Sunday, January 29, 2012

Streaming From The Bunker Tonight

Rocksmith, break, then Rock Band 3 PREMIREING NEW SONG COMING TO THE RBN!

AND IT'S DONE!! Thanks!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Crowdsourcing A Bridge

Right now, I'm working on the last (unfortunately) song for Dino Hunter, M.D. and it's about cliffhangers.

The song is all recorded, and being mixed right now, but I figured for the breakdown, I'd try something different:

I want you all to be a part of it.

HERE'S HOW:
1. Record a clip of yourself referencing your favorite cliffhanger.
Some examples:
-"Marty, it's your kids, Marty!" (Back To The Future)
-"Finishing this fight" (Halo 2)
-"Who shot J.R./Mr. Burns/Laura Palmer?" (Dallas, The Simpsons and Twin Peaks)

Basically, anything that got you super excited to watch the next installment.

2. Save it as RBCliffhanger_YourName.mp3. Yourname refers to however you want to be referenced. If you use your real name, e-mail address, gamertag, whatever, go ahead.

3. Send an e-mail to rhythmbastard@gmail.com with "Cliffhanger" in the subject line, and attach your .mp3 to the e-mail.

WHAT YOU'LL GET:
Basically, your name wherever this song shows up (this page, SoundCloud, NewGrounds, etc.)!

Like my "Invisiball" and "Heroes Die" videos, I'll also record a video of myself playing it and thank everyone beforehand.

-Depending on how many people submit, a personalized mp3 of me saying how awesome you are.

THINGS TO CONSIDER:
-Make sure your recording is clear.

-More well known references are more likely to be used than more obscure ones.

-This is a free thing, but again, I'll hook you up.

DEADLINE:
Saturday, February 5th.

Thank you so much! I really hope this works!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

STATE OF THE BASTARD ADDRESS 2012

1. I'm 24 now. Heck yeah.

2. NEW SONG: "Status Quo Radio" by my old band, The Bastards. We were the biggest thing in 1968, and this was our hit single. I finally got the rights back to it!
Status Quo Radio by RhythmBastard

3. It will be the new theme song to my radio show, "The Bunker" coming back to Ozone Radio this Thursday!

4. THREE Rock Band Network Songs for 2012:
"This Gigantic Robot Kills" by MC Lars
"Lars Attacks!" by MC Lars
"We Are Not Alone" by Akira The Don
"Radio Days, Pt. 1" by ME if I have time.

5. Another New Year's Resolution: One gig at a Con, preferably I-Con coming this March/April. I don't live in a very musical part of NY. The most you'll see at my music scene is old guys covering "Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard", so gigs are few and far between not many want to venture into the city. I figured at a con, I may not get much in the way of fans, but it'll be a receptive audience, and that's the chance I need.

OK, now for my 2011 Highlights-
BEST TWEET- The time the official Axe Cop Twitter account retweeted my video of "Axe Cop: The Song" at The Vault.
That was a good day.

BEST FLASH GAME- Sagittarian 3
Where you can hear my song "Radio Days Pt. 1"!

BEST MOVIE THAT I WOULD ADMIT TO LIKING- "Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes"
The best part was the few seconds of silence right after that character spoke. I never thought I could get so attached to the plight of a CGI monkey.

BEST MOVIE I FINALLY SAW- "Robocop"
The dad from That 70's Show tells some bitches to leave and rubs over a retarded fish man.

FAVORITE GAME- It was a tough choice, but I have to go with Arkham City.
Rocksmith has been a drug these past couple weeks, but nothing has tickled my brain in so many places like AC. Save for the Catwoman levels, the game, while not as cohesive or solid story-wise as Asylum, still manages to please. If AA was American Idiot, Arkham City would be 21st Century Breakdown.

FAVORITE WAY TO PLAY A GAME- Gears Of War as not manly as possible
Me and my friend start off with a hearty BRONUX and then play "Hey Homies!" by The Aquabats as we have a variety of teas coupled with Mike's Hard Lemonade. Then my friend describe the different architectural styles of each building we shoot Locust in. He seems to be more fond of GoW1 than GoW2, which is what we're playing through now.

FAVORITE TOP 40 SONG I'LL ADMIT TO LIKING- "Rolling In The Deep" by Adele
As much as the overplay of "Someone Like You" is starting to wear on me, I like this a lot. It's intimate, itt's got a strong beat, and listening to it with headphones now, I WISH I could make something sound this well put together with so little.

FAVORITE TOP 40 SONG I WON'T ADMIT TO LIKING- "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but it sounds really happy and they're at the right amount of awareness for what the hell they're doing.

BEST INTERNET TV SHOW- Dino Hunter, MD
Dinos, action, POW AND music by me, The Rhythm Bastard!

BEST SONG RELEASED ON THE ROCK BAND NETWORK- "Steven Wells (He Was The Greatest)" by Akira The Don
Oh, is that my name on it? Hmm... It was one of Rock Band's Recommended songs... AND NOW ONLY ONE DOLLAR!!!

FAVORITE SONG ON REGULAR ROCK BAND- "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" by The Darkness
FOR OBVIOUS REASONS.

FAVORITE BAND I JUST BECAME AWARE OF THIS YEAR- The Black Keys
I picked up "Brothers" and "El Camino" over the past couple months, and I really dig their sound. Both are good for wasteland wandering in Fallout 3.

OCCUPATION MOST DESERVING OF A PUNCH TO THE FACE- Cops/Politicians (save for Bernie Sanders)
Two groups of people who made perfectly clear that if you're outside their little world, you're FUCKED.

FAVORITE SONG I RELEASED IN 2011- "From A Mile Away (Boom, Headshot)"

FAVORITE GIG OF 2011- The Gig Of Legend

So overall, a pretty good year.

And that's it for now. More to come!

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Rocksmith Thoughts

Wanted to post this up while I was still thinking about it:
1. I've been playing guitar for almost 5 years, and I can still say this is worth getting. There's a lot to do here, and there is always something to push you out of your comfort zone.

2. Rock Band 3 and this game can happily coexist on my shelf. Rocksmith is for me, Rock Band 3 is for me and my friends.

3. No punk, save for "Go With The Flow" by Queens Of The Stone Age and "Song 2" by Blur (and that's with a very liberal interpretation of punk). All of the songs are focused around riffs, as opposed to chords. It's a smart decision for a teaching game, since it places finger dexterity and learning to find the frets as a main priority.

For example, the first two songs in the "Campaign" mode are "Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones and "Next Girl" by The Black Keys. The latter was the first song I mastered, whereas the former gets tricky in the pre-chorus. Regardless, they're two songs that get you used to the idea of moving your fingers.

4. The song list really is as hit or miss as it gets. A lot of the classic rock stuff really connects, but a lot of the new music is indie and alt rock and takes some getting used to. A couple breakouts for me were "Angela" by Jarvis Cocker, and "Where Is My Mind?" by The Pixies. The Tom Petty and Eric Clapton songs were a lot less fun then I was expecting, until they got to the solos, and while I haven't mastered them yet, it'll be a bitch when those sections get harder.

5. Speaking as someone who is partially colorblind, it was pretty easy to tell the difference between the strings. One of the problems I have is "finding" the strings by going up and down. Something like "Rebel Rebel" or "Sweet Home Alabama" throw me off.

6. One thing I noticed with the adaptive difficulty: It starts you off with single notes, then once you "master" that section, it moves up to chords. However, whereas you would be playing the full rhythm with the single notes, it slows everything back down when chords are introduced. The progressive difficulty thing is very well done.

7. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", "Higher Ground" and "Plug In Baby" are the Squat, Bench Press and Deadlift for me of this game (for now at least).
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction": 83,735
"Higher Ground": 91,935
"Plug In Baby": 100,329

8. This game is totally fucking up my head with the RBN difficulty stuff.

State Of The Bastard Address January 11th.