Evile - Interview with Ol Drake and Mike Alexander, Earache Records, NYC 8-20-09 (Thrash)

I had the opportunity to talk with with Ol Drake (guitar) and Mike Alexander (bass) when they were in town last month to promote Evile's forthcoming disc Infected Nation.



The new disc (along with a limited edition colored vinyl edition) comes out on September 21st on Earache Records. The band just released the first video from this release which is for the title track "Infected Nation".



Evile is touring around Europe for the rest of the year with Amon Amarth and US tour dates will hopefully follow sometime early next year.

Here are the current tour dates;

Sept. 25, 2009, 8:00PM, INFECTED NATIONS Release Show - o2 Bar Academy, London
Sept. 29, 2009, 7:00PM, Headline Show + DRONE - Bastard Club, Osnabrück
Sept. 30, 2009, 7:00PM, Headline Show + DRONE - Ballroom, Hamburg
Oct. 02, 2009, 8:00PM, w/ AMON AMARTH + ENTOMBED - Tavastia, Helsinki
Oct. 03, 2009, 8:00PM, w/ AMON AMARTH + ENTOMBED - Rytmikorjaamo, Seinajoki
Oct. 04, 2009, 8:00PM, w/ AMON AMARTH + ENTOMBED - Teatria, Oulu
Oct. 06, 2009, 8:00PM, w/ AMON AMARTH + ENTOMBED - Gamla Tingshuset, Ostersund
Oct. 07, 2009, 8:00PM, w/ AMON AMARTH + ENTOMBED - Kulturhuset, Orebro
Oct. 08, 2009, 8:00PM, w/ AMON AMARTH + ENTOMBED - Union Scene, Drammen
Oct. 09, 2009, 8:00PM, w/ AMON AMARTH + ENTOMBED - Byscenen, Haugesund
Oct. 10, 2009, 8:00PM, w/ AMON AMARTH + ENTOMBED - USF Verftet, Bergen
Oct. 11, 2009, 8:00PM, w/ AMON AMARTH + ENTOMBED - John Dee, Oslo
Oct. 13, 2009, 8:00PM, w/ AMON AMARTH + ENTOMBED - Trädgårn, Goteburg
Oct. 14, 2009, 8:00PM, w/ AMON AMARTH + ENTOMBED - Train, Arhus
Oct. 15, 2009, 8:00PM, w/ AMON AMARTH + ENTOMBED - Vega, Copenhagen

Links:
Evile's MySpace Profile
Earache Records

The Beatles - Digitally Remastered Catalogue Released Today

This is likely to be one of the biggest releases of the year -

The Beatles' catalogue has been digitally remastered (for the first time) and packaged with a replica of the original UK album art, which includes expanded booklets containing original and newly written liner notes and rare photos. For this initial release, each CD will also include a brief documentary film about the album. Adding to the flurry, new stereo and mono box set collections will also be released tomorrow.



The remastering process took place over a four year period at Abbey Road Studios in London.

"The re-mastering process commenced with an extensive period conducting tests before finally copying the analogue master tapes into the digital medium. When this was completed, the transfer was achieved using a Pro Tools workstation operating at 24 bit 192 kHz resolution via a Prism A-D converter. Transferring was a lengthy procedure done a track at a time. Although EMI tape does not suffer the oxide loss associated with some later analogue tapes, there was nevertheless a slight build up of dust, which was removed from the tape machine heads between each title.

From the onset, considerable thought was given to what audio restorative processes were going to be allowed. It was agreed that electrical clicks, microphone vocal pops, excessive sibilance and bad edits should be improved where possible, so long as it didn’t impact on the original integrity of the songs.

In addition, de-noising technology, which is often associated with re-mastering, was to be used, but subtly and sparingly. Eventually, less than five of the 525 minutes of Beatles music was subjected to this process. Finally, as is common with today’s music, overall limiting - to increase the volume level of the CD - has been used, but on the stereo versions only. However, it was unanimously agreed that because of the importance of The Beatles’ music, limiting would be used moderately, so as to retain the original dynamics of the recordings.

When all of the albums had been transferred, each song was then listened to several times to locate any of the agreed imperfections. These were then addressed by Guy Massey, working with Audio Restoration engineer Simon Gibson.

Mastering could now take place, once the earliest vinyl pressings, along with the existing CDs, were loaded into Pro Tools, thus allowing comparisons to be made with the original master tapes during the equalization process. When an album had been completed, it was auditioned the next day in studio three – a room familiar to the engineers, as all of the recent Beatles mixing projects had taken place in there – and any further alteration of EQ could be addressed back in the mastering room. Following the initial satisfaction of Guy and Steve, Allan Rouse and Mike Heatley then checked each new re-master in yet another location and offered any further suggestions. This continued until all 13 albums were completed to the team’s satisfaction."

The collection of remasters comprises all 12 Beatles albums, with track listings and artwork as originally released in the UK, along with the US version of Magical Mystery Tour. Rounding out the set, Past Masters Vol. I and II are now combined as one title, for a total of 14 titles over 16 discs. This release marks the first time that the first four Beatles albums will be available in stereo in their entirety on compact disc.

Links:
The Beatles

The Beatles - Rock Band Advance Coverage (Release Date: Sept. 9th)

I played The Beatles: Rock Band earlier today and the game completely surpassed all of my expectations. I can easily see this title winning numerous gaming awards.

A number of the game's features are currently under embargo but here is what I can tell you....

There are 45 songs available on the game disc and now 25 of these songs have been announced:

“I Saw Her Standing There”
“I Want To Hold Your Hand”
“I Feel Fine”
“Taxman”
“Day Tripper”
“Back In The USSR”
“I Am The Walrus”
“Octopus’s Garden”
“Here Comes The Sun”
“Get Back”
“Twist And Shout” (New)
“Do You Want To Know A Secret” (New)
“Can’t Buy Me Love” (New)
“I Wanna Be Your Man” (New)
“Eight Days A Week” (New)
“Paperback Writer” (New)
“And Your Bird Can Sing” (New)
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (New)
“With a Little Help from My Friends” (New)
“Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows* (New)
“Yellow Submarine” (New)
“Revolution” (New)
“Birthday” (New)
“Dig A Pony” (New)
“I’ve Got A Feeling” (New)

One of the cool new features in The Beatles: Rock Band is that you now have the ability to sing in three-part harmony. While The Beatles' vocals were recorded on a single stereo track, Rock Band provides you with "guide vocals" using keyboard tones. If you are singing harmonies, the guide vocals are "greyed out" where there is only a lead vocal. There is a robust training mode where you can practice any and all parts of the vocal lines of a song. The nice thing is that in story mode, the harmony vocals can only add to your score (they aren't destructive).

Check out the screen shots below!



I'll be able to release more details about the game as it gets closer to the launch date. In the interim, check out The Beatles: Rock Band web site.

Rock Band Continues to Add More Artists to the Music Store (Roy Orbison, Dead Kennedys, At The Gates, etc.)

While Christmas shopping a few weeks ago, I walked through a number of electronics and entertainment stores (BestBuy, Circuit City, etc.). It seems pretty obvious that Rock Band is the current winner of the "battle" of the music video games.

Every store that I went into had Guitar Hero: Aerosmith on sale for 50%+ off of its regular price. On the other hand, I'm receiving what seems like weekly emails from Rock Band as they add new artists to the Rock Band store. These artists range from Roy Orbison to Dead Kennedys, Motorhead, Testament, At The Gates, Mission of Burma and many other eclectic, non-mainstream artists. There is something to be said for having this much flexibility in customizing your music game...and I'm particularly enjoying being able to play Burma's "That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate" and At the Gates' "Blinded By Fear" back-to-back.

The Rock Band store is now has more than 500 tracks and has had over 30 million paid downloads to-date. Here is the link to the list of all of the songs available for Rock Band.

Harmonix Music Systems' big release for next year is going to be a new standalone game based on the Rock Band premise that features the music of The Beatles. The unnamed game will feature "a visual and musical history of the Beatles, and will include the United Kingdom-released versions of songs from their albums Please Please Me through Abbey Road." While this game will not be part of the Rock Band series, all Rock Band accessories are supposed to work with this title.

Links:
Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. (Creators of Rock Band)

Are Video Games the Future of the Music Industry?

Every year there seems to be another gloom-and-doom article on the decline of the record industry (below is a snippet from an '07 WSJ article).

"In a dramatic acceleration of the seven-year sales decline that has battered the music industry, compact-disc sales for the first three months of this year plunged 20% from a year earlier, the latest sign of the seismic shift in the way consumers acquire music."

If the CD is dead and iTunes has trained consumers to buy single tracks rather than full-length CDs, maybe Rock Band and Guitar Hero are on to something.

There seemed to be a bit of shock a week or so ago that Guns N' Roses was releasing a new track ("Shackler's Revenge") via Rock Band 2. I'm not too shocked as I was reading a recent Ad Age article that stated that all but one of the bands that have songs on Guitar Hero III saw a 100 - 300% increase in sales of that track. One of the cited example was that Alice Cooper's "School's Out" sold 12,000 copies in a one week period last December which the article says was a 453% increase. I guess it is unlikely that the full length School's Out CD sells anywhere near that number of copies.

As an old Alice Cooper fan, the question becomes "What becomes of the other 8 tracks on this disc? Does a great album fade away into one hit single?"

Over the past few years, I've met a number of musicians who have licensed new music to "Grey's Anatomy", "CSI", etc. If Guns N' Roses start a trend and Guitar Hero and Rock Band become the next vehicle to release new music, CDs might end up being nothing more than a compilation of previously released singles (though licensing issues will probably prevent this from happening).

It looks like a crazy time to be in the music industry...

Postscript: If 62 of the 63 bands on the Guitar Hero III game saw a 100+% increase in sales of their single, anyone want to guess which band sucks and will never get invited onto another video game? (The article didn't include the answer so all I can do is guess as well)

The Who Release Greatest Hits Collection for Rock Band on July 15th

This has to be one of the best reasons I've had to go out and get a copy of Rock Band.

The Who announced that they are releasing a greatest hits collection for Rock Band that includes three tracks from Live At Leeds. Given the action of the Rock Band drum kit, you can really drum along with Keith Moon on what was rated one of the 10 best live albums of all times. It doesn't get much cooler than this.

Here are all the tracks on this collection:

“Amazing Journey”
“Baba O'Riley”
“Behind Blue Eyes”
“Eminence Front”
“Going Mobile”
“Leaving Here”
“My Generation” (Live at Leeds)
“Real Good Looking Boy”
“Sea & Sand”
“Summertime Blues” (Live at Leeds)
“Who Are You”
“Young Man Blues” (Live at Leeds)

This release coincides with the broadcast of “VH1 Rock Honors” honoring The Who. The show airs on Thursday, July 17 at 9PM and will feature tribute performances by Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, The Flaming Lips, Incubus and Tenacious D as well as a grand finale performance from The Who.

Thoughts and Impressions on Harmonix's Rock Band for the Wii

I was a heavy videogamer growing up but it has only been the last few years that I have been getting back into gaming. I have had a PS2 for about two years and got Guitar Hero III for my birthday this past January. Guitar Hero was the end-all, be-all for a few month...until I mastered the songs. The game loses some of its novelty when the only challenge is ensuring that I can still hit 100% of the notes on the same core 42 songs. Unfortunately, the majority of the bonus songs don't hold my attention as I have never heard of most of the bands (Nast, Gallows, LA Slum Lords, etc.) While I still play the game every now and then, Cars: Mater-National (I have a 4 year old) has taken over the PS2.

I got invited to try Rock Band for the Wii a few weeks ago (the Wii version was released earlier this month) and it was honestly head-and-shoulders above Guitar Hero. Admittedly, the the Wii is a nicer machine than the PS2 (512MB of RAM vs 32 MB, for starters) but I was really impressed with Rock Band's game play. Rock Band allows you to pick from vocals (which are scored based on vocal pitch), bass guitar, lead guitar and drums. Difficulty levels can be set for each individual instrument. I went for the guitar and Rock Band's Fender Stratocaster replica felt more like a real guitar and less like a toy. Compared to the Guitar Hero guitar, the buttons are part of the fret rather than raised above the fret and there is also an effects switch that allows the user the ability to toggle effects like flange, echo, etc.

Anyway...aside for listening to my younger brother attempt to sing, it was a really cool experience. I didn't get a chance to try the drums but I liked watching the action on them - I was told that the Rock Band drum kit is designed to simulate the movements of a real drummer and it is especially cool that the drummer has the opportunity to play some free-form fills as part of a song.

The soundtrack on the initial disc seemed a bit more diverse than the Guitar Hero soundtrack (I'm to the point where I can't stand to be in the room if someone is playing "Slow Ride" on Guitar Hero). The disc that we were playing had tracks that ranged from classic rock (Deep Purple and Blue Oyster Cult) to modern rock (Foo Fighters and The Clash). I have been intrigued by reading that one can now buy full albums to play on Rock Band. The initial albums have ranged from The Pixies (Dolittle, of course) to Judas Priest (Screaming for Vengeance).

Rock Band is certainly a major step forward in video gaming.

Links:
Rock Band Official Website