Music

My Chemical Romance pay tribute to producer Doug McKean who has died aged 54

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1 year ago

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July 30, 2022

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My Chemical Romance have paid tribute to producer Doug McKean, who has died aged 54.

According to an obituary shared by the band, McKean passed away yesterday (July 29) from a brain haemorrhage.

In 2001, McKean moved to Los Angeles to work with producer Rob Cavallo, and went on to receive two Grammy Awards for his engineering work on Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’.

McKean also had a longstanding relationship with My Chemical Romance, engineering 2006’s ‘The Black Parade’ and its follow-up, 2010’s ‘Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys’.

He also engineered and produced Gerard Way’s solo album ‘Hesitant Alien’ (2014); Way later said that “there would be no album without Doug”. McKean went on to work with Way on a majority of the standalone solo singles that followed the release of ‘Hesitant Alien’.

His most recent work was on My Chemical Romance’s comeback single ‘The Foundations Of Decay’, with Way saying the pair had been working together throughout lockdown.

Paying tribute to McKean, My Chemical Romance wrote: “My Chemical Romance lost Doug McKean, a dear friend, a collaborator, a partner, a brother, a problem-solver, a genius, an integral part of our music. Doug was someone who made us laugh, made us better, understood, and always came to the rescue. He is deeply missed. He always will be.⁣”

Taking to Twitter, one fan wrote: “Doug McKean engineered and produced the albums that changed my life and helped make the vision of some of the most celebrated artists of the last 20 years become reality. His impact won’t be forgotten.”

Another added: “R.I.P Doug McKean. Your work as an engineer and producer on my favourite albums was amazing and had a massive impact on my life. You will be missed.”

Music

Snoop Dogg is now a “Dungeon Master” thanks to Meta’s new AI

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3 hours ago

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September 29, 2023

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Meta revealed a set of themed AI chatbots in a conference held in California this week, and a standout was the Dungeon Master portrayed by Snoop Dogg.

Mark Zuckerberg directed this particular part of the Meta Connect showcase on September 27 and said that users will be able to “invoke Meta AI” anywhere in their conversations on their phone.

“This isn’t just gonna be about answering queries – this is about entertainment… we did something a little different for us, we partnered with a bunch of pretty awesome people to basically embody these and play them,” he continued, showing off the Victor, who is portrayed by former Miami Heat basketball player Dwyane Wade.

There is also Bru portrayed by former football quarterback Tom Brady, Max portrayed by chef Roy Choi, the Manger Master portrayed by tennis player Naomi Osaka, Amber portrayed by media personality Paris Hilton and the Funny Man portrayed by YouTuber Jimmy “Mr Beast” Donaldson.

Meta Connect

Apologies for the delayed start. We will be getting started shortly. Thanks for being here with us.Join Mark Zuckerberg and special guests as they unveil the new Meta Quest 3 and reveal how Meta is bringing mixed reality to life. You’ll hear how AI can help people connect and express themselves in new ways and get a first look at the latest products and updates that will help developers build the future of social technology. Interested in watching this in another language? Watch here https://bit.ly/3LEnpF3

Posted by Meta on Wednesday, September 27, 2023

All of these chatbots were created for a range of conversations – Max will assist with any culinary questions whereas Amber specialises in true crime.

As the Dungeon Master, Snoop Dogg wore a red leather collared cape, a set of armour and a gold chain with a sword. “Now you can just drop the Dungeon Master into one of your chats,” said Zuckerberg in the presentation and demoed a short adventure described by the rapper.

In an interview with The Verge, Zuckerberg argued that AI personas ensure that it’s a more attractive concept for potential consumers.

“I think that all this stuff makes it more compelling,” he said. “It was only over the course of developing [Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses] that we realised that, ‘Hey, we could actually put this whole generative AI assistant into it, and you could have these glasses that are kind of stylish Ray-Ban glasses, and you could be talking to AI all throughout the day about different questions you have.’”

In other gaming news, Cities: Skylines 2 has been delayed for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S because the development team requires more time to ensure the quality of the release.

Music

U2 share teaser of new single ‘Atomic City’

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4 hours ago

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September 29, 2023

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U2 have today (September 28) shared a teaser of their upcoming new single ‘Atomic City’ – check it out below.

READ MORE: ‘Kiss The Future’ review: U2’s historic gig in war-torn Sarajevo

The song has previously been heard briefly when U2 played a surprise show in front of the Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas earlier this month (September 16). The band were filming the music video for the song.

The song is a nod to Las Vegas, where the band are due to take up their forthcoming residency at the new MSG Sphere in the city. The run of shows, which are the first to be played at the new venue, will kick off on September 29 and will see them play their 1991 album ‘Achtung Baby’ in full.

‘Atomic City’ was a nickname for Vegas in the 1950s due to its proximity to the Nevada Test Site at a time when nuclear fascination swept America.

Those who heard the song in September said it contained the lyrics “I’m free, so unexpectedly/I’m free from what’s in front of me!” and “I’ve got the key to the cages, waiting for my dice/I came here for the fight/I’m front row in Las Vegas. And there’s a big one on tonight”.

Produced by Jacknife Lee and Steve Lillywhite, the new song was recorded at Sound City in LA. A statement about the song describes it as a “homage to the magnetic spirit of ’70’s post punk with a nod to Blondie, whose pioneering work with Giorgio Moroder inspired and influenced the band.”

Bono said of the song: “It’s a love song to our audience …’where you are is where I’ll be’.”

You can see the video teaser of the song, along with the single artwork below:

‘Atomic City’ artwork – CREDIT: Press/U2

The video is directed by Ben Kutchins, with creative direction by Tarik Mikou with Moment Factory Music, and features U2’s late night surprise performance in Vegas last week. The video was filmed in the same Fremont Street location where the band filmed their video for ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ 36 years ago.

U2 will be playing the first few shows of their ‘Achtung Baby’ residency without drummer Larry Mullen Jr while he recovers from surgery. Despite this, he was present at the music video shoot.

“He doesn’t follow doctor’s orders,” Bono remarked during the video shoot, to which the audience cheered.

In an interview with the Daily Star newspaper’s Wired column (via Irish Mirror), bassist Adam Clayton said: “The whole band and I’m sure the audience are going to be very sad and miss Larry. He wants to come back, he wants to be able to have a long career and continue his drumming so he’s taking care of those injuries.”

He also explained that, while Mullen continues to recover, Krezip drummer Bram van den Berg will be taking his place and performing at the first run of Nevada shows. This, Clayton continued, was a choice which the band decided on after they were given their bandmate’s blessing.

In other U2 news, last week the band announced ‘Zoo Station’ – an immersive experience for fans, designed ahead of their upcoming shows.

Opening on September 28, the immersive fan portal, called ‘Zoo Station: A U2:UV Experience’ is designed to help fans gather a deeper understanding of the band’s acclaimed album ‘Achtung Baby’.

Music

Exorcist producer was scared “to death” of Taylor Swift ‘Eras Tour’ film box office face-off

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5 hours ago

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September 28, 2023

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Jason Blum, the producer behind The Exorcist: Believer, has revealed that he was scared “to death” of Taylor Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’ film box office face-off.

Swift had decided to release her ‘Eras Tour’ concert film in mid-October, prompting Blum to change the release date of his upcoming film, the sequel to the 1973 hit horror film The Exorcist.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Blum joked: “The one thing that scares me to death is Taylor Swift!”

#Exorswift

— Jason Blum (@jason_blum) August 31, 2023

Look what you made me do.

The Exorcist: Believer moves to 10/6/23#TaylorWins

— Jason Blum (@jason_blum) August 31, 2023

He added: “Obviously, we moved off that [date] and we bowed our head to Taylor Swift. It was too risky to see if ‘Exorswift’ was going to take or not. People will still have the Exorswift opportunity, so maybe we got to have our cake and eat it too.”

The horror film was set to release on Friday, October 13. But Swift surprised everyone with the announcement of an ‘Eras Tour’ concert movie on the same date. Blum took to X/Twitter to share a tweet that read “#Exorswift”.

“We had this amazing Friday the 13th in October, which is the single best day to release a scary movie,” explained Blum, who is working on a trilogy of Exorcist films in partnership with the franchise’s rights-holders Morgan Creek.

The same day he tweeted “#Exorswift”, Blum went on to share a new tweet announcing that The Exorcist: Believer had been moved up a week. “Look what you made me do,” read the tweet. “The Exorcist: Believer moves to 10/6/23 #TaylorWins.”

Directed by David Gordon Green, who helmed the recent Halloween reboot trilogy, The Exorcist: Believer similarly serves as a direct sequel to William Friedkin’s 1973 original.

The film is the first entry in a planned trilogy, with a follow-up titled The Exorcist: Deceiver scheduled to be released on April 18, 2025.

In 2016, The Exorcist was adapted into a TV series which was designed as a continuation of the original film. The series was cancelled in 2018 after two seasons.

The Exorcist: Believer is released in cinemas on October 13, 2023.