'The Who Rock Band' imminent?

There's a rumor going around about many different Rock Band games in the wake of The Beatles Rock Band's success. There's been talk of U2 Rock Band and Queen Rock Band. Now, there's a rumor going around that The Who Rock Band is going to happen. What gives the rumor some clout? It was started by Roger Daltrey, the lead singer of The Who.

According to Joystiq, Daltrey told The Republican, "The game, yeah, yeah, they're going to be doing a Who one next year. There is one planned."

Very interesting. Can we PLEASE have full downloadable Who albums now?

Shirtless Iggy Pop present in 'Lego Rock Band'

There's a certain amount of rock 'n' roll sacrilege that occurs when making games like Rock Band or Guitar Hero. In earlier games, there are terrible covers of Rush songs. More wrong, perhaps, are the use of a deceased rock star's likeness in a game, as Guitar Hero has done with Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, and Kurt Cobain (of course, one could make the exact same arguments for Rock Band in the case of George Harrison and John Lennon despite the involvement of The Beatles and their families in the game's development).

However, one of the most delightful and heartwarming examples of rock stars in video games was brought to light today for the upcoming game, Lego Rock Band. Making his video game (and Lego) debut is Iggy Pop. According to Jeux Video, he'll be in the game singing his song "The Passenger." And boy, does he look good.


I know it's silly, but I can't wait for this game. In other Rock Band news, expect a review of Beatles Rock Band soon.

'Rock Band Metal Track Pack' announced

OK, we get it, you're excited about Guitar Hero: Van Halen. Who isn't? But hey, there's always another, more Rock Band-y option (that doesn't include The Beatles).

According to a press release, the Rock Band Metal Track Pack will be released as a stand-alone disc for all consoles on Oct. 13. Here's the track list:

1. All That Remains - Two Weeks
2. At the Gates - Blinded By Fear
3. Black Tide - ShockWave
4. Blue Öyster Cult - Transmaniacon MC
5. Bullet For My Valentine - Waking the Demon
6. Children of Bodom - Are You Dead Yet
7. Evile - Thrasher
8. Godsmack - I Stand Alone
9. The Haunted - D.O.A.
10. Hawkwind - Master Of The Universe
11. I Mother Earth - Levitate
12. In This Moment - Forever
13. Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance
14. Lacuna Coil - Closer
15. Lamb of God - Laid to Rest
16. Motörhead - Killed by Death
17. Nazareth - Hair of the Dog
18. Queens of the Stone Age - 3’s & 7’s
19. Rage Against The Machine - Bulls On Parade
20. Yngwie Malmsteen - Red Devil

Whoa! Nazareth, Motörhead and Rage Against The Machine on one disc? They really did their best to cover all their bases. Any glaring omissions?

You got your Depeche Mode in my 'Left 4 Dead 2!'

No, you got your Left 4 Dead 2 in my Depeche Mode! Etcetera.

It was reported at Comic-Con that Depeche Mode's likeness and music will be featured in Left 4 Dead 2. This is made evident in one image from the game in which a character is sporting a Depeche Mode T-shirt.


According to Chet Falizsek of Valve (the company that developed the game, donchaknow), they approached many labels and artists about using their music in the game, but Depeche Mode were apparently quite happy to lend their work to the game.

Please tell me that there will be credits with zombie Depeche Mode playing "People Are People." Please?

Soundtrack to 'Braid' now available

Even if you've played XBLA's Braid for one minute, the soundtrack to it should've slapped you in the face. It's incredible.


That's why I was pleased to see that it's finally available for purchase online. As a matter of fact, why don't you listen to it right here.






Music from Braid by Sieber, Kammen, Fulton and Schatz

The Beatles: The Video Game

Every important musician has had their own video game: Michael Jackson, Shaquille O'Neil, C+C Music Factory - everybody! So it's about time that the most important band of all time jumped on board.

With a blessing from Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, Apple Corps., MTV and Harmonix have all joined forces to create a Beatles based music game. It'll be ready for the holidays in 2009. A few details are known about the game

- It samples The Beatles entire catalog, from the first album to the last.
- It is absolutely not a Rock Band title.
- But it will be compatible with Rock Band peripherals.
- No specifics on it, but "visual imagery" is a big part of the title.
- Tracks are based on UK releases (nerd translation: the US releases of some Beatles albums omitted songs or remixed them to better fit the album, meaning these are the un-tampered versions).
- No set console...yet.

This could feasibly be a Rock Band sized game dedicated entirely to The Beatles. Wow. And you were excited about Rock Band: AC/DC.

Truckasaurus: Another 8-bit Dance Party

Because I'm an indie music junkie, I looked on Pitchfork this morning to see a new album reviewed with a "recommended" tag. The album is called Tea Parties, Guns & Valor and it's by a group called Truckasauras.

I once talked about Crystal Castles on this blog. If you were a weird kid and you liked the music that accompanied your NES, SNES and Sega Genesis games, there's a definitive collection of music out there for you. This Truckasauras album is definitely at the top of the list.

You can listen to the entire album for free on lala.com, and I definitely recommend checking it out. In the meantime, here's a sample.

Crystal Castles: An 8-Bit Dance Party

Have you head about Crystal Castles? They just released their debut self-titled, which you can get on iTunes, and the little that I've heard, I've enjoyed immensely. It's rare to find a group who can utilize music from video game's past so well.

This song is right up there with the recent fabulous work of Johan Abebjörn or Black Kids.

I know that I talk about music an awful lot for a video game blog, but again, I'll pull the "video game culture" card.

Is there any other artist that utilizes 8-bit sounds that I should know about? Because I'd love to hear about it.

This song is called "Vanished," and it's off their recently released self-titled album. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Wyclef and Paul Simon Make a Commercial...er...Music Video for Sony

So it's a music video that brings together Wyclef Jean, Paul Simon, the PSP, the PS3, and Burnout Paradise. It looks like somebody wants some free swag from Sony. At least the song isn't all that bad.

It seems, though, like the song is full of social consciousness, and to utilize this song as an outlet for video game publicity is somewhat cheap. Agreement? Disagreement?

Music for Video Games

If you aren't familiar with Audiosurf, the PC sensation, inform yourself. It's a game that combines your love of music and your love of games. It's probably easier just to watch the video.

I love that song all too much.

Anyhow, Asthmatic Kitty Records compiled some music by artists (the only one you may have heard of is Sufjan Stevens) to utilize the game. Music for Video Games v.1 is the latest in video game music, although I still have mad props for Mega Man.

More Awesome Game Music

The rest of the video game industry is probably starting to get intimidated by the success of the Rock Band and Guitar Hero soundtracks. It's hard to get attention for your game's soundtrack when you're up against the heavyweights. However, the folks at 2K Sports are keeping their heads up.

Getting help from Matador Records, Sub Pop Records, and Pitchforkmedia.com (my favorite music news site), 2K Sports has drafted a pretty heavy-hitting soundtrack for MLB 2K8. It features some of my favorite artists, so here's the track list (I got it from Pitchfork - the * indicates tracks that they picked).

Battles: "Atlas" *

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: "Need Some Air"

Blitzen Trapper: "Wild Mountain Nation" *

Dinosaur Jr.: "Almost Ready" *

Jay Reatard: "My Shadow" *

Kasabian: "Reason Is Treason"

LCD Soundsystem: "Watch the Tapes" *

Modest Mouse: "Dashboard"

Peter Bjorn and John: "The Chills"

The Cars: "Moving in Stereo"

The Cool Kids: "88" *

The Cure: "Never Enough"

The Flaming Lips: "The Wand (No MF Edit)"

The Hold Steady: "Stuck Between Stations" *

The Presidents of the United States of America: "Cleveland Rocks"

The Revolution Fox Experiment: "Hyper Charlie"

The Strokes: "Someday"

And with the curveball, the theme to "The Drew Carey Show." Man, this game's soundtrack rules.

Hey reader, do I talk about music too much on my blog or should I keep it rolling?