For those of you who traverse the video game music scene like I do, we’ve got a bit of good news. VGMix (short for “Video Game Remix”) is now back online after over a year-long hiatus.

VGMix, which has been noted to be the largest gaming recomposition site on the net next to OverClocked Remix, is also known as being the most accepting of the two sites. Whilst OCR has a reputation for being very particular with what kinda of quality they let into their repertoire of music, VGMix is more of a user-friendly site for newer remixers to submit their works to the community at large in stages of WIP’s, and learn from the feedback they recieve. When VGMix went down completely (except for a placeholder and a makeshift forum) for a complete overhaul of their system, many VGmixers were to either brave the harsher judgments of OCR, or wait patiently.

As of New Years Day, VGMix X (formerly propositioned as VGMix 3) secretly launched a completely navigable site to the community. Whilst many of the features previously promised to be a part of the new version of the site have yet to be fully implemented, site Administrator Virt (of Contra IV musical fame) says it’s only a matter of time until everything is up to full running capacity. That is, after he and his staff return from their shenanigans at MAGfest 6.

Wired.com has a really great (and reeeally long) interview up with Trent Reznor, lead and mastermind of the band, Nine Inch Nails. He talks at length about the surrounding story for the Year Zero album and how he went about, not only getting the story out to the fans, but getting them involved in it as well. Where each song on the album was just a snapshot of the times set fifteen years into the future, there was a surrounding story that needed to get to fans in a more modern way that didn’t involve marketing and squeezing profits from it. Reznor also talks on Radiohead’s recent ‘pay what you want’ offering for their album and how it went wrong.

There is audio for the interview, but its only 70 minutes long and will cut off toward the end due to the extreme length (about 90 minutes) of the talk.

Read it here.

The other day we found out the final track list of Guitar Hero III, and its only fair we post the other major music simulator. I’ve compiled (at great time expense) videos for the track listing. The lead off track is “Gimme Shelter” by The Rolling Stones, at least chronologically. You might remember this song being in the Martin Scorsese films Goodfellas, Casino, and The Departed, and as well as being the title to the historic documentary about the final show on the Stones final 1969 tour.
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Powet fan Mike Choi sent me this video of some of his arrangements for classic Nintendo themes. Above is Super Mario Brothers, and after the break I’ve posted 2 more.

Enjoy his work, i’m sure he’ll be posting more soon!
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Thoughts arrive like butterflies, yeah

Here’s a video of Pearl Jam’s “Even Flow” in Guitar Hero III. It amazes me how these games manage to pack more notes that are required to play it on an actual guitar, but they gotta add something for the higher difficulty levels! More videos at Gametrailers, including PAT BENATAR.
Nathan Smart tells me that the official Xbox 360 Magazine contains a demo with several songs and should be on newsstands soon. With GHIII less than 2 weeks away, its a short term stop gap to rock, but 360 owners with 10 bucks to blow on a demo magazine should be pleased.

Seeing as how October is upon us, I’m going to make it my mission to do as many Halloween and horror-esque themed articles as possible for the entirety of the month. This rendition of OFotW is hardly obscure nor a recent find for me, but worthy of making note of nonetheless.

For the month of October, the Dwelling of Duels is holding a Castlevania-themed contest in honor of the Halloween season that is upon us!

For those who are unaware of what the Dwelling of Duels is exactly – it’s a long-running online competition for those who are skilled in the art of music making to test their skills out on remixing video game music, and is generously hosted by VGmix. Each month features a new theme of the contest, with a “Free Month” happening every so often. Competitors are required to have produced at least one live-made instrument as part of the composition, and to make their entry as unique as possible, whist still adhering to the original tune their basing their song off of.

The site’s regular participants include some of the internet’s most well-known VG remixers, such as Norg, Snappleman, and Goat, and showcases serious talent in the genre of gaming remixes. This will mark the first time a Castlevania themed contest has ever been attempted in the 4 known years it’s been running. Perfect for the running of the October colors. The contest entry acceptance runs until the 26th, and a listening party is scheduled for the following night. It’s very much the type of thing to keep your eye on if you’re a fan of gaming music remixes.

A short while ago I heard that Radiohead wouldn’t sell on iTunes, which I thought was fair because a per-track sale of an album band is like selling books by the chapter or movies by the scene.

Now we know why. Radiohead will sell their new album, titled In Rainbows, as a download only from InRainbows.com, available October 10th 2007. They’re also printing up a CD box set including the album, a disc of bonus tracks, artwork, and 2 heavyweight vinyl records.

The disc box will ship on December 3rd for £40, about $81 US dollars. Buying the disc box gets you the download on October 10 as well, so you won’t have to wait for the new album. If you’re looking to just download the new songs, the cost space is blank. You simply enter whatever cost you think is appropriate. They’re dead serious. Name your own price for new Radiohead.

This is an absolutely shocking and bold move by a band I can usually count on for bold moves. I can’t wait to hear it. Its been 10 years since I walked down the the record store and bout OK Computer, and I’ve been a huge fan ever since.

Thanks to Gabe and Joey from FMQB

Well I’ll be, I remember being excited for this back in high school… word came in today from Billboard (via Pitchfork) that former, and now current, Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha has finally completed his solo album, you know… the one he started working on back in 2000 when the rest of the band left to form the not-terrible-but-terribly-disappointing Audioslave? Pitchfork’s Matthew Solarski had this to say:

De la Rocha collaborated with Golden stickman and one-time Mars Volta/Royal Trux drummer Jon Theodore on the LP and recorded some of it at a studio belonging to acousti-surfer-dude Jack Johnson. Zack doesn’t have a title for the record and is still considering his release options, so no word yet when he’ll rally ’round your family with this pocket full of new songs.

It’s also unclear whether post-millennial de la Rocha collaborations with DJ Shadow, ?uestlove, and Trent Reznor will make the LP. Billboard.com, however, quotes a source saying that Zack’s first solo foray sounds like a mix of “Led Zeppelin and Dr. Dre. Some of it has the power you’d expect from him in Rage.” So there’s that.

Hmm… I’ll be remaining cautiously optimistic about the whole thing, but my inner 15-year-old can’t f***ing wait.