:: Sir Mix-A-Lot is the latest musician to get the Rickroll treatmentnt.

:: Sonic Youth may no longer be with Geffen Records for their next release. Their last studio album, Rather Ripped ended their longtime deal with the label. Thurston Moore is looking into indie labels.

:: Popular food chain Cracker Barrel is looking to get into the music biz. Its first release is (fittingly) to be none other than Kenny Rogers.

:: The Gaslight Anthem’s new album The ‘59 Sound debuted at #70 on the Billboard top 200 this week. Selling 7,447 copies of the album in their first week.

:: The Virgins are hitting the road, opening for the Black Kids.

:: Guitar Hero for Christian Rock?

- Looking to name your band? Try naming it after a font! Use this list as a reference.

- With the rise of more home delivery movie services, big brick and mortar chains like Blockbuster are feeling the need to diversify like bringing in new technology (Blu-Ray) and offering up sales of movie memorbilia and collectables. Sounds eerily similar to the moves brick and mortar record stores made over the years.

- General Motors has decided not to advertise with ABC during this year’s Emmy Awards. But this is no boycott, the car manufacturer has been working on downsizing its organization and cut large portions of its advertising revenue. I guess in a recession and with rising gas prices, no one wants to see ads for the new Hummer.

- In an effort to tackle their rampant music piracy problem, Google has opened a music download site in China.

- Warner Bros is suggesting creators of wildly popular Guitar Hero and Rock Band video games will have to pay higher royalty rates for the use of their artists.

NINTENDO is going to launch its own version of the Rock Band and Guitar Hero franchises. The new game, Wii Music, will allow up to 4 players to simulate playing a range of 50 different musical instruments.

Nintendo demonstrated the game at the E3 conference in Los Angeles. Along with the demonstration came an announcemend of a new hyper-sensitive remote control called the MotionPlus. The controler will allow for greater sensitivity and create more complex instument play.

After we checked out a video clip of the drum demonstration, we really do have to ask ourselves - “When is it time to put down the controller and just get a real drum kit?”. Playing in a rock band is supposed to make you look cool. While watching the drums demo, a dude flailing his arms around doesn’t really evoke the thought of “cool” in our heads.

It was announced some time ago that Mark Walhberg will bring the highly popular video game cop, MAX PAYNE to the big screen. A movie has been in the works since 2005. The plot of the video game was simple, bad people killed Max’s family forcing him to don a trench coat and set the city ablaze until the found the baddies and dished out his brand of urban justice. Sometimes jumping and diving in slow motion as he’d shoot and alude the enemy.

But after watching the trailer, he’s fighting some demons and such. What’s up with that? Then, I read a quick plot outline and found out they were hallucinations for ol’ Max.

The movie was directed by Irish filmmaker John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines, Flight of the Phoenix, The Omen). It’s going to hit the theaters on October 17th.

Max Payne checklist.
1 - Grizzled cop looking for revenge…Check
2 - Slow motion gun shooting scenes…Check
3 - Lots of stuff blowing up…Check
4 - Cinematic things like snow and ash flying through the air…Check
5 - Graphic Novel appearance and look…Check
6 - Mila Kunos…Check
7 - Ludacris appearances…Check

Well it seems Fox got all their bases covered on this one. More movie stills, a trailer, and quick plot outline after the jump. (more…)

Want to see how you will be rocking out to the new version of Rock Band? Check out the trailer now.

Surprisingly, the game looks similar to all games in its genre. But graphics are beside the point. We all know what everyone cares about are the songs that will appear on the game. The mega-large tracklisting (which includes the likes of Social D, Jimmy Eat World, and Tenacious D) can be seen after the jump. (more…)

GUITAR HERO shows no signs of stopping as they work to launch new games based on the music of Metallica and Aerosmith respectively.

Once Rock Band came onto the scene a while back we knew it was only a matter of time before GH launched a game that incorporated the extra instruments as well. So their next game, titled World Tour will have a mic as well as drums. Images of those controllers were released today. Check them out after the jump. (more…)

American Airlines’ magazine American Way is currently running a profile on Guitar Hero Marcus Henderson. Next time you find yourself flying the friendly skies be sure to flip through the mag.

If you don’t plan on flying any time soon but want to check out the article, you can read it here.

A few years back 50 CENT put out a video game called Bulletproof, and he’s now readying the follow up, Blood on the Sand. Now I am going to briefly explain the premise of this game, which is 100% real.

In fact, you can check out the screen shots on MTV.com. 50 Cent and the G-Unit visit an unknown country in the Middle East to play a benefit concert. Believable. At said concert all hell breaks loose after the concert promoter refuses to pay 50 for his performance. After being threatened by 50 Cent and crew, the promoter gives them a diamond-encrusted skull, obviously. Then it really starts to go down when they are ambushed before leaving the country and the skull is stolen! Instead of leaving the country, 50 cent and the G-Unit take upon themselves to go rogue and gain back the skull.

How awesome will this game be on a scale of 1 to 10?

MARCUS HENDERSON, the man responsible for laying down the rock riffs on the Guitar Hero video games currently has the honor of his 2005 Gibson Flying V guitar being on display at The Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame.

His guitar is part of a larger exhibit in the hall that also features axes from Kurt Cobain, Johnny Cash, Dimebag Darrell, and Joe Strummer

Read the full press release and see some pictures of the display after the jump. (more…)

I have to admit, my plastic drum set has collected quite a bit of dust after two months of neglect, but I think it’s time to clean them off. Six, yes, SIX songs from legendary classic rock act BOSTON will be coming in the form of Download Content to Rock Band. The downloads will be available individually for $2 each or as a pack for $10. And they are original master recordings! Excuse me while I head down to the corner store and pick up a bag of lozenges and a Microsoft Points card. Here’s the track list for the Boston pack:

* “More Than a Feeling”
* “Peace of Mind”
* “Smokin”
* “Rock & Roll Band”
* “Something About You”
* “Hitch A Ride”