Epiphone Scroll Guitar

The eBay seller is listing this as an Epiphone Les Paul, but this Epiphone Scroll guitar dates back to the mid 1970s - long before Epiphone were resigned to becoming the Gibson equivalent of Fender's Squier brand.

For a 1970s guitar it has a couple of features not often seen on guitars of that era, i.e. a coil tap and a 24-fret neck. Check out some of the reviews on Harmony Central - people seem to really love these guitars, and reportedly - like the Les Paul - they are quite weighty.

I'm not 100% on this, but my guess is these guitars were Japanese-built, which is a good thing as Japanese guitars are often excellent and attention to detail is second to none.

There was also a bass model - last year I saw a girl band called Ipso Facto supporting Siouxsie Sioux, and the bassist was playing a black Epiphone Scroll - the first time I'd ever seen one in fact.

All in all, very nice!

From:: Guirzz.b

Rock Band Runs Into a Brick Wall

It’s only fitting that last night, I threw The Simpsons into my DVD player and watched “Itchy, Scratchy, and Poochie”, the episode satirizing the use of cheap gimmicks to extend the life of television shows.  After two installments of Rock Band, Electronic Arts is financially sagging behind Guitar Hero.  To counter, the franchise is throwing a block party.  I’ll do my best to pretend Harmonix wasn’t in on this, since Time Warner Media suits emerged from the craters of hell to announce it:

If you’ve worried about your youngsters being exposed to the evils of rock music, worry no longer: LEGO Rock Band is coming this holiday season on PS3, 360, Wii and DS to deliver us all from said evil. The game, currently being developed by TT Games and Harmonix, will use all the existing Rock Band and Guitar Hero peripherals.

The family-focused version of the game will allow you to customize your “minifigure avatars” along with your road crew and managers.

A question: Why does one license a child’s toy to sell a tween version of Rock Band?  Because on its own merits, a tween version of Rock Band would be lame.  Unless the Ninja Turtles are going to fight Shredder with the power of music, cross-marketing Rock Band with a child’s toy will not change that.

The PSP version is an unofficial sequel to Amplitude, fine.  The upcoming console iterations, LEGO and The Beatles, are inexcusable.  Rock Band was damn good at being Rock Band.  When I turn on my 360 and it doesn’t catch fire, my choice of rhythm game is a Harmonix game.  Guitar Hero II or Rock Band, either is good.  When Electronic Arts unveiled Rock Band, Activision became the copycat.  Activision had to counter-punch.  They scrambled to turn the next Guitar Hero into a four-man game.  They ported the franchise to every conceivable platform.  Now that the economics have changed, second place isn’t good enough for Electronic Arts.  With three upcoming releases not much different than an Aerosmith game, Activision looks like the company that has it right.  In a bizarre reversal, their business plan has been validated by the gameplay-first competitor.

And so far, Guitar Hero is the series that got the gimmick game right.  When a rhythm game’s quality rests heavily on how well the music plays, no guitar game gets better than what Metallica offers.  I don’t know much about The Beatles, and I never cared much for their music.  But when shill the same-old with a different coat of paint in a down market, it’d better play well.  I don’t know if it can do that, and I don’t think it will.

Guitar Hero: World Tour gets Motörhead DLC

The Major has let everybody know that you’re now able to get three new songs for Guitar Hero: World Tour from Xbox LIVE Marketplace, featuring the musical styling of classic metal band, Motörhead.

There’s only three of them, going for 160 MS Points a pop, but fans of the band will probably appreciate them:

• Love Me Like a Reptile
• Iron Fist
• Jail Bait

Ace! (of Spades.)

Motörhead hits Guitar Hero: World Tour

Three Motörhead tracks were just released for Guitar Hero: World Tour, according to this Major post.

Iron Fist, Jail Bait and Love Me Like a Reptile are all up on Live now. They’re 160 points each.

Rockin' into the Golden City

Courtesy Photo

Hard Rock Café unveiled costumes worn by music's biggest names this month.

A crystal-studded chandelier in the shape of a Gibson Les Paul guitar hangs from the ceiling. Jeans once worn by Elvis Presley share wall space with Johnny Cash's embroidered shirt, not far from John Lennon's cap and a guitar previously strummed by Bob Dylan. Showcased near an upstairs bar are Elton John's rhinestone sunglasses, Gwen Stefani's feathery Grammy garb and tuxedo trousers worn by Madonna in one of her outré performances.

Those are but a few of the offbeat treasures on hand at the Hard Rock Café, which opened the first weekend in April in the heart of Old Town. Founded in London in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton, the chain set up shop in Prague in the V.J. Rott building, a UNESCO World Heritage site on Malé náměstí. The three-story, 1,900-square-meter restaurant features three floors, two bars and, of course, an adjacent gift shop selling T-shirts, coffee mugs and shot glasses adorned with the ubiquitous Hard Rock logo in an assortment of sizes and colors.

Though business has reportedly been steady in the first weeks of operation, Hard Rock officials are promising a more rollicking kickoff with a grand opening bash April 29. While they have declined to confirm performance rumors ranging from an iconic '80s hair metal band to more contemporary pop stars, they say the event, as well as the restaurant's future in Prague, will not disappoint.

"Demographically, I think we appeal a little bit to everyone," says the restaurant's designer David Holle. "Music ties everything together in some way, and nearly everyone can relate something in their lives back to music. We're a bit of a quirky rock 'n' roll museum - where else besides the Hard Rock can you get that experience?"

The restaurant was initially scheduled to open in September 2008. But the opening was repeatedly postponed, reportedly by city building requirements for historic structures that delayed construction work.

Although he would not confirm these rumors and declined to comment on overall construction costs, Holle says his team took painstaking care to preserve as much of the interior as possible, and to use local materials in the renovation.

In the meantime, online forums have been abuzz with grumblings about everything from the restaurant's prices to its takeover of a historic building, along with its general proximity to Old Town Square. But Hard Rock officials say they are certain the restaurant's appeal will extend beyond that of international tourists, including menu revisions made to suit local tastes.

"What you see in Rome and London, you'll definitely see here," says Calum MacPherson, regional vice president of European operations. "I absolutely love Czech goulash, and I'd love to see that incorporated onto the menu."

The 'little secret'

Locals and expats alike have been saddened by the recent loss of Koliba Restaurant, based in Roztoky, a village 6 kilometers northwest of Prague, which was destroyed by fire March 29. Situated near a series of popular trails, the restaurant had long been a favorite of hikers and cyclists, and was especially popular in the winter for its roaring fireplace, and its tree-canopied garden in summer.  

Though an investigation into the cause of the fire is still pending, for many of Koliba's most ardent patrons, it doesn't really matter. Already, heartfelt photo tributes to the restaurant have appeared on local blogs as well as on the popular social networking site Facebook.   

"Koliba was the kind of place we always enjoyed taking visitors to," American expat journalist Grant Podelco wrote on his local culture blog Gusto (gusto-blog.blogspot.com). "It felt like a secret, a slice of Prague that not everyone had a chance to enjoy - good food, including fish and meats grilled on an outdoor fire, and great beer in a bucolic setting."

Changes around town

Opening April 25 at Týn Square near Ungelt in Old Town is the Indian Jewel restaurant, owned by Savic Hotel Sanjeev Wadehra. The diverse menu promises spicy curries, tandoori specials and other Indian delicacies.

Venerable Žižkov nightspot Bukowski's Cocktail Bar is feeling the pinch of the economic crisis and has opted to go "recession chic" for the occasion by lowering its beer prices to a mere 7 Kč, or the average price of a Czech beer in 1992, every Sunday. Owner Glen Emery notes, "The bar will be full, but my beer barrels and bank account empty. That's what you call real socialism."

Just in time for its 15th anniversary, Jáma Restaurant and Sports Bar reopened at the start of April after a 17-day renovation which includes a brand-new floor.

The popular Web site Expatbread.com, where expats are able to order food products from abroad, has been re-branded as FoodUmiss.com. Co-founder Dominic Williams promises an expanded range of products, and plans to introduce weekend deliveries as part of the re-branding. 

Beach front Real Estate emerging on the market

Real Estate, a little-known band from New Jersey, may have a highly un-Google-able name, but thanks to free music on the Internet -- which has conceived and born life to more bands than record labels would ever be able to discover and promote -- Real Estate can be heard by aspiring part-time music journalists all the way out here in California. 

This quartet, who have opened for the likes of Titus Andronicus and Vivian Girls, have been amusingly referred to as "a sunsetting, less ethereal Galaxie 500, but before it gets too dark," by music blog Stereogum, which pegged them with their "Band to Watch" label. 

Accordingly, a free MP3 from the band's soon-to-be-released debut album was included on the site to prove the claim.

The track in question, called "Fake Blues," evokes all the right feelings of a lazy summer day on the shore of your favorite body of water -- even if the band may have written the song with the Jersey Shore in mind. 

A wistful guitar and timpani drumming weave around lead singer Martin Courtney's swooning vocal harmonies, effortlessly imitating the motions of a breaking swell. 

Of late, it was getting more difficult to find good guitar-centric bands with staying power that would resort to anything other than radio-friendly riffage. 

But thanks to that whole "music goes in cycles" thing, the airy melodies of '60s guitar pop are coming back to the forefront of indie music. 

Real Estate is not to be confused with The Beach Boys, however, as their sound is more noticeably reminiscent to the stoned, surf pop of Crystal Stilts.

For those curious enough, the band's first seven-inch is available for purchase on their MySpace page, www.myspace.com/letsrockthebeach, and it turns out to be quite the complementary package. 

Not only is the album pressed on swanky white vinyl, but it also includes a nonsensical little Sharpie-drawn illustration from the band on an accompanying burned disc of the record's three tracks. 

The album's A-side, "Suburban Beverage," basks in the sun with a rocking-chair bass line before tidal guitars wash in, shortly followed by cymbal crashes which echo far off into a vast, fuzzy recess that's as warm as the beach the band seems to be playing on. 

The continued over-use of ocean references to describe the record in this review can be justified by the image of a poignant beach landscape on the back of the single. But a track like the grandiose "Black Lake" is more highly emotive of the record's aquatic theme than anything illustrated through writing or pictures. 

Finally, "Old Folks" is a charming number with frolicking, full-on surf guitar licks and jangling drums led proudly by a zealous tambourine. 

"Fun in the sun" automatically, albeit begrudgingly, comes to mind, but, just like the summer, this track ends too soon. 

Thanks to the opportunistic power of the Internet, this band has generated some worthy buzz. You can look for their anticipated debut album later this year out on Underwater Peoples Records. 

Contact Aitor Zabalegui at (408) 551-1918 or azabalegui@scu.edu.

The day job

The applause is deafening as you throw down your guitar and walk off stage. High on adrenaline, you head to the dressing room and think: “This is it, I’ve made it, I’m a rock star!” Until 6am, that is, when your alarm goes off and you have to head off for a 10 hour shift packing frozen peas in Nuneaton.

That’s from a Tim Jonze column in the Guardian about musicians and their frequent need for a “real” job. One commenter insists that a musician should have a day job no matter how successful, just to stay in contact with what might be referred to as the real world.