Today is the 12th Anual Kris Kross Day and to celebrate I would like share this music video I made of myself performing “Jump” by the legendary Kris Kross.

It is my hope that this video inspires nations across the globe to dress backwards and come together in peace on this memorable day.

For more information about this special holiday please visit the official website.

This coming Saturday, March 24th 2007, is the 12th Anual International Kris Kross Day. On this day I urge all the free people on this Earth to cast off their forward facing shackles and embrace the backwards dressing freedom that majestically encompases the wonder that was 1992.

Orange Lounge Radio is reporting Activision plans to release the next version of Guitar Hero in just a few short months.

Activision has announced another sequel for the award winning music game franchise to distribution and retailers. Guitar Hero 80’s Edition will arrive on the PS2 in June on the 13th and will retail for $39.99. Of course, release dates always like to shift around, but as this is Activision’s initial printing of the date to distributers, hopefully this one will stick.

Guitar Hero 80s Edition was originally mentioned as a forthcoming PS2 release back in the January issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, but official word has been mum since then.

Oh, and obviously this game will include only music from the 1980s. Because we really need more ZZ Top.

Mark Ramos-Nishita was a keyboard player who kept his bills paid as a carpenter. His job and his passion led him to building a home studio for the Beastie Boys, who were to record their 1992 album Check Your Head. Under the name Money Mark he became the unofficial 4th Beastie, adding his jazz, funk, and pop stylings to three of their albums and on many tours.
Money Mark did a few solo records, but none so loved by my ears as his 1998 release Push The Button which alternated instrumental tracks with songs, letting his voice be heard on wax for the first time. My copy of this CD is beaten more than any other in my collection, surviving countless trips, moves, and lending. Now Mark has a new record…

I happened to come across a new Money Mark record today, after not following him for a few years. This one, titled Brand New By Tomorrow carries that asthetic I loved about Push The Button. This is the video for “Pick Up The Pieces.”

I know we don’t talk music here at Powet that often, but music is one of those things people geek out on, and this is a guy who I’ve always wanted to see get a bigger following because of his instantly accessible and soulful music drawing from dozens of backgrounds. Money Mark’s got a few tunes and some more videos on his Myspace page.

Year Zero, the new album from Nine Inch Nails has a teaser trailer.

Yeah, that spooked me too.

The viral marketing campaign to get the word out on this has gone above and beyond youtube videos or strategicly placed lite brites. Following tour dates in Portugal and Spain, NIN concertgoers have been finding USB flash drives left in bathroom stalls containing new songs from the album. Some of these drives contain files of static that when analyzed through a spectrogram reveal images or phone numbers leading to clips of more songs or bizarre 911 calls. Its a good thing NIN fans are so willing to dissect every bit of info they get because I doubt other artists would live up to this scrutiny.

Year Zero has been described by NIN Mastermind Trent Reznor as a concept album and a “soundtrack to a film that doesn’t exist” about anything from the future, politics, to the end of the world. Naturally, Reznor mentions Public Enemy’s Bomb Squad production as an influence. Those less educated with Public Enemy’s work might think Nine Inch Nails is making a rap record, but he’s actually referring to the mechanical and static nature of loops and samples. The first single, “Survivalism” is already being played on many radio stations and will be added to many more today. Dial up your local rock station and request it.

For those metalhead fans out there, it seems as if the Wizard of Blizzard shall be hitting the road this summer for the newest rendition of “Ozzfest” on a pro-bono note. Tickets for this year’s Ozzfest, which are usually over $40 a pop, will be free for the 25-city tour as a “thank you” to fans for this, the 12th year of the annual roadshow.

“It’s not saying that I’m now Mother Teresa or that Ozzy is a saint, but you know what? He’s been doing this a long time and his audience has been really good to him,” Sharon Osbourne said. “So if he goes out one summer of his life and he doesn’t get paid, big deal.”

The tour starts on July 7th, with stops in Los Angeles, New York City, Denver, Dallas, and many other large cities. Sponsors have signed up to help generate the “free-ness” of the ticket cost. While other bands are slated to appear on the tour as well, no names have yet been released….but who really cares? It’s free! Read the whole article on Yahoo News.

Just when we’d all lost alot of hope for humanity after the idiocy in Boston recently, something like this comes along and slightly redeems things. Damn them for jerking our chains. Damn them!

The #1 reason people were still buying Playstation 2 this fall is coming to Xbox 360. Guitar Hero II will sport a classy white guitar based on the Gibson Explorer and will likely feature online functionality like song downloads (starting with the entire original Guitar Hero song list). Theres a press photo on the left of the box and guitar as well as the sticker sheet.

This much we know. But at CES yesterday, Kotaku’s Micheal McWhertor not only played it, but found out some of the new songs. Team Xbox also dig up some info. from those 2 links I’ve culled 8 of the 10 new songs:

“Surrender” – Cheap Trick {Correction: Reader Matthew points out that this track is already in the PS2 version of the game.}
“Billion Dollar Babies” -Alice Cooper
“Dead!”- My Chemical Romance
“Hush” – Deep Purple
“Life Wasted” – Pearl Jam
“Rock N Roll Hoochie Koo” – Rick Derringer
“Possum Kingdom” – Toadies
“Salvation” – Rancid

Those worried that GHII had a little too much metal can rest easy and this is a generous helping of classic and modern rock.
While I understand that online co-op is impossible, online leaderboards is going to inspire some really dedicated players in ways YouTube can’t provide. And I’ll happily shell out for some, if not all of the original Guitar Hero tracks, especially if they’re enhanced for GHII’s co-op multiplayer.

Guitar Hero II for Xbox 360 is slated for a March release in North America and Europe.

Lets start the first day of the first month off right… with a song about the number One.