(from www.rushisaband.com)

When I was stuck in Olympia WA last week, the saving grace of our stay was our gracious host Kirk Leonnard and his girlfriend Amy, and their guest room devoted to their Xbox 360, and more specifically, Rock Band. It was there that Kirty South and I found solace, singing and plucking our depression away to the likes of the Beastie Boys, The Marshall Tucker Band and Black Sabbath. We also discussed woman-repellent music including Canadian arena rock champions, Rush. Oh! If only we had access to the tracks that will be made available tomorrow. We would have driven poor Amy completely bonkers.

From B|W|R Public Relations:

Harmonix and MTV Games announced today additional Rush tracks will be available at the Rock Band™ Music Store catalog of downloadable content. On July 8th, air drummers and guitarists will rejoice when direct from the Rush Masters Vault the exclusive Rock Band versions of “Closer To The Heart” and “Working Man (Vault Edition)” (featuring never released alternative guitar solo) are made available for $1.99 per track (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft). Rush now have 5 songs available for Rock Band including cover versions of “Tom Sawyer,” “Limelight” and “Working Man,” almost a full-set by prog rock standards!

Also available are two amazing tracks from six-time Grammy® winning, multi-platinum funk rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers. “Snow ((Hey Oh))” and “Tell Me Baby” from their critically acclaimed ninth studio double album Stadium Arcadium will be available for $1.99 per track (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox LIVE Marketplace).

Release date: Tuesday, July 8, 2008 (Xbox LIVE Marketplace)
Thursday, July 10, 2008 (PLAYSTATION®Store)

Tracks:
From the RUSH Masters Vault:
“Closer To The Heart”
” Man (Vault Edition)”

Hot Chili Peppers
” ((Hey Oh))”
“Tell Me Baby”

(All tracks utilize the original master recordings)

Price: 1.99 (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox LIVE Marketplace) per track
Locations: LIVE Marketplace and PLAYSTATION®Network

** Dates for Rock Band game tracks are tentative and subject to change **

Jean Grae is from South Africa and used to be in the rap crew Natural Resources until she went her own way when they split. This will be her first album in FOUR years, titled Jeanius, and it drops on July 8th. It’s coming out on Blacksmith Music and they’re hoping this anticipated album will be the one to bring her out from the underground scene and make the move to mainstream. The album was produced by “9th Wonder” which includes Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige and Destiny’s Child. If you think you’ve never heard of her, she was on the Rock The Bells tour, toured with Talib Kweli, and coached on the “I Wanna Be A Rapper” MTV show.

Bottom line: Jean Grae has mad rapping skills. She can flow like no other and spit lyrics with them best of them plus she’s hard as eff.

The second iTunes festival will take place in London this July. Some confirmed headliners include James Blunt, N.E.R.D., Death Cab For Cutie, Pendulum, Feeder, Chaka Khan and The Zutons. More big name artists to be announced soon!

The festival had great success last year and will take place at Camden’s Koko this summer - which can hold 1,000 fans. The concert will be recorded to be sold on all iTunes stores worldwide. Free tickets will be available to contest winners and competitions will be held by London Media Partners.