The Boys are back. Their oft-delayed eighth studio album called Hot Sauce Committee Part Two finally has a release date–May 3–and this week they dropped the lead single off it. “Make Some Noise” somehow manages to instill the same amount of funk they brought to the table in the 2004 classic “Ch-Check It Out.” Rock to the beat below. And after the break you’ll find the star-studded trailer for The Beastie Boys’ upcoming new short film Fight For Your Right Revisited. Danny McBride, Seth Rogen, Elijah Wood, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Jack Black, Rainn Wilson, Rashida Jones, Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson, Steve Buscemi, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon, Chloë Sevigny, and Will Arnett all make appearances. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and it will be made available for all to view this May.
Sony Style is a thing of the past. On April 1 Sony opened to the public the very first, totally redesigned Sony retail experience in Los Angeles and they’re calling–drumroll, please–the Sony Store. The press release details the new design quite nicely:
The new store was designed in collaboration with Klein Dytham architecture (KDa). It features a bright, open, inviting space, with products displayed on tables so that consumers can personally interact and engage with them like they would in a home environment. The layout of the store is flexible, with movable interior walls and changeable color schemes so that it can be adapted and reconfigured to highlight specific products, services, or content to engage and delight customers with fresh experiences each time they return.
The wide open store packs some really cool electronics, all made by Sony of course. Inside you’ll be able to interact with 3DTVs, 3D-capable Vaio laptops, PS3 games (with Move), digital cameras, Google TV, and so on and so forth. You’ll also spot the RayModeler, “a futuristic 360-degree display prototype that projects a 3D image that can be seen from all angles.” In the music section you can test out the Walkman and compare sound with Sony’s catalog of headphones; customers are allowed to test out the headphones on the Walkmans and their personal MP3 players. The TV section is walled with the latest and greatest Sony HDTVs and what’s neat is that every set’s price and specs are digitally labeled in the right-hand corner of each screen. And then there’s The Cube, a personal home theater dumped in the middle of the store.
The new Sony Store sounds like tech heaven, doesn’t it? Watch the video above to get a feel for the new design, and if you live in LA you can experience it first-hand by visiting the first rebranded store which is located at the Westfield Century City mall. In time all Sony Style retail locations will switch over to the new moniker, and the company plans on unleashing these new retail experiences nationwide and internationally after gaining customer feedback from the LA launch. Official PR after the break.
Fring is putting the finishing touches on its newest service for mobile users called Group Video Calls. That’s right–soon you’ll be able to initiate a video chat amongst you and three friends. After some beta testing is completed, Fring plans to roll out the new group vid chat service to Android and iPhone users. See it in action above!
The Sidekick returns from the dead on April 20. The ultimate tween messaging device will be made available through T-Mobile and it’ll cost an acceptable $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and new two-year contract with unlimited data. If you decide to go ahead with a low-cost data plan you’ll be forced to shell out $149.99 for the Android 2.2-powered, 4G capable device. More deets on the specs can be found right here. Hop after the break to watch some videos that demonstrate the handset’s super sleek capabilities.
So what’s gonna happen when the world ends in December 2012? The sky will darken and buildings will shatter apart, skyscraper chunks falling from above. Humans will seek refuge underground in the sewers and dance till the world ends. That’s all according to the latest music video from comeback queen Britney Spears. The former Mickey Mouse Club member autotunes her way through this banging club beat, just as she did in her previous single “Hold It Against Me.” While the lyrics scribed by Ke$ha are nothing to rave about, the Dr. Luke/Max Martin/Billboard-produced track provides a mighty fine sound and will fit in just fine at both American and European clubs. My only issue with the video is that we don’t get to see Britney’s dancing talents for more than a few seconds at a time; the choreography is fun, but every time she starts to get into a groove the shot cuts away to something else going on. I found this to occur even more so in her previous vid. With that said, the Ray Kay-directed video sits above so hit play and get ready to bounce-bounce-bounce. (Can you spot the transparent multitouch DJ controller?)
In between his debut album Asleep in the Bread Aisle and his upcoming sophomore attempt The Spaghetti Tree (due out later this year) Asher Roth collaborated with rapper Nottzz to produce the 8-track Rawth EP. “Gotta Get Up” is a track from that 2010 release, and this here is the corresponding music video. In it we stumble around a neighborhood with the “I Love College” rapper and now he’s donning a hobo-ish persona with his long blond locks and scraggly golden beard. Director Luke Tedaldi does a fine job at using unconventional filters and effects to warp Asher and his surroundings in cool ways. Check out the vid above, and download the Rawth EP for free right here.
French electro house producer David Guetta just released the first single off his upcoming, still untitled fifth studio album due out this summer. “Where Dem Girls At?” features his “Club Can’t Handle Me” partner Flo Rida and adds rising star Nicki Minaj to the mix. The result is nothing spectacular nor surprising from Guetta, but the bouncing bass and synth-y goodness should get you moving and that’s all that matters, right? Preview the track, then download it below.
This week Disney released a Tron: Legacy remix album containing remixes of the original movie tracks composed by Daft Punk. Though the electronic duo did not have a hand in putting together this re-release of sorts, many well-known artists contributed to it. The Glitch Mob’s fantastic remix of “Derezzed” is just one of the 15 tracks found on Reconfigured. Paul Oakenfold, The Crystal Method, Moby, Com Truise, and Pretty Lights also took turns at rehashing the original soundtrack. Full tracklist is after the break. Physical/digital copies available at those links. This remix album cannot come close to Daft Punk’s original creation, but for hardcore Tron and electronic dance club music fans this is something not to be glossed over.
In related Tron news, Tron: Legacy is now available on Blu-ray, DVD, and a bajillion other formats. Get home release details here.
Glee‘s Will Schuester has an album coming up, so the man’s gotta promote his solo debut with a nation-wide tour, right? His summer tour begins Saturday, June 18 in Minneapolis at the Orpheum Theatre, hits major cities like Philadelphia, Boston, New York, and San Diego, then wraps up Saturday, July 23 at LA’s Nokia Theatre. All tour locations and dates are listed after the break. Presales begin today for AMEX cardholders and tix go on sale for the general public on April 15 at 10AM. On tour Matt Morrison will perform songs from his upcoming self-titled album (which lands May 10), in addition to cover songs he’s performed on the FOX show. What’s even cooler is that he is getting local school glee clubs to vie to become his opening act; more details here.
Bonus! Look after the break to watch a Funny or Die video starring Morrison and his Glee co-star Jane Lynch.
Now that he’s no longer the Governator in real life, Arnold Schwarzenegger is ready to become Stan Lee-backed superhero The Governator in an upcoming animated TV series. Apparently Ah-nuld is prepared to bring this character to which he lends his voice not only to television but also to comic books and and film (and in 3D, mind you). Figure out whether or not you’ll be following Schwarzenegger’s career post-Terminator/political figure.
Exciting news, fans of stellar television! Today Netflix has nabbed exclusive rights to off-network reruns of the one of the most highly acclaimed shows on television. Mad Men is produced by Lionsgate TV, and according to Variety, Netflix has agreed to pay a license fee upwards of $1 million per episode to bring the show to its streaming subscriber base. All four seasons of Mad Men will hit the streaming service on July 27.
And in case you haven’t heard, AMC and Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner recently struck a deal to produce three more seasons of the period drama. Seasons five, six, and seven won’t find their way onto Netflix until their seasons have run their full course on the cable network.
Let’s get right to it, shall we? True Blood season 4 (known amongst fans as “Season of the Witch”) premieres Sunday, June 26 at 9PM; there will be 12 episodes in all. Curb Your Enthusiasm season 8 premieres Sunday, July 10 at 10PM; 10 episodes in all, some of which will take place in New York. The eighth and final season of Entourage premieres Sunday, July 24 at 10:30PM; after the shortened 8-episode run, watch out for the theatrical adaptation to follow.
