I wanted to make a post about a new band that I think everyone should hear about.  They are a British band called Everything Everything, and their album, Man Alive, tied Kanye's as album of the year for me. 
 
Musically I would classify them as rock, but loosely.  Much of their music is based around guitar riffs, but it is the lead singers voice that really catches you.  He can easily move from a normal singing voice to a falsetto, and employs this with ease.  Their lyrics are wacky, but become incredible when you take the time to look at them, and many of their songs are very "sing-along-able."  Their music videos are also fantastic
 
I first heard about them on the podcast BBC Radio One Huw Stephens a few years ago.  I have been following them, and immediately picked up their CD.  It sounds like nothing I've heard before, and I think that everyone should give it a listen to.  Critics are raving about Everything Everything, and year end awards keep rolling in for them.  So get out of the box and check out this awesome band. 
 
 
Here is their first single.  The guitar solo was altered a bit from when I first heard it years ago, due to a new member, but it is still great. 
  

The Kingdom Hearts series is fantastic.  The world is vibrant and beautiful, the characters real and connecting, and Disney nostalgia is always welcome.  What make the experience for me though is the sense of yearning and longing inter played between the Disney characters and a strange and mysterious world.  Even after I completely explored Hallow Bastion I still felt like there were more secrets to be found.  And then there is the lonesome End of the World and the dark and foreboding World that Never Was.  There seems to be so much going on behind the scenes everywhere in the Kingdom Hearts universe.  The characters also exist in a very human and real state, and it is easy to connect with their troubles and desires.  It is hard for me to completely sum up my love for the game, as it is something that needs to be experienced.  It can't be told in a few worlds, but rather the many hours spent with the game, invested in the world and the characters that live within it.