Protoculture: DJ Hero

At E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo for you non-nerds), Activision revealed its latest entry in the 'Hero' series of rhythm games. This time, instead of wailing plastic guitars or drums, players will now be able to man a turntable and crossfader to perform a variety of original mashups created by the likes of DJ Shadow, DJ AM, and DJ Z-Trip. Further details regarding the game had been rather sparse, but E3 brought a ton of new information regarding DJ Hero. Here's a video that explains how the game should work followed by the current list of tracks that have been revealed thus far.

Tracklist:
- "Feel Good Inc." (Gorillaz) vs. "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" (Marvin Gaye) - Activision Studio

- "Bustin' Loose" (Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers) vs. "Time of the Season" (The Zombies) - DJ Shadow (sample gameplay)

- "Let's Dance" (David Bowie) vs. "Jack of Spades" (KRS-One) - DJ Shadow (sample gameplay)

- "All Apologies" (Nirvana) vs. "Give it to Me Baby" (Rick James) - DJ Shadow

- "Jayou" (Jurassic 5) vs. "Rockit" (Herbie Hancock) - Activision Studio

- "Shout" (Tears for Fears) vs. "Pjanoo" (Eric Prydz) - Activision Studio (sample gameplay)

- "Hollaback Girl" (Gwen Stefani) vs. "Give it to Me Baby" (Rick James) - Activision Studio

- "Satisfaction" (Benny Benassi) vs. "Boom Boom Pow" (Black Eyed Peas) - Activision Studio (sample gameplay)

- "Sabotage" (Beastie Boys) vs. "Monkey Wrench" (Foo Fighters) - Activision Studio

- "My Name Is" (Eminem) vs. "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" (Jay-Z) - Activision Studio

Hiatus is Over

We here at tableau apologize for these past few weeks of silence here on Mise-en-scéne. It's just that finals have recently ended and everyone presumably has been enjoying the illusion of freedom from responsibilty that summer inevitably brings. To make up for the lost time, here's a smattering of things that have happened since we left:

-Just Plain Ant, you know, that guy I interviewed a while back? Well, he's released two albums on his newly found record label, Just Plain Sounds. The first one is Braintrust's The Bailout, featuring the vocal graces of A-Bomb and Dr. Benway over Ant's slickly produced beats. The other, Jay Slim's The High Life is so new that I haven't even had time to check it out, but I bet it's pretty cool, considering the fact that Chuck D probably wouldn't want to work with Ant if he was producing uncool things. Yes, I'm talking about that Chuck D.

-A second Tron movie is coming. While this is relatively old news, you may not know that Daft Punk is slated to do the soundtrack. So, to recap: French robots and lightcycles. What more do you need?

-Star Trek came out, and according to everyone from Trekkies to n00bs, it's a pretty solid flick. Unfortunately, X-Men Origins: Wolverine cannot boast the same accolades.

-Nerds rejoice! The Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) is just around the bend. Expect a better show this year in comparison to last year's heavily regulated, poorly timed, and thus more boring expo. All the big names of the video game industry will be there to drop tidbits of information regarding what you should look forward to playing this holiday season. E3 runs from June 2-4.

-Oh yes, and apparently Passion Pit is all the rage these days.



Expect more regularly scheduled posts from here on out, including songs of the week and album reviews. Hopefully we can bring you some cool stuff to augment your summer experience.