(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 **

and that’s about it. Everyone else decided it was cool enough the first time so stopping to see it again was not necessary. So I indeed did get to see this historical landmark, but just through the van window.

The 2008 lineup is FRESH! KRS-One, 88-Keys, Buckshot, Blu & Exile, Fresh Daily, Mickey Factz, J. Period, Zaki Ibrahim and DJ Premier. The Brooklyn Hip-Hop main performance day is July 12th. Check the calendar on the Web site for the rest of the festival days programs & performers. If yer going, I’m super jealous - take me with you! I can fit in small spaces!

My first experience with Spiritualized was shortly after they released “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space,” a beautifully plodding collection of altitude dementia and psychedelic landscapes. Great album to listen to while sitting around, stoned out of your brain while watching candles drip, by the way.

My second experience with Spiritualized happened when they opened for Radiohead at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Easily the most boring set I had witnessed up to that point. While the music was decent, it was less than lively, and the lack of a visual element made it even less engaging.

I guess to truly enjoy Spiritualized you also need something neat to look at. With that, J-Spaceman has launched SpiritualizedHarmonies, a website that links a visual component to Spiritualized’s vividly textural music. Check it out.

I’ll let you know if it works stoned later on.

Coldplay’s new album, Viva La Vida, is available in all stores today. Go get it! Check out a full first review of the album here. For Coldplay tour dates read this.

Now here’s the one you’ve been waiting for. During their filming last year, The Collective Sound took their campers up to the Synthesis office. We told them about getting press for their bands. They were thoroughly disinterested with my little speech. Classic.

From The Collective Sound:

Set in the small town of Chico California, Let It Be Heard… is an inspirational story of a small group of young musicians that embark on an adventure of a lifetime. The web documentary follows the journey of 50 young artists, come together from around the world, for 3 weeks of The Collective Sound Summer Music Academy, the worlds first touring summer music camp.