Out ‘n' about in the City of Angels with Blurt's roving shutterbug (7/1 - 7/14).

By Scott Dudelson

(above) Admiral Radley (feat: Jason Lytle & Aaron Burtch of Grandaddy) - Live @ The Hammer Museum's "I Also Like to Rock" concert series (www.buzzbands.la) - 7/8

Ben Lee - Live @ The Mint (www.themintla.com) -7/1

Kaki King  - Live @ The Mint (www.themintla.com) -7/1

Rachel Cantu & Kaki King - Live @ The Mint (www.themintla.com) -7/1

Carina Round - Live @ The Mint (www.themintla.com) -7/1

Jack Tempchin (Eagles collaborator, writer of Peaceful Easy Feeling, Already Gone) - Live @ The Mint (www.themintla.com) -7/6

The Happy Hollows - Live @ The Hammer Museum's "I Also Like to Rock" concert series (www.buzzbands.la) - 7/8

The Wailers (original Wailer Aston "Family Man" Barrett) - Live @ Hollywood Park (www.hollywoodpark.com) - 7/10

Steven Adler (of Guns N' Roses) - Live @ Club Vodka (www.clubvodka.com)  - 7/10

Phil Alvin (of The Blasters) - Live @ Redwood Bar & Grill (www.theredwoodbar.com) - 7/12

***

Scott Dudelson is a music journalist and concert photographer based in Los Angeles.  Scott is also the Chief Operating Officer of Prodege, LLC, the company behind www.swagbucks.com.

Hey there! Off we go with another edition of IN SHORT, our monthly cornucopia of stuff --- sometimes music stuff, sometimes not. This month's theme: Laugh Your Ass Off (and Perhaps Squirm a Little). Enjoy.

1. Double Rainbow!

I found myself watching this, thinking, why am I watching this? This is stupid. Then: this is awesome. Then: this is stupid. Then: god dammit, this is really awesome. Trust me. Now, of course, I'm dying to have one of these. Full. On.



2. Yankee Prankee

It's painful. But you have to watch this one to enjoy the next one [...]

A Triple-A radio programming veteran, Kate has served as Music Director of the Loft at XM, Midday Host at WYEP, Evening Host at both WNCS and WUIN, as well as Content Supervisor for Pump Audio. Currently, she's the CEO of Outlandos Music, a new-music discovery service for grown-ups. Kate has been nationally recognized for her ardent presentation of music and her ability to champion talented, compelling artists.

Hey there! Off we go with another edition of IN SHORT, our monthly cornucopia of stuff --- sometimes music stuff, sometimes not. This month's theme: Laugh Your Ass Off (and Perhaps Squirm a Little). Enjoy.

1. Double Rainbow!

I found myself watching this, thinking, why am I watching this? This is stupid. Then: this is awesome. Then: this is stupid. Then: god dammit, this is really awesome. Trust me. Now, of course, I'm dying to have one of these. Full. On.



2. Yankee Prankee

It's painful. But you have to watch this one to enjoy the next one [...]

A Triple-A radio programming veteran, Kate has served as Music Director of the Loft at XM, Midday Host at WYEP, Evening Host at both WNCS and WUIN, as well as Content Supervisor for Pump Audio. Currently, she's the CEO of Outlandos Music, a new-music discovery service for grown-ups. Kate has been nationally recognized for her ardent presentation of music and her ability to champion talented, compelling artists.

A brief conversation with the Foo Fighters' Chris Shiflett, who is unveiling his Americana project the Dead Peasants.

By John B. Moore

Chris Shiflett is obviously best known as the guitarist for the phenomenally successful Foo Fighters, but to aging punk rockers like myself, he will always be known as the one time guitarist for the goofy San Jose-based pop punk band No Use for a Name, and more importantly as a founding member of the world's greatest cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.

Not really one to sit around and count the platinum records on his wall during down times, Shiflett balances his guitar duties with the Foos and the Gimme Gimmes, fronting the band Jackson United and playing in Viva Death. So in the remaining few hours left in each day - the ones most of us would simply waste away by sleeping - Shiflett has devoted to his new project: Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants. An Americana act with plenty of pedal steel guitar, the Dead Peasants sounds like nothing the guitarist has recorded to date. Featuring a revolving cast of backing musicians, the music is part Replacements, part Hank Williams.

Knowing Shiflett has little time on his hands following is a very brief interview with the hardest working man in pop punk (and rock... and tribute bands... and Americana).    

First of all, you've got a shitload of projects going on (Foo Fighters, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Jackson United), why start another band?

We've been on a two year hiatus from Foo Fighter activities so I had lots of time on my hands and I didn't think of it as starting a proper "band."  It was me and my friend Lou arranging a bunch of my songs and then calling in different people to play different parts.

Obviously the sound of this new record is a little different from what people expect to hear from you. How long have you wanted to write a country-tinged album?

I've been a fan of this kind of music for a long, long time so it felt like a natural progression for me to do this.

What musicians make up the Dead Peasants?

The album is a mish mash of a bunch of different people, but for the tour I've got my friend Luke Tierney on bass, Eric Skodis on drums and Derek Silverman on keyboards.  I think we're gonna bring a pedal steel player too.

It's also, nice to see you nabbed Audra Mae to help with vocals. How did you first meet her?

A good friend of mine is her manager and I'm also friends with the guys who put out her records (SideOne Dummy Records) so I had heard her music and loved her voice. I was stoked she came in to sing on a couple of songs. It really took 'em to a different place.

Do you plan on touring with these same musicians?

Nope.  The Dead Peasants are whoever I can corral at any given time to do some shows or whatever.

 So is this a one-off project or do you plan on doing more records like this one?

I hope I can do more records like this!

What inspired the song "An Atheists Prayer"?

Lyrically, it was inspired by a person I knew who killed himself.

As a fan growing up of No Use For a Name, I was bummed when you left the group, but certainly understand why. What was the biggest change about joining Foo Fighters?

When I joined Foos they were about to put out their third record so it was a crazy time. We immediately went out on a "promo" tour so I just sat there and listened to them give interviews all day, every day. It was kind of like Foo Fighter School.  My head was spinning.

So is Me First and the Gimme Gimmes working on anything new?

Not yet but its way overdue.

By Carl Hanni

Digging Tucson

Tucson is a somewhat schizo town to scout records in. We have some decent record stores, but nothing (apologies, proprietors) that's a truly world class store. Conversely, there seems to be quite a bit of vinyl flowing underground, if you know where to look. Most of the interesting stuff I've found in recent years has been in off the wall situations; yard sales, specialty sales, one-offs, my own sources (ohhh!). The cheapness of a lot of all this digging (nothing here was over a buck, quite a few for .25 cents) also allows for all kinds of experimentation. Here's a few hits from recent digging, all thoroughly playable.

Menescal: The Boy From Ipanema Beach, KAPP Records. This is a genuine Bossa Nova classic, as good as any I own. Led by guitarist Roberto Menescal, and featuring a young Eumir Deodato on piano. Actually, they're all young: the liner notes say they were all between 15 and 20 years old when they cut this. A summer record for all seasons, fully of casually perfect, mid and down tempo Bossa Nova numbers to chill or slow dance around the pool to.

Luiz Bonfa: Softly, Epic Records. Another Bossa Nova treasure, featuring twelve numbers by the Brazilian guitar master. Easy and sunny, this seemingly effortless music flows like water. The back ground musicians are a model of subelty and restraint, groove music taken to an almost narcotic perfection. 

Candy original motion picture soundtrack, 1968, ABC Records: original score! by Dave Grusin, and featuring tracks by The Byrds (the hippie-dippy "Child of the Universe") and two killer Steppenwolf numbers ("Rock Me," "Magic Carpet Ride"). But the real juice is Grusin's freakout pop/psych/mariachi/Indian soundtrack music, one of the most tripped out demented of the period. Sample titles: "Birth by Descent," "It's Always Because of This: A Deformity," "Opening Night: By Surgery," "Marlon & His Sacred Bird," "Ascension to Virginity" (whatever) and everybody's favorite, "Spec-Rac-Tac-Para-Com." I'm not making this up. The cast includes James Coburn, Richard Burton, Marlon Brando, Charles Aznavour, John Houston (now there's a whole of lot testosterone), Ringo Starr, Walter Matthau, Sugar Ray Robinson (?) and Anita Pallenberg. Not many women, except for the nymphomaniac lead, Ewa Aulin. Ah, the casual, liberated sexism of the 60s. 

Philippe Besombes: LIBRA soundtrack, Tapioca Records (1975, French import). Score. Highly respected French electronic psychout soundtrack. And with good reason: this is the merde, dark, unsettling and creepy, a bad trip on vinyl. But fascinating, hey.  Besombes went on to work with avant garde-ists Luc Ferrari, Iannis Xenakis & Karlheinz Stockhausen. LIBRA is prime early electronic-based psychedelia at it's most horror-show. 

Elemental 7, original soundtrack, 1983, Rough Trade British import. Another super spooky, dark electronic soundtrack, composed and played by CTI, which is ex-Throbbing Gristle members Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti with film/video guy John Lacey. Soundtrack to an hour long video. Contains the track "Dancing Ghosts," an early, experimental/dark acid house, zombie-dance number. The rest of it sounds like the soundtrack to a black mass. 

Python Lee Jackson: In A Broken Dream, GNP/Crescendo Records. Smoking hot 1972 blues rock w/a young, hot-throated Rod Stewart guesting on 3 tracks. The band migrated from Australia to the UK in the late 60s, where this was recorded. The title song has a truly terrifying guitar solo. 

Bobby Whitlock: Raw Velvet, Dunhill Records. White boy gospel blues-rock nirvana, warm and wet as only analog recordings from the early 1970s can be. Whitlock may be forever immortalized as the vocalist and keyboard player on Derek & The Dominos Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (both records came out in 1972), but his version of "Tell The Truth" cuts the Dominos for my money. Perhaps faced with the specter of Clapton, guitar player Rick Vito kicks out all the stops. Whitlock has one of those voices that come along all to rarely; in another time or place he could have been a gospel star. Jimmy Miller produces. 

Chet Atkins: The Guitar Genius, RCA/Camden Records. Chet Atkins recorded a LOT of records; this is a particularly scintillating one. Recorded before strings and a chorus blanded some of his stuff out, this is pretty is pretty badass Chet, before the production line.  

The Ventures: Guitar Freakout, Dolton Records. The Ventures also put out barge loads of records, sometimes reductive, sometimes not. This is really solid, with several hardcore, undiluted titles like "Off in the 93rds," "Wack Wack," "Mod East" and the title track. Song title of the month: "Cookout Freakout on Lookout Mountain."

Next month: more Tucson digging.

***

You can leave comments below or e-mail them to me directly at modmedia@theriver.com .

Carl Hanni is a music writer, music publicist, disc jockey, book hound and vinyl archivist living in Tucson, AZ. He hosts an occasional concert and film series at The Screening Room in downtown Tucson, "The B-Side" program on KXCI (Tuesday nights midnight - 2 a.m.) and spins records wherever and whenever he can. He currently writes for Blurt, Tucson Weekly, and (occasionally) Goldmine and Signal To Noise.

Out ‘n' about in the City of Angels with Blurt's roving shutterbug (6/15 - 6/30).

By Scott Dudelson

(above) Robert Randolph - Live @ Amoeba Records (www.amoeba.com) - 6/23

Blue Rodeo - Live @ The Mint (www.themintla.com) - 6/22

Gogol Bordello - Live @ The Mayan (www.clubmayan.com) - 6/23

Haru Kuroi - Live @ The Mayan (www.clubmayan.com) - 6/23

Sarah Borges - Live @ The Mint (www.themintla.com) - 6/24

Ryan Bingham - Live @ The Mint (www.themintla.com) - 6/30

***

Scott Dudelson is a music journalist and concert photographer based in Los Angeles.  Scott is also the Chief Operating Officer of Prodege, LLC, the company behind www.swagbucks.com.

Here we go with another edition of LETTERS FROM THE ROAD, our guest post series where we invite musicians we love love love to take over and write whatever they like. 2 rules: it has to be in the form of a letter, it has to have something to do with music. This week featuring Daniel Tashian, lead singer of The Silver Seas, literally my favorite band in the world ( next to The Police). I'm totally serious. We featured them like gangbusters on the DAILY DOSe a few months back. Perhaps that's because I'm a shameless superfan. You think?

FYI, the new record, Château Revenge, drops today.

Take it away Daniel...

Dear Bob Marley,

Well you've been gone for a while.

I heard you used to get your news from the radio --- you and your homeboys in soccer shoes, huddled around a Jamaican transistor, listening to the BBC world service, strains of R & B from New Orleans.

I don't know why that matters to me --- I guess because I don't watch much TV (the bullshit hype of CNN adds more static to the overcrowded airwaves now). But brother, there's a lot of stuff you would dig:

• The Wire; you would like some of the technology.
• Sampling; you would probably do something really cool with it, sample some oppositional politician and make a song out of him.
• The Black Eyed Peas; I think you would dig them.

I remember seeing a photo of you (I think it was in South Africa) bringing white and black leaders together on stage, makin' ‘em shake hands. I don't think, in the end, it really did all you hoped it would but shit, you knew that. But the thing it DID do was to let everybody see that strange things happen. Me, I'm like a little lion cub...tugging on your mane. You are a big, beautiful, stately creature. There's no comparison, I'm not even in the same profession as you, in a way [...]

A Triple-A radio programming veteran, Kate has served as Music Director of the Loft at XM, Midday Host at WYEP, Evening Host at both WNCS and WUIN, as well as Content Supervisor for Pump Audio. Currently, she's the CEO of Outlandos Music, a new-music discovery service for grown-ups. Kate has been nationally recognized for her ardent presentation of music and her ability to champion talented, compelling artists.

Column #7: LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4, Ninety-Nine Nights II (N311) and Transformers War For Cybertron.

By Aaron Burgess

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4

Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS, PSP, PC

Developer: Traveller's Tales / Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

ESRB Rating: E10+

Grizzled gamers tend to quibble about LEGO videogames' adherence to formula, but when you're dropping $60 on entertainment for your home's ficklest audience (the kids), there's something to be said for knowing what to expect. Considering there's been nary a dud in the three franchises that've already gotten the LEGO treatment-Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Batman-you'd have good reason to expect similarly high standards from the first LEGO Harry Potter entry. And you'd be right-and then some.

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 lets you play as minifigure versions of Harry himself, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and over 160 unlockable characters from the book and film series. (Hello, Dobby!) As the name implies and LEGO tradition mandates, gameplay finds you exploring, collecting and battling through madcap plastic-brick versions of the first four Harry Potter installments: the Sorcerer's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets, the Prisoner of Azkaban, and the Goblet of Fire. But if you think the action starts on Number Four Privet Drive and ends with a boss battle vs. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, you're barely touching on the game's potential.

Roaming plays a huge part in how you experience LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, primarily because the levels you roam are themselves so huge. Jam-packed with unlockable secrets, Hogwarts castle feels as massive and mysterious here as it must be for a first-year wizard to explore. Diagon Alley offers limitless spells, characters, objects and other diversions to purchase-your currency, of course, being the zillions of LEGO studs collected during gameplay. And the Forbidden Forest's creepy corners conceal far more than just old Aragog-though defeating the spider boss is another challenge altogether. Meanwhile, LEGO games' trademark tongue-in-cheek humor brings levity to the levels and mirth to the mystery, even (and especially) in spell-casting battles.

Where the central characters in previous LEGO games had tools to suit their personas (Indiana Jones' whip, for instance), LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 takes this idea further with its rich spell system. As in the books/movies, each spell has a particular outcome, so depending on what you want to move, whom you want to battle or where you want to go, you could pull out, say, Wingardium Leviosa to blast bricks or levitate objects, Riddikulus to take down what scares you, and so on. The AI is solid enough to make single-player mode a blast, but the spell-casting options reveal even deeper possibilities when you play alongside a friend.

Even though LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 brings just a few new options to the table, the changes will be as welcome for LEGO videogame diehards as they will be for fans of the Harry Potter series. Just like the doors and stairs in Hogwarts, the game is never the same thing twice-which means it should keep you and yours plenty busy until Years 5-7 arrives.

Rating: 8/10

Ninety-Nine Nights II (N3II)

Platform: Xbox 360

Developer: feelplus / Publisher: Konami

ESRB Rating: M

The videogame equivalent of an old-school death-metal band, Ninety-Nine Nights II uses devices like plot and storyline as mere anchors for the hacking, slashing brutality that makes it memorable. Indeed, there's something almost beautiful about the conviction with which N3II (as it's also known) embraces its lowly "hack 'n' slash" status: With nothing else to prove, the game simply piles on the bloodshed, and the result is a surprisingly fun, if mindless, romp through some of the densest battles this side of Helms Deep.

Lord of the Rings references aren't just coincidental here, either. With humans (exemplified by lead character Galen) co-existing alongside ogres, goblins and elves, and a Sauron-like "Lord of the Night" and accompanying dark army encroaching on the game's fictional world, N3II applies a dark, Tolkien-esque shadow to its action. N3II, of course, compresses its Middle-Earth-esque universe to a series of increasingly bananas assaults bookended by a few minor plot points.

Repeatedly raising the ceiling on the horde-battle concept  just to smash through it again, N3II finds you taking on literally hundreds of enemies at once and reducing foes to viscera in a slew of blindingly fast, graphically rich (in every sense of the term) weapon and magic attacks. With assassins, thieves, warriors, nobles and more at your disposal, you get all the powers and attendant weapons of each character class-even if the end result is still the same. And with support for co-op play via Xbox LIVE, you can bring a real-life friend to the slaughter.

Rating: 7/10

Transformers: War for Cybertron

Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC

Developer: High Moon Studios / Publisher: Activision

ESRB Rating: T

If you've found your Transformers interest lagging thanks to either Michael Bay's heavy hand or any number of flaccid game or novelty spin-offs, Transformers: War for Cybertron might just be the lure that hooks you again. Set during Cybertronian wartime, eons before the original "G1" Transformers toy/cartoon family hit Earth, the third-person game simultaneously spackles some of the holes in Transformers' lineage while giving many favorite characters a new lease on life. Plus, it's really fun to play.

The game's two campaigns, Autobot or Decepticon, aren't just "good" and "bad" sides of the same experience-they're literally interwoven into the game's rich back-story, with the Decepticon tale serving as a prequel to the Autobot campaign. (The nobler among you, however, can choose to enter the game as Autobots.) Support for up to three players in drop-in/drop-out co-op play means that you can either tackle the game alone (a solid, but limited, experience) or get help from friends, each of you choosing a Transformer that suits the battlefield you're on-from earth to air. And, as you'll soon discover, the ability to transform to your environment plays a huge role in how you'll fare.

Though the control scheme stays constant across both modes, War for Cybertron takes on a completely different tenor when you move from campaign to competitive multiplayer. Tight action on well-designed maps, customizable and well-armed character classes, and multiple modes with support for up to 10 players make for an experience that borrows the strongest elements of top-tier titles like Halo and Gears of War while standing formidably on its own. Consider this one of the summer's biggest sleepers so far-even for those of you who can't tell Optimus Prime from prime rib.

Rating: 8/10

 ***

Our game guru, Aaron Burgess, lives digitally but dreams in analog down in Round Rock, Texas. Contact him at first2letters@gmail.com  / AIM: First2Letters

Sanctified and girli-fied.

By Coco Hames

See, I was just thinking about being female again, and I was thinking about the imagery associated with my sphere in this world, specifically the sphere of the musical world.  Tags would include, but are not limited to: garage, punk, rockabilly, trash, desert, surf rock, '50s and '60s pop icons and art, etc.  There are skulls, there are tattoos, there are greasers, and there are girls.  And these girls are undeniably attractive.  The natural female form is celebrated and presented with great care, and the end result is oftentimes a very girli-fied version of the woman.  You know what I mean, little dresses, pigtails, little school girl skirts and oxfords, etc.  And I am thinking to myself, how CUTE these girls are, and then I think about WHY they are cute.  And the cuteness, that's a noun, that's the undeniable part.  It's fucking cute, it's a fact.  But what I am really thinking about is why it is ATTRACTIVE.  And previously -- while not against self-expression in any form of any other person -- I was thinking to myself, I am NOT dressing like that.  Because all I could think was, who am I trying to appeal to?  Some GUY with a school girl fetish?  FUCK that.  But consider, I took a photograph a few years ago dressed up in this type of style.

Side note: I never actually wore that dress, I bought it on eBay for a '60s party and it didn't have a back, that photo shoot was the only time I ever wore it.  No wait - I wore it once, to that New Year's party at the Echo where Poni slipped in someone's puke and I caught her by the FACE, that was amazing.  But anyway, I'm not trying to get around the fact that I wore babydoll dresses, it happened.  And I was thinking the other day, WHY did I wear them?  I am generally uncomfortable in BEING of the second sex (which isn't entirely true, I'm just getting used to it is all), and I don't typically dress to impress anyone, let alone anyone who like their girls pigeon-toed and dumb-eyed, so what was I trying to achieve?  I was trying to look cute, I guess.  Because I was cute, I was young and cute and that's what was happening.  And I LOVED '60s music, so that was my representational homage, too: my visage, my countenance, paying visual tribute to the swingin' '60s.  That was the definition of that look for me.  But the impact of the photo carried different meaning than what I was trying to convey, which has always annoyed me.  But I was up against common public associations of imagery, and it's hard to change that.  Easy to achieve, hard to change: the ontology of the photographic image. 

Currently what has developed in MY mind as MY perception of this look is one that excuses, in MY mind see, and allows for this look in MY world of understanding.  Previously, I had considered this aesthetic as pandering to a male fetishized demand, which of course I personally CANNOT allow.  And I didn't understand how these tough, smart, punk women would subjugate any portion of their being to ANYONE.  So I knew that MUST not be what's behind the "look" for them.  Knowing I sound psychotic ranting about these things, I was kind of always too shy to ask my friends, "Hey, can you give me an in-depth reasoning behind why you dress the way you do?"  I only have a few friends, and I regularly scare people away, so I kept said girl friends and I thought about it, about what I was seeing: the youthfulness, the representation of girlhood, e.g. the pig tails, the school girl skirts.  But then the tattoos, the piercings, the breasts (which you do not have when you are a little girl) and the tough, real, adult attitude, mannerisms, etc.  The juxtaposition of the celebration of girlhood (which is different from femaleness) with BEING adult, from a female perspective, that's what I was interested in.  And I think I've figured it out.

Now for some, I do believe the "little girl" thing is a fetish and is an issue, but that was THE issue I was afraid of when I initially started thinking about this.  But (wo)man is reasonable in that (s)he can make a reason for anything, and I reasoned that since these women are not women who would make themselves subservient in any way (words I'm thinking of are "shrink", "small", "stultify") that THEY must have control of the definition of the code of their dress.  Anthropologically, these things matter, you see.  And what I understood THEIR perspective to be is that, for many girls, the girlhood-advent-of-puberty time is, like, the CRAZIEST exciting time of your life.  You recognize yourself as a sexual being, you learn what that power means, there is a new (as in, not ever there before) responsibility and definition of self, I mean, it's crazy.  And I'll bet a lot of girls, subconsciously or otherwise (we already defined and decided upon "cute", you see) want to remember and celebrate that time.  And so, for them, their "girly" look is powerful.  And it is attractive because not only do a lot of women respond positively to that imagery and its inherent representation, MEN do, too.  Because when those little girls were discovering their power, uh, dudes were discovering it too.  In themselves, and outside themselves, in that opposite sex.  There has to be a moment for a lot of men where Suzie goes from having stupid cooties to having mystical powers.  And then therefore, I like to understand the MEN who find this "look" attractive are responding to the subconscious memory of THAT sensory impulse, which is practical and reasonable, and understandable.

And that is why I like rockabilly girls and celebrate their look.  Go on with your punk selves, my sistas, it works, and I love it, AND now I know why.

Do you SEE why I hate shopping?  Do you SEE why I hate photo shoots and videos?  Everything MEANS something, and I'm always trying to figure out WHAT. 

***

Blurt "co-co-editor" and advice columnist Coco Hames fronts The Ettes, which include Jem on bass, Poni on drums and Johnny on guitar. Their Greg Cartwright-produced album Do You Want Power arrived in stores last fall, their music was featured in the Drew Barrymore-directed film Whip It. They're currently working on their fourth full-length and additionally have a new collaboration with Cartwright called The Parting Gifts, whose debut record is due this fall. You can read all about that as well as details of their recent tour with the Dead Weather in our exclusive interview with Hames. For music, tour dates and details, check out the band at its MySpace page and the official website.

Column #6: Green Day: Rock Band, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Toy Story 3, The Sims 3: Ambitions; plus Nintendo 3DS.

By Aaron Burgess

Green Day: Rock Band

Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

Developer: Harmonix / Publisher: MTV Games

ESRB Rating: T

Offer up the Beatles on one end and Green Day on the other, and odds are good that many current-generation rock fans would have a hard time picking favorites. (Don't snigger, pop purists.) So it's fitting that, for its second band-themed Rock Band game, Harmonix has followed up the Fab Four (last year's mega-popular The Beatles: Rock Band) with a game devoted entirely to the Dookie-spawning American Idiot savants. Though less cinematic-and surreal, for that matter-in scope than its Beatles counterpart, Green Day: Rock Band is everything a fan of the Bay Area trio could want and then some: 47 playable songs' worth of classics spanning Green Day's evolution from punk brats to stadium-packing, generation-crossing icons. Unfortunately, for those of us who remember the band before 1994's breakout Dookie, the set list for Green Day: Rock Band skips the Lookout! Records era where Green Day not only cut their teeth, but also wrote some of their catchiest three-minute tunes. (Read here for more.) Dookie, 2004's American Idiot and 2009's 21^st Century Breakdown appear in their entirety, however, with a smattering of hits from 1995's Insomniac, 1997's Nimrod and 2000's Warning bookending the three albums.

Gameplay loosely mirrors the storyteller formula of The Beatles: Rock Band, following Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool from their salad days (via the fictional punk venue The Warehouse) to real-life locales both large (the National Bowl in Milton Keynes, England) and small (the Fox Theatre in Oakland, California). Likewise, in addition to standard guitar, bass and drums playability, the fun-but-tricky three-part harmonies and Career achievements also follow those of The Beatles: Rock Band, with troves of MTV archival footage (Green Day, after all, are nothing if not products of the MTV era) available for the unlocking. Ironically, the games' similarities tend to magnify the areas where Green Day: Rock Band doesn't quite meet The Beatles version: fewer venues, less song diversity, a reliance on realistic visuals where fantasy would tell a better story (Green Day did, after all, did ride two concept albums all the way to Broadway). But if you're looking for similar levels of pop smarts with a mega-dose of adrenaline to drive them home-well, you had to see this coming, but welcome to paradise.  

Rating: 8/10

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Platform: Wii

Developer / Publisher: Nintendo

ESRB Rating: E

Maybe it's because of the world in which it lands-a realm of co-op shooters, rock-band simulators and grave, hyper-realistic realms where faux physics supplant our own in all manner of settings-but Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the rare videogame that truly feels like a game. If that sounds a bit heady, know that there's nothing brain-bending about the game itself-with its objectives set across multiple wacky 3D planets, SMG2 feels like the logical sequel to 2007's fun, frivolous adventure starring everyone's favorite Italian plumber. (No offense, Luigi.) But it's the Zen-like simplicity and childlike sense of wonder with which Nintendo approaches this platformer that makes it such a standout-that, and the addition of Yoshi, of course.

Available as a power-up (one of many such boosts to Mario's mojo this time out), the lovable, long-tongued dinosaur makes for a delightful addition to Super Mario Galaxy 2-but really, he's as much a symbol of everything that's right with the game. Bowser, his captured Princess Peach and a map that takes you further toward them are the primary catalysts for action, while the incredibly designed levels that comprise the map are the reasons you'll lose yourself in the quest. Long, challenging and beautifully framed no matter which dimension (2D or 3D) you're experiencing it through, Super Mario Galaxy 2 tests your preconceptions about platformer games while holding you to the basic platformer premise. Even memory (with warm tinges, both visual and musical, of Mario games dating back to the Nintendo 64 days) plays a role in how you experience SMG2-and by the time you finish it, you'll have carved a new space in your memory bank for this one.

Rating: 9/10

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

Platform: PSP

Developer: Kojima Productions / Publisher: Konami

ESRB Rating: T

It's ironic that you can only get Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker on Sony's smallest system. Infinitely playable, the handheld-only game from MGS series mastermind Hideo Kojima offers huge potential whether you're playing it in linear fashion or experiencing the countless side missions offered as detours. Picking up where Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops left off, the 1970s-era prequel puts a full-sized console adventure-gorgeous graphics and all-in the palm of your hand.

You're transported, via one of many comic-book-style cutscenes, into a storyline where Naked Snake, a.k.a. Big Boss, is leading the private mercenary unit Soldiers without Borders when fate intervenes to send him on an emotionally riveting mercenary mission of his own. Stealth and strategy remain key tactics for fighting your way through Peace Walker, but the integration of deep RPG elements expands the way you interact with everything from weapons (which you can develop and upgrade) to enemies. You can develop your own army by literally plucking soldiers from the field and sending them (this time via balloon harness) back to your Mother Base for training. Just make sure you also have some real friends (up to four in co-op mode) along for the ride. You'll need all the help you get to make it through Peace Walker's more daunting boss battles.

Rating: 9/10

Toy Story 3

Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PSP, DS, PC

Developer: Avalanche Productions / Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios

ESRB Rating: E10+

You know what to expect from most licensed kids' videogame tie-ins before you even crack the shrinkwrap: predictable storylines, simple challenges and a handful of minigames to help justify the sticker price. However, just as Toy Story 3 is no mere kids' movie, the film's videogame twin isn't your run-of-the-mill 3D platformer with a simplified control scheme and seemingly endless string of collectable items. That's not to say you won't find both elements in Toy Story 3, just that once you clobber the game's eight relatively easy levels, you still have a whole other videogame to explore.

Playing as Woody, Jessie or Buzz Lightyear, you run, jump, chase and object-gather your way through a story mode whose colorful, action-packed settings play off scenes from the movie. Then, well, you're done-at which point it's time to crack the lid on the game's Toy Box mode, which itself is worth the price of admission. The open-world adventure lets you customize an entire Old West toy town to your liking, embarking in literally hundreds of side adventures along the way-and, perhaps more importantly, out of the way. Complete missions to earn gold. Herd cattle or corral townspeople into buildings of your own silly creation. Or, heck, simply roam through the sandbox, move stuff around and see how many boundaries you can push. Much like the experience of play itself, Toy Story 3's Toy Box is alive with possibilities.

Rating: 8/10

The Sims 3: Ambitions

Platform: PC

Developer: The Sims Studio / Publisher: Electronic Arts

ESRB Rating: T

Anyone who's played a version of The Sims knows that, just as in the real world, work is part of your pint-sized avatars' daily lives. Until now, however, your Sims simply donned their work attire and headed off to do whatever it was they did all day-but with The Sims 3: Ambitions, you can experience a veritable "take your creator to work day" that

The expansion pack for 2009's The Sims 3 expands on your ability to choose a Sim's career by tacking an actual profession-and its attendant tasks, challenges, hobbies and war stories-onto it. It's a subtle difference, but it makes for huge possibilities and, particularly in the roles of ghost hunter, firefighter and private investigator, some curious dramatic twists. No matter what your lot in (fake) life, though-doctor, stylist and architectural designer are among the other options-you'll find hours' worth of adventures to expand your world. Here's hoping EA similarly expands the available careers, because the potential here is just, well, ambitious.

Rating: 8/10

Moving in Stereo: Nintendo 3DS

Goodbye, fourth wall. It's like we never knew you. At least that's expected to be the reaction next year when Nintendo succeeds its DS handheld with the 3DS, which will deliver 3D graphics without the need for glasses. The system will, thankfully, be backward-compatible with your existing DS and DSiWare titles, and there's talk that several major movie studios are working with Nintendo to bring 3D movies to the 3Ds' 3.53" stereoscopic top screen. (The bottom is a 3.02" touch panel.) Of course, that's just the basic visual experience-the 3DS also features beefed-up wireless capability (including hardware that "talks" with other 3Dses while your system is asleep) and three cameras for recording your own real-life action. Yeah, that's right: three. One for you, and two facing the outside world so you can capture it in stereo, too.

Check out the details, complete with some excellent teaser video, at Nintendo's 3DS site.

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Our game guru, Aaron Burgess, lives digitally but dreams in analog down in Round Rock, Texas. Contact him at first2letters@gmail.com  / AIM: First2Letters