MotorStorm Mondays: The MotorStorm Festival, Demo Coming This Week

Since Day 1, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to put a soundtrack together that would have the right vibe for a festival of racing like MotorStorm. You see, Music is one of those things that no one is ever “wrong” about. Everyone has an opinion, and everyone knows best, but no one is ever wrong! After countless discussions with various people involved in creating the Festival Infrastructure around the MotorStorm racing events, my challenge was set: I needed to put together a lineup that not only fit with a racing game, but one which could feasibly be the Festival line up to end all Festival line ups. It had to be Anarchic, Aggressive and Raucous. That was the easy part. The tough part was making sure that the soundtrack became as much a signature of MotorStorm as the racing itself was.

With Pacific Rift, I faced the same challenge, but this time, it had to go one better. Up to eleven, if you like. First things first, considering this time around we were allowing the player to play their own music while racing: How do we give the player something that, no matter which way it’s looked at, is valuable? How do you put value back in to a licensed soundtrack, when the player can play their own music? After much consideration, the answers came; We are going to be giving you a soundtrack that not only stands up to MotorStorm’s first outing, but also has more than twice the number of tracks of its predecessor, along with a healthy peppering of tracks that we’ve gone directly to the original artists about, asking them to stamp an element of MotorStorm on them. Exclusivity. I’m sure that while everyone will have an opinion on it – and none of you will be wrong – you will all agree that what we’ve ended up with is an absolute monster of a soundtrack, with more than just a little something for everyone!

Lunatics of the world, Unite… The MotorStorm Festival is upon us once more, and promises to pump your ears full of Dirt, Petrol, Mud, Fire and Water… Line up announced!!!

Ok, here it is –

Full track list –

Alex Metric – In Your Machine

Amon Tobin – Trickstep (Pacific Rift Remix) Exclusive!
We got our hands on some new exclusive unreleased tracks from Amon. We loved them all, but Trickstep was top of the bill for MotorStorm. Amon revisited it for us to “MotorStormify” it a bit more, too. Exciting stuff! And Exclusive to the MotorStorm Festival!

Animal Alpha – Fire Fire Fire
With a voice like sand and glue, and a band that’s full of energy and drive, MotorStorm seemed a perfect fit for Animal Alpha’s Fire Fire Fire, especially since we were setting some of our races in and around a volcano!

Aphex Twin – Come To Daddy (Pappy Mix)
Classic Aphex. Dirty, Raucus and edgy. Some might say a little scary too, but that’s all the elements you get in a MotorStorm race anyway…

Black Daniel – Gimme What You Got (Alex Metric Remix)
Alex Metric puts his shines on Black Daniel; Awesome track!

Black Sun Empire & State Of Mind – Red Velvet VIP
Dark Drum and Bass. It’s edgy. BSE have proven in the past that they can do for underground D&B what Pendulum did for Mainstream D&B.

Black Tide – Show Me The Way
These guys Rock, Hard! First heard a Metallica cover from them, and I was sold. These guys had to appear at the MotorStorm Festival, and they were keen to oblige! And what an addition it turned out to be! Fantastic band, great sound. Hair rock doesn’t get much hairier than this!

Bodysnatchers – Twist Up
Reminiscing back to the first MotorStorm Festival, we had Krafty Kuts feature. When I heard this track from the Bodysnatchers, it reminded me of Bass Phenomenon from Krafty. It fit really well, and it certainly twists itself up!

Boys Noize – Lava Lava
Boys Noize are making waves with everything they do at the moment. Lava Lava is no exception. It’s gritty, dirty, and it has great attitude. Sick track!

Queens Of The Stone Age – Sick Sick Sick
Speaking of Sick, There’s never a dull moment with Queens of the Stone Age! These guys kick serious ass and a MotorStorm Festival simply wouldn’t be the same without them.

Bullets and Octane – I Ain’t Your Savior
Truth be told, it wasn’t only the sound of this track that caught my attention. The energy it has, and the raw sound hits a nerve that makes this stick in your head. Great track to race really, really fast to!

Cut In The Hill Gang – Soul To Waste (MotorStorm Edit) Exclusive!
An Exclusive edit of a fantastic track from Cut in the Hill Gang. These guys know how to do dirty Rhythm and Blues!

Hervé – Zombie Dance (MotorStorm Edit) Exclusive!
Another exclusive edit for MotorStorm Festival goers to enjoy!

The Exploders – Wolf Cub (Pacific Rift Edit) Exclusive!
Another fantastic dirty blues track that simply had to be featured at The Festival! The Exploders were keen to give it a little treatment for us too and came up with this awesome mix, just for our MotorStorm ears!

Ministry – Jesus Built My Hotrod
We wanted to include this in the original MotorStorm, but it works just as well in MotorStorm Pacific Rift! A great track and a classic sound for the MotorStorm Festival I’m sure you’ll agree!

Nirvana – Swap Meet (Diplo MotorStorm remix) Exclusive!
This is our big hitter. First time ever, and it’s exclusive to the MotorStorm Festival. MotorStorm has, in the past, managed to sway Nirvana towards the Festival (we had a fantastic reception to Breed, featuring at the first festival), so we wanted to bring them back again, but this time, with a difference. Hotter than hot cakes at the moment, Diplo was fired up to give it some remix treatment and, I think you’ll agree, this is Nirvana like you’ve never heard them before! Incidentally, its 20 years ago that Bleach was first released, and this is a fantastic opportunity to revisit the album and bring some of today’s hottest talent to the table to give it a squeeze. Great track; Great remix. You heard it here first!

Pendulum – Tarantula (ft Fresh, $pyda & Tenor Fly)
MotorStorm wouldn’t be MotorStorm without a big dollop of hoover led, raucous Drum and Bass action: Pendulum. We brought the Aussie Drum and Bass crew back to the festival with a brilliant track, Tarantula.

The Qemists – Stompbox
We loved it as soon as we heard it. We snapped it up and immediately set to work cutting our E3 movie to this track. This one had the potential to “Stomp” its authority as the new MotorStorm Signature track. It would seem we weren’t the only ones to think this was a fantastic track!

The Qemists – Speed Freak (MotorStorm Remix) Exclusive!
The Qemists are a new breed of warrior on the Drum and Bass scene and I just love to seek out not only what’s hot right now, but what will be hot round the corner, and the Qemists certainly have a fire in their gut right now that MotorStorm simply couldn’t overlook. When we asked the guys to let us bring Stompbox to the stage, they jumped at the chance. Not only that, they offered to knock up something exclusive for us, too! As good as Stompbox was, we couldn’t very well say no – that would just be rude. So we happily said, “yes please”, and boy what a job they did with this track! They took all the elements of a MotorStorm race, all the elements of a MotorStorm Theme, and shoved it all down the barrel of a Shotgun, pulled the trigger and shot this track straight to the main stage! This track Stomps Hard! Another Exclusive track you’ll only hear at the MotorStorm Festival!

Saving Abel – New Tattoo
Proper Rock n Roll. We love this track and we’re sure you will too! It has everything you need to drive faster than you should and more dangerously than you can imagine!

Slipknot – Sulfur
As of writing this, Sulfur remains unreleased. Though we’re pretty sure not for much longer as the Slipknot guys have nailed it once again. A superb track that sits with the whole vibe of the Festival and the racing action.

Simian Mobile Disco – Parachute
SMD have taken the UK scene by storm. Another one the Festival could not overlook! Great track, and again, as of writing, it remains unreleased.

Supa Bajo – Lalula (instrumental)
Aka – Freelance Hellraiser. The bass line on this one is outstandingly catchy. It alone ticks all the boxes for a MotorStorm race. What a track!

Ulterior – Weapons
A cross between Underworld and NiN. These guys rock hard in a tech kinda way. Another one to look out for…

Noisia – Groundhog (MotorStorm re-edit) Exclusive!
Groundhog is a great track anyway, but Noisia, as awesome as they are, agreed to give it a bit of MotorStorm treatment. Once again, another exclusive track to shove in your ears whilst tearing it up in Paradise.

Clutch – Pure Rock Fury
With their strangled guitar riffs and fuzzy raw sound, Clutch were ideal candidates to feature at the MotorStorm Festival. I have no doubt that you’ll agree this track comes armed with enough horsepower to blow the wheels off your vehicle mid race!

David Bowie – Queen Bitch
MotorStorm has never, and will never be about music that simply “Fits the Game”. It’s about a way of life. Lunatics from across the world, all shapes and sizes, all ages, unite to race their way to glory, and we make sure that although we feature tracks to suit everyone, we had no qualms about including something from as far back as the 70’s. It’s an absolute classic, from way back when… I was hugely skeptical as to whether we would be able to license this one, but it’s an absolutely killer track, so we pleaded, and we got it!

Death From Above 1979 – Blood On Our Hands (Justice Remix)
Though Death from Above 1979 disbanded, their music has left its footprint on the music scene, being picked up by dance producers, bands and remixers alike. Having this remix from French duo Justice feature at the Festival is something that always makes me smile! It also makes me drive extremely dangerously on the track! You gotta love the dirt and filth this track exudes from the very offset!

Death From Above 1979 – Romantic Rights (Erol Alkins Re-Edit)
“Two tracks from the same band!?”, you may wonder, but believe me, when you hear this, you’ll understand why the phrase “Erol keeps the kids dancing” is so appropriate! Erol Alkan’s remix of this fantastic DFA 1979 track is sublime! It brings you right up to the very top, then lets you go free-falling through the drop! A powerful remix of an adrenalin fuelled track. Outstanding.

DJ Fresh – Chainsaw
DJ Fresh has been a pioneer of the D&B scene for many years, working with some of the best over the years including Pendulum. He’s the bread and butter of Drum and Bass, and to have an opportunity to include an unreleased track at the Festival didn’t sit long on the table. I snapped it up as soon as I heard it. I’m sure those of you into the D&B thing are gonna be in for a real rare treat with this one!

Fatboy Slim – Everybody Needs A 303 (Plump DJs remix)
Take a jug, add Fatboy Slim, Plump DJ’s and one of the most prolific and prominent commercial dance tracks ever, and give it a shake. What do you get? Conviction behind the claim that Everybody needs a 303. This track is classic too, but in a different way from Bowie or Nirvana. Works great when you’re tearing up the mud through the thick jungle!

Goose – Black Glove (Bloody Beetroots Remix)
The Bloody Beetroots are coming out of the blocks at 90kph right now, and when they lent their touches to this fantastic track from Goose, they really pumped it! Brilliant track, great drive and it just oozes class.

Hadouken! – Liquid Lives (Noisa instrumental mix)
Fast cars go hand in hand with fast guitars. Throw a thick heavy beat under it and you get Liquid Lives with the Noisia touch. More than ample pace and tempo to make you wanna take out your opponents rather than just beat them to the finish line.

The Hives – No Pun Intended
The Hives have a certain energy to them. Impossible to overlook. They are a great outfit and definitely know how to put a driving track together!

In Flames – Move Through Me
In Flames are huge. And deservedly so. They can go toe to toe with the best of them, and this is evidence that they are more than capable of holding their own at the MotorStorm Festival. We wanted this track as soon as we put it in the mix.

Leftfield – Phat Planet
A lot of you are going to recognize this track as “The Guinness ad music”. And right you’d be. But let me explain why I chose this one for the Festival. The Guinness ad is all about Hawaiian Surfers, waiting for the perfect wave. “He waits. It’s what he does.” I wanted to convey this ethos by using this track in a similar capacity. Sure not many would get it at first, but the fact that this island, through all its years of being shaped by the land and clothed by nature, has been waiting for the perfect storm to hit its shores… MotorStorm brings exactly that, and it brings with it an end to The Island laying in wait. The wave has arrived, in the form of lunatics and masochists converging on the slopes of this land, ready to tear it up! …but the island won’t take it lying down. It WILL fight back. The bass line on this track says it all. The Island has been waiting for you…

Machine Head – Davidian
Machine Head go all the way up to eleven! There’s no doubt… and Davidian is a long standing classic. An anthem for anarchy. It’s time to rumble.

March – Influence Exclusive!
March are no strangers to the rock scene, and when I approached the band about featuring at the festival, they set straight to work. When they threw this track at me, it completely floored me. It’s dynamic, aggressive, and fresh. Exactly all the ingredients for the MotorStorm Festival I’m sure you’ll agree.

Megadeth – Sleepwalker
One of Megadeth’s newer tracks and, as you’d expect from classic rockers Megadeth, this is the very definition of power rock. \m/

Nick Thayer – Mind Control
With flavors of Big Beat and tech house synth lines, Nick Thayer nails it for the Festival. Perfect dance track to suit the atmosphere of the racing and festival.

Parker – Western Soul featuring Rasco (Aphrodite Remix – MotorStorm Dub)
Yet another exclusive! Parker joins up with Aphrodite to bring us this drum and bass mash up. The bass line wraps itself around you and completely pumps the adrenalin. Great track!

The Planets – Slasher Exclusive!
This track was dropped on my desk as we were approaching the finishing touches to the soundtrack, but it was too good to pass up. The guys revisited the track for us and gave it a bit of MotorStorm flavor. It sits right up there with the best of the soundtrack

Primal Scream – Necro Hex Blues
We featured two Primal Scream tracks on MotorStorm, and when I heard they were releasing a new album very close to Pacific Rift’s release date, I managed to get my hands on it for a listen. This track features Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age on guitars, and the opportunity was not one I wanted to pass up! It’s everything you’d expect from Primal Scream, and everything you’d expect to hear at the MotorStorm Festival. Brilliant!

Saviours – Caverns Of Mind
From Oakland CA, Saviours rock hard. This track was one of the first tracks we had on the table for the MotorStorm Festival, and after I’d played a couple of races to this one, it had to be featured. Pedal-to-the-metal rock.

South Central – Golden Dawn
Dubbed as a Post Glitch; Indie/Electro; Dance-Rocktronica band. When I heard Golden Dawn, I knew it would work almost instantly. Brilliantly produced, and full of energy, the South Central guys hit the nail on the proverbial head

The Whip – Trash
From Manchester UK, The Whip are “whipping” up a storm on the scene and will soon explode worldwide! This track is fantastic and sits perfectly well in the festival environment. These guys are not to be missed!

This week the demo for MotorStorm Pacific Rift will be available on the PLAYSTATION STORE for free download. The demo includes Rain God Spires, one of the 16 courses exclusive to MotorStorm Pacific Rift. Race against the computer in single-player mode or grab a friend for some split screen multiplayer action. Log on to the Store from your PS3 system and download it this Thursday, Oct. 16th!