Inventive new web series ‘The Playlist’ breaks down the past, present and future of music and tech

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These days technology plays a big part in the production and progression of music. Don’t believe me? There’s a new web series out now that will help explain and entertain. It’s called The Playlist and it comes from the minds of G4’s Attack of the Show host Kevin Pereira and Musical Playtime segment producer Yaniv Fituci. The web show serves as a platform to educate fans of music across all genres about the fusion of technology, music, and pop culture as well as an interactive competition that will pit renowned musicians against each other to claim victory inside the “Audio Octagon.”

Episode 1, directed by Nick Tabri, is out today and it is comprised of five videos. Video DJ and turntablist Mike Relm (perhaps best known for his “Old Spice Remix” clip) explores the history of video mixing and tells how the art of VJing has become a worldwide phenomenon today. The other videos introduce the first two teams who will enter the Audio Octagon, namely video mixers Eclectic Method and Screenwerks. In addition to getting to know the players, you will also be acquainted with their DJ equipment that includes Pioneer’s DVJ-1000 and DJM-800 and Novation’s Dicer. And then there are the rules.  Field correspondent Kathryn Lyn explains that each team is given a playlist of 15 unique samples ranging from viral hits to video game sequences and over the course of three rounds a winner will be crowned based on the most creative use of the audio-visual clips. Viewers can voice their opinions and vote for the victor over Twitter. The battle between Eclectic Method and Screenwerks is coming soon.

With The Playlist, Pereira and Fituci intend to spark interest and discussion around the way modern technology is shaping the evolution of music and the pop culture scene. Over the course of several episodes sponsored by Pioneer DJ, The Playlist will cover a wide spectrum of musically-inclined technology like controllerism, chiptune, percussion, and MIDI. Sure, it’s cool to say you’ve seen the latest and greatest viral hits the Internet so generously offers; but wouldn’t it be even better to be informed about the people and technology that drive them?

Enter The Playlist. (Facebook / Twitter)

Video game developer Quantic Dream pushes performance capture to new heights; meet Kara

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At this year’s Game Developer’s Conference David Cage–lead developer at Quantic Dream, the studio behind the PS3 title Heavy Rain–screened a non-interactive video game demo that shows off the company’s advancements in performance-capture technology. Quantic Dream transformed actress Valorie Curry into an animated android by sticking 90 sensors on her face and capturing her full performance (voice and body movements) simultaneously. This makes for a consistance performance, explains Cage. It differs from James Cameron’s methods in Avatar in that it doesn’t require a camera to be attached to the actor’s head, plus it’s faster and more affordable.

The seven minute demo is embedded above; it’s called Kara and it tells a short, surprisingly emotional story about a female android who slowly becomes self-aware. Cage makes it clear that Kara is nothing more than a tech demo and that the next game from Quantic Dream will not include any elements from it. This is rather unfortunate because I’ve fallen in love with the android and want to explore what’s next. The moral of this story, though, is that Cage’s studio is leading the way for video games to tell gorgeous, cinematic, believable stories.

[Via PlayStation; Engadget]

Microsoft shows off future tech including remote applications, transparent displays, augmented reality mirrors, and lag-free touch screens

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The inventive minds at Microsoft Research and the company’s Applied Sciences Group are experimenting with advanced technologies to come up with new ways of computing and communicating for the future.

First up is “IllumiShare”, a camera-projector pair that enables remote people to share any physical or digital object on any surface. As you can see in the demonstration embedded above, with IllumiShare a simple Skype conversation can be transformed into an interactive workspace that can be manipulated by one or more persons. The applications for this are endless; this tech can allow for remote gameplay, as well as introduce new methods of remote teaching.

Jump after the break for more! Continue reading Microsoft shows off future tech including remote applications, transparent displays, augmented reality mirrors, and lag-free touch screens →

Google+ goes under the knife to provide a more streamlined experience

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The next time you login to Google’s social network things will look entirely different. That’s because the search giant has gone ahead and updated Google+’s interface practically from head to toe. You’ll notice that the static icons that used to live up top have been replace by a dynamic ribbon of applications that are now located to the left. Apps can be organized to your liking and quick actions can be accessed simply by hovering your cursor over them. Your list of Google+ and Gmail Chat buddies can be exposed to the right in a move that mimics Facebook’s sidebar. Other big changes include the Explore app that shows you “what’s hot” and trending on the network and Hangouts now has its very own page dedicated to informing you about open Hangouts you might be interested in joining. The new version of Google+ is currently rolling out to all members of Google’s social spot, so log in and explore the alterations and new additions today. After the break there’s a video highlighting it all.

[Via Google] Continue reading Google+ goes under the knife to provide a more streamlined experience →

Teaser trailer: Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Bruce Willis in sci-fi action thriller ‘Looper’

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Fans of time travel, here’s an coming movie to keep on your radar.

In the futuristic action thriller Looper, time travel will be invented – but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past, where a “looper” – a hired gun, like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) – is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good… until the day the mob decides to “close the loop,” sending back Joe’s future self (Bruce Willis) for assassination.

Joining Gordon Levitt (Inception) and Willis (Die Hard) are Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, and Jeff Daniels. Looper is written and directed by Rian Johnson (Brick). In theatres September 28. A video after the break features Gordon-Levitt and Johnson explaining the freakishly intriguing premise. Continue reading Teaser trailer: Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Bruce Willis in sci-fi action thriller ‘Looper’ →

Bryan Fuller opens up about ‘Munsters’ reboot ‘Mockingbird Lane’

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In a recent interview with EW, Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller shed light on his most recent TV project Mockingbird Lane. Here are some choice quotes from the extensive interview that can be read in full right here.

Fuller on the inspiration behind the Munsters reboot: “It started when I was at the Tim Burton exhibit in New York and he had all these monster family portraits. And I thought there should be a show about a family of monsters. But any show about a family of monsters is going to be calling back to the original show about a family of monsters. We are reinventing The Munsters because if we didn’t everybody would just say, “You’re ripping off the Munsters!” So why not just make it official?”

On why he decided to change the name of the show from The Munsters to Mockingbird Lane: “The script is such a dramatic departure from the tone and style of the original show. If we continued to call the show The Munsters, people are just going to to think we’re doing The Munsters. We’re doing a reinvention and re-imagination of this property. I love the Universal monsters. I love The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man, The Wolfman, Phantom of the Opera, The Mummy. There’s so many great characters we can run through this metaphor of family storytelling that it just felt it was ripe to do as a one-hour dramedy. Having all those elements to play with, the toy box is really, really full.” (Note: the title is a direct reference to the Munsters’ address: 1313 Mockingbird Lane.)

On what viewers can expect in the pilot: “There’s some great stories going forward in the series. Any story you can tell onParenthood we can run through a Universal monster prism and tell it in a very twisted, off-kilter way. What I love about the pilot story is it’s about a family who loves each other and they have a child [Eddie, the werewolf] with a disability and they’re trying to craft a path for that child so he can have a happy life — they just happen to be monsters. And, unlike in the original, we’re going to see our monsters do monstrous things.”

Fuller’s grand vision for the show: “We want this show to be an American Harry Potter. To have that sense of a magical world that you get to go to with your family and find stories told in a fantastical way that are instantly relatable. It’s an American Horror Story that the whole family can watch.”

Since the pilot is still being tweaked, no actual footage has been released from Mockingbird Lane…until now, that is. EW got their hands on a still that reveals the Munsters‘ mansion. “We wanted [the mansion] to have feeling of the original,” Fuller comments. “We wanted a house in the neighborhood that children would walk past faster than other houses.” The image looms above.

Mockingbird Lane, starring Eddie Izzard as Grandpa, comes to TV this fall on NBC.

[Via EW]

‘The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman developing heist drama for AMC

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The ratings boon that is AMC’s The Walking Dead isn’t enough for Robert Kirkman, the comic book writer and executive producer behind the zombie hit. He is preparing to bring a new series to the network based on another one of his graphic novels called Thief of Thieves. Per Deadline, this new comic “centers on master thief Conrad Paulson who, while attempting to reconcile with his estranged wife and son, vows to walk the straight and narrow, only to discover he’s completely addicted to the thrill of stealing. Now he must feed his addiction by stealing only what has been stolen, as the “Thief of Thieves.”

Says Kirkman: “Much like The Walking Dead brought horror to television in a unique and groundbreaking way, I feel Thief of Thieves can do the same thing for heist stories, showing the humanity of all the characters, including the criminals.” Unlike The Walking Dead, Theif of Thieves is “going to be very grounded in the real world,” Kirkman spilled to EW. “No zombies, no space aliens, no superheroes. It’s just going to be real human characters doing somewhat horrible things to each other.”

Kirkman will executive produce alongside fellow Walking Dead collaborators Charles Eglee (The Shield, Dexter) and David Alpert. If AMC picks up the show, Eglee will also serve as showrunner. More as this story develops.

[Via Deadline]

FOX pulls ‘Breaking In’ from the schedule, goodbye Contra Club

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After five weeks of being on the air, FOX is pulling the Christian Slater comedy Breaking In from their schedule. New Girl repeats will fill in the Tuesday night at 9PM time slot through May. FOX says that the remaining eight episodes of Breaking In will air “at a later date,” likely this summer.

So what happened? Poor ratings, obviously. After being cancelled last year, FOX decided to resurrect Breaking In and use it as a midseason player and squeeze it with their other quirky Tuesday night comedies New Girl and Raising Hope. The show’s most recent airing attracted a meager 2.6 million viewers and scored a low 1.3 rating in the coveted 18-49 adult demo. Simply put, the newfound workplace comedy didn’t spark interest and couldn’t hold onto the audiences who watch the two comedies that precede it on the night.

Having been a fan from the first season, I must admit that the revamp the show went under (namely, going from a break-in-of-the-week to a more typical workplace comedy) hurt the show creatively. Switching formats was risky and in the end didn’t help the show find the spark it desperately needed to flourish in the ratings. Though season one was a sleeper, it did strike a chord due to the fun and wacky dynamics of the characters, three of which departed the show for season two (Odette Annable’s hottie Melanie, Michael Rosenbaum’s douchey Dutch, and Trevor Moore’s master of disguise Josh). The addition of Megan Mullally and British hottie Erin Richards added a nice kick to the Contra Club, but ultimately their roles in the show diminished the influence so effortlessly executed by the hilarious Christian Slater. His character Oz dominated the first season. Once Mullally entered the picture and took over as Contra boss, Oz’s mystery and intrigue rapidly dissipated and he just became “one of the guys.”

And so in the end, even though the ratings decline might not have been affected by it, I believe that it was a poor decision to drastically change the dynamic of the show. The antics of Breaking In will be missed. As the old saying goes, we’ll always have season one.

HBO grants ‘Game of Thrones’ a third season

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No surprise here. Today HBO made it official that its highly rated and praised fantasy series Game of Thrones will return for a third season in 2013. Like the two seasons before it, the next one will also consist of ten episodes. What’s different, however, is that ten episodes isn’t enough time for the show to tell the entirety of A Storm of Swords, the third book in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire book series. So the tale will be told over the course of two seasons–that is, if Thrones lives on to see a fourth season (and it most certainly will). Martin confirms on his blog that he will pen the script for season three episode seven already titled “Autumn Storms.”

HBO president Michael Lombardo commented on today’s not surprising but nevertheless great news. “Series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss raised our expectations for the second season – and then surpassed them. We are thrilled by all the viewer and media support we’ve received for the series, and can’t wait to see what Dan and David have in store for next season.”

Game of Thrones airs Sunday nights at 9PM on HBO.

FOX renews ‘Glee’, ‘New Girl’ & ‘Raising Hope’

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Great news comes your way today from our friends at FOX. Tuesday night comedies Glee, New Girl, and Raising Hope have been renewed for a fourth, second, and third season, respectively.

Fox president Kevin Reilly: “Over the past season, New Girl has become the hottest new appointment series for young adults; Raising Hope has established itself as one of the smartest and most unique offbeat comedies on television; and Glee has continued its success as a genre-defying, global cultural phenomenon. All three of these comedies add a fresh and distinctive flavor to our Tuesday nights, and I’m really happy to bring them back to our air next season.”

Bringing back Glee is a no-brainer, New Girl started off hot continues to buzz, and Raising Hope has found its groove. These shows join the previously renewed Bones and will find a spot on FOX’s schedule next season. Still no news on whether or not the network plans to bring back the funny but ratings-downer Breaking In.

Celebrate the good news with Fat Schmidt & Rihanna after the break!! Continue reading FOX renews ‘Glee’, ‘New Girl’ & ‘Raising Hope’ →

Music videos: Drake – “Take Care” (Featuring Rihanna) & “HYFR” (Featuring Lil Wayne)

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Drake has released not one but two music videos featuring songs off his second studio album Take Care. Embedded above is the clip for the very popular radio banger “Take Care” and it brings the Canadian rapper together with featured guest Rihanna. Director Yoann Lemoine (Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”) goes the artsy route and clashes an intimate Drake and Rihanna coupling with slo-mo shots of a bull, a bird, and snowy mountaintops. After the break you’ll find the music video for the more upbeat “HYFR”, which stands for Hell Yeah F**king Right. Featured artist Lil Wayne and other Cash Money members join Drake as he celebrates his Jewish heritage. Continue reading Music videos: Drake — “Take Care” (Featuring Rihanna) & “HYFR” (Featuring Lil Wayne) →

G.O.O.D. Friday: Kanye West drops single “Mercy” featuring Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz (Also inside: DJ Khaled-assisted “Theraflu”)

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Mr. West is in the building. And so are his record label mates. Today Kanye West dropped the first official single off his upcoming album that promises to bring together the artists that are housed under his Getting Out Our Dreams record label. The track is titled “Mercy” and it features Big Sean who is Finally Famous and rising rappers Pusha T and 2 Chainz. Much like his previous G.O.O.D. Friday releases, ‘Ye gives ample time to his featured guests before popping with his own hard verses. The beat literally explodes when ‘Ye puts his grill to the mic. The reggae infused chorus is sampled from Super Beagle’s Dust a Sound Boy. Take a listen below, and download “Mercy” at the iTunes link provided. The G.O.O.D. Music compilation album–with raps and croons from other G.O.O.D. artists like Kid Cudi, John Legend, Common, Mr. Hudson, and Cyhi the Prynce–is expected to come out this spring.

Download: Kanye West – Mercy (Featuring Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz)

[audio: Kanye West – Mercy.mp3]

BONUS! Yesterday Kanye leaked a slick new track called “Theraflu” produced by Hit-Boy and featuring DJ Khaled and DJ Pharris. You’re going to want to hear this one, too. West goes hard and gets some things off his chest, to say the least. The audio is embedded after the break, along with a download link and the racy, hilarious George Condo designed artwork. Continue reading G.O.O.D. Friday: Kanye West drops single “Mercy” featuring Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz (Also inside: DJ Khaled-assisted “Theraflu”) →