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Kae Tempest Announces New Album ‘The Line Is a Curve’, Shares New Song Featuring Kevin Abstract

Konstantinos Pappis
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Kae Tempest Announces New Album ‘The Line Is a Curve’, Shares New Song Featuring Kevin Abstract

Kae Tempest has announced their fourth studio album, The Line Is a Curve, which is set for release on April 8 via Fiction Records. The follow-up to 2019’s The Book of Traps and Lessons is led by the new single ‘More Pressure’, which features Kevin Abstract of BROCKHAMPTON. Check it out and find the album’s cover artwork (shot by photographer Wolfgang Tillmans) below.

In addition to Abstract, Fontaines DC’s Grian Chatten, Lianne La Havas, ássia, and Confucius MC contributed to the new LP, which was produced by longtime collaborator Dan Carey. “The Line Is A Curve is about letting go,” Tempest explained in a press release. “Of shame, anxiety, isolation and falling instead into surrender. Embracing the cyclical nature of time, growth, love.” They continued:

This letting go can hopefully be felt across the record. In the musicality, the instrumentation, the lyricism, the delivery, the cover art. In the way it ends where it begins and begins where it ends.I knew I wanted my face on the sleeve. Throughout the duration of my creative life, I have been hungry for the spotlight and desperately uncomfortable in it. For the last couple of records I wanted to disappear completely from the album covers, the videos, the front-facing aspects of this industry. A lot of that was about my shame but I masked it behind a genuine desire for my work to speak for itself, without me up front, commodifying what felt so rare to me and sacred. I was, at times, annoyed that in order to put the work out, I had to put myself out. But this time around, I understand it differently. I want people to feel welcomed into this record, by me, the person who made it, and I have let go of some of my airier concerns. I feel more grounded in what I’m trying to do, who I am as an artist and as a person and what I have to offer. I feel less shame in my body because I am not hiding from the world anymore. I wanted to show my face and I dreamed of it being Wolfgang Tillmans who took the portrait.

The Line Is a Curve Cover Artwork:

James Mtume, Jazz and R&B Musician, Dead at 75

Konstantinos Pappis
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James Mtume, Jazz and R&B Musician, Dead at 75

James Mtume, the percussionist, songwriter, and producer who performed with jazz greats before leading his own eponymous group, has died at the age of 75. The news was confirmed by his son to Pitchfork, among other sources. No cause of death was revealed.

The daughter of Mtume’s late creative partner Reggie Lucas, Lisa Lucas, wrote on Twitter: “So much loss. So much grief. Rest in power to Uncle Mtume. My late father’s partner-in-crime[.] The co-creator of the songs of my life (and about my birth!). He was [an] essential part of the life of the man who made me, therefore me too. Gone now. He will be dearly, eternally missed.”

Born James Heath Jr. in Philadelphia, Mtume was the son of jazz saxophonist Jimmy Heath. He was raised by his mother Bertha Forman and his stepfather, Philadelphia jazz pianist James “Hen Gates” Forman, and grew up in a musical environment. In addition to learning to play piano and percussion, he was also a star swimmer. After moving to California to attend Pasadena City College on an athletic scholarship, Mtume joined the U.S. Organization, a Black empowerment group, and would receive his new name, Mtume, which means “messenger” in Swahili. His first recording, 1970’s Kawaida, was led by his uncle Albert Heath and featured Herbie Hancock, Don Cherry, and Buster Williams; Mtume contributed percussion and was credited for four of its five compositions. In 1972, he released an album with his group Mtume Umoja Ensemble titled Land of the Blacks.

Following his return from the West Coast, Mtume moved to New York and contributed to records by McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, and Lonnie Liston Smith, among many others. Between 1971 and 1975, he spent much of his time performing and recording with Miles Davis, including on releases such as On the Corner, Agharta, and Pangaea. Over the next few years, he worked with a number of high-profile R&B artists, penning hits for the likes of Phyllis Hyman and Stephanie Mills. In 1978, he formed his self-named “sophistifunk” R&B-jazz group with Lucas and vocalist Tawatha Agee, which released its debut album, Kiss This World Goodbye, that same year. They followed it with 1980’s In Search of the Rainbow Seekers and 1983’s Juicy Fruit – whose title track became their biggest hit and was famously sampled on the Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Juicy’ – before putting out two more albums, 1984’s You, Me and He and 1986’s Theater of the Mind. In 1986, Mtume also provided the soundtrack for the drama Native Son.

Mtume went on to write and produce material for artists such as Mary J. Blige, K-Ci & JoJo, and Bilal. He also became a radio personality at New York City’s KISS 98.7 FM and continued his work as an activist. “Music is a unique art form,” Mtume said during his 2019 TEDTalk, ‘Our Common Ground in Music’. “It’s the only art form I know that can touch you, but you can’t touch it. What do I mean by that? I can touch a sculpture, I can touch a painting, I can touch a book of poetry. How do you touch a note? How do you touch sound? It runs through your body.”

Billie Eilish and Finneas Win Best Original Song at 2022 Golden Globes

Konstantinos Pappis
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Billie Eilish and Finneas Win Best Original Song at 2022 Golden Globes

Billie Eilish and Finneas’ James Bond theme song ‘No Time to Die’ won Best Original Song, Motion Picture at the 2022 Golden Globe Awards. They beat out songs by Beyoncé (‘Be Alive’ from King Richard), Lin-Manuel Miranda (‘Dos Oruguitas’ from Encanto), Van Morrison (‘Down to Joy’ from Belfast), and Carole King and Jennifer Hudson (‘Here I Am’ from Respect).

Hans Zimmer won Best Original Score for his work on Dune, which was nominated alongside Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood (Power of the Dog), Alexandre Desplat (The French Dispatch), Germaine Franco (Encanto), and Alberto Iglesias (Parallel Mothers). Alana Haim was nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, but lost to West Side Story star Rachel Zegler. Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake also won Best Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy over Licorice Pizza.

This year’s Golden Globes were a non-televised event, and awards were announced publicly through Twitter and on the official Globes website. NBC declined to air the show this year following allegations of ethical and financial lapses and a lack of diversity, first detailed in a Los Angeles Times exposé last year. The HFPA has since made attempts to diversify its membership by adding Black members and hiring its first chief diversity officer.

Woodstock Co-Creator Michael Lang Dead at 77

Konstantinos Pappis
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Woodstock Co-Creator Michael Lang Dead at 77

Michael Lang, the co-creator and organizer of the 1969 music festival Woodstock, has died at the age of 77, Variety reports. He passed away on Saturday at Sloan Kettering in New York City. The cause of death was a rare form of Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to family spokesperson Michael Pagnotta.

Born in Brooklyn in 1944, Lang attended college in New York City and got his start in concert promotion in the Miami area. He co-produced the 1968 Miami Pop festival, which featured Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa and John Lee Hooker, before co-creating the legendary Woodstock Music and Art Fair the following year alongside fellow co-founders Artie Kornfeld, John P. Roberts, and Joel Rosenman.

Lang would go on to start his own production and management company, and helped helm subsequent iterations of the festival in 1994 and 1999 – the latter of which was recently the subject of an HBO documentary. Lang’s attempts to put on a 50th anniversary concert in 2019 suffered multiple setbacks before being eventually cancelled.

Lang is survived by his wife Tamara, their sons, Harry and Laszlo, and his daughters, LariAnn, Shala and Molly.

Calvin Simon, Parliament-Funkadelic Co-Founder, Dead at 79

Konstantinos Pappis
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Calvin Simon, Parliament-Funkadelic Co-Founder, Dead at 79

Calvin Simon, a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic, died on Thursday. “We lost another Original member of Parliament/Funkadelic,” former P-Funk bassist Bootsy Collins wrote in a statement on Twitter. “A friend, bandmate & a cool classic guy, Mr. Calvin Simon was a former member of Parliament/Funkadelic. He’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen members of P-Funk!” P-Funk leader George Clinton added on Facebook, “Rest in peace to my P-Funk brother Mr. Calvin Simon. Longtime Parliament-Funkadelic vocalist. Fly on Calvin!”

Born in Beckley, West Virginia in 1942, Simon grew up singing in his church’s choir. After his family moved to New Jersey, he joined the Parliaments, a doo-wop barbershop quintet led by George Clinton, in the late 1950s. In 1966, Simon was drafted into the US Army and served in Vietnam. “The thing that means the most to me is how I handled the PTSD from my service in the Vietnam War,” he once said. “I was able to keep the genie in the bottle, so to speak, and did not allow the evil thoughts to break through and manifest into actions.”

Upon his return, Simon continued working with the collective through its various iterations, including Parliament and Funkadelic. He ultimately left the group, alongside original Parliaments members Fuzzy Haskins and Grady Thomas, in 1977 following financial and management disputes. They formed their own band, releasing the album Connections and Disconnections under the Funkadelic name in 1981 before issuing 1998’s What Dat Shakin’ and 2001’s Original P Introducing the Westbound Souljaz under the Original P moniker. In 1997, Simon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside many other members of P-Funk.

Simon also pursued a solo career, turning his attention to gospel music and releasing his debut album Share the News in 2004 on his own label, Simon Sayz. He followed it up with 2016’s It’s Not Too Late and 2018’s I Believe. “I want to go around the country singing these songs, with this music, this message, this band,” he told the Tampa Bay Times in 2017. “This is what I want to do with the rest of my life. I hope somebody along the way will find something in the music and it will bring them to Jesus as well.”

Watch Genesis Owusu Perform ‘Gold Chains’ on ‘Colbert’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Watch Genesis Owusu Perform ‘Gold Chains’ on ‘Colbert’

Genesis Owusu was the musical guest on last night’s episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, where he was accompanied by his band for a performance of ‘Gold Chains’. Watch it below.

‘Gold Chains’ is taken from Owusu’s debut album Smiling With No Teeth, which came out in March 2021. The track made Barack Obama’s list of the standout songs of the year.

Warzone: Everything We Know About the New Pacific Map

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Warzone: Everything We Know About the New Pacific Map

The old Verdansk is gone now; the new game is Warzone Pacific. This game does not have overpowered weapons and easy field upgrades to enhance your weapons. The game has become more attractive, designed with new color schemes.

Overall, it received a good reception from the gamers. Today we will tell you about the changes that the new map brought. You can look at Battlelog for more information.

Colors Are More Visible

A veteran warzone player will experience nostalgia using the Roze operator in Verdansk. The black suit that she used to wear acted as camouflage in dim corners. Other military-grade uniforms were also invisible from the distances due to the color schemes of Verdansk. Developers in the new game have seriously worked on visibility. 

The blue ocean and palm trees give a feeling of a tropical vacation destination. The varied color schemes and high contrast will easily make things visible and comfortable shooting. However, the sun’s glare becomes unbearable at a few points in the game; it will be difficult to shoot while looking upwards at hills. 

This problem was also in verdansk, and like then, you can adjust the brightness of your device to cope with it.

Minor Big Changes

In November, developers of the warzone announced that they would be making some changes to the map. To all of us, the changes did not seem to be much, but now that the new map is here, the impact of the changes can be felt straight away.

The most significant change is the deleting of power field upgrades, which made the use of high-powered rounds in our guns possible. The warzone community was against power upgrades anyway, as they felt that these upgrades gave an unfair advantage to its users. 

You cannot purchase loadout crates after the free drops now. While some changes were according to the opinion of the warzone community, most of the changes were unanticipated. 

No Weapon is Overpowered

Guns are not dramatically over-powered in the new map as DMR was in Cold War Integration. So far, Kar 98k proved to be the best for damaging the enemy. Like older maps, STG 44 in the close quarters is also lethal.

If you are not comfortable with recoil but still want a high fire-rate gun, you can use PPSH 41 or M1928 SMG. With time as you get comfortable, you can switch to NZ 41, Bren, or AS 44. There are a lot more guns to choose from. 

So make your opinion after spending some time with the game. This map does not have anything special about weapons, but the skins and animation improved significantly.

Not All Changes Are Praiseworthy

The transition to the new pacific map from Verdansk has been flawless. But there are many things that a seasoned warzone player might miss in this. The developers disable the heartbeat sensor in this map. The destruction in the game is also decreased from Verdansk. 

You can shoot through the windows and doors, but you will not be able to obliterate them. FOV slides are not added to the new map; console players requested them worldwide. But developers took no notice of their request. 

The console players will not be able to toggle the setting to increase their periphery view. The problem of Verdansk will continue for them.

Distinctly Designed

The new map is mainly made of palm fields, but the capital city has a lot of buildings for close combat. The facilities are nothing like Verdansk. While in the previous map, the buildings used to look like a copy of each other. 

In this new map, the developers have worked extensively on buildings; they made sure that each of them looked unique and attractive. The thick foliage in the open also makes it possible for you to hide and plate up when necessary. 

The hills are designed with terraced features to have a stable and safe long-range vision. They make great spots for sniping.

Conclusion

The new Warzone Pacific Caldera map has many visible changes in the game. However, all changes are not appreciable. The latest update dismays console users for not adding changeable FOV settings. Other features like power upgrades and heartbeat sensors were also removed from the game to cause sadness for most gamers. 

However, the design of the caldera is far better than anything seen before. The game now looks fantastic and has more stability than Verdansk. Now go out there and download it to make your own opinions.

The Weeknd Shares New Video for ‘Sacrifice’

Konstantinos Pappis
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The Weeknd Shares New Video for ‘Sacrifice’

The Weeknd has shared a new music video for ‘Sacrifice’, a track from his just-released album Dawn FM. The clip was directed by Cliqua, the duo who also helmed the video for advance single ‘Take My Breath’. Check it out below.

Announced earlier this week, Dawn FM is the follow-up to the Weeknd’s 2020 album After Hours. It features guest appearances from Tyler, the Creator, Lil Wayne, Quincy Jones, Oneohtrix Point Never, Jim Carrey, Swedish House Mafia, Max Martin, Calvin Harris, and Uncut Gems co-director Josh Safdie.

DJ Shadow Remixes King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s ‘Black Hot Soup’

Konstantinos Pappis
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DJ Shadow Remixes King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s ‘Black Hot Soup’

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s have shared a remix of ‘Black Hot Soup’ by DJ Shadow. The track will appear on Butterfly 3001, a collection of remixes of songs from the band’s 2021 LP Butterfly 3000. ‘Black Hot Soup (DJ Shadow ‘My Own Reality’ Re-Write)’ arrives with an accompanying video directed by John Angus Stewart that stars Australian radio host and documentary maker John Safran and features appearances from Alkiviadis Grapsas and John Dimoulas. Watch it below.

Maren Morris Unveils Video for New Single ‘Circles Around This Town’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Maren Morris Unveils Video for New Single ‘Circles Around This Town’

Nashville pop-country singer Maren Morris has unveiled a new single, ‘Circles Around This Town’, alongside an accompanying music video. The track was written by Morris with frequent collaborators Ryan Hurd, Julia Michaels and Jimmy Robbins and produced by Greg Kurstin. Check out the Harper Smith-directed visual below.

“I could see the visuals for ‘Circles Around This Town’ the moment I wrote the song,” Morris said in a press release, continuing:

I’ve always been so inspired by the industrial, blown out colors of music videos from the 90s, so Harper Smith and I wanted the aesthetics of this video to reflect that grainy, devil-may-care attitude of all my females heroes from that era: Sheryl, Fiona, Alanis. Obviously, having a penchant for the nostalgic, we decided to recreate my teenage bedroom and pin old photos of me as a kid on the walls and have me typing on an old PC computer. I knew I didn’t want to take anything too seriously in this video, so all our amplified ‘signs of the universe’ are purposefully campy, but they also ask the viewer, ‘Is the universe actually showing you signs or do you just know when you need to make a real change?’ ‘Circles Around This Town’ is my story, so I felt like I truly got to relive my journey from Texas to Nashville again.

Maren Morris’ last album was 2019’s GIRL.

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