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Two music projects I discovered recently that draw on the power of the internet:

• In Bb 2.0 is a “collaborative music/spoken word project” from one Darren Solomon. It has aleatoric elements similar to Terry Riley’s In C, but uses a menagerie of pre-recorded YouTube videos instead of a highly interpretable score. It’s much easier to understand if you try it out, though — take a look.
• Kind of Bloop is billed as “an 8-bit tribute to Miles Davis.” Organized by Andy Baio and funded through Kickstarter, it will feature a collection of chiptune musicians covering the tunes from Davis’ signature album. Baio hoped to raise $2000 to cover licensing fees and other costs, but after three days he’s already gotten more than twice that amount.

Digital distribution is only the beginning.

Just saying.

Via The Beatles’ website:

Apple Corps Ltd. and EMI Music are delighted to announce the release of the original Beatles catalogue, which has been digitally re-mastered for the first time, for worldwide CD release on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 (9-9-09), the same date as the release of the widely anticipated “The Beatles: Rock Band” video game. Each of the CDs is packaged with replicated original UK album art, including expanded booklets containing original and newly written liner notes and rare photos. For a limited period, each CD will also be embedded with a brief documentary film about the album. On the same date, two new Beatles boxed CD collections will also be released.

Oh hell yes.

There was a link on Waxy tonight with this intriguing summary: “Justine Lai’s oil paintings of herself having sex with each US President.” (Very NSFW, naturally.)

The paintings are all well and good, but the coolest part of the site is the loading throbber that comes up when you click on an image. It only lasts a fraction of a second, but after clearing my cache and reloading the page a couple of times I managed a screenshot:

A pencil! If you’re a gamer, it may be familiar to you as the infamous “pencil-shaped iron statue” from cult classic RPG EarthBound. Observe:

It’s a neat (if somewhat random) reference. Of all the painters who imagine sexual encounters with dead presidents, Justine definitely has the best taste in video games (or at least icons).

The retro-riffic shirts at Softwear got me thinking about the good old days of Windows 3.1. Some fond memories:

• I have no idea how I first saw the wonderfully goofy cool.avi. Googling around I see that it was included with VidTest 1.0 and the Microsoft Multimedia Demo CD-ROM, but neither of those sound familiar. In any case, I’m very happy it was preserved; this is why YouTube exists, as far as I’m concerned.
• canyon.mid was, as I remember, included with Windows 3.1. I’ve had the tune bouncing around my head for years but could never remember the title — as it turns out, “Windows 3.1″ and “MIDI” aren’t quite enough to go on. I finally thought of it today and was happy to discover that I can still sing along.
• It seems that everyone I know remembers playing SkiFree. Many even recall specific details — the slalom, the flammable trees, the snow monsters. Minesweeper and Solitaire might have been more ubiquitous, but it was SkiFree (and its bundlemate Chip’s Challenge) that had all of the style.

Behold: a press release!

New York, NY – March 5, 2009 – Apple Corps, Ltd., Harmonix and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), today announced the 9/9/09 worldwide release of The Beatles: Rock Band (http://www.thebeatlesrockband.com). The music-based video game, an unprecedented, experiential progression through and celebration of the music and artistry of The Beatles, will be available simultaneously worldwide in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other territories for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and Wii home videogame console from Nintendo.

The Beatles: Rock Band will allow fans to pick up the guitar, bass, mic or drums and experience The Beatles extraordinary catalogue of music through gameplay that takes players on a journey through the legacy and evolution of the band’s legendary career. In addition, The Beatles: Rock Band will offer a limited number of new hardware offerings modeled after instruments used by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr throughout their career.

The Beatles: Rock Band will be offered as standalone software and hardware as well as a limited edition bundle. The game will be compatible with all Rock Band instrument controllers and other current music-based video game peripherals.

Available on 9/9/09:
The Beatles: Rock Band Software – Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3, Wii: $59.99 MSRP
The Beatles: Rock Band Standalone Guitars – Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3, Wii: $99.99 MSRP
The Beatles: Rock Band Limited Edition Premium Bundle: Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3, Wii: $249.99 MSRP
Please note: Pricing outside of the US to be announced at a later date.

The Beatles: Rock Band marks the first time that Apple Corps, along with EMI Music, Harrisongs Ltd, and Sony/ATV Music Publishing, has agreed to present The Beatles music in an interactive video game format. The Beatles: Rock Band will be published by MTV Games and developed by Harmonix, the world’s premier music video game company and creators of the best-selling Rock Band. Electronic Arts will serve as distribution partner for the game. In addition, Giles Martin, co-producer of The Beatles innovative LOVE album project, is providing his expertise and serving as Music Producer for this groundbreaking Beatles project.

Exclusive content created by Apple Corps, MTV Games and Harmonix will be made available to fans over the next few months who participate in a pre-order campaign through major retailers. More details on The Beatles: Rock Band game and pre-order will be revealed in the coming months.

Please visit thebeatlesrockband.com.

A few years ago my dad got me a Quamut guide on songwriting for Christmas. A section called “How to Write Lyrics for Songs” contains the following summary:

1. Pick a topic.
2. Choose a song form.
3. Choose a point of view.
4. Write an opening line.
5. Write the complete first verse.
6. Write the chorus.
7. Write the remaining verses.
8. Write the bridge (if applicable).

The guide then goes into more detail on each of those steps, and to its credit offers some useful suggestions. (Avoid cliches, don’t rhyme every line, et cetera.) But I’ve always preferred the summary on its own. It seems unhelpful out of context: “Start writing a song, and then continue to write it until it’s finished.” But sometimes I think that’s all the advice I need.

Here’s a strange issue I’ve encountered with NetNewsWire, my RSS reader: sometimes a particular item will change to unread when the feeds refresh, even though it hasn’t been edited. Currently the offending post is “Hawaiian Vacation” from Matt Haughey’s blog A Whole Lotta Nothing; for two weeks now it’s marked itself unread at least once per day. If past behavior is any indication, this will continue until the post scrolls off the list of recent entries.

I haven’t been keeping a close watch, but I believe I’ve only seen this issue with TypePad blogs — I know I’ve noticed it with Brainy Gamer posts before. Even then it’s fairly infrequent. I wonder what the deal is.

In celebration of tomorrow, my first-ever paid holiday:

(NSFW)

• “A Theory of Everything” by unSane
• “Na Na” by InfidelZombie
• “Impossible Edge” by al_fresco
• “Maiquetía” by micayetoca
• “Do You Know Where Your Children Are?” by Saellys

• Sweet Friggin’ Daisies
• A Friggin’ Christmas Miracle (in development)
• The Friggin’ Mafia Movie

(inspiration)

• “Colours of Islam” by dobie
• “La Tarea” by ORthey
• “Olivia” by chococat
• “Fountain” by mikeo2
• “Summer’s Ending” by ludwig_van (see also the studio version)

Josh Millard is the kind of guy I imagine I would be if, every time I had a thought that began “Wouldn’t it be cool if…”, I put it into action immediately. Wouldn’t it be cool if I reviewed every X-Files episode? Wouldn’t it be cool if I made a webcomic out of baseball cards? Wouldn’t it be cool if I sang the news?

All of these projects are not sustained simultaneously, but I think there’s something admirable in the willingness to execute on ideas even when they’re somewhat half-baked. (Most recently Josh launched a site for looking at cats, called Look At This Cat.) As Ze Frank pointed out, even the silliest ideas are better out in the open.

One of the fun things about my job is that the water cooler talk often revolves around video games. The other day someone mentioned a preview he’d seen for the upcoming title Glacier2:

In Glacier2 you find your self high up in the Alps and as you speed down the challenging mountain roads it becomes apparent what the game is all about. Avoid falling boulders, swerve around knife-edge cliffs and ready the battle equipment included on the cars. Rocket launchers, machine guns, shotguns and mines add to the thrill of the game.

Awesome explosions, huge jumps and shifting ice make Glacier2 a highly anticipated arcade combat racing game. The game boasts of an effects system specially designed for the Nintendo Wii. Glacier2 also includes seven finely tuned supercars and 18 frigid levels of traps, cliffs, canyons and jumps. Each vehicle has its own characteristic weapons ranging from sniper rifles to chainguns whose purpose is solely to cause maximum carnage on the track.

Outstanding questions about Glacier2:

• What circumstances caused you to “find your self” on top of a mountain?
• Why is there battle equipment?
• What happened to Glacier1?

All joking aside, I actually can’t wait to see what this is. It sounds like just my kind of tongue-in-cheek X-TREME.

I was browsing through my favorite MetaFilter comments today and happened upon this Ask MeFi comment from user grumblebee:

I play a game called “assume I’m wrong.” Once a month or so, I list some of my cherished assumptions and assume they’re wrong (the more sure I am that they are right, the more likely I am to play this game with them). Assuming they ARE wrong, I try to think in detail how this will change the world, my view of the world, and my life.

I’m an atheist. What if there IS a God? I love my wife. What if I didn’t? I’m attracted to women. What if I was attracted to men? I’m middle class. What if I was rich? What if I was poor? I don’t believe in the death penalty. Why is the death penalty good? I’m pro choice. Why is abortion wrong? “Citizen Kane” is a great film. How does it suck? I hate such-and-such Metafilter member because he’s always berating me. Why is he right?

If any of these questions are painful, I take it as a sign that I am really on to something and push myself to explore it.

I marked that comment as a favorite three years ago, but never took the advice to heart. It seems like a great tool for self-reflection.

I’m especially intrigued by the “How does Citizen Kane suck?” example. What are the weakest elements of my favorite books, or bands, or games? How well could I defend my taste?