I Wanna Hold Your Wii-mote

I honestly thought I would find the Rolling Stones milking the multimedia/ gaming bandwagon before the "Fab Four", but wonders do never cease… Wake your parents peeps! Your Mom’s favourite band is going to make her very happy all over again. Yep, the “Beatles – Rock Band” is on the way. As previously bloggedabout, the much anticipated video game created by a partnership between the Beatles' Apple Corps, Ltd. and MTV Games' Harmonix Music Systems, the people behind the "Rock Band" series will be released on September 9th to Xbox, Playstation, and Wii. (That’s 09.09.09, but the one after that would have been cooler. ed)

Yesterday at the E3 Media & Business Summit, (the gigantor gaming conference in Las Vegas), Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon, and Olivia Harrison announced key details of "The Beatles: Rock Band". The first being, that the storyline of the game follows the Beatles' career from 1963 to 1969, from the Cavern Club across the universe to megastardom.

It’s time to ditch the tennis rackets and hairbrush microphones. In this game you get to play a plastic pseudo-guitar as the loveable mop topped quartet. Of course the finely crafted instruments have been precision designed to look like the ones John, Paul, George, and Ringo actually played. It gets even better too; The game will feature three-part harmony, so the whole family can gather round the flat panel to reinterpret “Revolution #9”.

In between songs, you'll get to hear "previously unreleased authentic voice recordings from John, Paul, George and Ringo chatting between takes during studio sessions recorded at Abbey Road more than four decades ago," according to the website press release.

The game will feature a playlist of 45 songs from the Beatles' catalogue, including "I Saw Her Standing There," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "I Feel Fine," "Taxman," "Day Tripper," Back in the USSR," "I Am the Walrus," "Octopus's Garden," "Here Comes the Sun," and "Get Back". At some point in the future, you'll be able to download even more, including Abbey Road in its entirety.

You know though, I’m still going to wait for “The Rolling Stones – Rock Band”. And they had better include a download for A Bigger Bang in its entirety! Ohhhhh and fake plastic cigarettes… Staart me up!

I'm getting excited all ready.

REVIEW Spoon - Ga,Ga,Ga,Ga,Ga

There is a reason why we order the same Tim Horton’s coffee every morning or drink the same beer when we go out. Familiarity is a decisive thing that is not to be taken lightly. It pretty much ensures that what we are going to get is dependable and good. Those two words sum up precisely my regard for the Austin, TX quartet, Spoon. The bands oddly titled sixth release, Ga, Ga, Ga, Ga, Ga is the result of leader Britt Daniel’s decade long, slowly refined musical recipe. Chef Daniel knows how to concoct a catchy, clever pop song and this LP is filled with them. Incorporating elements of soul, Motown and pop; it's all there. Just like the five records that came before this. Ga, Ga, Ga, Ga, Ga is rife with style, rhythm and a boatload of creativity. "Don't You Evah" grabbed me immediately with its catchy chorus and familiar Beatlesque harmonies. (I think it’s a rite of passage now for every lyricist to rewrite “Taxman”. ed) This is not meant as a criticism, moreso it enables me to put this release into some context. It’s no surprise the first time I heard Spoon I thought I was listening to some long lost Elvis Costello and the Attractions single.

One of the many highlights of this record, and could in fact be the quintessential Spoon song, is "The Underdog". It's an ostentatious track, not just for its lyrical accessibility and bright vibe but also because it successfully builds on the Spoon formula we have come to know and love. Producer Mike McCarthy long a fixture on the Spoon landscape is the unseen force who keeps Spoon's experimental side mostly in check and gives the song its true pop sheen. This song could be 2007's first bona fide classic. Maybe then I can dream a little and imagine that these might be what comprises the best part of Rhino Records Nuggets 2020 boxed set when that comes out. For now though, the highly addictive "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb," and Sixties garage rocker "Rhthm & Soul" will mix well as the highlights on your best friend’s next mix cd.

Seek this one out. I am off to replace the comma key on my notebook.

Recommended PPPP

File Under: Not only good, but good for you.