Okay, who bought the ‘dude rock’?

Come on, I won’t be mean. I just wanna know who it was.

Mark, was that you? Don’t lie.

My band, Last Falling, is proud to release a new track called Satellites. It is available for free on MySpace, Facebook, and in 4 different formats on the official website. This is the first of 10 songs planned for the new record (whose name will be a secret for the time being). Enjoy.

You can’t find a better medium for music entertainment at the moment. The Rock Band’s and Guitar Hero games that are getting pumped out like Beatles records will only gain momentum for wannabe rock star gamers. Is this the future of inspiring young musicians? Or just another video game distraction with a plastic controller?

I have two theories.

One is: it’s just another game with nothing more than a childlike response to an overrated Simon Says game, like Dance Dance Revolution. Just because you can step on the colored blocks at the right time doesn’t mean you should hit the clubs to try and impress others with your uber color pad stepping skills. Same goes for a plastic guitar with 5 buttons. What might be impressive about strumming a plastic guitar and timing colored notes on a screen won’t land you a record deal or an 8 o’clock slot at the Roxy on a weekend… actually I take that Roxy comment back.

Two is: the songs have potential to inspire others that can play a real guitar to get into songwriting or develop skills better (such as timing and mechanics). Despite the game’s lack of creative ability, it has it’s benefits to those who already play guitar. I think it offers potential to other guitar players who might be able develop a stronger grip, faster movements, and better overall timing and finger coordination around the fret board.

Side tracking: Wow, what an amazing promotional tool for new bands or old bands with new songs. A great discovery tool for older more rooted songs in music history that have been around for decades that have inspired new artists to create songs. I mean shit, even Guns N’ Roses launched an exclusive single with Rock Band 2 before their album was released. With an exorbitant amount of quantity, it will always come down to quality. Nuff said.

Side tracking further: As a teenager I loved to play along with my favorite songs or albums on drums and guitar. I learned Nevermind and Dookie by ear from the first to last song on guitar and play along when I was 14. A couple of years later I set up a borrowed drum set in front of my closet and blasted Purple, Ten, and In Utero from the inside of my closet racks to play along. I feel my experience was a little more non-linear and organic rather than competitive without creative control.

As for what theory I would subscribe to? I don’t know how I would feel if I grew up in the ‘Guitar Hero’ age. I think I might be limited with distractions in competition to score better than my friends and move onto the next game a couple weeks later, rather than become inspired to create music of my own based on what I liked. It makes me feel old to say this, but I have to admit I’m glad I was raised in the ‘Nintendo‘ generation where ‘a’ and ‘b’ were all you had. Up up down down left right left right b a start.

Kanye West gets a lot of heat. I understand why, I really do. A big ego and arrogance can piss a lot of people off, because people only wish they could be so bold. He doesn’t care and he has talent to back up the talk while continuing to grow as an artist. The music business is a game and fans may not always like the way you play it, but as long as you keep entertaining and they’re talking, you’re making money and succeeding. He’s got passion, he throws down the work, and no matter how he does it he plays to win.

He needs heartbreak. Kanye needs it to keep driving the tracks in the direction he’s been heading. Playing a victim is easy. Thinking everyone is against you or lying to you is easy. Talking about why society is so fucked up is easy. But it’s honest. His lyrics in 808s have a degree of integrity and targeted intensity behind them that hasn’t been represented since Kurt Cobain in my opinion. He’s a social experiment. Living large and taking charge of his words - downloading thoughts and emotions from life experiences to his tracks like a blog - telling his story as he lives it - conquering shyness and believing in flyness. It’s his freestyle and he talks louder than anyone out there right now. That’s why he is the ghost voice of this generation. It’s not because he claims he is, but because there’s no one in the spotlight that’s close to owning the kind of integrity he’s throwing down. He stays loud in 808s & Heartbreak, out November 25th.

808s destroys barriers between a number of popular genres out there right now, bringing back the same old school Kanye sound of a handful of 808 samples and 80s synths while bringing a touch of the blues to his vocals. Stylistically, it doesn’t quite push the envelope further like Kanye has been doing, it’s somewhat comfortable and safe for him, but his lyrics will stand out more than ever. This album contains a decent try at a collective thought and theme centering around ‘heartbreak’, which concedes notions that the majority of the songs are about his split with his long time girlfriend. Unconventional dreary lyrics add to the vibe of this record where he appears to bear his soul a little more than before, taking hip-hop and shattering the glass ceiling in the same spot as his last record. The track “Pinocchio Story”, a freestyle live from Singapore, has some of the best lyrics I’ve heard in a long time.

“And the fame will be got caught and the day I moved to LA, maybe it was all my fault, all my fault to be a real boy, chasing the American dream, chasing everything we seen, up on the tv screen”

I could go on about the other tracks like “RoboCop” (which incidentally has actual RoboCop sound effects in there which is awesome), but you’re just going to have to check it out. It will dwarf any publicity of Chinese Democracy (and I do find it funny how Kanye moved the ‘on sale date’ 2 days after Guns N’ Roses‘ release - like he did with the release of Graduation). Love it or hate it, chances are you’re not going to be left standing in the middle ground with this record.

I own the Bose QC2 headphones. I effing love them. They’re $300 and I’ve had them for about 7 years with only one ear pad change. The amazing thing is I wear them at work roughly 6 hours a day, I also use them to record. So basically I have them on my noggin 50-60 hours per week. That’s a lot of wear time. Only draw back is that they operate on 1 AAA battery that usually lasts about 80 hours, if I stretch it. I use rechargeable batteries most of the time so I don’t mind the battery swaps.

I’m due for another ear pad change since I’m left with pieces of black leather ear dandruff every time I take them off. To replace the ear pads I have to call Bose and order the part for about $40. Then I thought ehh maybe I can live with the dandruff a little longer and see what else is out there. Cause the Bose headphones aren’t cheap. They’re not official studio quality but I love the noise cancellation feature and the overall roundness to the frequencies. Decent range from a great low end to manageable highs.

As I was contemplating this $40 purchase, I became curious as to what other headphones had big price tags.

Here’s what I found:

The ULTRASONE Edition 9

Retail Price: $1,799.00

Found at: http://tinyurl.com/2l25xt

For the price of 2 used 1960s Volkswagon Beetles you too could be swimming in audible luxury. Titanium drivers, Ethiopian sheep leather ear pads, black chrome ear cups, and a sleek metal attache’ case greet you at every decibel. For the money it better feel like you’re riding in a Cadillac when these are on your head.

The Casa Di Blingphones

Retail Price: $5,200.00

Found at: http://tinyurl.com/5ktwk9

You know what will make your music experience better? Diamonds and gold. Each earphone contains 59 diamonds that have been individually set in the gold, giving a sparking appearance. Richard Slack, managing director for the firm, said: “We were first shown these earphones by a client at an Aston Martin show and our initial rection was ‘wow’. As well as looking fantastic, the sound quality is also very good.” Shit I want 2!

The Sennheiser Orpheus

Retail Price: $27,999.00

Found at: http://tinyurl.com/5p7pm3

“The Orpheus combination offers the audiophile the ultimate in reference sound reproduction. The Best Headphones In The World, that is the unanimous verdict on the Orpheus reached by the international trade press.” Frist of all, lulz. Second, who in the hell buys this shit. You should not even brag about wanting this. Settle down.

Ya, I think I’ll stick with my Bose and order new ear pads next week.