Em and I are currently sitting on an aeroplane destined for Cape Town. If all has gone according to plan, we should be about halfway into our trip, and you're able to read this because the schedule post thingy has worked successfully. Good job.
In the meantime here's a video showing a mini bus taxi burning on one of Cape Town's major highways...
Last night Trent Reznor made the following announcement regarding the state of Nine inch Nails,
“I’ve been less than honest about what I’ve really been up to lately. For the last year I’ve been secretly working non-stop with Atticus Ross and Alan Moulder on a new, full-length Nine Inch Nails record, which I am happy to say is finished and frankly fucking great. This is the real impetus and motivation behind the decision to assemble a new band and tour again. My forays into film, HTDA and other projects really stimulated me creatively and I decided to focus that energy on taking Nine Inch Nails to a new place. Here we go!”— Trent Reznor, 5.28.13.
That's right! There's a new Nine Inch Nails album set for release later this year. I'm fairly certain that the release will coincide with the tour dates for mid-July till November.
Bloc Party have made the stems available for their track, Walk on music, available for free download. Walk on music was written and recorded by Russell Lissack and Jamie Ellis (Battle), and has been played live at some of Bloc Party's recent shows. A link to download the stems can be found here, just a heads up, the file is 670 MB in size.
-- Updated 29 May 2013 --
I finally managed to download the stems, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it included a WAV file of the original track.
If you thought you were going to see a video of a bird performing a medley of hits by French electronica duo Daft Punk, you are sadly mistaken. Instead here is a video of five blokes from Australia, who call themselves Pigeon, performing a medley of hits by French electronica duo Daft Punk.
The medley contains renditions of One more time, Around the world, Da funk, Robot rock, Aerodynamic, and Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. If you like what you heard, the track is available below as a free download.
After hearing this I can safely say that while Daft Punk isn't one of my favourite acts, I do prefer the sound of their older material compared to the tracks I have heard off their latest offering, Random Access Memories. Also, check out some of Pigeon's original material here and here.
Last week I posted about the Mount July filter company and their inaugural Kickstarter campaign. So far they've managed to raise just over two-thirds of their US$ 32 000 target in just over a week. Since then, Mount July have also updated the project page with several photographs taken while using their range of their multi-coloured filters, as well as pictures of the individual filters themselves.
Here's what the three individual filter colour options look like
While a lot of the pictures uploaded to Mount July's Facebook page feature photos taken while using two filters stacked on top of one another (which create some really dreamy effects), there are a few taken using only a single filter at a time. I've chosen one of each of these pictures from their Facebook to share with you, as they really show off the type results achievable with only a single Mount July filter attached to your camera lens.
Stinson (left): This filter looks to simulate an effect similar to over-exposing a scene. It also creates subtle vignetting, which although often undesirable, can result in some creative shots.
Sayulita (right): In contrast, this has been my favourite filter since I first found out about the project. The contrasting colour enhancements caused by the yellow to violet colour gradient immediately caught my eye. If I only ever order one filter from Mount July it will be this one.
Sedona (left): Finally the Sedona creates an even more dramatic vignetting effect, while distorting the colouration around the periphery of the composition.
To get an even better idea of the results achievable you can see a few more examples here, although it doesn't say which filters were used to create the shots.
I really hope these guys reach their goal. The creators say they would like for Mount July to reach all seven continents, well if these filters do become a reality, I'll ensure some of them reach Africa.
I'm not a big fan of DC Comics' list of super heroes, as I personally prefer Marvel's selection of anti-heroes. That said I have considered getting a Batman video game, more than any other licensed super hero game, simply due to the almost unanimous good reviews the Arkham series has received from reviewers. Batman: Arkham City has been on my radar in particular, as it is currently the third highest ratedPS3 game released.
Now a full trailer for the Arkham series prequel, Batman: Arkham Origins, has been released, and it looks pretty good. Okay, so it's a cinematic trailer that doesn't feature any actual game play, but it still looks good. Besides it features Batman battling Deathstroke, who is essentially the character that inspired Marvel's character Deadpool, they even share the same surname.
Now the question is, do I wait for the release of Origins before playing Asylum and City, or do I just go ahead and play City?
The Xbox One is more than just a gaming console, it's a multi-purpose entertainment hub all-in-one. I watched some of the live unveil that took place last night, and what I saw (Skype integration, football fantasy league, TV guide, and the three operating systems of the One) quite impressed me, although I'm not sure some of the features will even work here in South Africa. I could be wrong. I'm also not so sure I'd find much use for some of the voice activated applications, but that's probably because I don't really watch much television, since I don't actually own one. However, the possibility of being able to Skype from the 32" TV in the living room, will put an end to the entire family crowding around a 15" computer screen in the study would definitely become a thing of the past.
From what I've read, the gaming community don't seem that impressed with what was unveiled, as Microsoft have targeted the TV watching community, as opposed to the gaming community. To be honest, I'd probably get one because of all the TV-orientated features, and not due to its gaming capabilities, although I'd still use it as such. I also like look of the Xbox One more than previous Xbox consoles, yes it is simply a box, but it just looks more refined and less childish than the previously shaped consoles.
For now the Xbox One looks like a better option than the PlayStation 4, but since we haven't really been shown too much of the functionality of the PS4, it's still way too early to really call it. Let's see what the PlayStation group come back with in the coming weeks.
Flickr have launched a new look, and are offering 1 TB* of free photo storage. I you haven't already go here to sign up. Now I just have to get around to sorting through all my photos, and upload the ones I think other people might actually like to look at.
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* a terabyte is enough to store over 500 000 photos taken at 6.5 megapixels
Here's a 39 second 'teaser' video for the PlayStation 4. It features lots of blurry shots of a black square, and some quick flashing close ups of black plastic bits that look as though they could belong to a vacuum cleaner.
Here's a more meaningful video detailing some of the functionality available for the new PlayStation 4 controller, which features a built in speaker, 'share' button, touch pad, and a huge light at the front of the controller that glows blue! The DualShock 4 also seems to be a little chubbier around the legs than it's predecessors were.
Apparently the next generation Xbox will be announced at 19:00 CAT tonight. Wonder if Microsoft be able to top Sony's blurry video of black squares and vacuum pieces?
When I first saw images from Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon a few weeks back, I immediately thought that it was an April fools' prank. Turns out it wasn't. Here is the retro-futuristic, epileptic fit inducing, apocalyptic trailer forthe Far Cry 3 stand-alone expansion in all its '80s action film inspired glory, complete with cyborgs and all!
Some of you may be aware that Queens of the Stone Age released a seriesoffivemusicvideos for their forthcoming album, entitled ...Like Clockwork. Fortunately for those of you who have been living under a rock for the last few weeks, all five videos have been compiled into a single 15 minute short film for your viewing convenience/ pleasure.
The fifth (and final) edition of Queens of the Stone Age's series of music videos that has been airing on LikeClockworkTV was released on Friday afternoon.
In My god is the sun, we get to see all of our favourite characters from the previous LikeClockworkTV episodes making a reappearance. A winged skull with a gold tooth also makes an appearance. Make sure to watch right till the end, and then re-watch I appear missing, which was the first video in the series. Freaky stuff, and an excellent way to end the series, if this was indeed the end.
If you haven't seen the previous four videos, you can see them in order of release here; parts 1, 2, 3 and 4.
My local games shop is having a sale on three of the first person shooter (FPS) titles I've had my eye on since I'd been told that they were pretty good. The titles are BioShock Infinite, Borderlands 2, and Far Cry 3. Since I don't own any FPS games, I figured this might be a good opportunity to add one to my collection at a reduced price.
I haven't played any of the other titles in the three franchises, so these titles would be my introduction into the relevant series. I've heard that all of these play really well on their own, without any knowledge of the happenings from previous games. All three titles score 90% or above in the scoring systems used by IGN and Metacritic, so they're all pretty top-notch games.
This is where you come in, I'm going to run a poll for the next few hours days to see which game comes out tops as far as you're concerned. Depending on the number of people who participate, I may just purchase the game that receives the most votes.
The fourth episode in the LikeClockworkTV series by Queens of the Stone Age begins by shows us the demise of the bar brawling character of Keep your eyes peeled. If I had a tail also features the other surviving 'Prehab' patrons enjoying a cocktail, and a bazooka toting motorcyclist!
The Union Jack proudly displayed on the heroines jacket is likely a nod to the contribution by Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys. If I had a tail sounds like a careful mixture of pieces left over from Homme's Them Crooked Vultures recording sessions, with added influences from Turner's experience during the writing of Arctic Monkeys' Suck it and see. If after hearing this track, you're still not excited for the release of ...Like Clockwork, then I'm afraid to say that there is no hope for you.
Also if you've missed out, here are the links to the parts 1, 2 and 3 of the story.
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Polyphony Digital have celebrated the 15th anniversary of the Gran Turismo franchise with the announcement that Gran Turismo 6 is currently being developed for PlayStaion 3. Here's a trailer featuring several new cars and locations to be included in the sixth instalment of the GT franchise:
Gran Turismo 6 is scheduled for release during the fourth quarter of 2013, although it has been suggested that a playable demo will be available in July. Apparently GT6 will feature 1200 cars, and 33 locations to drive them around. It has been suggested that development of a version for PlayStation 4 is also being considered.
The third instalment in Queens of the Stone Age's LikeClockworkTV series of music videos was just uploaded. Keep your eyes peeled continues the story of the masked character introduced in the Kalopsia video.
This is my favourite song off ...Like Clockwork to be released so far, although I am still quite looking forward to hearing Sir Elton John's contribution, as well as the other track recorded withTrent Reznor.
If you've missed out, here are links to the videos of parts 1 and 2 of the story so far.
Following the release of Queens of the Stone Age's brilliant video for I appear missing, a second video entitled Kalopsia appeared a few hours ago, and picks up where the previous video left off.
Clocking in at just under two minutes, many are saying that this is not the full version of Kalopia. I certainly hope so, so that we are afforded more of Trent Reznor's 'breathing,' one of the crazy credits given via the band's Facebook page. Here are the full credits:
Much like the opening title for I appear missing, Kalopsia's title also uses lop-sided quotation marks, further adding to the '999' theme evident in the ...Like Clockwork promotional artworks.
Mount July is a small start-up business that plans to manufacture multi-coloured, creative camera filters. Essentially these filters will allow SLR* photographers to emulate the effects achieved by smartphone owners who use applications like Pixlr and Instagram.
If you're interested in increasing your creative potential with your SLR camera, then you should definitely check out Mount July's Kickstarter page here. Three colour variations are being offered for 52 and 58 mm lenses, with the possibility of producing a range for 77 mm lenses if US$ 45 000 is raised. I really like the effects created by the Sedona and Sayulita, although I am considering just biting the bullet and going for the US$ 95 'Family Pack,' which includes all three filters.
Ilan Rubin the former drummer for Lostprophets, and current drummer for Nine Inch Nails, Angels & Airwaves and Paramore, also has a successful side-project, in which he plays all the instruments, including vocals to keep him busy over weekends. The New Regime have recently released their third studio album, entitled Exhibit A which can be streamed over at AbsolutePunk (scroll down to the first comment).
Here is a video of Rubin playing an acoustic version of Daydream for A Trolley Show in San Diego.
For now the album is only available as a digital download in mp3 (lossy) and wav (lossless) formats, but I'm holding thumbs for a physical release.
Local comedy/ pop duo Derick Watts & the Sunday Blues travelled to the Cape Town Stadium to interview some 'beliebers' prior to last nights Justin Bieber concert. These are there results.
I appear missing is the second single taken from Queens of the Stone Age's '...Like clockwork' and the first to be released with a music video. I'm a big fan of the style of animation chosen for the video, as well as the song. I was a little apprehensive after listening to the first single from the album, but after hearing I appear missing I feel more confident that this album is going to be another absolute goodie, perhaps even on a par with Songs for the Deaf.
An interesting observation is that a single quotation mark is used to at the beginning of the sub title, while double quotation marks are used at the end. The single opening apostrophe also appears to be backwards, for it's placement relative to the text. The three punctuation marks together look like a series of '9s.' So far a lot of the imagery used to promote the album has featured various time telling devices displaying 9 o'clock (or 9:99 in the case of the digital wrist watches), or have three '9s' visible somewhere in the picture.
I'm not yet sure of the significance of all the '9' references, other that three inverted nines makes '666,' the supposed "number of the beast."
How to Destroy Angels are running an official remix competition through Indaba Music. Stems of three tracks off Welcome Oblivion are available for download. The contest is open until 29 May 2013, and the final winner will receive US$ 500. I'm downloading the stems, just because I have collected all the stems released by Trent Reznor so far, but it's unlikely I'll ever get round to producing anything from them.
How to Destroy Angels have released a third remix of their track Keep it together by Nosaj Thing, as well as a rework of The space inbetween by Sonoio's Alessandro Cortini that has been retitled Between the spaces. Each of these remixes was premièred by a different music website, although both may be downloaded from the bands Soundcloud page (links below).
Palms is a Los Angeles based quartet, made up of former members of Isis (Aaron Harris, Clifford Meyer and Jeff Caxide), and Deftones' vocalist, Chino Moreno.
The band's first single, Patagonia, is now streaming on Pitchfork and Soundcloud, with the full album to be for released on 25 June of this year. Palms will be playing four shows in California in support the album release;
