Posts Tagged ‘Rishloo’

Unless otherwise noted, all songs are $1.99.

• Blackguard – Firefight
• Machinae Supremacy – Rocket Dragon
• Miracle of Sound – Gordon Freeman Saved My Life *
• Rishloo – Feathergun in the Garden of the Sun *
• Rishloo – Keyhole in the Sky *

* Denotes $.99 track pricing.

ROCK BAND NETWORK 4/24 PS3 PLAYLIST

[Official announcement]

Unless otherwise noted, all songs are $1.99.

• Anarchy Club – Für Immer Verloren *
• Anarchy Club – King of Everything *
• Powerman 5000 – Do Your Thing
• Rishloo – Scissorlips *
• Sunny Side Up – Welcome to the Skalocaust *

* Denotes $.99 track pricing.

ROCK BAND NETWORK 4/17 PS3 PLAYLIST

[Official announcement]

The Rock Band Network is an invaluable source of new music but, perhaps because of the quantity of songs or the unfamiliar nature of the artists, it can be a little hard to find the type of music you want. As a tester and charter for the Rock Band Network, I get a lot of exposure to songs coming through the pipeline and there are definitely songs that deserve more recognition. This feature will help you discover new favorites, find a new challenge, and support the independent Rock Band scene. Each week I’ll highlight one new Xbox 360 song, one new PS3 song, and even a song released awhile back – all of them worthy of a listen!

Xbox 360: MC Lars feat. MC Bat Commander and Suburban Legends – This Gigantic Robot Kills

In the history of Rock Band artists this song must be near the top in terms of longest name. MC Lars joins fellow artist MC Frontalot to fill out the nerdcore hip-hop niche of the Rock Band Network and brings his merry band of MCs including Bat Commander and Suburban Legends. It’s like a convention in here! Nerdcore hip-hop, aside from a heavy focus on rap, is famous for the deluge of pop culture references and this song is no different. Where it stands apart from artists like MC Frontalot is in its approach to one of music’s most unfairly maligned genres – ska!

This Gigantic Robot Kills, from the album of the same name, begins quietly but once the horns and band kick in you can’t help but smile. There’s nothing too complicated here – vocals are fast and distractingly clever, name-checking fellow ska bands including The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Save Ferris and Reel Big Fish. Judging by Reel Big Fish’s high position in the Rock Band Facebook request app, the RB community is asking for ska and this will easily tide you over until whenever more ska filters through official channels. Changing tempos, a bouncing bass line and catchy guitar riffs mean the song always holds your attention whatever part you pick.

The vocals are the real treat of the song with harmonies only adding to the crazy fun. Rattling through so many pop culture references, samples and sing-along choruses is exceptionally fun especially with such bizarre imagery as an attack on The OC featuring Mischa Barton’s spine. Seriously.

Ska is another genre in Rock Band that is always fun to play simply because of the jaunty nature of the music. This Gigantic Robot Kills is short, yes, but every moment is filled with something interesting for every instrument. Ska is not dead indeed!

Sounds like: Ska mixed with nerdcore rap. A fun combination!
Perfect for: Harmonies, Vocals, Bass

PS3: Rishloo – Diamond Eyes

Ethereal and atmospheric. Delicate yet powerful. Rishloo have impressed Rock Band players with their songs available on the RBN. Diamond Eyes is no exception bringing a rich textural sound, soaring vocals and prog rock sensibility.

This track is an interesting one for guitar – there’s a lot of pedal-modified sound with a good selection of different parts to grasp. There’s fast, thrash-speed strumming, hammer-ons aplenty and slower sections. Prog rock is a safe bet for guitarists – an ever changing structure means that there is something new to play with every passing minute.

The powerful vocals will take a fair amount of attempts to master – there are quiet and loud sections and just as you think you can predict where the melody will go it shoots off into another direction. Andrew Mailloux has such a distinctive voice it’s a real challenge to emulate his particular intonation and sound.

Bass, especially towards the middle section, starts to develop into more than a root pattern. Working out the new tempo and rhythm can be awkward at first but that remains part of the challenge of the song.

While this might not be the best Rishloo song available on the RBN it is still thoroughly enjoyable to play. The remainder of the album is (or soon will be) complete to buy and every song offers a similar prog atmosphere. Definitely worth a look!

Sounds like: Hard to discern… a mix of alternative and progressive rock.
Perfect for: Belting vocalists, fast-strumming guitarists

Throwback: Jukebox the Ghost – Schizophrenia

Jukebox the Ghost also already have almost an entire album available through the RBN. Having never heard of them before discovering them through DLC, I can honestly say it’s one of the most consistent albums I’ve heard in a long while – with tracks ranging from the fun to the sublime it’s brilliant to see that they’ve given huge support to the RBN. Although not as old as other throwback selections, the track Schizophrenia was the first by the band to be released and is a perfect example of RBN2.0 features in action.

A bright piano riff opens the song, featuring as the main melody for most of the instruments making for especially vocals. Going quickly from really high to really low while working down octaves needs a fair amount of skill so it’s no small relief that, aside from the ‘Here they come, here they come’ sections, the remainder of the song is fairly simple.

A devious, but not impossible, synth solo complements the piano riff during the majority of the song, giving keys players a moment in the sun. The drums are consistent but not boring while the guitar is subtle in the mix but vital to the sound of the song.

The harmonies are another hard part to nail down but with practice they could sound sublime. From experience they can be hard to judge – the guide tone in the practice room will be your friend on the first few playthroughs.

There are many more Jukebox the Ghost songs available and all well worth recommending. It’s likely that they’ll crop up in a forthcoming throwback pick, but for now Schizophrenia is a fantastic introduction to a band that really does stand out on the RBN!

Sounds like: Jukebox the Ghost have been compared to bands like The Kinks…
Perfect for: Vocalists, keyboards

Tune in next week for more recommendations! If there are any songs you’d like us to mention, feel free to specify them in the comments.

Unless otherwise noted, all songs are $1.99.

• dB soundworks – Can ‘o Salt (Remix) *
• Drugstore Fanatics – Bullet *
• Otep – Fists Fall
• Psychostick – BEER!!
• Rishloo – Diamond Eyes *

* Denotes $.99 track.

ROCK BAND NETWORK PS3 2/28 PLAYLIST

[Official announcement]

Unless otherwise noted, all songs are 160 MSP ($1.99). Songs not linked below were not available on RockBand.com at time of publishing.

• A Plea for Purging – Heart Of A Child (2x Bass Pedal) *
• Anarchy Club – King of Everything *
• Chaotrope – The Thief in the Night – Part II *
• Engel – Calling Out
• Halcyon Way – Rise to Revise *
• Halcyon Way – Rise to Revise (2x Bass Pedal) *
• Look Left – Put Out the Fire *
• Machinae Supremacy – Rocket Dragon
• Mystic Syntax – Give *
• Raggedy Angry – Easter Island Radiation *
• Richard Snow – Lonesome Cowboy
• Rishloo – Weevil Bride *
• SIMPL3JACK – Song for Meg *
• Strikken – Machine *
• Strikken – Machine (2x Bass Pedal) *
• Trucker Diablo – Drink Beer, Destroy
• Ultra Vomit – Je Collectionne des Canards (Vivants)

* Denotes 80 MSP ($.99) track pricing.

ROCK BAND NETWORK XBOX 360 2/16 PLAYLIST

[Official announcement]

Unless otherwise noted, all songs are 160 MSP ($1.99). Songs not linked below were not included on RockBand.com at time of publishing.

• Alestorm – Shipwrecked (2x Bass Pedal)
• Blame Ringo – Garble Arch *
• Blame Ringo – In A Hurricane *
• Christian Death – Narcissus Metamorphosis Of
• Codex Alimentarius – Baptised
• Halcyon Way – Inside Looking Out (The Icon & The Ghost) (2x Bass Pedal) *
• Josh Blackburn – I’m Dirt
• Machinae Supremacy – Force Feedback
• Powerman 5000 – Do Your Thing
• Radidsh – Wild Yellowness *
• Rishloo – Scissorlips *
• Solution .45 – Gravitational Lensing (2x Bass Pedal) *
• Sunny Side Up – Welcome to the Skalocaust *
• Watain – Underneath the Cenotaph (2x Bass Pedal)

* Denotes 80 MSP ($.99) track.

ROCK BAND NETWORK XBOX 360 2/9 PLAYLIST

[Official announcement]