File this under “things I’m skeptical about”, but according to Pitchfork’s “real non-imaginary source”, Pavement is actually going to reunite to play a benefit show in NYC in late 2010.
I’m cautiously excited, because they really are my favorite band, but…
- Rumors of a Pavement reunion crop up every year or two
- They’re notoriously cryptic pranksters
- Their live shows, by all accounts, were always fairly hit and miss
- SM & The Jicks kick all kinds of ass
- Inevitable reunion stigma
This isn’t to say it couldn’t be good, or wouldn’t be good; some reunions have been awesome and worthwhile. Damned if I don’t want to go anyway.
Update: It’s totally real and Amy and I are totally going to go. I always wanted an excuse to visit New York for more than an hour.
September 16th, 2009
If you hold down the left trigger and then depress the right trigger twice quickly during “Taxman,” the band will squabble over songwriting credits. George will walk out of the room dejected.
If you press A three times in rapid succession while moving the left stick from left to right, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi will disillusion all four Beatles.
If you hold down A and B buttons at the same time during any of the White Album tracks, Paul will yell at Ringo to go home for the day and then overdub his drum parts when he leaves.
Via McSweeney’s; more here.
September 9th, 2009
As revealed in the new Game Informer, the more-or-less complete tracklist for The Beatles: RockBand finally hit. The final verdict? Well, I was 28 for 45 with my initial list, which isn’t too shabby (a D- so maybe a bit shabby). My brother had suggested “Getting Better” in place of “Good Morning Good Morning” on my original list; as it turns out, we get both which is nice. I’m most excited about “Hey Bulldog” and happy with most of the songs I wasn’t expecting (especially “If I Needed Someone” and “Don’t Let Me Down”).
Although inevitably there will be a lot of downloads for this– with Abbey Road, Sgt. Pepper and, I think, Revolver already announced, I’m most disappointed at “Rain” not making the cut, since it doesn’t show up on any proper album, but I’ll hold out for a Past Masters set. “She Loves You” and “Lady Madonna” seem like shoo-ins.
August 14th, 2009
- Do You Want To Know A Secret
- I Wanna Be Your Man
- *Twist & Shout
- *Can’t Buy Me Love
- *Eight Days A Week
- *Paperback Writer
- Yellow Submarine
- *Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
- With A Little Help From My Friends
- Within You Without You
- *Revolution
- *And Your Bird Can Sing
- Birthday
- *I Got A Feeling
- *Dig A Pony
Unfortunately, and I guess inevitably, we’ve got Yellow Submarine, but of the fifteen I’ve gotten nine of them in the original guess list, so that’s a pretty good batting average thus far. I’m a bit baffled at the inclusion of Birthday, but the rest of it’s pretty exciting. With the inclusion of Within You Without You we’ve got some Sitar Hero in this one! Although I can’t help but think that that would work better with the slide-y fretboard on the Guitar Hero World Tour guitar…
July 21st, 2009
Like a lot of people, I’m a big fan of The Beatles. Like still a lot of people, but probably a smaller number of people, I’m also a big fan of the video game Rock Band, so I’m eagerly anticipating the Beatles: Rock Band game when it comes out in September. I thought it might be fun to try to guess at the initial tracklist given that we know there will be 45 songs on the disc, ten of them are sure things (noted with an asterisk), and another three (“Twist and Shout”, “A Hard Day’s Night”, and “Paperback Writer”) show up in the introductory cinematic. Additionally, “All You Need Is Love” won’t be on the disc; it will be a download to benefit Doctors Without Borders. Here’s my guess thus far:
1. She Loves You (single, 1963)
2. Love Me Do (Please Please Me, 1963)
3. * I Want to Hold Your Hand (single, 1963)
4. * I Saw Her Standing There (Please Please Me, 1963)
5. Twist and Shout (Please Please Me, 1963)
6. All My Loving (With The Beatles, 1963)
7. Can’t Buy Me Love (A Hard Day’s Night, 1964)
8. A Hard Day’s Night (A Hard Day’s Night, 1964)
9. * I Feel Fine (single, 1964)
10. Eight Days a Week (Beatles for Sale, 1964)
11. Help! (Help!, 1965)
12. Another Girl (Help!, 1965)
13. Ticket to Ride (Help!, 1965)
14. I’m Looking Through You (Rubber Soul, 1965)
15. Nowhere Man (Rubber Soul, 1965)
16. * Day Tripper (single, 1965)
17. Paperback Writer (single, 1966)
18. Rain (single, 1966)
18. * Taxman (Revolver, 1966)
20. And Your Bird Can Sing (Revolver, 1966)
21. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band (Sgt. Pepper, 1967)
22. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (Sgt. Pepper, 1967)
23. Strawberry Fields Forever (single, 1967)
24. Good Morning Good Morning (Sgt. Pepper, 1967)
25. * I Am The Walrus (single, 1967)
26. * Back in the U.S.S.R. (The Beatles, 1968)
27. Glass Onion (The Beatles, 1968)
28. Oba-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (The Beatles, 1968)
29. While My Guitar Gently Weeps (The Beatles, 1968)
30. Happiness Is A Warm Gun (The Beatles, 1968)
31. Yer Blues (The Beatles, 1968)
32. Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey (The Beatles, 1968)
33. Helter Skelter (The Beatles, 1968)
34. Lady Madonna (single, 1968)
35. Revolution (single, 1968)
36. Hey Bulldog (Yellow Submarine, 1969)
37. Come Together (Abbey Road, 1969)
38. * Octopus’s Garden (Abbey Road, 1969)
39. * Here Comes The Sun (Abbey Road, 1969)
40. Oh! Darling (Abbey Road, 1969)
41. Two of Us (Let It Be, 1970)
42. Dig a Pony (Let It Be, 1970)
43. I Me Mine (Let It Be, 1970)
44. I’ve Got a Feeling (Let It Be, 1970)
45. * Get Back (Let It Be, 1970)
I tried to capture a wide variety while keeping in mind that the song has to be more-or-less suitable for Rock Band (so no “Yesterday” or “Revolution 9″) and that this may have a similar structure to previous GH/RB games where every fifth song is going to be a bigger name song. Chronology, of course, is also key here; although the singles that may have been recorded at the same time as an album did not appear on those albums, so they may be interspersed accordingly.”Hey Bulldog” and “Rain” are arguably the least likely to show up, but they’re the two that I’m hoping for the most. Aside from “Yellow Submarine” (which I’m hoping doesn’t make the cut; see last post), are there any other glaring omissions from this list? Or any songs that you wish would make it in?
June 16th, 2009
