Culture
Music’s Last Great Sparks
Sparks have released a lot of albums across their five-decade career. Like, a lot of albums. There have been more than two dozen studio albums, a live album, and a chunk of compilations for good measure. It’s much more than just an impressive body of work, it’s a sheer marvel. It’s the kind of output that could only come from music lifers, whose dedication and artistic passion for pop music rivals the DNA bonds that tie together brother bandmates Ron and Russell Mael. Filmmaker Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) certainly knows this, which is presumably why his long-awaited and lovingly crafted documentary The Sparks Brothers (in theaters June 18) offers a detailed examination of the band’s career and lasting influence on musicians and creatives (the film’s tagline is “yo...
IPC, NGO reject bill seeking to empower NBC to regulate DSTV, Startimes’ tariffs
A bill seeking to regulate tariff of digital satellite service providers was on Wednesday rejected by several participants at the public hearing on the bill. The bill, sponsored by Unyime Idem (PDP, Akwa-Ibom), seeks to give the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the powers to regulate the tariff charged by digital television platforms. The bill proposed that NBC “Regulates and review through broadcasting codes the tariff being charged by the digital satellite television services broadcasting in Nigeria and other subscription policy for subscribers.” If passed, digital satellite service providers like DSTV, StarTimes, TSTV, GOTV and others will have their subscriber fees regulated. It was first introduced to the House on March 19, 2020 and was consolidated with other NBC bills on the ...
In Immortals Fenyx Rising, Gareth Coker Finally Got the Chance to Score an ‘Over-The-Top, Epic’ Video Game
The last time SPIN interviewed Gareth Coker, he was promoting Ori and the Will of the Wisps’ release on the Nintendo Switch. A mere 9 months later, he’s won the SXSW Gaming Award for Excellence in Score for his work (adding to the three awards he picked up from the first Ori game), been nominated for two others, and watched as the title itself earned some of the highest awards and nominations in the industry. Oh, and then he also made his premiere on the latest generation of consoles with Ubisoft’s Immortals Fenyx Rising, a hefty RPG with a unique art style, personality, and setting based in ancient mythology. With Immortals’ three DLCs now released and the game considered a success on virtually every front, we sat down with Coker via Zoom again to discuss the title. [embedded content] SPI...
Spotify launches Clubhouse competitor Greenroom
Spotify’s live audio app, Greenroom, formally launches today on iOS and Android, marking the company’s first real attempt at creating a social media platform. The social audio app, which is similar to Clubhouse, allows users to host live conversations about sports, music, and culture. Today’s launch doesn’t come with a marquee creator announcement or specific event planned, but instead, the company is taking the opportunity to encourage people to sign up and figure out how they’ll want to use the app. Some of its core functionality, a person close to the situation says, will eventually make its way to the actual Spotify app, so the team will monitor what happens in Greenroom closely. The app is built on Locker Room, which Betty Labs created and Spotify acquired in March. That app focused s...
Minister: Why Twitter, other platforms must register to operate in Nigeria
The Federal Government says its directive that Over the Top (OTT) and social media platforms operating in the country must register and obtain license to operate is in conformity with global trend. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said this on Friday when he featured on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) programme “Good Morning Nigeria’’ monitored by newsmen. NAN reports that the Federal Government recently suspended operations of Twitter and directed that all OTT and social media platforms operating in the country must register with Corporate Affairs Commission. The Federal Government said they must also apply for licensing with the National Broadcasting Commission ( NBC). NAN reports that OTT media service is a media service offered directly to viewers via t...
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Flexes the PlayStation 5’s Muscle to a Score By Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh
With the PlayStation 5 still only slightly easier to obtain than invitations to the Roc Nation Brunch, it’s not a huge surprise that most games releasing on the console these days are also coming to the PS4 as well. But Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, isn’t one of those titles — nor could it ever be. Not unlike April’s Returnal, the latest title published by Sony takes full advantage of the new hardware’s exclusive features, like the lightning-fast SSD and ridiculous haptic feedback on the DualSense controllers. But while Housemarque was venturing into some completely uncharted territory with their new IP, this week’s major release sees Insomniac Games (Spyro, Spider-Man, Resistance) return to the series that put them on the map. As the 16th Ratchet & Clank title, Rift Apart builds up...
Michelle Zauner’s Crying In H Mart Memoir Is Becoming a Movie
Last week, Michelle Zauner released her third album as Japanese Breakfast, which came a few months after the release of her stunning memoir, Crying in H Mart. Now, that book is coming to the big screen. MGM’s Orion Pictures has acquired the film rights to the New York Times best selling memoir. There is no release date set for the film. The film version of Crying in H Mart will be produced by Stacey Sher and Jason Kim and Japanese Breakfast will provide the soundtrack for the film. “It is a surreal thrill to have the opportunity to memorialize my mother in film, and I consider it of the highest honor to pursue that task alongside creative luminaries such as Stacey Sher, Jason Kim and Orion Pictures,” Zauner said in a statement. Last week, we spoke with Zauner about...
Nigerian government approves N9.2 billion premium for civil servants’ life insurance
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the sum of N9.2billion as premium to insurance companies that will manage the group life insurance for federal civil servants in the country. Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed revealed this when he briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the Council meeting which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on Wednesday. He said: “On behalf of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, I will like to report that council today approved the award of contract for the appointment of insurance companies for group life assurance for federal government employees, public servants, para-military and the intelligence community for the year 2021-2022 in the sum of N9, 248. 995, 907. “This premium is for a perio...
The Soundlings Left Their Mark All Over TV’s Top Soundtracks, Now They’re On to Video Games With Knockout City
What happens when you take the basics of dodgeball, add in some of what makes Rocket League so addicting, and mix it with a retro-futuristic setting with visuals similar to Overwatch? You end up with Knockout City, the latest title from Velan Studios (developers of Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit) and the industry giants at EA. Will it be the next casual fan favorite or major esports hit? Only time will tell, but the action-heavy combat dodgeball (or “dodgebrawl”) title certainly made a splash when it was released on May 21. But perhaps the thing that makes Knockout City stand out the most is the extremely unique soundtrack. While many games are happy to either license music from existing artists or hire a composer (or composers, if there’s budget) to create their own score for a game, ...
Nigerian government kicks as Twitter deletes President Buhari’s tweet
The Federal Government has kicked against Twitter that on Wednesday deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet that spoke of treating people in the “language they understand.” The Presidency questioned the role of Twitter in the secessionist agitation in the South-East following the social media’s deletion of a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari evoking the memories of the civil war to threaten “those misbehaving” in the region. The president had said in his series of tweets on his handle @mbuhari on Tuesday: “Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.” Twitter has now deleted th...
Anambra election: PDP aspirant urges delegates to shun monetary inducement
Dr Godwin Maduka, a major contender for the gubernatorial ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Nov. 6 election in Anambra has urged party delegates to shun financial inducement. Maduka, America-based medical practitioner-cum politician, made the call while addressing journalists on Sunday in Awka on the need for party delegates to cast their votes without fear or coercion. He advised delegates to shun monetary inducement and develop boldness to vote for a candidate who has the capacity to develop the state.a He said though he has enough money to buy delegates at any cost but saw an act as undemocratic and should be discouraged for the people to get a sound polity. “Our delegates should be political active and not be passive any more in affairs that concerns their generation ...
Guatemalan president says graft fighter biased, ahead of Harris visit
Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei criticized the country’s best-known graft prosecutor for what he said was a left-wing politicization of the fight against corruption, a view at odds with strong U.S. backing for his work. Speaking in an interview with Reuters late on Tuesday, Giammattei nonetheless expressed hope that a visit to Guatemala next week by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will produce shared strategies to create prosperity in rural areas prone to emigration. Harris, a Democrat, is in charge of Washington efforts to tackle the causes of mass migration from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, collectively dubbed the Northern Triangle, including a focus on corruption and poor governance that she says limit opportunities. There is a $4 billion U.S. aid package to the reg...