DJ Hero and MySpace Present Jay-Z at Blender Theater (Recap & Pics)

DJ Hero MySpace Jay-Z Blender Theater - 51

Jay-Z performed a guerrilla show on Wednesday night at the a 600-capacity Blender Theater in Manhattan, with help from MySpace Music and DJ Hero, a new video game that adapts the Guitar Hero model for hip-hop. It was announced barely 24 hours before, and 250 fans were given free tickets. (The other 350 or so in attendance were assorted V.I.P.’s from the companies involved, and from the news media. They didn’t pay, either.)

Jay-Z’s 74-minute, 25-song set, played with a 10-piece band that included two drummers and a three-part horn section, was a muscular, virtuosic and totally satisfying performance, both in older hits like “Big Pimpin’” and “99 Problems” that are now hip-hop standards, and in material from “The Blueprint 3.”

Read the full review here, watch videos from last night and check out pictures below!

<pics via wireimage>

1001 Songs To Download

1001_downloads_nirvana_lThink your music collection’s complete? Not unless you’ve checked out Blender Magazine’s gigantic list of 1001 Songs to Download. Don’t worry, it’s not just a long-ass arbitrary list.

Instead, they’re posting dozens of playlists like “Songs That Turned ’90s High School Dances Into Raves,” “Great Songs Under a Minute Long” and “Mix for Sarah Palin’s Next Moose Hunting Trip,” plus playlists from everyone from Tom Morello to Taylor Swift.

They’re putting up new playlists everyday, so check out Blender.com for the full lowdown.