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On Owngig, we’re dedicated to bringing people together to enjoy their favourite bands. We can do this through the internet, which makes it easy to spread the word. So when heard about how Nine Inch Nails front man, Trent Reznor used Twitter to raise almost a million dollars for a fan’s medical bills, we have to admit it made us go warm and fuzzy.

So to counteract this cuteness, we bring you possibly the most dangerous version of Dance Dance Revolution you’re ever likely to see – Dance Dance Immolation. Developed by some Californian (where else) nutcases, the game is the same in every respect apart from when you put a foot wrong a huge flamethrower burns you. The game has to be played wearing a flame retardant suit and suffice to say, don’t try this at home (even if you do have access to a big flamethrower in your house.)

Finally at Owngig we’re always looking for new ways to bring you the music you enjoy and this week we’ve been impressed by Simplify, a new tool that allows you to enjoy the music. If you listen to music at work, or have an iPhone, this is for you. Basically you install a small program on your home computer and then at work (or an iPhone) you can listen to all of your music, streamed from your home computer. So if you have more music than you can fit on a iPod, this no longer matters. Plus the iPhone app seems highly reliable. On a recent commute home, it cut out precisely once – for all of two seconds over a 40 minute journey. Highly recommended.

It’s been a bit of an 80s week so this image seemed appropriate

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With there now over 100 bids on site for Rick Astley and our first gig being The Blow Monkeys, it seems that we’ve gone a bit 80s here at Owngig Towers. Well, following a meeting with A-Ha’s label, it seems that another act from the decade of Thatcher and the Rubik’s Cube is interested in playing an Owngig. So if you loved A-Ha, know anyone who loves A-Ha or even just fancy a bit of nostalgia, then bid on site now and you could be seeing Morten up close at an exclusive gig soon.

One thing we’re also pleased to bring you soon is our exclusive tickets through Twitter offer, which we announced earlier in the week on our Twitter account. The details are being worked out as we speak and we hope to bring you more information soon, but in the meantime, if you’re on Twitter and haven’t already, follow our account here.

This week on the web we’ve been loving…

Although we’ve seen interactive music videos before – the one for Arcade Fire springs to mind, we were impressed with this one for the Cold War Kids, not least because as well as being interactive it allows you to remix the song – by removing or adding elements from the music. Check it out here.

Love, is perhaps the wrong word for the next item but, it’s certainly intriguing. DJ Dangermouse, best known for being the mastermind behind Gnarls Barkley and The Grey Album (check out this video) was planning a new album. All was going well with collaborators for the album including Jarvis Cocker, Iggy Pop, Frank Black, The Flaming Lips and David Lynch was even lined up to do the sleeve design. However, because of a legal dispute with the record label, release was indefinitely delayed.

DJ Dangermouse’s response has been very inventive – he’s releasing the CD case – with Lynch’s sleeve art but with a blank CD inside. The music has been leaked onto peer to peer, so fans can hear it, so if they choose they can buy the case and make their own release. If you want to buy the release, click here, although you’ll have to find your own way to the songs.

Finally, to something less thought provoking but very pretty. This building in Linz Austria was covered lights that respond to sound. Worth checking out the video here.

Spinning vinyl ipod app from Theodore Watson on Vimeo.

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This week we’ve been excited to see the bids rolling in for Rick Astley, following a tie up with Rick Astley’s UK site. Thanks to Neil, who runs the site for putting together the pages on site and Rick’s manager Tops for approving this activity. Click here to bid on Rick if you fancy an Owngig for him – the bids are flooding in right now.

We’re also excited that it looks like we’re going to be speaking at this year’s New Music Seminar. Originally a big event back in the 1980s, the seminar has been relaunched to help new bands with the tools they need to make the most of their music these days – something we’re well placed to help with. Check out the site for further details.

This week on the web we’ve been loving…

Sometimes the simplest and silliest things online are the best. Kanye West is a man not known for shying away from the internet. For exmaple, just this week we’ve had a rant against Twitter. His long standing blog which has become one of the most popular celebrity sites online. Then there’s his trademark sunglasses. Well, if you’ve ever wondered what the web looks like through his eyes, now you can find out, with the Kanye-vision simulator. Simply install the button by dragging it to the top of your browser and a view of the web through his eyes will be yours.

There’s so much music out there now, so you sometimes need a way of filtering it down – and also discovering new music in the process. With this in mind, we were impressed with Sourcetone, which promises to match the music to your mood. It’s a well put together site and we were impressed with its selections.

Finally, we think we’ve found our new favourite iPhone app. Sadly, it’s not in the store yet, but this spinning vinyl app is very clever and we hope to see it in the iTunes store soon. To be honest, this is one of those links you just have to see for yourself.  Click on the video above to check it out in all its glory.

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A celebrity you may not recognise but already know – Roberta from Spotify

The world of autotune has spread across the internet and music in recent years but we’ve seen it applied to a whole new load of audio this week. In particular, baby cries, the speeches of Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King and most randomly of all, the news. Everything, it seems is more tuneful, with autotune.

It may not have escaped your attention that there’s a lot of music on the internet, and in particular on services like Spotify. But have you ever wondered just how much? Well thanks to a rather clever trick by music blog, Music Machinery you can find out how many tracks Spotify has (several million) and even stick the whole lot of them on a playlist. An interesting and rather clever way to find new music we think.

Finally, on a more moving tip we loved this collection of buskers globally all singing Ben E. King’s classic 60s soul song, Stand by Me. Done to promote the Playing for Change project that promotes peace through music, this is a moving rendition of the song. We hope you enjoy it.