Missouri in Winter

This week on Friday Night Music we'll feature two bands with Zach Condon.

His main band is Beirut and its music combines Eastern European sounds with dark pop sensibilities that are akin to The Magnetic Fields. He recently released the outstanding The Flying Club Cup.

Beirut - Nantes

Condon also lends support in the way of trumpet and ukulele to Alaska in Winter, Brandon Bethencourt's project that was spawned during a cold winter in Alaska.

Alaska in Winter - Close your Eyes, We are Blind

Plus, you'll hear over seven minutes worth of awesome from Citay.

Citay - On the Wings

You can listen to Friday Night Music this Friday the 7th from 10:00pm-midnight on your old-timey radio, or here on the blog next week.

I Wanna Rock (Band)

Music rhythm games (or you can just say Guitar Hero and Rock Band) are huge right now and will no doubt make up a significant portion of holiday sales this year. They are a source of fun and an alternative to destructive activities for many, but others look at them with disdain and tell the guitar hero’s of the world to “go learn guitar.”

I don’t know if this says anything about guitar players in general, for I have never heard dancers complain about Dance Dance Revolution nor have I heard intergalactic news reporters complain about Space Channel 5.

Those of us that play these games know that they’re games and I don’t think any of us believe that we can play guitar because of them; no more than we’d think consuming certain flowers would give us the ability to throw fireballs or taking certain pills would allow us to eat ghosts.

For me, I think it’s a different way to experience music. Typically, I listen to music while hiking, driving , or crying by myself. The difference is when I’m playing Guitar Hero I attentively look at a monitor and as I listen I hit a sequence of colored buttons more or less in time to the music. That kind of tranced out concentration to a guitar line opens up places in the music that I’ve never experienced before.

Would it be preferable for me to listen to music, without the plastic controller? I’m not versed in music theory but I found that beating “Hanger 18” on hard was way more challenging than listening to it. Isn’t it ok for me to believe that a person who has 5-stared “One” on expert has more skills than someone who has simply listened to it? Even if the experience does not compare to actually playing guitar, surely there’s something there that goes beyond simply listening, and I think that I’m entitled to that experience.

Maybe guitar players feel that they deserve the accolades that a skilled GH player often receives. A recent concert I attended had a Guitar Hero 3 contest and the winner got to go on stage and play a song off of the game. It must have been an awesome experience for him, the sound was pumped through the concert speakers, as loud as any concert I've seen, and the crowd was cheering him on. I can only imagine how low his heart must have sank when the entire crowd went ohhhhhhhhhh when he finally missed a note. Or how hard it must have been pounding when the crown roared when he made it through that impossible solo.

I wish I could have talked to that guy because if he’s like all the other great Guitar Hero players I know, I think I know his secret behind his finger-melting skills. He’s probably a guitar player.

Jason

Video Killed the Video Star

It looks like Metallica may premiere their next single on rhythm game sensation Rock Band.

http://www.gigwise.com/news.asp?contentid=39080

Rock Band could very well be the next radio or music blog. eep.