Beastie Boys
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What's on TV this week: 'Beastie Boys Story' and 'Ghost in the Shell'
This week Apple TV+ adds its Spike Jonze-directed Beastie Boys documentary, and Netfix streams season one of the latest Ghost in the Shell series.
Apple TV+ posts a full trailer for 'Beastie Boys Story'
With SXSW 2020 canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak, Apple is hyping its upcoming Beastie Boys documentary with a nearly three-minute trailer posted tonight on YouTube. Acquired at Sundance, the documentary promises to have "Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz tell you an intimate, personal story of their band and 40 years of friendship."
Apple TV+ snags Spike Jonze's documentary on the Beastie Boys
Apple TV+ is about to venture into uncharted territory for the service: music documentaries. Apple has acquired Beastie Boys Story, a documentary co-produced by the remaining two Beastie Boys (Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz) and directed by friend and collaborator Spike Jonze. The movie will follow the stories of Ad-Rock, MCA and Mike D both as a band and as close pals. It premieres online April 24th, although it'll come to some IMAX theaters for a "limited engagement" on April 3rd.
YouTube and Universal Music Group are remastering old music videos
YouTube is perhaps the single biggest public repository of music videos, but many are bit outdated, with visuals and audio designed for old TVs with single speakers, and others that could use a bit of an upgrade too. Many videos from major artists will soon look and sound much better though, as YouTube and Universal Music Group are remastering almost 1,000 of them "to the highest possible standards."
The Queue: The Frenzy of Patch 5.3
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Matthew Rossi has upgraded his gear and is now waiting for the first night of raiding in 5.3 to discover what got broke. I have this weird thing where, if I see a lot of people doing something (like heroic scenarios or the new Battlefront: Barrens stuff) I tend to say "Eh, I'll wait until the furor has died down a bit" before I take part as well. So yesterday, I did a fun interview, logged on to upgrade all my gear with the 3000 valor I had saved up, then ran Black Temple for a bit before logging off. I don't know if it's simple obstinacy or simply the knowledge that all of this stuff will be here for at least a couple of months and there's no hurry to see it all right now. Anyway, on to your questions. Thieren said: Also, since we're not quoting the Beastie Boys tomorrow's Queue should feature the Sabotage video. I went with Intergalactic instead.
Smule launches AutoRap for iOS and Android, Engadget's editors drop some mad beats (video)
Sure, we're often mistaken for some of hip-hop's illest emcees in our day-to-day lives, but the sad truth is that Engadget's editorial team could use a little help with our flow. Thankfully, technology has come to the rescue, yet again -- this time in the form of AutoRap, the latest app from the people who brought you such mobile blockbusters as I am T-Pain and Songify. Those who've spent time with either of the aforementioned apps know what to expect from this latest addition to the Smule family: talk or rap into your iPhone or Android device, tap the button, and then wait for the magic. AutoRap will go to town, or as Smule puts it: "turn[ing] speech into rap and correct[ing] bad rapping." Talking and rapping are the two primary modes here. With the former, you simply speak into your phone, and the app chops your voice and buries it in a whole mess of autotuney goodness. There's a pretty broad handful of songs at present, including 30 premium tracks from the likes of Snoop Dog, the Beastie Boys, Outkast and Kid Cudi -- naturally, if you want access to those, you're gonna have to pony up some cash, or earn some credits doing things like watching instructional videos or filling out auto insurance quote forms. The free tracks mostly get the job done, however.
SEC sides with Beastie Boys' Mike D, says AT&T must allow shareholder vote on net neutrality
Michael Diamond may be best known as Mike D of the Beastie Boys, but he's also an AT&T shareholder, and he's now played a central role in forcing a shareholder vote on net neutrality. He, along with his wife Tamra Davis and John P. Silva of Silva Artist Management previously submitted a proposal to AT&T arguing that shareholders should be allowed to vote a resolution that recommended the company "publicly commit to operate its wireless broadband network consistent with network neutrality principles." AT&T unsurprisingly rejected that proposal, stating that it would "directly interfere with its network management practices," but the SEC has now stepped in and said that net neutrality has become a "significant policy consideration," and that it can no longer be excluded from shareholder ballots. As Bloomberg Businessweek notes, companies can challenge the SEC's findings in court, although it remains to be seen if AT&T or other carriers will take that step. No further word from Mike D on the matter, so we'll take this opportunity to share another important message of his after the break.[Image credit: Fabio Venni / Wikimedia Commons]
Rock Band Weekly: Beastie Boys, Heart, James Brown, Rufus
Next week's Rock Band DLC is all over the place, featuring a diverse variety of artists covering a wide spectrum of musical tastes. It's like Harmonix's DLC offering hit the shuffle button. If you're super bad, head on past the break for details.
Upcoming DJ Hero 2 DLC dares to mix Funky Cold Medina
Activision has announced three more weeks' worth of DJ Hero 2 DLC. And, in keeping with the concept of the game, it's a pretty eclectic mixture. Today, you'll be able to download a track mixing The Pixies' "Debaser" and The Prodigy's "Invaders Must Die," and a track that combines the Beastie Boys' "Body Movin'" with Lenny Kravitz's "Rock and Roll Is Dead." Well, is it dead or is the body movin'? On December 14, an "Old Skool" pack will include combinations of the Fat Boys and Mantronix, Tag Team and 45 King, and Beastie Boys with Tone Loc. We're a bit worried about that last one, as we'd be terrified of the side effects after changing the composition of the Funky Cold Medina. It's volatile on its own! On December 21, the promised Linkin Park remix DLC will be available. We're listin' all the DLC after the break.
Obama, Palin, others playable in NBA Jam
What, you expected any less? Yes, of course various political and cultural icons will be showing up in EA's just released reboot to NBA Jam. ESPN revealed as much in a recent interview with the game's creative director, Trey Smith, who said not only is former President Bill Clinton a playable character, but also the Beastie Boys, President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former VP Al Gore. A team of republicans is helmed by Miss Wasilla 1984 herself, Sarah Palin, with former President George W. Bush, former VP Dick Cheney and Arizona Senator John McCain backing her up. "Secret characters were on the list from day one," Smith said, adding "these secret characters and the element of surprise is something we hung our hats on very early." EA wouldn't reveal how said characters are accessed, but considering the game was released today for Nintendo Wii (with 360 and PS3 versions coming "in time for the holidays"), we'd suggest you start pounding away at buttons on that character selection screen right now.
Video: DJ Hero in a two-player turntable and guitar sabotage
Look Cochese, we know you've been wondering what DJ Hero live play looks like in a multi-player setup. So check the two-player turntable and guitar mashup after the break that pits the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" against the Foo Fighters' "Monkey Wrench." You'll be much sexier for doing so. Promise
WoW Moviewatch: Paul Revere
Any machinima that uses The Beastie Boys wins a few extra points in my book right off the bat, but it certainly helps that this video in particular is well choreographed. The video fit the music very well, and I think my only real complaint is that it started to drag on a little. To be truthful, I can't tell if that's the fault of the machinima or the fault of my fascinating inability to sit still for more than a few minutes if there are no explosions in my direct vicinity.I do like the fact that there was a story being played out using the lyrics of the song, rather than just a bunch of unrelated scenes cobbled together as we see so often. It's nice when someone sticks to a theme rather than flashing back and forth between random characters and scenes, only focusing on words that stick out in a song rather than the entire song. The jarring scene switches have their place, but this isn't it. It's good to see the author recognize that.The creator, CSid, mentioned that this was a test project and they'll be working on their own WoW web series. I haven't seen enough from CSid to make a prediction on its quality, but I can say that I plan on giving it a shot. The animation quality is there, and the ability to tell a story through WoW models is there. We'll see about the writing, I suppose. If you can't see Youtube at home for some reason, here's an alternate Vimeo link.Previously on Moviewatch ..
Declaration of Independence reading gets perfect vocal score in Rock Band 2
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Declaration_of_Independence_gets_100_vocals_in_Rock_Band_2'; Back in July, a GameSpy preview for Rock Band 2 claimed "the phoneme detection system used for the 'talkie' parts [in Rock Band] has been completely stripped and a new one has been put in place [for Rock Band 2]." Well, Harmonix definitely stripped out the old system, but it seems to have forgotten to put a new one in its place, as the new game seems to award perfect vocal points if it detects any noise during the "talkie" parts.We first became aware of this problem when we saw this video of a singer using a bunch of gibberish to pass the Beastie Boys' "So Whatcha Want" with a 100% rating on Expert difficulty. It's an impressive illustration of the faulty phoneme detection, but it's not wholly satisfying -- the singer is occasionally on rhythm and his voice occasionally does kind of match with the on-screen words. We wondered: how bad would a vocal performance have to be to fail this song?The answer, apparently, is "worse than a monotone recitation of the U.S. Declaration of Independence." As shown in the above video we've put together, even a dry reading of a 200+-year-old political treatise can be victorious in a Rock Band 2 vocal battle. Rest assured, there's no computer trickery going on here -- this video was taken as a direct feed from the Xbox 360 and has not been edited in any way. Now we only have one more question: when will Harmonix put in that improved phoneme detection system it's long been promising.
Future R4 firmware to sabotage clones, brick DSes?
It's a funny twist that the R4DS, a product used mostly for pirating games, has found itself now battling it out with counterfeits carts that have infiltrated the market, but we assume that's just how Chinese flashcart companies roll.Seeking to eliminate its knock-off competition, Team R4 has announced that as of September 15, it will release firmware that will only work on genuine R4 flashcarts, according to a statement translated by GBAtemp. As an added deterrent, users attempting to load the firmware on illegitimate carts could potentially damage their DS permanently, leaving their system unusable. What if you've unknowingly bought a fake R4 (for running homebrew software, of course) and brick your DS after trying to install the updated firmware? Team R4 has stated that it will not accept responsibility, advising that you contact your "unscrupulous" shop to complain. Thanks, Team R4!We understand that it's annoying to have all these companies drinking their milkshake, but is this really necessary? Won't this drive away potential R4 customers, not to mention people curious about experimenting with DS homebrew? Make sure to look through our (semi) ultimate homebrew guide if you're interested in finding flashcart alternatives that won't leave your system bricked.See also: Homebrew Glossary[Via GBAtemp]
Mix Master Mac
If you've been following all the good news about Sundance Film Festival over at Blogging Sundance and Cinematical, then you've probably already spotted the news that Mix Master Mike was ripping up some cool tunes at last night's party for The Beastie Boys' film that James Rocchi reviewed for Cinematical.James went to the party last night, and shot the picture accompanying this post with his camera. Check it out: Mix Master Mike, cutting with a PowerBook. Nice. James said the cuts were off the hook, and I was very jealous that he got the pass to go to the party, but didn't get a plus one for yours truly. Fortunately, James is an awesome guy and hooked me up with some nice Beastie Boys schwag that he scored at the party, as well as the picture and title for this post.ps—Beasties rule!
