What Happened, Miss Simone? is the story of legendary singer and activist Nina Simone. Directed by Academy Award-nominated Liz Garbus (Killing In The Name), it’s an authorized documentary – made in cooperation with Simone’s family and close colleagues, so expect a lot of never-before-heard recordings, rare archival footage and her best-known songs. It has a release date set for June 26, so mark it down.
Rival Sons debut a monstrous music video for “Electric Man”
Rival Sons have debuted the music video for their latest single Electric Man. The song is taken from their latest album Great Western Valkyrie out in June 2014 via Earache Records. They remain the only band to have 2 #1 Rock Radio hits in Canada without having a Billboard Top 100 hit.
RUSH Drummer Neil Peart Has Chronic Tendonitis, Next Tour Is Likely The Last Tour
Nobody is really sure if Rush’s next tour would be the last time the group would ever go out on the road, but certainly it’ll be the final time the band will do a tour this size. Guitarist Alex Lifeson has revealed to Global News that drummer Neil Peart has serious tendonitis and perhaps a new studio album is in their future.
“I have mixed feelings about it. In one way I feel relief – I think 40 years is a long time to be touring the way we tour.
“I still love playing. But in Neil’s case, for example, his job is really tough. Playing the way he does is very, very difficult on his body. He has chronic tendonitis in his arms and he’s had problems with his shoulders.
“It’s getting to the point, no matter how much we love doing it, that it’s much more demanding and much more difficult.
We’re not finished as a band. We still talk about recording.
Who knows, there may be an opportunity in the future to do not a big tour, but a series of concerts … like a week in Massey Hall or Radio City Music Hall.
Ged and I are just itching to get back into writing. He just revamped his studio, and he’s not a tech kind of studio guy. He doesn’t know how probably even one per cent of that stuff works.
But he’s had this renaissance of being a musician and wanting to play and study more — it’s really inspiring to see. When things slow down we’ll start to do some writing, for whatever purpose. We’ve always talked about doing some soundtrack work.”
‘Assembled!’, A Pop Chart Lab Art Print Mapping Which Avengers Appear in Individual Issues Of The Marvel Comics
Avengers, infographically assemble! Pop Chart Lab have brought together a nigh-infinite gauntlet of Earth’s greatest heroes in this mighty mapping of which Avengers appear in EVERY individual issue of the eponymous comic book series.
From #1 in September 1963 all the way through the “final” chapter in April 2015—that’s 583 issues in all—this chart of champions visually tracks (via 82 hand-drawn, heroic head icons) the full membership of every iteration of the esteemed super-squad. Featuring everyone from A-list legends like Captain America and Iron Man to forgotten footnotes like Gilgamesh and Dr. Druid, this titanic undertaking is a testament to the enduring power of Marvel’s premiere team. Excelsior!
(Addendum for die-hard fans: Please note that this roll call is restricted to official, full-time members of the main team only. This means: no reserves, no substitutes, no backups, no probationary trainees, no hangers-on, no Dark-, no Secret-, no Young-, no Pet-, no West Coast, and DEFINITELY no Great Lakes—sorry, Dinah-Soar!)
Each print is signed and numbered by the artists, and just might be the greatest poster ever.
Ever Wonder How Do Draft Picks Get Personalized Jerseys So Fast? Here You Go
Since 2012 the N.F.L. has added a special touch to draft day: It personalizes the jersey given to each first-round selection. But how do they do it so fast?
“After a team makes its first-round pick…workers from Stahls’, a company that specializes in personalizing sports gear that is hired by Nike, then jump into action. In advance, they made nameplates for each of the 30 prospects at Radio City in the color scheme that matches each of the 32 teams’ jerseys, or 960 nameplates in all.”
David Letterman’s Very FIRST Top 10 List
The very first Top 10 List? “Things that almost rhyme with peas.” You can watch it before. Speaking of the list, Letterman’s fictional Top 10 Office has been located in 11 different cities. The first was Milwaukee, followed by Lebanon, Pa.; Lincoln, Neb.; Oklahoma City; Omaha, Neb.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Tahlequah, Okla.; Oneonta, N.Y. (the last Late Night home office); Sioux City, Iowa (the first Late Show home office); Grand Rapids, Mich.; and the current city, Wahoo, Neb. Incidentally, Nebraska has hosted the most home offices, with a total of three.
https://youtu.be/gKjBNuGypnw
Kobalt’s ambition to monetise 1.5 billion people over the next six months
Kobalt founder and CEO Willard Ahdritz has laid out ambitious plans for his company over the next six months, from expanding into new territories to helping drive a $30 billion industry.
Ahdritz told Billboard that Kobalt has “grown 40% per annum on average for the past 10 years”, with a 98.5% client retention rate despite avoiding lock-in terms.
Looking ahead at the next six months, the exec said: “My target is to increase the number of people we are able to monetise from 400 million to 1.5 billion people. If we as an industry can get this right, we should be able to double the industry’s total revenue from $15 billion to $30 billion. That is what we are targeting.”
Via Music Week
adidas Partners with Spotify to Release First of its Kind Running App
adidas has partnered with Spotify to launch adidas go, the first running app that uses iPhone’s accelerometer to instantly match a runner’s favorite music to their workout.
adidas go calculates the user’s stride rate to automatically identify and play tracks with matching beats per minute from Spotify’s extensive music library. This brings runners a unique and intuitive way to improve their running experience with the perfect music to match their workout.
“For many people having the right music playing while you run can provide the perfect boost of energy to enhance your running experience,” said Adrian Leek, General Manager of adidas Running. “adidas go lets your energy level control the music that plays during your run, so you’re always in control. For the first time, instead of runners listening to music, music will listen to runners.”
adidas go also allows runners to effortlessly expand their running soundtrack to explore new music on the go. The app intuitively streams Spotify tracks that match the runner’s interests based on their preferred playlists, artists and genres without having to assemble playlists before they head out
Once a workout is complete, users have the chance to review and save their distance, time, pace and adidas miCoach Runscore as well as the new music they’ve experienced to add to their collection. Users can then share their results on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
adidas go will be available for iOS only via the Apple App Store, with support for devices from iPhone 4Smodels or later beginning April 10. When opening the app for the first time, users enter a 7-day Spotify Premium trial. Users can either pick workout playlists from their existing preferences or select from a number of proposed playlists that adidas provides. After the trial expires there is a choice between upgrading to Spotify Premium and using their local music library.
The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Jim Reid On Shyness
You’ve played a few gigs for the 30th anniversary tour in the U.K. already and you’re getting ready for Canada and the States. Do you notice any differences between the U.K. crowds and the North American ones?
Generally speaking, an audience is pretty much the same the world over. You’re standing in front of a bunch of people that hopefully have bought your records and seem to know what you’re all about. Obviously, the longer you’ve been around, the friendlier the audience is.
Back in ’85, during the Psychocandy times, it wasn’t necessarily like that. There was a lot of hostility from the audience because, basically, the Mary Chain grabbed people by the throat. Live, it was quite aggressive. We were quite shy people so the only way we could think to do it was to get pretty fucked up on stage, which made it all a bit chaotic. It wasn’t “show business,” put it that way. A lot of people had heard the hype and had been coming along out of pure curiosity. You certainly weren’t standing in front of an audience that you already had in the bag. You had to win them over. We were not very good at doing that.
How have you changed as a performer over the years?
I’ve come to terms with what I can and can’t do. But back in those days, I felt as if I just didn’t have what it took, andthat was a lot of the reason I would get very, very drunk or take drugs on stage. It’s because I just never felt good enough. I used to want to be Iggy Pop but I couldn’t — I was just too crushed with shyness. It’s not easy for me. I don’t talk to the audience and I hope at this stage of the game, people know that I’m not being aloof and I’m not being rude. I just focus on the songs and by doing that, I think I enjoy it now more than I ever have.
Via Spin
