Music

Seeing Rockalypse in Movies Again

~ Eric ~ 2 Comments

I tend to be pretty low-key about my work in the tabletop gaming industry. I don’t feel like I did a ton of things that couldn’t be (or haven’t been) done by others. I think I have a few unique ways of approaching things, such as the kind of thorough, interconnected worldbuilding I displayed in Steamscapes and my work on the Urban Settings Guide for the Sentinel Comics RPG (which may or may not see the light of day, depending on what happens to Greater Than Games).

But there’s one game that I think may be my most unique contribution, at least as of this writing. It’s self-contained, nicely concise, and it makes a strong case for my view of game design: that games are best when every element works together to create a unified experience. With such a game, you can feel that ethos when reading it, playing it, running it, or even just talking about it. For me, the best I’ve ever done at achieving that was Rockalypse.

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A May Revolution in Song

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It’s been a while since I’ve done a song-a-day project, and the last few started to lean more into musical conversation than topical discussion. But with everything happening, I decided it’s high time to get topical again.

For the month of May, 2025, I am diving deep into some of the strongest musical statements I can find. I expect these songs to be in various degrees challenging, inspiring, surprising, and appalling. I want to warn you right now that I am not pulling any punches on this one – there will be explicit language, explicit content, and abrasive opinions. I will post relevant content warnings on every selection, but it’s also completely understandable if you choose to nope out of the whole playlist. I’m also going to be less picky about making sure every song has a video or a live performance. Most of them do, but not all. So sometimes you’ll be staring at album covers or reading lyric videos, but that’s because the songs are important enough that they need to be there anyway.

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Regional Bands That Should Have Been Bigger

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There are many cases of bands being in the right place in the right time. R.E.M. hit it big partially because the B-52s had focused record companies’ attention on the Athens, GA college music scene. CBGB was responsible for launching multiple careers in the 70s and 80s. And these days bands push to get into high-profile festivals like SXSW and Coachella with the hopes that they will be seen and boosted by influencers.

But there are plenty of stories where those things didn’t happen. There are many worthy bands that, for one reason or another, were not as lucky. Whether they were in the wrong place or whether their sound was just not what people were into at the time, these bands had talent, drive, and lots of great songs, but they didn’t necessarily hit it big. I’d like to look at four of my favorite overlooked bands of the 80s and 90s, with the hope that someone else might discover something new for themselves.

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A Month of Protest Songs (Music Archive #1)

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Note – This is the first archive of my “song-a-day month” posts from my personal Facebook page. My first ever effort to do such a list of songs was in December of 2011, largely in response to social media discourse I saw regarding the Occupy movement. Although that particular protest movement turned out to be short-lived, it absolutely laid the groundwork for future organization in the decade that followed. Also, I have to mention that my political views – partially in response to increasing fascism – have only drifted further leftward. My comments for this list feel downright mild to my older eyes.

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As the Occupiers face more and more government interference, as popular support for their movement begins to wane, I thought it was important to have a renewal of purpose. I decided that for the month of december I would do another song-a-day project, but this one will be a month of protest songs. We need to remember why protest matters, not only on this issue but on many important issues. Democracy does not begin and end with voting; it is maintained through the constant exercise of our voice and will.

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