pledge levels, too, including beer mats(!), a progressive metal/orchestra album, tickets and a Blu-Ray of the live concert, and t-shirts among other things.

There are some videos that give you a flavour of what to expect:

https://www.facebook.com/fastloaders/videos
http://www.youtube.com/c64audio

And the main Kickstarter is here: http://ks.ninjamusicology.com

It's very close to target, and I really want my beer mats, so please help if you think you'd like it?!

[Chris Abbott]

I'm glad you did this, I was a bit remiss!

[C64GLeN]

I have backed this, and if you haven't you are horrible* and I hate* you.

*not really.

[Jan Lund Thomsen]

Despite me developing a strong case of crowdfunding-fattigue over the years*, I have backed this one at the "Physical Ninja" level.

Because Ninjas.

(* Helping 14 projects fund over the past 4 years, only to have 5 of them deliver - and the majority of the remaining ones be up to a year late can do that to you.)

[Chris Abbott]

Being a year late is so easy with a music project. Hopefully Reformation, Sidologie and Ninja will get your strike rate up.

[Jan Lund Thomsen]

To be fair, only two of the currently "overdue" kickstarter things I've backed are music projects and the most delayed one is for a physical product that's proved to be harder to mass produce than the creators originally planned for. Rather, my current fattigue is mostly based on many of the projects I have backed either trying way too act like we're best friends rather than in a producer/customer relationship and consequently bombard me with overly long emails instead of delivering the product in question, or the complete opposite - a total lack of updates[1]. Finding a balance is apparently hard for project owners.

However, I have since made a mental shift as to how I see crowdfunding; as worthy causes, rather than a case of "money in exchange for goods or services". So if I think Ron Gilbert deserves a tip for all the work he's done at LucasArts, he can have it. No obligations. But if he at some point wants to throw a copy of Thimbleweed Park at me as a thank-you gesture, hurray! But I'm not expecting it until I see it.

[1] No need to to name names.

[Jan Lund Thomsen]

Holy crowdfunding-extravaganza, Batman! 3 kickstarter projects have delivered since I wrote the previous post.

Anyway, I just finished listening to all 2 hours and 24 minutes of the Fastloaders "Ninja Musicology", that came out in digital form earlier today - and all of it is rather awesome. Goes to show that it's still very much possible to bring new life to tunes that's been redone over and over, ever since the early days of C64 remixing. Plus it's very refreshing that you get a chance to hear less exposed tunes as well. And unlike many previous remix albums, this one feels like a whole rather than a compilation of stand-alone tracks. Something I've only previously felt with BIT3 and Crystal Dreamscapes.[1]

So - top marks from me! Go purchase it if you didn't already pledge to the kickstarter.

[1] I might go as far as to say that in time, Ninja Musicology has the potential to replace BIT3 as my favorite listen-from-start-to-end remix album. (Sorry Chris)

[Jan Lund Thomsen]

Also, the "Metal" label shouldn't scare people off. It's more rock than metal, I think. There's probably a name for this particular subgenre.

[Chris Abbott]

> [1] I might go as far as to say that in time, Ninja Musicology has the potential to replace BIT3 as my favorite listen-from-start-to-end remix album. (Sorry Chris)

Nah, Project Sidologie will do that. Possibly five times

[Chris Abbott]

I think these tunes were "progressive metal", but were mastered as rock.

[Jan Lund Thomsen]

> [1] I might go as far as to say that in time, Ninja Musicology has the potential to replace BIT3 as my favorite listen-from-start-to-end remix album. (Sorry Chris)

Nah, Project Sidologie will do that. Possibly five times

Haven't listened to the Project Sidologie previews, so it's entirely possible.