The 2009 PAX concerts will ring in our ears long after the weekend is passed thanks to Harmonix, with six songs from PAX artists arriving in the Rock Band Music Store next week. Electropop band Freezepop gets the lion's share of Rock Band exposure, with a three-song pack consisting of "Get Ready 2 Rokk," "Less Talk More Rokk" and "Science Genius Girl." Then in the PAX pack proper you'll find MC Frontalot's "Origin of Species," Paul and Storm's "Opening Band," and my second-favorite Jonathan Coulton song, "Re: Your Brains," which is about that annoying guy at your office becoming even more annoying after being cursed with undeath. Things can always get worse.

But things can always get better as well. All six PAX-themed tracks will be available for half the price of a normal Rock Band track on the Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360. Those of you wishing to pay full price can still pick up AFI's "Miss Murder," 3 Doors Down's "Kryptonite," Audioslave's "Gasoline." and The Jackson 5's "ABC," four tracks previously exclusive to Rock Band Unplugged for the PSP.

Check out the full list of next week's Rock Band offerings below and remember, we're not unreasonable - I mean no one's gonna eat your eyes.

Tracks available on Xbox 360 and Wii (Sept. 8) and PLAYSTATION 3 system (Sept. 10):

· Freezepop – "Get Ready 2 Rokk" *

· Freezepop – "Less Talk More Rokk" *

· Freezepop – "Science Genius Girl" *

· Jonathan Coulton – "Re: Your Brains" *

· MC Frontalot – "Origin of Species" *

· Paul & Storm – "Opening Band" *

· 3 Doors Down – "Kryptonite"

· AFI – "Miss Murder"

· Audioslave – "Gasoline"

· Jackson 5 – "ABC"

Additional tracks available for Wii (Sept. 8):

· Avenged Sevenfold – "Bat Country"

· The Jam – "A Town Called Malice"

· The Jam – "Going Underground"

· Oasis – "Supersonic" (Live)

· Rage Against the Machine – "Guerilla Radio"

· Talking Heads – "And She Was"

· Talking Heads – "Crosseyed & Painless"

· Talking Heads – "Girlfriend is Better"

· Talking Heads – "Once in a Lifetime"

· Talking Heads – "Take Me to the River"

Tracks available for Rock Band Unplugged (Sept. 10):

+ Godsmack – "I Stand Alone"

+ Stone Roses – "Love Spreads"

I almost missed the inclusion of Jonathan Coulton's masterpiece in the list of new songs coming to the Rock Band Unplugged Music Store next week, mainly because they tucked it further down the list after the Dixie Chicks "Sin Wagon". My eyes read "Dixie Chicks" and tend to wander off. Luckily for us all I soldiered on, reading about the coming of The Pixies' "Here Comes Your Man", R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion", and "Pride and Joy" from Stevie Ray Vaughan. And yes, GLaDOS, in all her glory. I never truly got tired of that song, and now I'll be able to perform it in my bathroom on a regular basis.

All of these tracks will be available on July 19th for $1.99 apiece, with the exception of "Still Alive", which pays you with delicious and moist baked goods.

The One-Ups did well, as usual. And if I can keep my eyes open and my nose shut (this place smells like one giant sweaty fart), maybe – just maybe – I’ll get to hear Still Alive before the night’s out.

In the meantime, I’ve got fuzzy concert pictures that depict just how crowded, bright and insane it is here tonight at PAX 2008. I don’t know how the Minibosses are going to follow this act tomorrow night.

Bonus points if you can guess which ones were taken with man friend’s iPhone…

I'm generally thinking about robots and fractals all the time anyway, whether I'm writing about them or not...But on a deeper level, I think there's a thread running through many of the songs that has more to do with how it feels to be a nerd - this kind of alienation, a sense of not belonging, not being accepted.

And ultimately, that's the story behind GLaDOS—because you find out in the final scene that, in a sense, her personality has been neutered. Even though it was done to make her less violent, that sense of rejection is there all the same.

So when you see that the cake wasn't a lie...it's all the more hitting. And when she spites you that your friend Companion Cube is gone, you wonder if she's been suffered a similar trauma.

OK, now we promise to stop talking about Portal for a while...again.

Portal: Thank you for the Music [cvg]

Coulton says the piece is possibly coming to Steam and other unnamed locations, so keep your eyes peeled.

Portal: The Skinny [Jonathan Coulton]