Video of the Week – Week 79

So there was a whole bunch of hoopla this past week over Radiohead’s new music video for “House of Cards.” Why? Well, because it was shot entirely without cameras. I’ll let that sit with you for a while. There were no cameras used in the “filming” of this “video.” I’m not sure how it all works (something about lasers), but the end result is pretty awesome-looking.

E3 ’08: Music Games

So I’m working really hard on this week’s review, but I haven’t really got enough ears-on time with it yet.  Expect it by Thursday.  Until then, I thought I’d give everyone a little update as to what is happening at the E3 convention in Los Angeles.  As many of you know, this is the huge, yearly video game convention where big titles are announced, demoed, hyped, etc.  Being a gamer, myself, and a fan of music games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, I thought I’d let all of you in on the news.  Chances are, if you’re an avid gamer, you already know this stuff.  But if you’re living outside of nerdville, here’s what’s happened so far.

Xbox 360/PS3

Guitar Hero: World Tour – There wasn’t a lot of hype surrounding GH:WT, the next installment in the mega-series, what with the huge Rock Band 2 tracklist revealed just a few minutes before Microsoft’s Press Conference.  What we do know for sure is that World Tour will release with an exclusive R.E.M. track pack, as well as Metallica’s forthcoming album as DLC.  There was a little mention of being able to import and play your own music, which if implemented correctly, could be HUGE.  Otherwise, I’m still not planning on buying this game, as I already have one fake drumset in my house, and I don’t see the need to further clutter things with GH:WT’s incompatible kit.

Rock Band 2 – This was the biggest music game announcement yesterday.  Rock Band 2 will ship with 85 master tracks, including a Chinese Democracy track from Guns ‘n’ Roses’ “upcoming” album.  Does this mean that Rock Band 2 will go the route of Duke Nukem Forever and get delayed for, well, ever?  Let’s hope not.  Here’s the full track list:

AC/DC: “Let There Be Rock”
AFI: “Girl’s Gone Grey”
Alanis Morissette: “You Oughta Know”
Alice in Chains: “Man in the Box”
Allman Brothers: “Ramblin’ Man”
Avenged Sevenfold: “Almost Easy”
Bad Company: “Shooting Star”
Beastie Boys: “So Whatcha Want”
Beck: “E-Pro”
Bikini Kill: “Rebel Girl”
Billy Idol: “White Wedding Pt. I”
Blondie: “One Way or Another”
Bob Dylan: “Tangled Up in Blue”
Bon Jovi: “Livin’ on a Prayer”
Cheap Trick: “Hello There”
Devo: “Uncontrollable Urge”
Dinosaur Jr.: “Feel the Pain”
Disturbed: “Down with the Sickness”
Dream Theater: “Panic Attack”
Duran Duran: “Hungry Like the Wolf”
Elvis Costello: “Pump It Up”
Fleetwood Mac: “Go Your Own Way”
Foo Fighters: “Everlong”
Guns N’ Roses: “Shackler’s Revenge”
Interpol: “PDA”
Jane’s Addiction: “Mountain Song”
Jethro Tull: “Aqualung”
Jimmy Eat World: “The Middle”
Joan Jett: “Bad Reputation”
Journey: “Anyway You Want It”
Judas Priest: “Painkiller”
Kansas: “Carry On Wayward Son”
L7:  “Pretend We’re Dead”
Lacuna Coil: “Our Truth”
Linkin Park: “One Step Closer”
Lit: “My Own Worst Enemy”
Lush: “De-Luxe”
Mastodon: “Colony of Birchmen”
Megadeth: “Peace Sells”
Metallica: “Battery”
Mighty Mighty Bosstones: “Where’d You Go”
Modest Mouse: “Float On”
Motorhead: “Ace of Spades”
Nirvana: “Drain You”
Norman Greenbaum: “Spirit in the Sky”
Panic at the Disco: “Nine in the Afternoon”
Paramore: “That’s What You Get”
Pearl Jam: “Alive”
Presidents of the USA: “Lump”
Rage Against the Machine:”Testify”
Ratt: “Round & Round”
Red Hot Chili Peppers : “Give It Away”
Rise Against: “Give It All”
Rush: “The Trees”
Silversun Pickups: “Lazy Eye”
Smashing Pumpkins: “Today”
Social Distortion: “I Was Wrong”
Sonic Youth: “Teen Age Riot”
Soundgarden: “Spoonman”
Squeeze: “Cool for Cats”
Steely Dan: “Bodhitsattva”
Steve Miller Band: “Rock’n Me”
Survivor: “Eye of the Tiger”
System of a Down: “Chop Suey”
Talking Heads: “Psycho Killer”
Tenacious D: “Master Exploder”
Testament: “Souls of Black”
The Donnas: “New Kid in School”
The Go-Go’s: “We Got the Beat”
The Grateful Dead: “Alabama Getaway”
The Guess Who: “American Woman”
The Muffs: “Kids in America”
The Offspring: “Come Out & Play (Keep ’em Separated)”
The Replacements: “Alex Chilton”
The Who: “Pinball Wizard”

There are some interesting tracks, to be sure.  And even though I’m a little miffed (read: completely and utterly dumbfounded) by the lack of Muse (!!!), I’m really looking forward to tearing into System of a Down, Beck, and effing Mastodon!  All downloadable content from Rock Band will be compatible with Rock Band 2, and by the end of the year, there should be 500 songs available to Xbox Live/PSN users.  That’s pretty impressive.

Lips (Xbox 360 Exclusive) – Lips is a new singing game from Microsoft Game Studios that really looks and feels like one of those SingStar games that I’m not too fond of.  The big difference is that you’ll be able to connect your Zune or iPod and play with the songs that you already own, giving you a potentially endless number of songs to play.  I’m not sure how this functionality will work though.  Will it lower the vocals and turn it into a karaoke machine?  Will it detect the vocals of the song and place the notes on the screen and make it into an actual game?  Will it do BOTH?  No one really knows the answers to this yet, but more will be revealed as the convention moves on, I’m sure.  For the time being, it’s a pretty interesting title that I’ll definitely keep my eye on.  Oh, and apparently the mics are motion sensitive (and they light up).  Neat!

Wii

Samba de Amigo – This stylized maraca-based rhythm game for the Wii is essentially a re-make of the Dreamcast classic of the same name.  That means nothing to me though, as I never played that game and am not entirely convinced that I should.  It’s all about shaking maracas (or your Wii Remote in this case) to the beat, so if that’s your thing, keep an eye out for it.  The only development that came about this week is the announcement that the game will support Downloadable Content (which is a first for Wii, to my knowledge).  The first track pack will include: 

“I Want Candy” – Bow Wow Wow

“Are You Going to be My Girl?” – Jet

“Mambo Mambo” Lou Bega

Umm…well, I’ll let those songs do the talking for me.  If SEGA was trying to get this game on my radar, that didn’t do it.

Wii Music – The big announcement for Wii was the long-awaited Wii Music from Nintendo.  In the line of Wii Sports, Wii Fit, and Wii Play, Wii Music is a game designed to get grandma off the couch and into the game.  I don’t know folks, this one just looks a bit ridiculous to me.  Now, I’m all for playing virtual instruments, but holding the Wii Remote like a saxophone and blowing?  I’m not that big of dork.  Not yet at least.  Consider me un-wowed.

Nintendo DS

Guitar Hero: On Tour – Decades – Quite the mouthful, but Nintendo announced today that Activision is already underway on a sequel to the just-released (and *ahem* just-reviewed) Guitar Hero: On Tour.  Not much information about this one yet, but apparently song-sharing will be available.  I think this means that if a friend has the original, you can share songs from Decades to entice him or her to buy it.  Clever.

Rhythm Heaven – This is apparently a sequel to a game released on Game Boy Advance in Japan.  But it’s coming to America, and reading the description, it seems a lot like Elite Beat Agents.  If that’s the case, I’m in!

—————

That’s all I’ve heard so far.  Any of these seem like winners to you?

Video of the Week – Week 78

I really do like The Wombats, folks, so I’m going to do everything in my power to get you to listen to them at least once.  Here’s a video to “Let’s Dance to Joy Division.”

The Wombats – “Let’s Dance to Joy Division” from the album A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation.

Video of the Week – Week 77

Hey, so how ’bout that not review that I wrote yesterday? I just felt like I needed to spend a little more time with the album before I started writing, so it should be up by Thursday at the latest. Until then, you should totally check out this video for this really edgy band named Tilly and the Wall. It’s for a song called “Pot Kettle Black” that really makes you wanna go out there and whoop up on some ho skanks! It’s totally hardcore! *rolls eyes*

“Pot Kettle Black” by Tilly and the Wall, from the album, O.

Video of the Week – Week 76

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

Vampire Weekend – “Oxford Comma” from the self-titled debut.

Video of the Week – Week 75

Hey, last week’s video…weird story about that one. Apparently Tilly and the Wall like to make songs and music videos that won’t be on albums. Crazy, I know, but I thought it best to point out that “Beat Control” is nowhere on their new album, which I picked up yesterday and will review soon. Just sayin. Now on to this week’s video.

It is a bit odd that the world’s most recognizable video happens to be from a one-hit wonder, but that’s how things go I suppose. Hey. I hope you like this one.

Video of the Week – Week 74

So I’ve pretty much been in Love with Tilly and the Wall since I first heard them way back in 2005.  They have this new album coming out next week, and I’ve posted the video to their first single below.  I’m not sure how I feel…about the song, that is.  I know how I feel about the video.  It’s kind of lame.  But that is to be expected with poor indie pop bands.  What do you think?

Tilly and the Wall – “Beat Control” from the album, O.

Video of the Week – Week 73

Scariest video ever.  For realsies.

“Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden, from the album, Superunknown.

Video of the Week – Week 72

Hey. How’ya doin’?

Does everyone remember that gripping, totally enthralling piece of writing I did yesterday? Well, in it, I made sure to mention that the first single to the new Ladytron album, Velocifero, is titled “Ghosts” and is really quite awesome. In an attempt to share that awesomeness with you, I’ve decided to post the video to that song. Enjoy it. k?

Ladytron – “Ghosts” from the album, Velocifero.

The 5 Most Awesomely Bad Rap Songs

I feel like a total tool using the term “awesomely bad,” seeing as how VH1 pretty much coined it for their awesomely bad countdowns.  But seeing as how there’s no better way to describe the following 5 rap songs, it will have to do.  Now these aren’t Weird Al rap songs, or anything dumb.  These are legitimate songs that you can’t help but like.  They are so bad, they’re good.  You can’t get enough of them…admit it.  I present to you, dearest reader, The 5 Most Awesomely Bad Rap Songs.  With video.

#5:  Master P – “Make ‘Em Say Uhh” – There’s no denying the badness of Master P’s only somewhat decent song (and really only that good because of Mystikal).  The hook of the song is completely inane in the same way that “gettin’ jiggy with it” is.  It doesn’t make a lick of sense, it’s spoken, and hearing 5 voices say “uhhhh” in 5 completely different keys is far too much for my poor fragile ears to handle.  But I’ll be damned if that isn’t one of the most infectious beats of all time.  And then there’s Mystikal.  Dude needs to get out of prison ASAP and make at least one more hit on the same level of “Danger.”  That would make me the happiest boy in the world.

#4: Akinyele – “Put It In My Mouth” – Possibly the most sexually explicit rap song ever written, including everything by 2 Live Crew and ICP (gawd!).  The thing about Akinyele is that this song is actually kind of tame compared to his other stuff.  It’s just that this one is the only one that I can actually listen to.  Partially because it’s hilarious (I mean, what kind of legitimate female vocalist sings the lyric “I was sprung once I feel your tongue in the crack of my ass?”).  Meanwhile Akinyele is barking out some of the nastiest stuff you’ll ever hear.  It’s so bad I wouldn’t even feel right posting a video here.  But here’s a link.  Ummm….NSFW.
#3: Freak Nasty – “Da’ Dip” – Ugh.  It’s such a bad song and I can’t help but love it.  Of course, I’ve got all those sentimental feelings for it (5th grade dances for the most part), but I think the main reason that song could be qualified as awesomely bad is due mainly to the video.  What the hell is up with that robot thing?  That’s got to be the dancing baby’s demon mother.  Oh, and let’s not forget Princess Leia and her friend, the disco ball.  Who could forget that?

#2:  Skee-Lo – “I Wish” – Old school rap  beat?  Check.  Old school boombox?  Check.  Forest Gump reference?  Check.  This is, honest to god, one of my favorite rap songs of all time.  Why?  Mainly all of the reasons above, plus the fact that the lyrics of Skee-Lo’s only song that anyone knows are straight up hilarious.  Rappers are always talking about what they have, be it bling (remember bling?), grills, rims….shiny things really.  And weed.  Skee-Lo was man enough to rap about what he didn’t have, namely height.  So while he’s busy rapping about his inadequacies and awkward time sitting with the ladies “who came to watch their man ball,” I’m over here bobbing my head, throwing my hand up, and hoping to Jesus that no one walks in and sees me.  

#1:  Coolio – “1,2,3,4 (Sumpin’ New)” – When we’re really honest with ourselves, we can admit that that Coolio is a fairly terrible rapper.  Oh I know, “Gangsta’s Paradise” really moved you back when you were growing up in the suburbs, but that doesn’t change the fact that his lyrics are almost as bad Will Smith’s.  In this song, “1,2,3,4,” he even uses the term “lookie loos” which is tearing me apart on the inside.  I just can’t decide whether it’s laughably bad or incredibly badass (I’m leaning towards the latter).