william

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As if there wasn’t already enough going on Sunday nights TV-wise, with True Blood, The Leftovers, and John Oliver on HBO and The Strain on FX — since AMC doesn’t have anything going on right now they’re just like, f*ck it, we’ll dump a bunch of Breaking Bad episodes out there. So, that’s what they’re doing. Starting this Sunday, August 10th, through October 5th, AMC is going to be running the entire series of Breaking Bad from the pilot to “Felina” from 5pm to 1am every Sunday night, with exclusive cast and crew interviews to sweeten the deal. Which means, depending what you’re already watching, you could effectively get in four episodes before True Blood (or just skip True Blood, I won’t tell), and one in after John Oliver. And yes, true, you can just as easily watch on Netflix, but that takes effort. Whereas if I’m flipping through channels and see Breaking Bad on? I will never not watch.

Eight hours in front of the television every Sunday? No big, just HOOK IT TO MY VEINS. Not included by AMC: The giant spatula you’ll need to pry your ass off the couch afterward and hose of ranch dressing.

Filed under: TV Tagged: AMC, Binge Watching, BREAKING BAD, MARATHONS

Aphex Twin's new album SYRO, his first since 2001's Drukqs, was recently announced via the Deep Web browser Tor. Now, more details have been shared about the album. It's out September 23 via Warp. Above is the incredible album artwork, created by the Designers Republic.

Here is the tracklist:

SYRO: 

01. minipops 67 [120.2][source field mix] [aka the manchester track]
02. XMAS_EVET10 [120][thanaton3 mix]
03. produk 29 [101]
04. 4 bit 9d api+e+6 [126.26]
05. 180db_ [130]  
06. CIRCLONT6A [141.98][syrobonkus mix]
07. fz pseudotimestretch+e+3 [138.85]
08. CIRCLONT14 [152.97][shrymoming mix]
09. syro u473t8+e [141.98][piezoluminescence mix]
10. PAPAT4 [155][pineal mix]
11. s950tx16wasr10 [163.97][earth portal mix]
12. aisatsana [102]

A limited edition box set version of the album is available via Bleep. To purchase one of the 200 copies, you must enter a lottery for the chance to purchase one of the copies.

Here is the utterly amazing Aphex Twin bio that has been sent out in a press release:

Whenever one of the most celebrated and influential electronic fartist, Richard D. James can compete with the music flip to influence built. The better part of a decagon, James Polygon Window, Caustic Window, GAK and maintain, including `Aphex Twin has unreleased music under several thousand monikers great pace. 

Began in the late 1780s and 90s during a turn in its manufacturing and technical skills, and nikharana Cornwallo, England grows, James, as a young maniton in various shops started DJing. Area of various musical score, James Analogue Booblebath EP was released in 1891, the results of the first series, he decided to record his gown music. Another influential London radio station piss FM's attention, and then label immediately signed him to their rooster, then post & poplieereRS. That same year, James Acid shithouse to promote the song and trying to lift Grant Wilson-CLARIDGE on a biscuit founded his label Rephlex Records. Selekted Flambient Works moving to London and Release 85-92: After a while, the two main points to be made, round the bend

More immediate and critical success of his debut internationally. Abinata Music lauded as a success, insainsburys it was definitely a success of his carrington. Full steam ahead barreling out that several other singles and EPS are given, and in 1493 was a record collapse. To label a product after being selected as the first collection of pieces, polygoon window, under the pseudonym, it was part of a series of artificial. 2, released in 1994.

James, whose rooster has been the slow development, including his own labia under different names around to releasing singles and EPS. Her next full-length record together since 1995 ... I think it she will be issued. Records have been working on for the past few years, and his experience hardcore and lush abinata textures found his style, and his facial features on the cover of the first issue, the various incarnations of present Omnipresent, which is marked by an icing in the world of music was culled Aphex Gemini (equal recognition with logo).

1896 under the name Aphex Twin record his fourth eponymous EP Girl / boy. This collection of 90s ‘nTV era is the result of the video, in which he praised the music video director Crease Cunningham saw: Teaming in a way that my Daddy (1997) and Windowlickie (1999), EPS, was followed.

Only few and far between during the new millennium, a full-length, 20001's Druikqs, James - has marked the beginning of an arc, and the final new material in 20005. A lot of the music in any way is often a lack of communication and leadership to be fallacious rumors of new material for his fannies and his enthusiasm has not diminished hope. However ambitious this year, 9014, they uncovered new mats in almost a decade distribution crowdfund rallied together his army of fans: A precious gift that can not be the same as the new

Phex Twinnipicks material is still unquenched thirst.

Syria, September 23, 2014, along with records of Aphex Twin's new album to be released. For the owner of Triple vinyl, CD and digital formats will be available. Bleep a very limited vinyl version you can register your interest in buying.

Revisit the classic "Windowlicker" video:

Joy Division were one of the first bands in England to play post-punk instead of merely punk, and Worf (portrayed by actor Michael Dorn) was one of the first Klingons in the Star Trek universe to be portrayed as a protagonist instead of merely a villain. Now the two have come together in a beautiful and touching tribute to Worf, Joy Division, and the artwork of Peter Saville, via a t-shirt idea on Threadless. To the extent that I understand the mechanics of Threadless, this design was submitted by user Nick O’Gorman back in 2012 but did not receive a high enough user score to be sold as a t-shirt in the store. This week, the page attracted additional interest via social media. But you still can’t actually buy the shirt! Which is kind of poignant when you think about it: Like Joy Division themselves, this piece of apparel inspires so many “what if”s. I’m sorry Mr. Worf, not now.

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You ever have a friend ask to use your smart phone to text someone because their smart phone had run out of power? What did you do? If you were like me then you pulled out your phone, opened the text message app, tapped on “new message”, asked for the phone number, typed it in for them, and then handed them the phone while hoping that they handed it back as soon as they pressed “send”. Because the last thing any of us want is for the people we know to rummage through our text messages and see who we really are. This is why I am intrigued by the new Jason Reitman film ‘Men, Women and Children,’ which seems to be about the secret lives we lead in virtual space.

The first trailer, appropriately void of dialogue in favor of online and textual interactions, is a dark look at what’s to befall his cast of characters — and potentially the rest of us — in the internet age.

Adam Sandler, Judy Greer, Jennifer Garner, up-and-comer Ansel Elgort (‘The Fault in Our Stars‘) and more populate the incredible cast that is ‘Men, Women and Children.’ Paramount describes it as an attempt “to stare down social issues such as video game culture, anorexia, infidelity, fame hunting, and the proliferation of illicit material on the internet.” [ScreenCrush]

I’d like to be one of those people who looked at this trailer and said “fu*k this bullsh*t, it’s just playing on old people’s fear of technology.” They’d have a point, but I must admit that some of the drama that I have experienced in the virtual world has most definitely manifested itself in the physical one. It was only a couple years ago that I realized that internet dating wasn’t a scam, and actually a very effective way to meet ladies. Cyber-bullying, cyber-cheating, cyber-betraying – all of these things have become so ubiquitous that we can pretty much just drop the “cyber” from in front of them. The trailer makes me curious about what direction they take the cyber-drama. Adam Sandler looking for hookers online definitely intrigues me. Not because I’ve ever done that (swearsies. You know I’d tell you if I did) but because it reminds me of his character in Punch-Drunk Love which is one of my all time favorite movies. Looking forward to seeing another trailer for this, perhaps with some dialogue.

Wish Phillip Seymour Hoffman was still around so he could be in this. :(

Filed under: Film Drunk, Media Tagged: adam sandler, cyber-bullying, Facebook, JASON REITMAN, JENNIFER GARNER, JUDY GREER, MEN WOMEN AND CHILDREN, Social Media, TRAILERS, Twitter

On August 21-23, the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) holds its technical symposium "The Reel Thing XXXIII". Presenting the latest technologies in audiovisual restoration and preservation, The Reel Thing brings together a unique line up of laboratory technicians, archivists, technologists and preservationists. Various topics will be covered including Large Format 65mm Scanning and Preservation, Color Spaces, Frame Rates, and Sound. Movie restoration screenings are scheduled, including the world premiere of the 4K restoration of The Day the Earth Stood Still, plus Steven Spielberg's Duel, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and A Fistful of Dollars....

Read full article at Blu-ray.com

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Last month, UK dance duo Gorgon City released their new single, “Unmissable,” and while the song rockets toward a million plays on Soundcloud, a handful of remixes have emerged. One of those comes from UK rock band Everything Everything, who have been fairly quiet since releasing their second album, Arc, in 2013. While the original track was overwhelmingly smooth, the new remix has a more aggressive drumbeat as it moves toward a distorted conclusion. Listen to it below and look for Gorgon City’s new album, Sirens, next month.

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While Keanu Reeves may not to be able to make it rain at the box-office like he once did, he will soon make Rain for television. The series, which hasn’t gone out to networks or streaming services yet, is the first for a newly launched production company, Slingshot Global Media, launched earlier this year to produce TV series and limited-run programming for the U.S. and global broadcast.

Rain, an hour-long series based on a book series by Barry Eisler, will feature Reeves — who will also produce — in the lead role of John Raines.

Rain is a half-Japanese, half-American contract assassin who specializes in taking out his targets by making it look like death by natural causes. An outsider in whatever world he’s in, Rain ironically finds that the one identity he knows – that of being a hitman – is the very thing that prevents him from bringing others closer into his life.

There are nine books in the series, so there’s plenty of material to keep the series running. It has not, however, gone out to writers, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before a network jumps on it. It’s kind of perfect: Crime series with a procedural element starring a once huge movie star who is beloved despite a series of box-office misfires, and he’s playing an anti-hero.

Sounds like someone checked off ALL the boxes.

Source: Deadline

Filed under: TV Tagged: ASSASSIN, KEANU REEVES, Rain

Got a few million dollars burning a hole in your pocket? Well, you might want to head over to eBay, because a copy of Action Comics #1 has recently gone up for auction. This isn’t just any old copy of Action Comics #1 either, this is the most pristine copy known to still exist. To quote from the eBay listing…

“This particular copy is the nicest that has ever been graded, with an ASTONISHING grade of CGC 9.0 (Near Mint)! To date, no copies have been graded higher and only one other copy has received the same grade. It is fair to say though that this copy blows the other 9.0 out of the water. Compared to the other 9.0 that sold for $2.1million several years ago it has significant superior eye appeal, extremely vibrant colors and PERFECT WHITE PAGES. This means after 76 years the aging process has yet to begin. Truly this book is a museum piece. It is one of only two copies of this comic in ANY condition to ever be graded with the distinction of having white pages, the other being a CGC 2.5 !”

To put it in perspective, most comics, even the brand new ones you’ll pick up this week, wouldn’t qualify for Near Mint status. The comic pretty much has to look like it just rolled off the presses — the fact that a 76-year-old comic has been preserved so well is kind of astonishing.

Action Comics #1 is, of course, the comic which gave the world Superman and spawned entire superhero genre…

None of these dirty yellow pages in this copy. 

Bidding on the auction is currently at $1,750,000 with around a week to go. Too rich for my blood, but I’m hotly anticipating a last minute Nic Cage/Jerry Seinfeld bidding war.

Via io9

Filed under: GammaSquad Tagged: action comics, Action Comics #1, Comics, DC COMICS, EBAY, superman

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At their show at the the Troubadour in Los Angeles on Thursday night, Death From Above 1979 handed out CDs containing the studio version of a new song, "Government Trash", which will appear on their forthcoming record, The Physical World. Listen to it below via Consequence of Sound. It follows their recent single, "Trainwreck 1979". 

The Physical World is out September 9 via Last Gang Records. More details here. Check out the band's previously-announced tour dates below.

Death From Above 1979:

09-06 Toronto, Ontario - Riot Fest Toronto
09-12 Laval, Quebec - MRCY Block Party
10-07 Koln, Germany - Luxor
10-08 Paris, France - Badaboum
10-09 Brussels, Belgium - Botanique
10-11 Amsterdam, Holland - Melkweg
10-12 Hamburg, Germany - Hafenklang
10-13 Berlin, Germany - Cassiopeia
10-15 Vienna, Austria - Flex
10-16 Munich, Germany - Orangehouse
10-18 Zurich, Switzerland - Mascotte
10-20 London, England - Electric Ballroom
10-21 Manchester, England - Gorilla
10-22 Glasgow, Scotland - The Garage
10-31-11-02 New Orleans, LA - Voodoo Music + Arts Experience
11-03 Atlanta, GA - Buckhead Theatre
11-04 Nashville, TN - Marathon Music Works
11-06 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
11-07 Austin, TX - Fun Fun Fun
11-08 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
11-10 Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
11-12 San Diego, CA - House of Blues
11-13 Santa Ana, CA - Observatory
11-15 Las Vegas, NV - Brooklyn Bowl
11-17 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
11-18 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
11-19 Seattle, WA - Neumos
11-21 Salt Lake City, UT - In The Venue
11-22 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
11-24 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
11-25 Chicago, IL - Rivera Theatre
11-26 Detroit, MI - Crofoot
11-28 New York, NY - Terminal 5
11-29 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
12-01 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
12-02 Boston, MA - House of Blues

Listen to "Trainwreck 1979":

After the confusing presence of the Aphex Twin logo on a blimp in London and the streets of NYC over the weekend, we now have some even more exciting, but no less mysterious news from the baffling world of Richard D. James. Aphex Twin has just tweeted a strange link ending in .onion, the domain typically associated with the TOR proxy-browser and generally used when accessing the Deep Web. Working through to get to the site reveals some text that appears to be announcing a new album titled SYRO with a tracklist which you can find below, along with the picture you see above. Some are speculating the numbers next to those possible song titles indicate BPM. SYRO follows the recent discovery of Caustic Window, a lost Aphex Twin album from 1994. Today is James’ birthday; however, it looks like we’re the ones getting a present as this would be the first new Aphex Twin album since 2001′s Druqks.

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So, it came out recently that Disney may be working on the original, untainted cuts to the only three Star Wars movies that actually matter for a Blu-Ray release. And, like the original cuts always do, they immediately made the nerd press idiotic. Here are a few examples!

First of all, is Disney working on restoring the original cuts? Of course they are. My source is the fact that I am not a stupid person and I pay attention to how Hollywood studios operate. Namely, they like money, and there’s a lot of money to be made. So with that in mind…

Fox Owns The Rights!

Badass Digest immediately insisted that the original rumors were impossible because Fox owns the rights to the first Star Wars for forever, and the second two until 2020. To be fair to Devin Faraci, he does acknowledge that there’s a lot of money to be made, but he also insists it would be Fox working on the rereleases, not Disney.

The problem with this is that all Fox does is print the discs and ship them out. All the mastering on any Star Wars DVD you own is done at THX under the supervision of Lucasfilm. In other words, if this is true, it’ll be Disney working on the discs.

As for Fox possibly stalling this for whatever reason: Fox likes money, and Disney owns something Fox would like to keep borrowing, namely the rights to several Marvel characters. Fox isn’t going to be a problem.

George Lucas Will Never Let It Happen!

As we all know, George Lucas is, depending on your perspective, a principled filmmaker who finally achieved his true vision, or a self-involved jackass who refuses to accept that maybe once a work of art is released, it’s not longer truly his. And the last time he weighed in on this, as unearthed by Ars Technica when they talked about this a few months ago, he basically said it was never going to happen.

And we’re sure he’s very upset, but he’s no longer running things at Lucasfilm. He doesn’t get a vote. He sold that vote for $4 billion. Disney, on the other hand, has all the votes, and they like money. Guess who wins?

But The Negatives Were Damaged!

This is something you see in comments sections, and is based on George Lucas’ claim that he destroyed the original negatives while making the special editions. Honestly, I’ve always been skeptical of this one, not least because, OK, you destroyed your negatives, George, but you really want us to believe that every set of negatives of the original Star Wars was destroyed? Everywhere? Across the world?

Even if that were true, there would be a relatively pristine print of the original cuts in every single copyright archive on the planet, and that’s not even getting into the private collections and academic archives. If you want untainted Star Wars, it’s easy to find if you’ve got the cash.

Will Han finally be shooting first in December of next year? It’s a distinct possibility. But whether the release date is fiction or not, it’s safe to assume Disney is working on giving the fans what they want. They didn’t spend $4 billion on Lucas’ toys not to play with them, after all.

Filed under: GammaSquad Tagged: BLU RAY, DISNEY, Fox, George Lucas, Lucasfilm, original trilogy, rumor control, Star Wars

British producer Kevin Martin, aka the Bug, has a new album coming out in a little over a week. Angels & Devils arrives August 26 via Ninja Tune, and features a slew of collaborators, including Death Grips, Gonjasufi, Liz Harris (aka Grouper), Godflesh/Jesu's Justin Broadrick, Hype Williams' Inga Copeland, Flowdan, Miss Red, Roll Deep's Manga, and Warrior Queen. Right now, the record is streaming in full; listen below, via FACT. 

Angels & Devils follow's 2008's full-length London Zoo and last year's Filthy EP.

The Bug will be hitting the road soon, with select dates alongside Wolf Eyes and Actress. Check out the full list of upcoming shows here.

Last month, noise artist Margaret Chardiet, aka Pharmakon, announced the release of her sophomore LP, Bestial Burden, and today, she drops its first single, “Body Betrays Itself,” whose title sums up the album’s theme: the fear and confusion experienced by Chardiet when she was forced to cancel a tour due to the need for an immediate surgical procedure. In fact, along with the album’s announcement, Chardiet had released a statement about that experience, in which this song’s title sort of appears: “It was as though my body had betrayed me, acting as a separate entity from my consciousness.” And the song does indeed capture that terror and powerlessness. Listen.

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In news that means A LOT to some people and absolutely nothing to others, Comicbook.com is reporting that Disney is prepping to release the original Star Wars trilogy on Blu-Ray. As in, the imperfectly perfect original cut you grew up watching and loving. Sorry, fans of Doda Bodonawieedo!

According to our sources, Disney has plans to release the original cut of the Star Wars trilogy on Blu-ray. Our sources indicate that the project has been under way for quite some time, but it’s been challenging because of some damage to the original negatives they are utilizing. The goal is to release A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi in their complete, unaltered, original form without the redone special edition SFX. (Via)

There’s no exact date as to when this is happening, or if it will at all. It’s still just an unverified rumor, so don’t throw away your special editions DVDs quite yet. Use that space in the garbage for every last copy of Attack of the Clones in existence.

Via Comicbook.com

Filed under: GammaSquad Tagged: BLU RAY, DISNEY, George Lucas, Star Wars

A number of relatively recent films like Phone Booth and Buried have exploited the conceit of a character confined to (or in some cases literally trapped in) one location. Even the redoubtable Alfred Hitchcock flirted with this same idea in Lifeboat (and to a lesser extent in ...

Video

Locke is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. As is detailed in both the featurette and commentary included on this Blu-ray as supplements, Knight caught the car footage with a battery of Red Epic cameras mounted within the vehicle (which was itself mounted to a low rider truck platform—Hardy is not actually driving). The Red cameras have had a lot of press for the range of frequencies they can capture, and that’s put to

Audio

Locke’s lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is surprisingly immersive, with passing traffic panning through the side channels and Dickon Hinchliffe’s cool, minimalist music pulsing through the surround channels (Hinchliffe was a member of Tindersticks). All voices are clear, though some of the phone work sounds appropriately boxy and narrow.

Supplements

• Audio Commentary with Director Steven Knight. Knight provides a low key but interesting commentary that talks about his inspiration for the film (nothing more profound than watching the lights of traffic pass by), and some of the technical challenges of the shoot.


• Ordinary Unraveling: Making Locke (1080p; 9:37) is a decent EPK with some good interviews and a few brief scenes showing some of the techniques they used to capture the car footag
  
  

  Final Words

  Locke could have easily devolved into pure gimmickry, but despite some overly theatrical missteps by Knight (the writer), Knight (the director) manages to keep things moving in the right direction almost all of the time. Despite the pure technical ingenuity required to pull this off, the film benefits from an absolutely riveting performance by Tom Hardy. Technical merits here are very strong, given the understanding of the strictures of the film and intentions of the filmmakers. ...
  
  Read full review: Blu-ray.com

Soundgarden’s creative director Josh Graham has shared some really cool visuals that play in the background during the band’s sets on their joint tour with Nine Inch Nails. They’re all pretty dark and moody, and most of them heavily feature triangles. He’s posted the visuals for “Black Hole Sun,” “Superunknown,” “4th Of July,” and more on his personal website Suspended In Light. Watch below.

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Richard D. James is doing something this year, or so it would seem. Right now, flying above the Oval Space in London, there's a green blimp with the year "2014" written on the side. In place of the zero is the Aphex Twin logo, NME reports. Thanks to Tommy Rampling for the tip.

Find a photo of the blimp here. Update: Apparently, the logo has also appeared on the sidewalk outside New York's Radio City Music Hall. Update 8/18: The logo has also been spotted at various spots around New York City.

Aphex Twin logo stenciled in front of Radio City NYC yesterday @FACTmag @pitchforkmedia pic.twitter.com/LfDjuw6M64

— J. Sam (@BrickBakken) August 16, 2014

It's unclear what the blimp is teasing, but any moves from James this year would be a huge deal. Aside from the Caustic Window record that made the rounds via Kickstarter earlier this year, he hasn't released a proper LP since 2001's Drukqs. Back in 2011, he premiered new music in Poland. His last string of live appearances were in 2011 and 2012, including a set at the 2011 Pitchfork Music Festival Paris. 

In 2010, he said he had six albums completed.

We’re never going to see a Suicide Squad movie in theaters. But, while they may not have the marquee name, it’s the Squad that heads up Batman: Assault On Arkham, and it’s a gleefully nasty action-comedy that perfectly captures the spirit of the original comics.

This is supposed to be spinning off of the ending of the recent Batman: Arkham games, especially the portable title, but it’s abundantly clear this was meant to be its own thing, quite possibly adapted from one of the several Suicide Squad film scripts floating around the Warner Bros. vault. Batman may be on the cover and they may use designs and art from the game, but this is primarily a Suicide Squad movie. They’re the heroes… well, they’re the protagonists, and it’s about time.

Even better is just how faithful it is to the comic from the ’80s, where anyone could die, Deadshot and Captain Boomerang hated each other, and Amanda Waller wasn’t just Lana with a government job. Here Waller is overweight and not in the mood for anyone’s crap, firmly establishing the creative team here gets what makes the comics great. Batman and the Joker are in this, but the hunt for a dirty bomb is a side plot to what Task Force X is getting up to elsewhere.

In fact the overall tone of the proceedings is surprisingly R-rated; there’s profanity, rude hand gestures, a handful of topless scenes albeit no actual nudity, plenty of fatalities complete with blood, and even a sex scene. The feel is very much one of a mid-budget action movie from the ’80s, and that’s no bad thing.

The animation is quite good; I’m not the biggest fan of the semi-anime style recent Batman movies have adopted, and the faux shaky-cam in some scenes is a little off-putting. But overall, the action is well-done. It helps that the movie itself clocks in at less than seventy-five minutes before credits, and there are so many plot elements in play it doesn’t have time to get bogged down or start getting stupid. There are action movies in theaters right now that could take notes from the narrative economy on display here.

Finally, it resolutely refuses to end on a sequel hook, and you know what? Good. I wouldn’t mind a sequel, but at the same time, if this stays a single, self-contained story, it’ll still be a fun, satisfying take on a DC classic. The Blu-Ray, which was released two weeks after the digital version, is mostly worth picking up for the detailed commentary with several key staff discussing creative and technical challenges; it’s pretty in-depth and a fun listen. You also get a few fluff features, including a half-hour one about Arkham that’s a fun little recap of the least competently run penal facility in fiction.

In short, throw your money at this one; the team behind it cared enough to make it worth your time.

Filed under: GammaSquad Tagged: ANIMATION, Batman, Batman: Assault on Arkham, DC COMICS, suicide squad

Rock bands inevitably get old and start to suck, but Weezer are an exceptional case of this. It’s not as if, since resurfacing from their post-Pinkerton hiatus back in 2001, they gradually turned into a less interesting, more pedestrian version of their younger selves (a la the Rolling Stones). They’ve intentionally become a total, aggressive affront to them, as if their entire post-millennial career has been one extended, James Franco-worthy performance-art stunt in baiting anyone whoever took them seriously. It’s hard to think of another band that has so eagerly created such a chasm between what they first presented themselves to be (in Weezer’s case, a Pavement that could sell records) and what they turned out to be (a Smash Mouth that sold even more). And that cognitive dissonance is weighing on the hearts and minds of old-school fans all the more heavily this year, as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Blue Album while bracing for the next inevitably disappointing chapter in the history of a band that long ago stopped writing great songs in favor of writing dumb songs about writing great songs.

It may be a complete coincidence that Matt Sharp is dropping his first proper Rentals album in 15 years smack dab in the middle of this fray, but it’s a welcome thrown-bone nonetheless for those who were first drawn to Weezer for their winsome underdog charm (which got pissed away forevermore sometime during the first talkbox solo on "Beverly Hills"). It’s hard to say if Sharp was solely responsible for the enduring greatness of Weezer’s first two albums (though he has taken the band to court to essentially prove as much), but it’s no exaggeration to suggest they were never the same after he left in '98. And where his solo vehicle the Rentals first surfaced as Weezer’s skinny-tied alter-ego—with breakout single “Friends of P” piggybacking on The Blue Album’s MTV momentum—it has since come to signify their complete anti-thesis: a sly psych-pop outfit that, despite an evermore ambitious scope and consistency of vision, remains humble and easily approachable in demeanor. 

The Rentals have always been an opportunity for Sharp to play fantasy camp with a rotating cast of players, whether presenting the band as Cold War-relic Soviet tech-pop technicians on 1995’s debut/faux-comeback Return of the Rentals, or rounding up a leisure cruise of Britpop all-stars for 1999’s Seven More Minutes. However, Lost in Alphaville follows an extended, and only sporadically productive period of hibernation, marked by a somber country-rock-inspired song cycle issued under his own name in 2004 and a collection of ambient, piano-based instrumentals released as the Rentals in 2011 to benefit victims of the Tohoku earthquake and tsumani (but, understandably, wholly lacking in the sugar-buzzed pop generally associated with the brand). So when Sharp sings “it’s time to come home” on Lost In Alphaville’s splendorous opener of the same name, he’s not just setting some nostalgic childhood scene of moms summoning their kids for supper—the synth swirls, morse-code melodic tics, and fuzz-covered chug practically serve as beacons for Sharp himself to return to his comfort zone. 

Once again, Lost in Alphaville reveals Sharp’s strengths as a casting director: moonlighting Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney lends the retooled Rentals some heretofore unrealized heft, while Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of honky-tonk harmony outfit Lucius capably provide the “oohs” and “ahhs” once supplied by everyone from that dog’s Rachel and Petra Haden to a pre-SNL Maya Rudolph. With the sunbeamed pop highs of “Traces of Our Tears” and “1000 Seasons”, Lost in Alphaville essentially plays like Return of the Return of the Rentals, and the glammed-up “Stardust” even winks in the direction of the Rentals’ biggest single while acknowledging the scourge of one-hit-wonderdom (“Once, I had a friend/ A short-term friend/ But now she’s gone”). But all this retro-gazing isn’t just some convenient ploy to reintroduce this band to a '90s-nostalgic marketplace; as Sharp has admitted, Lost in Alphaville was inspired by a return to the Barcelona locale that informed the hedonistic narratives of Seven More Minutes and, as such, is the most pensive, sobering album in the Rentals’ canon, establishing a tension between the band’s gleaming futurist fantasias and a festering, dreams-unfulfilled ennui.

Accordingly, Sharp’s voice has turned less assertive, more conversational with age, not so much a singer anymore as a sigher. But while he wisely defers to Wolfe and Laessig to deliver the album's biggest hooks, his unwavering wistfulness still has a way of flattening out Lost in Alphaville’s emotional terrain and lending the album a steady-to-a-fault temperament, to the point where there’s little difference in impact between a downcast new-waved ballad like “Damaris” and an orchestro-rock gallop like “Irrational Things” (which imagines an alternate universe where Mercury Rev scored the Peach Pit After Dark gig on "90210" instead of the Flaming Lips). Fortunately, the album’s closer, “The Future”, proves to be something more than just another sci-fi-themed spin on the Rentals’ patented robo-rock. Breaking down his usual schematic into a flurry of backward loop effects, propellered percussion, and Dirty Projections-style vocal acrobatics, the track sees Sharp capping off an album that’s very much about looking back—upon his life and his band’s past sonic signatures—with a bold step into the unknown.

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Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment has officially announced and detailed its upcoming 40th anniversary Blu-ray release of Mel Brooks's Young Frankenstein (1974). The release will be available for purchase on September 9th....

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It turns out Star-Lord’s mom was far better at mix tapes than we realized. Awesome Mix #1, better known as the Guardians Of The Galaxy soundtrack, has hit #1 on the charts.

Especially notable is that it’s a first, according to the Hollywood Reporter:

The blockbuster film’s set, subtitled Awesome Mix Vol. 1, sold 109,000 copies in the week ending Aug. 10 (up 83 percent), according to Nielsen SoundScan. It debuted a week ago at No. 3 with 60,000.

Guardians of the Galaxy is an especially notable No. 1 album because it is the first No. 1 soundtrack where the whole album is composed of previously released songs. All of its tunes were released between the late 1960s and late 1970s, and most were chart hits on the Billboard Hot 100.

Probably helping things considerably is that it’s a pretty handy way to get those number one singles in the first place. If you want the downloads individually, you’ll either have to buy another collection of hits or you’ll have to steal them, which most people don’t want to do. Although it is adorable how Amazon tries to sell you the CD. “See? You even get the MP3s free! Please give us two extra dollars!”

Ironically, this collection of pop hits with no original music beat out that other collection of pop hits with no original music, Now 51. Yes, there are 51 of them.

So, Mr. Gunn, no pressure when picking the songs on Awesome Mix #2 or anything. None at all. But please share the pitch emails from music executives explaining that Star-Lord’s mom falling into a time warp and thus being a big fan of Flo Rida would be a great story beat. Until then, take us out, little Groot:

Filed under: GammaSquad Tagged: Guardians of the Galaxy, hits, Marvel, RECORD BREAKERS, soundtracks

Over at Movoto, they have a bunch of neat maps that show which states are torrenting the most (the GUVMENT knows you’re downloading old episodes of Kojak, Florida), and what they’re torrenting. They “collected data about the location of seeding nodes for the top 300 most popular torrents, segmented across movies, television, and PC gaming,” which is a fancy way of saying Game of Thrones is really popular. It’s the most torrented show in 15 states — in second place, Penny Dreadful with seven.

Here’s the TV map.

And the one for movies.

The runner-up film for every state: just the sex scene from 300: Rise of an Empire. What can I say? America loves Eva Green’s awesome boobs, especially when they’re free.

Via Movoto

Filed under: TV Tagged: penny dreadful, TORRENTS, TORRENTS BY STATE

Blu-ray.com and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment are offering four members the opportunity to win a Blu-ray copy of Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man 2. One grand prize winner will receive an Amazon exclusive Electro Collector's Edition set and a poster signed by Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan and Marc Webb; three runners-up will receive a 3D Blu-ray combo pack. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 arrives on Blu-ray on August 19th....

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Kanye West’s tour DJ Million Dollar Mano said on Twitter today that he’s no longer working for the rapper. Mano has known Kanye for years and was one of the producers of “Lost In The World” on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Part of the reason he was fired may have to do with his frequent fuck-ups during live shows. A member of fan forum Kanye To The put together a funny supercut of Mano screwing up on tour, leaving Yeezy hanging during songs by unexpectedly stopping the music and forcing Ye to deal with awkward silence or playing the wrong song at the wrong time. Watch that video and read Mano’s tweets on his departure and his relationship with West below.

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