Red Orchestra Summer Update, Five-Day Freeplay

Tripwire Interactive today released its next update pack for Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45, the award-winning WWII online action game. The update includes a new map, a new vehicle and some major graphical enhancements to the game and is available to owners of the game for free through Steam. To give gamers a chance to try the updated version, Tripwire is offering a five-day freeplay period, August 29-September 3, as well as a 20% discount for new purchasers.

The new map – Krivoi Rog – gives players the largest tank slugfest to date, with 16 square kilometers of terrain, 3000 meter viewable range and up to 50 players. This map also features the new vehicle – the German Panzer IV G, providing the German players with some additional fire-power for the mid-war period.

In addition to the new map and vehicle, Tripwire has created an all-new adaptive bloom system for the game’s graphics, making the bloom crystal-clear even at low resolutions. For further eye-candy, Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering settings are now configurable in-game.

There are plenty more changes, updates and bug fixes in the update. Read the full changelog on the game page for details.

Tripwire also announces a six day freeplay period, this Wednesday through Monday. Anyone who does not have Red Orchestra can play the full game completely free for six full days. Simply download the game from Steam and start playing-the freeplay period starts at 1pm on Wednesday, August 29 and runs through 1 pm PST on Monday, September 3. Those who purchase Red Orchestra via Steam before September 5 will receive 20% off the regular price.
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Band of Horses: “Is There a Ghost?”

Band of Horses Band of Horses have posted the first song from their upcoming full length. The record is titled Cease to Begin and is due out October 09, 2007. It is the follow-up to Everything All the Time which was released in 2006 and garnered praise in critic’s year end lists including some on this site.

You can check out “Is There a Ghost?” on their myspace page.

The label has announced a pre-order for the record.
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The (International) Noise Conspiracy talks about new record

Umea, Sweden’s (International) Noise Conspiracy recently discussed their upcoming album for a video feature with Rockster.tv. The band recently wrapped up work on the next full-length with famed producer Rick Rubin (Johnny Cash, Slayer, Rage Against the Machine).

In the interview Dennis Lyxzén and Lars Strömberg discuss the lyrics and sound of the album, noting that both are “angry and soulful.” Dennis also addresses his election as “Sweden’s sexiest man” and their experience with “political” bands on the Warped Tour.

You can check out the interview here. (Note that while the site itself is German, the video is in English. )

The band released Armed Love in 2005. The album, also produced by Rubin, had a troubled release in North America as it remained shelved for months due to a distribution-related issues at their U.S. label American Recordings.
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Against Me! releases “Thrash Unreal” EP with acoustic versions, announces rest of Fall tour

Against Me! has recorded two acoustic versions of songs from New Wave and is “packaging” them with their video for “Thrash Unreal” in a new iTunes-exclusive digital EP titled, appropriately enough, Thrash Unreal.

The band recorded “New Wave” and “Animal” acoustically for the EP. They’re the second people to acoustify these songs as some other guy recorded the entire album and released it for free earlier this month.

You can stream of purchase the EP via this link.
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Mike Park: “Tobi Vail Is My Favorite Member of Bikini Kill”

Mike Park has posted a new song for our general enjoyment. The song was recorded in Los Angeles and is the first of a series of songs to be released every week this month.

The track is titled “Tobi Vail Is My Favorite Member of Bikini Kill” and can be found his MySpace page.

Mr. Park is planning to head to Europe early next year with his buddy Chris McCaughan, although all the dates and plans aren’t worked out yet. He released North Hangook Falling in 2005.
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Official Fun Fun Fun Fest lineup announced

The official website of Austin’s Fun Fun Fun Festival has posted the lineup for the two-day festival in November. Bands scheduled to appear at the fest include: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Youth Brigade, The Murder City Devils, Against Me!, Lifetime, The Angry Samoans, Explosions In The Sky, New Pornographers, Okkervil River, Of Montreal, and Cat Power.

The festival takes place November 3-4 at Waterloo Park in Austin, Texas. You can find more details including ticket information on the official website.
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Young Livers: “The Small Hours”

Young Livers, which features members of Glass and Ashes, Fiya and Towers of Hanoi, has announced the upcoming release of their debut. The record is titled The New Drop Era and is due out September 25, 2007. It will be released through Kiss of Death Records and No Idea.

We’ve got a brand new song from the album, and you can check it out on their Punknews.org Profile.

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Indie band remakes Black Flag’s “Damaged” from memory

In a pretty unusual story, Brooklyn-based indie rock outfit The Dirty Projects has unveiled a new project wherein they remade Black Flag‘s classic Damaged, entirely from memory.

The album, titled Rise Above, features the “deconstruction and reassembly” of Damaged and was reportedly put together from “memory and intuition.” The result is reworked arrangements of every song on the album, with a four-piece lineup featuring two female vocalists. The NPR reporter describes the reworked material as evoking 60s rock, afrobeat, soul and even “Marvin Gaye and Bob Marley via Antony & The Johnsons.”

A few selections are available online, including “No More” on their myspace page and “Rise Above” via NPR.

If you want to compare, “Rise Above” and “No More” as performed live by Black Flag.
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Mastodon, Black Lips, Snowden on next Burn To Shine (Fugazi) DVD

According to Dry Ink, the latest edition in Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty’s Burn To Shine series will feature performances from Mastodon, Black Lips, Snowden, Deerhunter, Delia Gartrell, the Mighty Hannibal, the Carbonas, the All Night Drug Prowling Wolves, the Coathangers and others.

In the series Brendan and film maker Christoph Green travel to towns and film local acts performing in houses that are scheduled to be demolished or burned. Each disc documents the house, the performance and the demolition. Canty began the series in 2004.

You can also check out an interview with Brendan about this episode here.
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