Steel Alaska
New Music, Video Game Releases, as well as general news about anything else I find of interest.

Mar
24

First off, I’d like to apologize for not posting for quite some time. I have had a lot of midterms, and took a break from everything on spring break. Second, Vegas 2 is everything I wanted it to be and more. I’ll admit I have already found quite a few bugs, like the one where enemies will just walk through doors if you stand in front of them, but the game is amazing and I am sure all the bugs will be fixed in an update. Rainbow Six Vegas 2I have yet to try the four person terrorist hunt, because my friend’s Xbox 360 sucks and won’t read any games, and there is no one else to do it with, but I have essentially explored all other dimensions of the game. It is nice to see that there are three tiers of difficulty as opposed to the original two, it is nice to see that the option to respawn while playing co-op is there, and that as you play lower difficulty levels your number of grenades increases. The A.C.E.S system is also awesome as well as the character customization. (I am a whore for character customization.) All I can say in conclusion is, if you don’t have this game or have never tried either of the Rainbow Six Las Veags’, you need to get on it, and fast. They are staple games in the Xbox 360 collection.

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Next I would like to briefly mention the highly anticipated, at least for me, release of Death Cab for Cutie’s next single. “I Will Possess Your Heart,” is an amazing song. It is approximately 8 minutes long, and every bit of it is entertaining. The band members did mention an 8 minute single early on in the album’s production, and have also mentioned that they no longer feel the need to prove anything to anyone except themselves. Death CabThey feel they have said what they needed to say and now they just want to make music that they themselves will enjoy, and what I have to say about that is, fantastic. I could wish for nothing more than an honest album from this band, not that their prior albums were honest, because they were, but I would like to see what this band can outside their typical sound, and this first single proves that they can be extremely successful. Everything feels different, but also so right. (Don’t twist that in a sexual way.) Check it out go look it up on the Hype Machine and give it a listen. It’s a keeper.

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-Steel Alaska-

Mar
11

Beatles iTunesThat’s Right! Sir Paul McCartney recently signed a 400 Million Dollar Deal with the iTunes, giving them the rights to sell all the Beatles’ tracks on their store. Fans have been asking for the Beatles on iTunes since its beginning, and now finally we know for sure that it is coming soon. The 400 Million will be split between the remaining Beatles. Pretty exciting just thought I’d throw this news out there.

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-Steel Alaska-

Mar
09

First of all to moisten our Vegas 2 pallets a little bit I am going to tell you about some interesting new changes to the character progression aspect of Vegas 2. In this newest release of the Rainbow Six series, an A.C.E.S. will be employed.Las Vegas 2 Screenshot A.C.E.S. works the same way that most ranking systems in a shooter would work, Private, Lieutenant, and so forth, but there is going to be a new dimension added to this. Accomplishments will fall into one of three categories, CQB (Close Quarter Battles), Assault, and Marksman. So earning more points in the area of the marksman will unlock a sniper rifle, and more points in Assault will unlock new assault rifles. This is sure to zest things up. Another exciting new bit of information is that your bullets will now be able to pierce through  thinner surfaces, and surfaces made out of wood, and dry wall. All of this seems very minute but will add so much more to the game. I am thoroughly excited to play this one.

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     Mario Kart: Wii is set to be released on April 28th in the US, and I couldn’t be more excited for my favorite game on the N64 to come to the Wii. Mario Kart: Wii will be sold with a steering wheel to house the wii-mote, but you do not have to use this method to drive your kart. You will have the option similar to Super Smash Brothers, to use the wii-mote, a gamecube controller, and the new classic controller for sure. I personally will try the newest control set up using the steering wheel. I have read that this control option is difficult at first but once you get a feel for it. It is the best option.

Wii Screenshot

    The tracks of Mario Kart: Wii have been detailed on IGN recently and I have looked at all of them. The good news is many of the tracks are tracks we have seen in earlier Mario Karts but with a new prettier graphical look. There are new tracks as well but nothing that is extremely exciting. All our favorite drivers are back and those lovely rainbow colored boxes will make a return as well. The largest difference between this game and all prior will be the karts each individual drives and the capability to play against others online. This could be really awesome, but it could also kind of suck. We’ll have to wait and see. I know, irregardless of the online system and its friendliness, I am excited to try my battle skills against kartists across the world. This one is gonna be a fun one.

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-Steel Alaska-

Mar
08

The first movie gave us all eye-gasms when it came to the our massive robot friends, and now a second Transformers movie is in production. I hope the second is as good as the first. Here is a general synopsis I found online:

The battle for Earth has ended but the battle for the universe has just begun. After returning to Cybertron, Starscream assumes command of the Decepticons, and has decided to return to Earth with force. The Autobots believing that peace was possible finds out that Megatron’s dead body has been stolen from the US Military by Skorpinox and revives him using his own spark. Now Megatron is back seeking revenge and with Starscream and more Decepticon reinforcements on the way, the Autobots with reinforcements of their own, may have more to deal with then meets the eye.

I also hope that Megan Fox is in the second one, I don’t know why she wouldn’t be but yeah. Here to close my post is a picture of the attractive Megan Fox looking under the hood of a car in the first movie.

Megan Fox
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-Steel Alaska-
Mar
05

Jessica Alba - Sin CityI have found many speculations about the sequel to Sin City, Sin City 2 (original right?), and apparently the plot is pretty much figured out. Most of the film will be a continuation of the last film, but if you are extremely interested you can read this summary I found on IMDB:

The film’s plot follows multiple storyline. One is based around A Dame to Kill For which follows Dwight, Clive Owen, and his former love Ava Lord, Rachel Weisz, who betrayed him and ended their relationship for a wealthier man. Ava now returns years later claiming her marriage is abusive and insisting that Dwight help her. After she frames him for the murder of her husband, Dwight, with the help of Marv, seeks to clear his name. Dwight’s storyline in this film is a prequel to The Big Fat Kill, which occurred in the first film. It explains how Dwight came to have his “new face” and his connections with the Old Town prostitutes. Dark Horse describes A Dame to Kill For: “It’s one of those hot nights, dry and windless. The kind that makes people do sweaty, secret things. Dwight’s thinking of all the ways he’s screwed up and what he’d give for one clear chance to wipe the slate clean, to dig his way out of the numb grey hell that is his life. And he’d give anything. Just to cut loose. Just to feel the fire. One more time.” Another storyline follows Nancy, Jessica Alba, as she grieves the death of Detective Hartigan, the man she had grown to love after he rescued her from That Yellow Bastard who had kidnapped and attempted to rape then kill Nancy when she was a child.

On a side note that many of you may find exciting, it is speculated that Johnny Depp will be in the next film. I know I know, he’s creepy to some, hot to others, me personally, well I am a guy and I only see him as a good actor who often places himself into odd roles, and this would certainly be one.

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-Steel Alaska-

Mar
04
Odd Couple - Official

So here it is the official cover of Gnarl’s Barkley’s sophomore album, The Odd Couple, and a tracklist! Make your own judgments.

1. Charity Case
2. Who’s Gonna Save My Soul[Video]
3. Going On
4. Run [Audio] [Video]
5. Would-Be Killer
6. Open Book
7. Whatever
8. Surprise
9. No Time Soom
10. She Knows
11. Blind Mary
12. Neighbors
13. A Little Better

Mar
04

The video for the aforementioned, “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul,” has been released on YouTube, and if you are interested in getting your hands on the mp3 you can copy the url from the YouTube video and paste it into the website Convert Tube and select Audio Only. This will rip only the audio and give you the option to download it as an mp3. Check it out. If you have any questions just let me know. Oh by the way, you can do this with any YouTube video, and you can rip many different formats, including video for Windows, Mac, and I believe iPod.

Mar
04

The Raconteurs, a super group comprised of Jack White of the White Stripes, Brendan Benson, and Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler of the Greenhornes, is currently recording their second album. The RaconteursThe band already has 12 tracks recorded and looks to release the album sometime this year. White claims that the sound of this album will be far different from the last, and it’s coming out “great.” The album is still untitled and due to each band members individual career the release of the new album may take longer than expected. It should be an interesting release, and I am very excited. White says the band has got a lot bigger ideas this time around. All we can do now is wait.

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The rest of this post deals with two of the greatest music websites on the web, and if the third wasn’t having technical difficulties right now, I’d be talk about three. First there is the Hype Machine. The Hype Machine is a website that takes almost every music blog on the web and compiles the songs talked about in each one and the songs offered for free download. You can simply go to the Hype Machine, search for a favorite artist of yours and find numerous blog articles and free downloads for that artist below. Hype MachineIn order to take advantage of the free mp3s you must click, under the song you want, “read post.” This will bring you to the actual blog at which the song is written about, but also, it will provide you with the direct link to the mp3 you want. It’s pretty snazzy. The other advantage of the Hype Machine is you can find live recordings and rarities of your favorite artist as well. For example, I have found Spoon covering Sam Cooke, I have found Sufjan Stevens covering R.E.M., I have even found Jack Johnson covering two individual White Stripe songs. It is for this reason that the Hype Machine is the greatest music website on the web. The second greatest music website on the web is Daytrotter. This website is great because not only is it appealing to the eyes, but it offers a massive archive of free live sessions from many lesser known bands. Each live session includes approximately four songs, many of which are unreleased. So check out those two sites. And if you are wondering what the third best music website on the web would have been, it is Amp Camp, but if you click on my offered link you will find the sad news that I found. The website is the best music review website on the web, and has a very fun way of reviewing music. Each album and artist is first placed into very specific groups of who would listen to them, but bands can be in more than one. Also icons are attached to both albums and artists, for example, Death Cab For Cutie has a pen and paper icon due to their well-written and emotional lyrics. Unfortunately the website is down, and has been down for more than two weeks now, but oh well. At least you’ve got the other two music sites to check out. Give them a look.

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-Steel Alaska-

Mar
03

Bad news everyone, it looks like the release date has been pushed back a week. Rainbow Six: Las Vegas 2 will now be released on the 18th of March. Although it does solve the issue of having to choose between Super Smash Bros. and Rainbow Six, I am still sad. On a side note, I recently discovered that if you are terrorist hunting with four of your friends and one has to leave for some reason. They can quit out without effecting anyone else’s gameplay. Pretty Sexy!

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-Steel Alaska-

Mar
03

Gnarl’s Barkley recently released the title of the their next album, its first single, and a release month. First things first, The album will be released in April on Downtown/Atlantic Records. The title of the album is again a pop culture reference like St.Elsewhere. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd CoupleTheir latest single, which is the albums first, is called Run. You can get it for free by clicking here. I personally enjoy it a lot, but you decide for yourself. There’s no track list just yet, but The Odd Couple is confirmed to feature one song previewed for Billboard last summer that includes Cee-Lo proclaiming, “Who’s gonna save my soul now?” So other than the released single, Run, and a song only heard by Billboard thus far, nothing else is known about the album. I am excited for the release of this album, but mostly I am excited to see what two individuals who, prior to St. Elsewhere, had not done a conventional album. The truly odd couple has had me listening to their debut for quite a while now and I am ready for some new material, but I guess I can wait another month.

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The next person I am going to talk about is truly one of the most fantastic musicians my ears has ever heard, and his name is Brendan Benson. Brendan Benson is the king of power pop in my mind and I essentially love everything he does, and the great news is that the super group he is a part of, the Raconteurs, Brendan Bensonhas been settled down for a while now which means we will most likely be seeing a new album from not only the Raconteurs, but also Benson. It has been 3 years too long since Brendan’s last release, and I’m getting a little jonesy. Luckily, I have been able to hear some of the stuff Brendan has been working on on his myspace page. For those of you who have not heard the power pop maestro, should check him out. You can either venture to his myspace page, or you can take advantage of this free mp3 I’ve offered you here. Benson does everything you hear in his music. He even produces it! The only thing he doesn’t do is get recognition, and that… well it saddens me. Please check him out. Now. Oh and p.s. the mp3 I’m offering you is off his most recent album The Alternative To Love and it is the title track. Which for all you idiots out there, it means the song’s name is “The Alternative To Love as well.

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This last bit of this post is about one of my favorite websites on the internet. It is called Totally Free Stuff, and it truly is amazing. Totally Free Stuff is amazing because first you go the website then simply click on the All Freebies tab on the left and begin your hunt. Once you find an item that interests you, you click on it and fill out some simple form that includes your address. Your address is the only thing that needs to be filled out truthfully. Once you do that your free whatever will be on it’s way, and you hardly get junk email. Sometimes you do get an email to verify so I personally made a email address specifically for collecting free stuff. I have received numerous stickers, posters, and DVDs already. I’m not even kidding I just got a computer game in which you fight off cancerous cells in a body riddled with them… it’s called “ReMission,” and that, however distasteful it is, is funny. So go there and check it out. It’s actually a lot of fun. Sometimes I send American Girl magazines to my friends, or Barbie magazines. Just check it out

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-Steel Alaska-