(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 **

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but our resident video savant, the aptly named Video Matt has a boner the size of Rhode Island for Paramore. In fact, he has a personal archive of fap videos that he hoards like gold nuggets, locked away in a safe deep inside his family compound in the hills above Gridley. However, we are slowly convincing him to release some of this footage for the greater good of humanity. Check out these two clips of Paramore back before they were the biggest thing since sliced wrists, playing at the legendary Boardwalk in Orangevale, CA.

Thank you Internet for teaching me about rap music.

Although Bob Odenkirk can throw it down too.

His science is too tight.

The Living End rep punkabilly with pop hooks galore, and hail from Australia, reigning as one of the most popular rock ‘n’ roll outfits the continent has known. The group’s heyday took place in the late ’90s, though they still enjoy a huge fan base on their home turf. Here’s an excellent performance of “Pictures In The Mirror” from 2003.

Those wily Alaskans, Portugal. The Man stopped by Synthesis Weekly Managing Editor Ryan Prado’s apartment above the Senator Theater in Chico,CA a few days back during their tour with Minus the Bear to chop it up and perform a few of their amazing songs acoustic as part of our Live @ Ryan’s video series. Check out the band belting out “Church Mouth” above and stay tuned to our YouTube channel for more songs and an interview with the guys.

Video Matt had a banner weekend, hitting up the Stockton, CA date of the Rockstar Get a Life Tour to meet up with The Used, Straylight Run, Street Drum Corps and artist Alex Pardee. Check out The Used performing The Bird and the Worm above, and check out the rest of the footage, including two more live cuts from The Used on our YouTube channel NOW!