Best Of 2012: Megashaun

These days it’s not uncommon to hear the reply “busy” when asking someone you’ve not seen for a while, “how are you?” Having attended numerous events throughout the year, I’ve come to realize just how universal and vague a reply this is, and have therefore stopped using it. While it is nice to relax every now and then, being occupied with work and various other projects keeps the mind healthy and the creativity flowing. Best of all it completely destroys boredom—and looking back at 2012 I can honestly say this has been the most exciting year I’ve experienced.

Given my “day job” as a host and reporter for EP Daily, I’m in a position to experience more than most people, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunities this job has afforded me. These include meeting and interviewing people behind some of my favorite games, TV shows, and movies. Some of my interview highlights this year include Mark Ruffalo and Cobie Smulders for The Avengers, Brad Bird for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, the incomparable Radioman, and super stylish game designer Suda51. I have a personal rule to not “fan out” over people I meet but I disregarded this entirely while interviewing Suda51 and even went so far as to ask for a photo (which turned out amazing as you can see).

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Assemblog: April 20, 2012

Dick Clark: 1929 – 2012

Today I’m introducing a new feature on Popshifter, the Assemblog: a collection of what has captured my attention this week, pop-culturally speaking.

New on Popshifter this week: a spoiler-free review of Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon’s remarkable The Cabin in the Woods and praise for Who Cooks For You?, the latest release from Johnny Headband.

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Johnny Headband, Who Cooks For You?

By Less Lee Moore

Who Cooks For You? is the latest release from Detroit’s Johnny Headband, featuring brothers Chad and Keith Thompson (the latter of Electric Six), plus Gerald Roesser and and Robbie Saunders. Like the music itself, Who Cooks For You? poses an unanswered (or unanswerable) question: Who (or what) is Johnny Headband? Who Cooks For You? seems familiar yet it’s not beholden to current “indie” music trends; it refuses to be pigeonholed but all the same, it is one ridiculously enjoyable album. Who Cooks For You? crams a lot of flavor into its 35 minutes.

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Desktop EP

By Megashaun

Desktop is a combination of the creative forces of two men: Keith Thompson (from Electric Six and Johnny Headband) and Zach Curd (from Suburban Sprawl Music’s The Pop Project). When I first discovered the act several months ago, it was mainly with the intention of reviewing their all-too-short debut EP. At only three songs in length, it can’t possibly be difficult to describe them adequately.

But that’s exactly the position I found myself in. Having heard the EP hundreds of times now, I’m still at a loss to talk about it with adjectives other than “kick-ass,” “amazing,” and “awesome.”
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