A fascinating article by Jonathan Holmes at Destructoid talks about No More Heroes HD. He points to Mushroom Men (among other games) as an example of the sort of game that could only sprout on the Wii.

“With the success of NMH came many other punk rock Wii exclusives: games like Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Mushroom Men, MadWorld, Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop, House of the Dead: Overkill, Little King’s Story, A Boy and His Blob, the Bit.Trip series, and many others. Some of them made money, and some of them didn’t, but that doesn’t even really matter. The point is that they still were permitted to come into existence, and that’s something that could have only happened on the Wii.”

I was today walking casually along the streets of Newtown blissfully taking in the sun which is a big thing for me as I have red hair. As I chatted away with fellow traveler Andy and we past the Enmore Theatre I noticed out of the corner of my eye a familiar and humourous blur that reeked of eclectic funk, caught in the daze of conversation and probably by this point sunstroke I traveled 3 more paces before I stopped and squealed in delight at the realization of my discovery which was confirmed when I ran back – the master of bass guitar LES CLAYPOOL is coming to play DEC 2

Is there anyone else out there who is cleaning their pants when they discovered this?

Not everyone is a fan of Les Claypool but thought you may appreciate some of the artwork that he does and promotes – they always have crazy tripping sets and costumes and stuff so should check him out or his other projects such as Primus, Colonel Clapool’s Bucket of Bernie Brains, Flying Frog Brigade etc

He is currently working on ‘Mushroom Men’ a game for Wii I believe, and a film ‘Pig Hunt’ – mushrooms and pigs are both recurring themes in his work.

See more at his website – HERE

I tried to find a pic of the poster they had up – looked pretty cool I thought but couldn’t find it online.

On the Live ‘n Learn blog, artist Lorilee Kopp constructed a pair of Mushroom Men for her children.

“The caps are made of turned cherry… Bark armor and little backpacks all wool felted.”

They are outstanding!

While maceman at Beefjack.com generally enjoyed Mushroom Men, his one complaint was that it was too easy for a “hardcore” gamer.

Definitivamente me considero un tipo el cual se encuentra abierto a experimentar con CASI cualquier tipo de música, si es algo que responda a mis intereses dentro del rock y el metal pues con más ganas le entro ¿no? Esto fue lo que me pasó cuando le entré con fe al nuevo trabajo del maestrazo Les Claypool (líder de los innegables Primus) y debo decir que, honestamente, no se como me fue con este material.

Yo soy baterista pero siempre me ha gustado mucho el sonido del bajo y el poder que puede imprimir por sí solo a una canción de metal, de ahí mi constante admiración por el trabajo de Claypool en Primus, aunque también se que el cuate es un experimental definitivo y no se tienta el corazón para hacer sus “mezclas” eclécticas y ciertamente bastante desconcertantes pero no por ello menos buenas.

Of Fungi And Foe es, tengo entendido, el segundo disco de este tipo en la carrera de Les Claypool y más que un conjunto de piezas inéditas es un conjunto de sonidos, loops, samples e ideas que compuso para el juego de Nintendo DS Mushroom Men y parala cinta de terror Pig Hunt.

Sea cual sea la intención de estos sonidos, lo que en verdad suena desconcertante, porque en verdad que no encuentro otro adjetivo para definir el material, es la ausencia de instrumentos tradicionales en el rock –o la presencia de instrumentos poco convencionales para el rock depende del cristal como se mire- y obviamente los sonidos que se obtienen son algo de considerarse.

Es un disco complejo, nada fácil de digerir, pero los fans de Claypool lo saben y lo entienden, es un material al que debe ponérsele mucha atención y tratar de captar las atmósferas, sonidos e ideas que vuelan alrededor del entramado sónico complejo que presenta este cuate en Of Fungi And Foe.

Canciones que me gusten… chale, pues creo que algo más cercano a su trabajo con Primus podría ser Amanitas, obviamente Mushroom Men es buena, Bite Out Of Life cuenta con una buena estructura y ritmo bastante loco y Ol´Rosco que se desenvuelve en la tónica humorística de Claypool.

Ojo, este NO es un disco para cualquiera, si lo tuyo es el metal al cien por ciento olvídalo y mejor bájate otro material, si por el contrario estás abierto a escuchar nuevos acercamientos bastante experimentales dentro del ¿rock? vas sin dudarlo… fans de Claypool ni lo piensen, ya se tardaron.

El link de este pachequísimo, voladísimo y rarísimo pero extrañamente atrayente material está de este lado.

Carpe diem.

Johnus Maximus at Gadgetoid speaks well of his experience with Mushroom Men.

11-year-old Frankie Limaldi is a big Mushroom Men fan. He likes the little guys so much, he constructed Lego versions of them. Thanks Frankie!

Ten-year-old Lesha reports on her experience with Mushroom Men at the Ready Up Juniors review section.

Mark Lee at N-Europe has some very nice things to say about Mushroom Men.

“Every scene is a treat to explore, with surprises literally around every corner looking like something from Tim Burton’s nightmares!”

Scott Munro at the Daily Record speaks highly of Mushroom Men.

Mushroom Men is a success… It offers players an interesting experience, which fans of the genre will definitely enjoy.

Daily Joypad’s summary says it all:

“Simply put, this is certainly one of the best third-party produced games out there for the Wii. In all honesty, I would of passed this game up had it not been for the review copy. I don’t want you guys to make the same mistake, this is well worth purchasing, in fact if you own a Wii then I would insist that you do!”

Tom East at the UK Nintendo Official Magazine has glowing words to say about Mushroom Men!

“There’s not mushroom for improvement here”

Thunderbolt Games and Hooked Gamers had a pretty good time with Mushroom Men.

Now that the Mushroom Men have spread their spores world-wide, we’re getting a whole new batch of reviews in. Some, like Mike “Two Tone” McConnell’s write-up for Digital Entertainment News and Darren Calvert’s review at NintendoLife, offer some praise. But even the most dour reviews (I’m looking at you Nick Adams of TVG) aren’t as generous, but they tend to be just as thorough in their analysis of the title and cannot avoid pointing out the many shining points of the game and its stunning landscapes and outstanding audioscape.

Maureen Vana, NBC Chicago Street Team

Les Claypool brought the sideshow to center stage Saturday night at The Riv. The Oddity Faire: A Mutated Mini Fest entertained with the strange, complete with intermissions any circus would be happy to house. Fire breathing, disappearing drill bits, cloaked strings, and a light up tuba were just some of the unique tidbits that dotted the evening’s performances.

Early this month, Les Claypool began his tour supporting his latest release, Of Fungi and Foe. The tour has hosted a variety of opening acts including Devotchka, Saul Williams, and Secret Chiefs, and all three appeared at Saturday’s show.

Click here to read the rest of this post on nbcchicago.com.