hmxhenry said...
hmxhenry said...
So things have been monumentally busy over here at HMX, which may explain why I haven't posted a new Rock Blog in almost a month. We've been working double time to get the word out about Rock Band 2 and the recent crush of DLC (at an average of 7 tracks per week for the last three months!) and unfortunately my blogging duties have fallen by the wayside.
But even HMX employees get a reprieve every once in a while, and our company clam bake this past Friday came at just the right time. After a crazy week of flying out to LA for 12 hours, burning the midnight oil to crank out the first issue of our Community Zine Newsletter, and solo staffing a Rock Band event for the women of Best Buy I know I definitely needed a break.
On Friday morning nearly all 270+ employees at Harmonix hopped on a chartered boat and took a trip out to George's Island in Boston Harbor. The island had a huge fort (which was used as a humane prison for Confederate soldiers captured during the Civil War!) and loads of picnic / recreation areas. While we waited for the seafood to cook, HMX employees busied themselves with everything from frisbee, to kite flying, to cricket.
For many of us it was the first real day of relaxation in months. Some departments have been in near perpetual crunch, so it was a great opportunity for all of us to get together and do something really awesome with each other. Now, the Monday morning after the clam bake, I think we're all a little bit more bright eyed and bushy tailed. With a renewed constitution and an untroubled mind, I'm ready to dive into the hazards of PAX next week. But the PAX recap will have to wait for another Rock Blog.
I'll be sure to post more regularly from now on. Keep on the lookout for reports on a Rock Band night hosted at the Coolidge Corner theater where we played an RB2 demo on the main screen, my whirlwind LA trip where I ended up on national TV AND got to eat In-N-Out bugers for the first time, and my time doing hardware playtesting with the talented individuals in Earth, Wind & Centaurrrrrr!!!!
Rock on!
-HMXHenry
hmxhenry said...
So I'm sure everyone has had their fill of E3 coverage by now. All the big stories have been broken, all the tiny throw away comments have been blown out of proportion, all the video clips have been watched and re watched, and there's not much more we could possibly tell you about Rock Band 2. So I'm going to use this Rock Blog to tell you even more about Rock Band 2!
The big stories were, of course, the massively star studded track list, the backwards compatibility for DLC, the RB1 disc export feature, and new features like online band world tour, drum trainer, and Battle Of The Bands. But there are plenty of juicy little tidbits that we dropped that even the most eagle eyed Rockers may have missed amidst the overwhelming roar of feedback like "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE A NEW GUNS 'N ROSES TRACK FROM CHINESE DEMOCRACY!?!?!" So I thought I'd run down my list of Ten Things About RB2 That You May Have Missed At E3.
1. The RB2 drum kit ships with ports in the back that you can use for cymbal attachments (which you probably know about) but there's also a port that allows you to plug in a second kick pedal. Double bass is now a viable option for all the hardcore drummers out there.
2. The new RB2 guitar peripheral has a small microphone in the body by the effect switch that syncs with your television and automatically calibrates for optimum rocking on your home system. This takes a lot of the frustration out of finding the "sweet spot" in manual calibration.
3. Though the backing vocals aren't charted in Kids In America, the WHOA OHs can now be counted among the most fun sing along parts in the game.
4. Everlong is very hard on drums. Okay, no shocker there. It may not be the hardest drum track in RB2 (I'm looking at you Panic Attack) but I saw no fewer than 5 different drummers lose their sticks at our demo station at E3. No one dropped their sticks during any other song, so I'm led to believe that Everlong has some mystical power that activates the sweat glands in your palms, thus destroying any hope of FC'ing that sucker.
5. We've got a few new Game Modifier options in RB2. Most notable are No Fail Mode (for those not quite playing at Easy, and for those who may find themselves too sauced at RB parties to keep up) and Breakneck Speed (for those few speed mutants not content with tackling Thrasher on Expert).
6. There's a metal plate on the RB2 kick pedal. You wanted it, you got it. 'Nuff said.
7. Singing Journey's Any Way You Want It more than 3 times in an hour may cause you to become lightheaded and fall down. HMXJohnlok, through a combination of long hours, lack of hydration, and repeated Journey-ing, fell down at our floor demo at one point and was promptly mounted by two other members of our floor crew. So you may want to watch out for that.
8. We touched on the fact that RB2 will have a sweet custom set list feature in quickplay, so you'll be able to queue up all your favorite party tracks in advance or power through full albums in one sitting. What many people didn't pick up on was the fact that our custom set list is big enough to accommodate more songs than will appear on the RB2 disc. That's pretty massive.
9. The much discussed RB2 drum trainer will include a kind of free play mode where you'll be able to play over MP3 tracks that you have saved to your hard drive. A far cry better than drumming on your car dashboard to songs from the radio.
10. In addition to being able to choose the RB1 pre fabricated characters as band members, you'll also find that these familiar characters actually have names. For example, that "lumberjack looking dude" is actually Moosejaw Boudreau. You'll see recognizable characters with new names, some awesome new prefab characters, and even an HMX dev or two available as an in game character.
So there's all that. As if you didn't have enough to digest. I figured I'd recap on some of the smaller (but still VERY cool) pieces of news that came out of the bog RB2 reveal at E3. Be on the lookout for even more amazing info!
-HMXHenry
hmxhenry said...
There's not much more I can say about Rock Band or Rock Band 2 right now that hasn't already been covered on the forums, hands on interviews, or wild messageboard rumors. Next week will be huge, with most of the HMX Community team in LA for E3, so we'll be sure to have some RB2 announcements and juicy Rock Blogs for you when we get back.
In the meantime, I figure I'd post this quote about reunion shows. It speaks to hardcore and punk bands specifically, but I think the heart of the message is true for any kind of music (or any kind of art for that matter).
"Most bands get back together to perform karaoke sets of their past songs with remakes of old shirts and little more to offer. The songs ring hollow of a dead past. Passion is lost as one seeks to perform old songs, for old people at the funeral of their creative being. I have always detested reunions, because 95% of them are farces. If the songs don’t reflect who you are today and there is nothing new to offer, what is the point? 99% of punk rock is only as vital as the combination of the songs, the time, the people, the venue and the moment it takes place in. If it is only as relevant to your heart as some nostalgic moment, like attending ones high school reunion, then it will ring hollow. Is it really that much fun to play at ones own funeral? Create something new or get out of the ****ing way." -Rob Fish of 108
Just something to think about. Talk to you again when we get back from E3!
-HMXHenry
hmxhenry said...
The New England weather has been in rare form lately, reaching scorching highs during the day and chilling lows at night. The skies will be crystal clear one minute, but then the next thing you know there's a bitter wind whipping horizontal rain right through your soul.
So this weekend I spent a good deal of time running outside to enjoy the warm weather, and then running back inside to take shelter from the forbidding storm clouds. The summer listening varied accordingly, swinging wildly from poppy and upbeat, to the sigh inducing soundtrack that one can only really appreciate on a rainy day.
The following selections make up most of my Sad Time Summer Storm listening.
*Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
*The Smiths - The Best Of the Smiths Vol. 2
*Agent Orange - Living In Darkness
*Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
The Belle & Sebastian album may actually be my favorite rainy day listening. It's just peppy enough to avoid complete indoor depression, but it's more than worth it's weight in melancholy. Very bittersweet, but possessing more than a touch of the tounge-in-cheek lyricism found in Morrissey's stuff.
If you find yourself shut indoors on what should be a beautiful summer day, turn to the sleepytime indie pop of Belle & Sebastian and it may help make your gray time a little less awful.
-HMXHenry
hmxhenry said...
My ipod died on the way to work today and I'm dreading the trip home. It's not a long commute, maybe a fifteen minute train ride tops and a five minute bike to my apartment, but I've become completely reliant on my ipod for companionship.
I used to haul a portable cd player around with me, along with a wallet of ten cds, and I carried it everywhere until it literally fell apart in my hands. I was really reluctant to buy into the ipod craze but now I almost can't deal with a twenty minute commute without it.
I've become addicted to my own music, due in part to the fact that it has become so accessible, portable, and convenient. That's kind of weird. I'll have to think about that on the long... dull... trip home. *sigh*
-HMXHenry
hmxhenry said...
So this Saturday was a Harmonix Milestone for me... it was my first real Community road trip. HMXSean gets to do all the fancy high profile stuff like the Grammys, Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, and playing with the American Gladiators, while I've been more involved with the home front stuff here in Cambridge / Boston. But this past Saturday HMXJohnlok, HMXTheMax, and myself took a day trip down to New York City to attend the Wii launch of Rock Band at the Nintendo World Store.
It was an awesome experience, and a whirlwind trip. We were in and out of NYC in about 24 hours, and left many faces rocked in our wake. We got in late Friday night and stayed at a hotel about a half block outside of Times Square that could have easily been mistaken for a German discotheque. Quite the setting for the wild and crazy HMX Community Team. Once we settled in to our slick leather and chrome tricked out room we really let loose and watched Caddyshack then went to bed.
Saturday started off early. We were at the Nintendo World Store to set up around 8:30am and there was already a line of about a hundred people down the block waiting to get in. We watched a little bit of the Today Show filming right outside, since it's right on the back side of Rockafeller Center. Very hip. We got in and met with some MTV and NWS people and got some Rock Band kiosks set up.
There were six full band set ups in all: three regular demo stations, two huge flat screen tvs in a lounge type area, and one GIANT set up complete with professional stage lighting, a stack of speakers, and a fog machine. There was Rock Band signage everywhere, and the opening Highway Star cinematic playing on nearly every screen in the store. It was intense.
We started letting people in around 10am and play stations filled up fast. We got people organized in bands and helped round out groups when bands couldn't find a fourth member. Most people were scared of the mic so I did a lot of singing. My throat still hurts.
I was really surprised at how many people were already familiar with the game. There were lots of people who had played RB on another system before and they helped out the newer Wii Rockers get acclimated. Even those new to the game took to it really quickly. The Wii certainly attracted more casual gamers than other events we've held, but they were really quick to pick up on things. I was fully prepared to play band Savior all day long, but there weren't a lot of people failing out, and even the kids picked up on strumming and the kick pedal much faster than I expected. Thanks to everyone who played with me... you made my job pretty darn easy!
The only downside was being on my feet all day (hardly anyone needed a drummer to sit in for them) and not having much of a choice in which songs we played. I sang Enter Sandman and Dirty Little Secret close to a dozen times each. Dani California, When You Were Young, and Don't Fear the Reaper were big repeat hits too. Out of the 63 songs on the RB Wii disc I probably didn't play through more than a dozen of them. I snuck in a few plays of Brainpower at the end of the day though, which was a nice little 2 minute bubble gum break from the regular cycle of hits.
Around 4pm we started to pack up, but no one wanted to stop playing. People were begging for just one more song, so we ended up keeping 2 of the play stations open after we left. I grabbed a tshirt for my special lady (Mario in Tanooki suit) and after that we hopped into a cab and booked it back to Boston where we were safe from being judged based on our local sports teams.
All in all it was an awesome first time on the road. I probably won't let HMXJohnlok book my accommodations again any time in the near future, but that really just adds to the charm of the trip. Big ups to the crew at the Nintendo World Store and anyone who came out to hang with us. Everyone was in high spirits and we all had a blast playing.
And that's my story of the Community work weekend in the big city! Below you can find a short playlist for the flight to New York. It was a short flight, so it's a short playlist. Good times.
-HMXHenry
NYC Mix Tape
1. Sick Of It All - It's Clobberin' Time
2. Antidote - Life As One
3. Abused - Watch Out
4. Gorilla Biscuits - New Direction
5. Side By Side - You're Only Young Once
6. H2O - Family Tree
7. Cro-Mags - Hard Times
8. Fear - New York's Alight If You Like Saxophones
9. Andrew WK - I Love NYC
hmxhenry said...
As you may have heard (if you read HMXJohnlok's EPIC Rock Blog this week) part of the HMX Community Team is going to be in New York City this Saturday for the big Wii release at the Nintendo World Store.
I like to travel. I like the night life. I like to boogie. But unfortunately we'll probably only be in the NYC for 24 hours. Just enough time to demo Rock Band and grab a meal or two.
So I figured I'd pass the dining plans on to you guys and see if you had any suggestions. We'll be spending most of the day in Rockefeller Center, so anything near by would be awesome. We're not too fancy, but I think we can do better than a pizza pie from a vendor on the street corner.
Pics will follow if HMXJohnlok and I share a romantic frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity, or a delicious cupcake at Magnolia. I'm off to google search the address for Carnegie Deli.
-HMXHenry
hmxhenry said...
Not much on the Rock Band / Harmonix front this week. I'll have some awesome stories next week though (honest).
I did go and see The Incredible Hulk though, and that was pretty cool. I'm a huge comic book nerd, but not a big fan of the Hulk. I love the idea of the character but for the most part I think he just kind of falls flat in the comics. He's definitely a great foil, and I love seeing how other characters play off of him (like in the classic Avengers and Fantastic Four stuff), but as a stand alone character it's kind of a stretch sometimes. You can either lean way towards the psychological (the Jekyll / Hyde stuff of the first Hulk movie) or just have him smash stuff all day long (like the majority of the comics).
The recent Hulk movie was a pretty decent mix of the two. I dig the "man on the run" style storytelling of the classic Bill Bixby / Lou Ferrigno tv series and they executed that really well. Dr. Banner, as a piece of military property, is really compelling. Ed Norton was great; nerdy when he needed to be, and intense when the Hulk needed to show through. He wasn't as angry as Eric Bana, but that dude was in Monster. He's HARD.
My major hang up is the forced romance, in super hero films in general but specifically in Hulk. Betty Ross is an important part of the Hulk mythology, and a strong tether to his humanity. I get it. Liv Tyler is also a boring actress and I don't need Bruce to have a love interest to make his character compelling. There are some great Hulk stories that don't rely on having a romantic interest. He's just fine as a monster roaming the countryside in search of safety. The romance may make the character more accessible and desirable to a widespread audience, but it's not essential. Spidey can have Mary Jane. He's in high school, so having a crush is a huge part of his life. Batman doesn't need a love interest in every film. He's detached and driven by obsession, not some love sick goon. Iron Man was fine because the strained flirtation with Pepper was so true to the history of their relationship. But Hulk? Hulk should be smashing, not smooching.
Tim Roth kind of phoned it in. Abomination was cool. Cooler than Nick Nolte / bizarro Absorbing Man at any rate. Bill Hurt as General Ross was pretty darn sweet. Hurt's been on a roll in recent years. I was fine with the CGI, though I know it bothers a lot of people. It wasn't as slick as Iron Man, but it probably shouldn't look that polished.
For the most part it was a good time. Not Iron Man good, but a nice hold over until Batman hits theaters. I'm thrilled that Marvel is pushing the whole Avengers agenda, and weaving threads through all of their films setting the stage for something big. It makes me feel like I did when I was a kid reading a Spider Man comic and Daredevil would swing past him, creating that sense of living in a larger connected universe.
Yay for comics! HENRY SMASH!
-HMXHenry
hmxhenry said...
So, believe it or not, I'm not a very avid gamer. I'm definitely more traditional in my tastes, leaning towards my NES collection just as often as I reach for the Wii. For me to sit down and obsess over a game is a very rare occurrence. The last few games that really nailed me down in front of the tv have been Rock Band, Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and most recently Lego Indiana Jones.
I really dug the Lego Star Wars games, but Lego Indy totally knocked it out of the park. Maybe it's that Indy is a bit more suited to the adventure game than some of the Star Wars prequel characters. Maybe it's just that the game looks better and plays smoother than the Star Wars games. I think it's probably all the little things that make this game so much fun.
For example, the loading screens between levels are flat map backgrounds, but instead of a progress bar slowly crawling along the bottom of the screen you get the familiar red line from the Indy films connecting his voyage from point A to point B.
The character specific abilities and accessories are much more varied, and so true to the characters too. Indy has his whip, of course, and female characters can jump higher because they are more "nimble", and small characters like Short Round are still the only ones who can access secret tunnels. But now there are mechanics (who fix stuff, duh), guides (who have shovels and dig up treasure), archaeologists (who carry books to help decode puzzles) and a slew of other clever and unique little tweaks on all the things I loved in Lego Star Wars.
I don't even mind going back and playing the same levels again on free play, which is a rare occurrence. I usually don't care about unlocking all the hidden stuff in games, or getting 100% complete, but the Lego Indy stuff appeals to the kid in me and I want to see what clever little thing they've got waiting for me next.
Seriously fun stuff. Great adaptations of the films. One of the best games I've played in a long time. Sit down and play it if you get a chance.
-HMXHenry
hmxhenry said...
As a member of the Harmonix Community Team I get to act as a goodwill representative for the company. That covers being a HMX Ambassador on the forums, in support email, and occasionally in person. Earlier this week I had the opportunity to give a group of awesome kids a tour around the HMX offices.
They were visiting from an organization called Zumix, based out of East Boston. Zumix is a group that provides kids with an opportunity to have access to musical instruments, tutors, and a group of like minded musically inclined kids in a positive community environment. They cover everything from guitar lessons, reading piano music, to writing hip hop lyrics. They've got a great focus on not only teaching kids how to use music as a positive force in their lives, but they also learn a bit about the possibilities of pursuing a job in a music related field.
Enter Harmonix. I got to give them the grand tour around the offices (minus all of the super secret stuff: the super collider, chocolate waterfall, Rigopolcopter) and introduce them to some of the people here. They were pretty into it, and got way into it when they found out we had an in house rehearsal studio.
We did some job talk, and talked about career opportunities in the field of video game development, and finally got around to setting up Rock Band for these nine kids to sit down and play. And they rocked. They may have rocked harder than any group of first timers I have ever had the pleasure of playing with.
Of the nine, five kids had never played Rock Band and the rest of them had only tried the guitar and even then they confessed that they had only tried playing on easy. So we set up and they totally let loose. Two songs in one kid was playing guitar on expert, guys who had been quiet all tour long were fighting over the mic, and everyone really started to loosen up. One girl who had been terrified of playing the drums at Zumix finally got up the courage to hop behind a Rock Band kit and it turned out she really enjoyed it. They traded off instruments without hesitation or complaint after every track and were eager to try something new. And I have never seen a group of guys more excited about singing for Rock Band before. One dude totally lost his mind singing Metallica's Ride the Lightening, and the other guy cleared two songs at 100% singing on Medium.
I chalk it up to their musical background, but it was still super impressive watching them waltz through songs that have humbled older rockers and more experienced gamers. They've already got the rhythm, timing, and ear for the music so it was really cool being able to sit them down with these relatively foreign instrument peripherals and see them take to it like ducks to water.
Stuff like that, more than getting a chance to have a blast rocking out in the comfort of my own home, or seeing DLC sales figures,is really what makes me happy to be involved with Rock Band and HMX as a whole. I hope those kids had half as much fun as I did on that tour, and I hope to see some of them make waves that turn the music gaming industry on its ear sometime within the next ten years.
-HMXHenry
hmxhenry said...
In my first Rock Blog I tried to stress the importance of The Live Show in this day and age of digital downloads, dramatic message board critiques, and easily digestible music videos. And, after the show I saw last night, I think it's a point worth repeating.
I had heard of H2O a few years ago, and admired the fact they were a group of "older" guys in a punk / hardcore scene dominated by angry youth. Even when their first album came out in 1995 they were 5 to 10 years older than the average hardcore kid at shows. And they're still up and running today, touring in support of their first album in 7 years.
They played at the Middle East in Cambridge, MA last night, right around the corner from the Harmonix offices. I was stoked to finally get a chance to see them, especially in the company of Crime In Stereo and This Is Hell. But, by Sunday night, I was pretty much wiped. I had a long weekend, and had been running around all day and was pretty much dead on my feet by the time H20 took the stage around 10:30pm. I had almost left the show right after Crime In Stereo, but figured I'd tough it out for H2O. I made the right call.
For a bunch of guys pushing forty years old they worked the crowd better than groups half their age. I'm talking HIGH ENERGY all the way through the show. And I'm all for youthful enthusiasm, especially in sloppy punk music, but it was a refreshing change of pace seeing a group of guys who had put in their time, knew the rhythm of a performance, and had the polish of a (*gasp*) professional live show.
Toby, the 38 year old lead singer of H2O, made the stage look like it was three times bigger than it actually was. Running from side to side, back and forth, from friends at the side of the stage to the kids piled up at the front, he was everywhere. And he pulled it off with an intensity that made me feel old and ashamed for being so tuckered out after a long day of socializing.
Their set was a real shot in the arm, and it woke me right up. The crowd reaction was amazing, and there was no shortage of pile ons or sing alongs at the front of the stage. Even the songs from the new album, which had only been out for a week or so, got kids up and moving. It was one of those great moments where you feel like everyone really wanted to be there, united by a common interest in something more than the band on stage... something to do with the music, the message, the energy.
The in between song banter was an endless lists of shout outs and respect for their fans, friends, fellow bands, crews, and labels. Everyone got a shout out, from their friends in the Gorilla Biscuits, to local heroes the Dropkick Murhpys, Bridge 9 Records for putting out their new album, Madball for lending them a van for this tour, the Boston Celtics for squeaking past the Pistons, and finally their entire Boston Hardcore Family.
H2O is a New York band, classic NYHC all the way, but it felt like they were locals. When you play that well, when the band is really on, and the crowd is still getting into it and calling out for more at the end of the show... you can't match that. That's something you can't touch with a pristine studio recording, or with a stolen MP3, or that rare tour tshirt you shelled out the big bucks for, or with the day after criticisms and nitpicking by amateur bloggers. There's something special about feeling that kind of connection being in the same room with a band that's making something important happen. You go from being a listener to being an active participant in the energy.
H2O has that energy. Buy one of their cds if you've never heard of them. If you've heard their older stuff you should pick up the new cd (it doesn't disappoint). And above all, go out of your way to check them out on tour. They put on one hell of a show. H2O GO!
-HMXHenry
hmxhenry said...
This is the second week in a row I've missed my Monday Rock Blog deadline, but this time I actually have a good excuse! I spent most of yesterday doing some hands on training with Max, who will be acting as our Community Intern this summer.
I've known Max since he was just a wide eyed youth shopping at the comic book store I used to work at, and (against my better judgement) suggested he come in to HMX to spend some time helping us out this summer. He is a good kid, but quick with the sass talk, so you better watch out for that. I'm sure you'll be seeing him on the forums soon, and getting emails from him if you've written in to the support email, and if you're really lucky you may catch him at one of the live events we'll be attending this summer. You'll have to be quick if you want to see him though; he's elusive, like a Pokemon.
Max marks our first new hire in the Community department since I started in January. It's been me and HMXJohnlok holding down the fort, while HMXSean spends most of his time on the road. With Max set up, and Alex (of Game Spot fame) joining us in a week or so, we're turning in to a real force to be reckoned with. Expect to see us pushing for some big Community initiatives now that we'll have the increased man power to pull it off. It's shaping up to be a really exciting summer.
Be on the look out for a Rock Blog from Max in the near future. He'll be posting about his first few days at HMX under his nomme de guerre HMXTheMax. Be sure to give him a warm welcome.
-HMXHenry
hmxhenry said...
I recently got back from a nice week long vacation in sunny San Diego, CA and I think that's as good a reason as any to start thinking about my summer play list. All winter long, and in New England it's a long winter, I've been eating up a steady diet of gloom and doom metal tinged hardcore (Trash Talk, Meltdown, New Lows, Pulling Teeth) and outright depressing indie rock (either Archers of Loaf or Morrissey's Every Day Is Like Sunday on repeat). But now that the sun is finally shining and the birds are singing it's time to switch gears and get in the summer mindset! Here are a few of my personal favorite Summer Time Feel Good selections.
*Green Day - Dookie. So bouncy, so fun. This album makes me feel like I'm in middle school again.
*H20 - H20. A great sample of NYHC. Everything they put out is great, and while I'm stoked for their new album this summer on Bridge 9 Records, it's going to be hard to top this first album. "My friends look out for me like family."
*Grade - Under The Radar. If only for the track Stolen Bikes Ride Faster. Great melodic hardcore, full of hooks and sing alongs.
*Jawbreaker - Selected tracks from all of their albums. I couldn't pick just one release for ideal summer listening. The perfect soundtrack for late night campfire talks, Sunday morning drives along the beach, and bittersweet summer romances. Must listen tracks: Chemistry, Boxcar, West Bay Invitational, Kiss the Bottle, Shield Your Eyes, Chesterfield King, and Bad Scene, Eveyone's Fault.
*Peter Gabriel - The track Solsbury Hill. At the end of the summer I will use this as the soundtrack for a slide show of my summer photos.
*The Stranglers - The track Peaches. Very beach time fun punk. "It looks like I'll be stuck here all summer... what a bummer."
*Gorilla Biscuits - Start Today. Possibly the finest of the early Revelation Records releases (and that's some strong competition) this is a great "kick start your life" type of album. Stage dives are key to enjoying this record.
*Nearly everything Vagrant Records released circa 2000. Vagrant was the emo / pop punk powerhouse of the underground before emo really broke into the mainstream. Think Chris Carrabba playing in a coffee house to fifty kids, not Dashboard Confessional as a full band playing their Spider-Man soundtrack hit to a sold out arena. Three albums that I will be listening to on repeat until the first snow fall will be:
*Saves The Day - Through Being Cool
*The Get Up Kids - Something To Write Home About
*The Anniversary - Designing a Nervous Breakdown
Hopefully some of you take a moment to look into some of these bands. There's not a lot of big names up there, but each album is worthy of wider recognition. If you've got a spare moment, and a few extra bucks, look into one of these albums for that perfect soundtrack to celebrate your first trip to the town pool, or throw one in the cd player at your next weenie roast. They'd even work as a nice distraction from mowing the lawn in the midst of a heat wave. I'm talking summer classics.
Feel free to pass along your own summer soundtracks! I'd love to hear what everyone else is listening to as seasonal pick-me-up music.
-HMXHenry
hmxhenry said...
Not a ton of Rock Blog style news today. A few meetings. More forum work than usual. So rather than dig deep for another meaningful and thought provoking look at the cultural impact of music I'm just going to post the most recently played songs on my itunes.
There have been quite a few threads about 80's punk and hardcore lately, so that's pretty much all I was listening to today.
*Antidote - Life As One
*Bad Brains - Right Brigade
*Misfits - Some Kind Of Hate
*Dead Kennedys - Life Sentence
*7 Seconds - Young til I Die
*Negative Approach - Can't Tell No One
*Red C - Pressure's On
*The Freeze - This Is Boston, Not LA
*Fear - I Love Livin' In The City
*DYS - Wolfpack
So that's it. It's not a pretty list of songs, but it gets the job done. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to catch a train home while listening to stuff that would make my 6th grade music teacher weep.
-HMXHenry
hmxhenry said...
Music is so cool! Okay, I'm sure I didn't shock anyone with that announcement, but I am consistently impressed with how versatile music is and how much it can change with context. You can listen to a certain song while laying in your bed with the lights out, and then listen to it again in a packed club full of kids dancing and it takes on an entirely new meaning. There are some songs I only want to listen to in a car full of my friends, driving around in the summertime with the windows rolled down. Context matters.
One of the truest examples of this is seeing how music works with film. A good soundtrack can really make a movie, put the finishing touch on a scene, and cement moments in the collective consciousness of the audience. Consider the score for Jaws, and the familiar sound of the shark getting closer, and closer, and closer. The choice of music really heightens the tension in Jaws, and serves as proof of the power of mixing film and music.
In keeping with the celebration of the union of these two vastly different art forms, here is a list of my Top 5 Film Soundtracks, in no particular order (excluding scores, since I'm trying to keep this more rock related).
*Juno - The release of this soundtrack is what sparked my interest in writing this rock blog. Great low key indie-ish music ranging from the Kinks to the Moldy Peaches that fits the bittersweet tone of the film. Word on the street is that when Ellen Paige was cast as Juno, she came to the director with a mix tape and said "This is what Juno would listen to" and they based most of the soundtrack off of that.
*Repo Man - The perfect punk soundtrack for this grimy 80's cult film. Rival repo men track a stolen car with an alien in the trunk (lolwut?) while Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies and other provide the soundtrack. Very 80's, very underground, very tough.
*Snatch - As down and dirty as the Repo Man soundtrack was, the Snatch soundtrack is equally slick. There's some dance tracks, some bass heavy techno instrumentals, some odd British punk tracks, and cuts that range from eerily moody to downright cheeky.
*The Graduate - I can't imagine this movie without Simon and Garfunkel. Mrs. Robinson, The Sound Of Silence, Scarborough Fair... arguably the finest songs the legendary folk rock duo released. They serve well to frame the time and feel of the film, and the tracks actually further the story (*gasp*) rather than provide background noise that you hear while things are happening.
*Royal Tenenbaums - I'm convinced that director Wes Anderson is a mad genius. Not only are his movies as clever as you get, but he's also able to jump from The Clash to Nick Drake to Elliot Smith to The Ramones without making it feel choppy. He hits all the fun notes just as well as he hits the depressing lows.
Those are my picks. Those are the soundtracks that really make movies for me. They heighten my enjoyment of the movies, and when I listen to the songs on their own I'm still drawn back to the scenes they are matched to. Feel free to post your own list of favorite soundtracks. I'd love to see what everyone else picks!
-HMXHenry
hmxhenry said...
Recently HMXCasey tried to argue that the Ramones were not a punk band, but rather that there were a (*gasp*) glam band. His reasoning:
"Did they, or did they not, wear costumes?"
Once I scooped all my brains back up off the floor and tried to cram them back in my ears I told him that he was being ridiculous. Here are (some of) the (many) reasons why HMXCasey was being ridiculous.
1) I will not concede that the Ramones wore costumes. The ripped jeans, tshirts, leather jackets, and signature black hair cuts for which they were known were not stage clothes. That's the culture / fashion they came from and it's who they were. KISS had stage costumes. David Bowie had numerous on stage personalities. They wore those "costumes" both on and off stage so I think it transcends the pageantry of glam rock (if punk could ever be that sophisticated) and drifts somewhere into a uniform group identity (where they all look the same, whether by design or not, and share the same name). This may be worthy of deeper consideration, but I think at the very least I've established that HMXCasey is wrong.
2) Even if the Ramones did wear costumes (which they didn't) that doesn't make them a glam band. Which poster has that signature with the Zappa quote where a reported tells him he's a hippie because he has long hair? Anyway, Zappa's response was "You have a wooden leg. Are you a table?" Costumes do not equal glam band. The pageantry, the pomp and circumstance, the theatrics, the light and fog show, the make up, and all of those elements that made up the look and feel and sound of glam rock are nearly entirely absent in the Ramones. The Ramones, in most respects, were the antithesis of glam rock. They were stripped down, bare bones, no frills. While the paths of punk and glam have certainly crossed in the past (New York Dolls and the Misfits for example) the Ramones don't seem like an intersection to me.
Those are the two major counter points to HMXCasey's wild claim, so I don't think I need too many supporting points. I suppose there's a lot of wiggle room in this argument depending on your definition of words like glam, punk, costume, uniform, ridiculous and wrong... but at the end of the day I feel that I've done my best to defend those ragged and scraggly mop headed punks.
-HMXHenry
hmxhenry said...
I buy a lot of vinyl. Sometimes A LOT of vinyl. There have been months when I've spent more on wax than I have on rent. And that's in addition to the CDs I'll pick up at any given time.
There are plenty of albums that I have on vinyl that I also have on CD. And then I digitize them and listen to them as mp3s. So that's three different versions of the same album right there. And I like the vinyl the best. I am totally hooked on what is, by most accounts, an obsolete format.
I listen to a lot of lo fi, underground, DIY type stuff so for the most part vinyl is the easiest and cheapest way for a band to get their music out into the world. You can record on a four track in your basement and press 500 7" singles for a few hundred bucks, screen print your own covers and hit the road. I dig that.
The real problem (as if none of the aforementioned was problematic) is the fact that I collect multiple copies of the same piece of vinyl. For those gifted among you who are not afflicted by this "vinyl collector's madness" I'll do my best to explain. A band will press maybe 500-1000 copies of any given 7" but they'll sometimes press them on different colors. Maybe 300 on clear vinyl, and 700 on solid black. Sometimes they go all out and do as many as a half a dozen different colors, and you can also get a hold of all sorts or weird variations where the color of the vinyl can be splattered, swirled, split between two colors etc. It's the same music on every record, but the vinyl looks different. And I have to have them all.
And that's just the vinyl. Sometimes bands will do alternate covers for specific tours or record release shows. There can be a variation in the inserts, bonus stickers and patches included with certain releases, hand numbered sleeves, etc ad infinitum. I have to have all those too. It's a sickness.
There are some records that I have 20 times over. Same songs on every record. But one of them will be on orange vinyl. One of them will be a tour press hand stamped and numbered by the band. One of them has a red center label instead of the standard white. It's the collector in me, and I can't help myself.
If any of you have any experience battling Vinyl Madness, or if it has affected you or one of your loved ones in any way, please help me and share any information you may have. Is this slavish devotion to a format nearly 30 years beyond its prime unhealthy, or just another harmless novelty on par with stamp collecting? Will I eventually grow out of this retro throwback mentality or will I die crushed under the weight of milk crates full of brightly colored lps? Send help.
-HMXHenry
hmxhenry said...
So, I listen to a lot of horrible music. Mostly groups of angry kids playing 15 minute sets full of yelling and pounding on messed up instruments in dingy VFW halls. It's not pretty, it's not technical, there's not much melody and there's little to no "serious" musicianship involved.
But what that kind of music lacks in skill, or production values, or fancy trappings, it more than makes up for in sincerity. It's honest, it's direct, and it's delivered with an earnest Do It Yourself attitude.
I went to a show last week for a little band touring out of Iowa. They'll never sell more than a few thousand copies of any record they put out, and they'll never make it big with some catchy hit single on the radio. But they played their hearts out to three hundred kids in a small hall outside of Boston, and it reminded me why I love going to shows so much.
Just as Rock Band becomes a completely different experience when played with a group, I think all music changes to a degree when you get a taste of it in a different setting. I couldn't count the number of times I dismissed a band I heard on cd, but was later blown away by the energy of their live show. Even something as simple as hearing friends sing along to a song on the stereo in a packed car driving around town with your windows rolled down... as opposed to listening to a record while laying in bed with the lights off. That's not knocking the solo-lights out-listen at all (since I'm equally guilty of that), but it's a sharp contrast to music as a group experience.
A live show, even by a touring band of no name misfits in a broken down van, is an unbelievable part of experiencing music. You strip away all of that packaging, the studio edits, the album sales, and you get right down to the heart of the band. Sometimes you see a band that sounds great recorded but just can't pull it off live. But sometimes you drive all day to wait in line for tickets for an hour in the rain, sit in the corner of a miserable club, and then that one band gets up there and rocks harder than you ever thought any band could rock.
Support live music. Go see a show.
-HMXHenry
So in my first bit of personal down time in the last 72 hours while on the road at PAX how have I decided to spend my break? Reading the Rock Band forums. It's hard to decompress after working for such a long time (and I think that's true of almost any job) so here I am, gravitating towards familiar territory.
PAX is absolutely astounding. I had never been before. It's an absolute mob scene, and non stop sensory overload. Words cannot do it justice. We've been taking pictures for future newsletters and Rock Blogs, so I hope that does a better job at capturing the scope of this massive event. I've met some amazing people here too. Forum regulars (Fedora actually wears a fedora! Brilliant!), leaderboard giants, moderators on RB fan sites, hosts of RB bar nights, gaming press, other devs, Microsoft and EA reps, a whole panel full of online community managers, booth babes, and more fans than you can shake a stick at. There's a ton of work that goes into an event as big as PAX, but all of those people have totally made it worth it.
Now, maybe more than ever, there's a really bizarre disconnect between these forums and the general Rock Band public. Fan reaction at PAX has been absolutely staggering, and people have shown so much support for Rock Band 2. We've seen hundreds of bands play already, and we'll see hundreds more before we leave, and it's an amazing thing to stand at the foot of our stage and watch someone really enjoying themselves while nailing a particularly wicked drum fill, or play a guitar solo one handed, or maintain bass grover while playing behind their back, or watching a singer pull out a real tamborine to play the tamborine parts in Any Way You Want It. We've had 2 hour lines to play, and rooms full of people clapping, and laughing, and singing along all weekend here at PAX, and it's really been genuinely touching.
But on the forums... well... those of you who have been posting the last few days know how the forums have been. And it's particualy jarring for me, going from the floor of PAX to my hotel room to check what the word is on RB.com. HMXsean has popped in once or twice to comment on some of the juicier threads, so I'm not going to rehash what he's said. I just wanted to pop in and let people know what we're up to. We really don't want anyone left out of the loop.
We love telling you guys what's going on. We're really proud of the work we do on RB, and we're proud of the DLC, and we want to share it with everyone. Unfortunately we're not always able to offer full disclosure, but we do the best we can. Sometimes there's a lot of red tape to hurdle, and sometimes there's time limitations, and sometimes we end up working with so many labels, and bands, and amazing people that there's an honest to goodness miscommunication and things don't happen as smoothly as planned.
As Sean mentioned, the last few days have been a bit rockier than usual because we've all been on the road. We're not on a beach somewhere sipping little umbrella drinks either, we're working long days to meet with important people to make Rock Band the best game it can possibly be. We'll be back in the HMX offices next week so hopefully things can get back to normal then, but I think we can all feel a little bit better knowing that this week is the exception and not the rule.
I think (I hope?) that anyone who met us here on the floor at PAX or at a live RB event wherever we end up playing them would tell you that we're not bad guys. We're happy to hang, and we're happy to chat, and we won't ignore you or yell at you if you ask questions we don't like. We're not prima donnas (except for Sean, you should have seen how much time he spent grooming his moustache for the History of HMX panel) and we're not too cool for school. We're just a couple of dudes who like to play video games and hang out and talk with other people who love video games.
We're still releasing DLC every week, even in light of the recent hiccup, and RB2 is still on the immediate horizon. We've just announced six more full albums, and we'll have more albums down the road as well. We're still on track to hit 500 total songs by the end of the year, and we've still got more than a few tricks up our sleeves DLC wise. We're working hard to make sure that all the loose ends are getting tied up and all the little "technical difficulties" end up getting fixed. Like the man says, "This too shall pass."
I hope this quick blog from the road reminds people on the forums that we haven't forgotten about them. You guys number among our most devoted and passionate supporters, as well as some of our toughest critics, and both of those things help us in the long run. We need to know what we're doing right and we need to know what we can do better.
We'll have a full PAX report when we get back to HMX HQ next week. We'll have some rad stories and some even radder pictures (how does HMXJohnlok singing with a full Star Wars band suit you?) to share with everyone. Thanks to everyone who we've met at PAX so far, and thanks to everyone who has been holding it down on the forums and making sure that cooler heads prevail. Please be kind to the mods in our absense. They are kind and gentle creatures and mean you no harm.
My break is now long over and I've got to hurry back to get to the Rock Band Omegathon set up. Stop by and say hello if you're in the area.
Keep on rocking. I will if you do.
-HMXHenry
Sunday, August 31, 2008