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Call of Duty: Black Ops and Mass Effect Composer Jack Wall Enjoys the Increased Competition of Today’s Gaming Industry
Jack Wall’s career as a video game composer is likely what most musicians dream of when they decide to get into the gaming industry. He’s crafted soundtracks for dozens of games on the planet since his 1998 start and is the only person trusted with scoring classic series like Mass Effect and the Call of Duty: Black Ops games. Sprinkle in titles like Myst III and IV, Jade Empire, The Mark of Kri, and the classic known as Disney’s Extremely Goofy Skateboarding, and Wall’s discography rivals any composer’s in terms of both success and variety. With a minute to breathe between the best-selling launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and the long-awaited release of the Mass Effect trilogy soundtracks on vinyl to accompany May’s Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, Wall spoke with SPIN to discuss ...
On TYRON, slowthai Looks in a Cracked Mirror
TYRON, the sophomore album of UK rapper Tyron Frampton—aka slowthai—takes the scathing perspective of his debut, Nothing Great About Britain, and turns it on himself. Even as he searches through a turbulent childhood and a sudden rise to fame for jewels of wisdom, slowthai keeps his brash satire and disregard for public standards. Also returning are his broad ear for production along with the diverse talents of Kwes Darko, Kelvin Krash, and SAMO. Ty enters the album as a familiarly chaotic figure: “45 SMOKE” is a hard-edged opener on a sinister-sounding beat reminiscent of the disembodied chanting on Big Sean’s “Control,” and he closes its first verse by declaring “The world is mine.” This much cockiness is to be expected from the artist who, since the release of his first album in 2019, h...
Finding Friends — Maybe Even Lovers — Through Music-Sharing Apps
By Larisha Paul At the start of 2020, 15-year-old Joey Khor spent her days anticipating the weekly meeting of her Malaysian high school’s choir club. Not for the practices where the group tried to perfect the setlist to their upcoming performances, but for the spontaneous moments when everyone suddenly broke into song. “It always sounded better when we were having fun and singing when we felt like it,” Khor told MTV News, reminiscing on belting out Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings” and Jessie J’s “Flashlight” with her peers. “When lockdown came, I remember thinking, what’s gonna happen now? There [would be] no times after school or at school to just have fun with people that enjoyed the same things as you.” As the world approaches the one-year anniversary of enacting lockdown protocols in response...
Foo Fighters, Rage Against the Machine, Iron Maiden Among Nominees for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Among the 16 nominees for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class of 2021 are some rock heavy hitters, including Foo Fighters, Iron Maiden, the Go-Go’s, Rage Against the Machine, Devo, New York Dolls and Todd Rundgren. Rounding out the nominees are Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, Tina Turner, Kate Bush, Chaka Khan, Carole King, Fela Kuti, LL Cool J and Dionne Warwick. Top vote-getters will be announced in May and inducted at a ceremony that will take place in Cleveland in the fall. There’s a 25-year-rule for eligibility; each nominee’s first single or album had to have been released in 1995 or earlier. Seven of the 16 acts on the ballot (Foo Fighters, the Go-Go’s, Iron Maiden, Jay-Z, Carole King, Fela Kuti, and Dionne Warwick) are appearing for the first time. Tina Turner ...
Feed My Frankenstein: Alice Cooper Isn’t Slowing Down
The big story on Alice Cooper, aside from the music (check the start to finish classic LP Love it to Death and the hit-heavy Best Of for starters) has always been theatrics. From his garage band days in the Spiders to his heyday in the ’70s and early ’80s, Alice Cooper was a bridge between rock ‘n’ roll and theater, and the band helped inspire and create heavy metal, punk and new wave. The idea of spectacle on stage isn’t a new one (Aristotle noted its importance in Poetics more than two millennia ago), but Alice always adds his trademark touch of shock and awe to immersive and fantastical effect. Though his touring schedule is already booked through the next decade, like the rest of us he’s sitting out the pandemic and waiting for the giant pause button on the world to be lifted. Alice fi...
Sonic Boom Announces Remix Album Almost Nothing Is Nearly Enough, Shares “On a Summer’s Day (Remix)”: Stream
In 2020, after a 30 year hiatus, Spaceman 3 co-founder Peter Kember revived his Sonic Boom moniker to share the album All Things Being Equal. Now he’s diving back into that world, announcing a new LP of ATBE remixes called Almost Nothing Is Nearly Enough. To herald the April 23rd release date, Kember has shared the lead single, “On A Summer’s Day (Remix)”. Almost Nothing Is Nearly Enough contains six reworked ATBE tracks, alongside two songs that had previously only been released in Japan: the title track and “Tick Tock”. According to a press release, Kember was inspired by Kraftwerk, Moroder, Blondie, and Eddy Grant to craft a sound both hypnotic and moody. Lyrically, he’s driven by age-old concerns about man’s inhumanity to our fellow man and the effects of techn...
Debating the Essential Hannibal Lecter
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Art is subjective. Music and movies aren’t about competition; they’re about artistic expression. Well, for those of you who know better than to believe those lies, welcome to another installment of Vs. This time, Justin Gerber, Clint Worthington, and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer debate over who played the best Hannibal Lector as Ridley Scott’s Hannibal turns 20 and Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs turns 30. Mind you, this piece originally ran in 2016. Justin Gerber: I grew up on Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal. It earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor. It gave his career a boost it desperately needed, and he’s been pretty much riding the waves ever since. He’s great. No question. However, there’s something about the laissez-faire performance of Brian...
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Rage Against the Machine, JAY-Z & Foo Fighters Among Finalists for 2021 Class
Rage Against the Machine, JAY-Z, and Foo Fighters among nominees for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2021 nominees Rage Against the Machine, JAY-Z, Foo Fighters, and Kate Bush are among the nominees for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2021 class. Other finalists include Chaka Khan, DEVO, Iron Maiden, The Go-Go’s, Carole King, New York Dolls, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, Fela Kuti, Mary J. Blige, Todd Rundgren, and LL Cool J. To be eligible for nomination, an individual artist or band must have released its first commercial recording at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. Seven of this year’s nominees are on the ballot for the first time, including JAY-Z, Foo Fighters, Iron Maiden, The Go-Go’s, Fela Kuti, Carole King, and Dionne Warwick. If Foo Fighters are elected, Dave Gro...
K-Pop Stars Eric Nam and Jae-hyung Park Promote Mental Health Awareness
Nam and Park have joined other Korean American K-pop artists in raising awareness about mental health beyond the K-pop community by publicly sharing their personal journeys. Nam moved from his hometown, Atlanta, to Seoul in 2011 and launched his music career after competing on a Korean music television show. A Boston College graduate, Nam said the racism he endured growing up in suburban Georgia left deep scars on him. He explains he was bullied and even spat on by a classmate. “It was one of the most degrading, embarrassing, infuriating moments of my life up until that point,” Nam recounts on the first episode of MINDSET, a paid podcast series he’s just launched to promote conversations about mental health and wellness. “And I think still to this day that is a topic that I never feel comf...
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Unveils 2021 Nominees
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2021 nominees on Wednesday (Feb. 10) morning, revealing the most gender-inclusive ballot in the Rock Hall’s history. Mary J. Blige, Kate Bush, Devo, Foo Fighters, The Go-Go’s, Iron Maiden, Jay-Z, Chaka Khan, Carole King, Fela Kuti, LL Cool J, New York Dolls, Rage Against the Machine, Todd Rundgren, Tina Turner and Dionne Warwick are all on the 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot. Seven of those 16 acts feature women, with two of those women already in the Rock Hall: Carole King’s era-defining songwriting earned her Rock Hall entry in the non-performer category, and Tina Turner was previously inducted as part of the duo Ike & Tina Turner. Both, however, enjoyed blockbuster solo success, releasing seminal GOAT albums (King...
Country Queer Publisher On T.J. Osborne, Morgan Wallen & Moving the Genre Forward
The country industry’s response to those two developments was a tad surprising: Osborne was roundly supported, while Wallen was admonished and/or punished and/or dropped by his label, his booking agency, radio, the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music. The reaction is opposite of what would have been expected in the genre during a previous era. And that’s part of the reason that CountryQueer.com exists. The country culture is experiencing a major realignment, and — as Osborne addressed in the Time piece — the progressive and conservative wings of the industry and its fans are looking at the same issues through completely different lenses. “This is the kind of central question about American culture, and country’s place in it, that we’ve b...
Miley Cyrus Shows Off Sexy Pre-Show Video That Brings All the Boys to the Yard
But, for the record, Miley is perfectly happy being single. She proved it by posting a Hannah Montana throwback clip where teen Miley says, “I have no problem not having a boyfriend,” before cutting to footage from her TikTok Tailgate show in which she told the crowd, “I’m single now, you know, after COVID I’m ready.” Before you start mailing her out expensive Valentine’s Day gifts, though, read the caption on that tweet, in which MC clarifies, “Man. Being single sucks. All I ever do is WHATEVER THE F–K I WANT! Bahabahahahahabahahhahaha!” Watch the video below. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beaut...
