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Albums Out Today: Kylie Minogue, Little Mix, Ólafur Arnalds, Adulkt Life

Konstantinos Pappis
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Albums Out Today: Kylie Minogue, Little Mix, Ólafur Arnalds, Adulkt Life

In this segment, we showcase the most notable albums out each week. Here are the albums out on November 6th, 2020:

Kylie Minogue, DISCO

Kylie Minogue is back with her fifteenth studio album, DISCO, out now via Darenote and BMG Rights Management. Containing 16 tracks, including the previously released singles ‘Say Something’ and ‘Magic’, the LP marks the follow-up to the pop singer’s 2018 album Golden. As with that album, as well as 1997’s Impossible Princess, Minogue has also co-written all of the material on DISCO. Though Minogue has written songs on every one of her albums since 1990, this has marks the first time she has engineered her own work. According to an interview with i-D, the album finds her “heading straight back to the dance floor,” adding, “I was inspired because it’s my happy place, but also because on my last tour, going back almost three years, there was a Studio 54 section. It just felt like the burst of energy and such a fun place to inhabit.”

Little Mix, Confetti

Little Mix – Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jesy Nelson and Jade Thirlwall – have released a new album called Confetti, out now via RCA Records. The group’s latest follows their 2018 album LM5, their last to be released under Syco Music following the group’s split with Simon Cowell’s company several days prior to the album’s release. “So much love, emotion and energy has gone into the making of this record,” they wrote upon the album’s announcement. Prior to the release of the LP, Little Mix fronted the new BBC talent show Little Mix: The Search. Confetti includes the previously released singles ‘Break Up Song’ and ‘Holiday’.

Ólafur Arnalds, some kind of peace

Icelandic multi-instrumentalist and composer Ólafur Arnalds has returned with a new album titled some kind of peace. Following 2018’s Re:member, the LP features contributions from British musician Bonobo, Icelandic singer and multi-instrumentalist JFDR, and German singer-songwriter Josin. “This album is about what it means to be alive, daring to be vulnerable and the importance of rituals,” Arnalds said in a statement. “It is a personal album, my most personal to date, set against a background of a world thrown into chaos. I’ve poured all my love, dreams and fears into this album through a magical but difficult process, but the result is something that makes me immensely proud and happy to be doing what I do.”

Adulkt Life, Book of Curses

This is the debut album from Adulkt Life, a new band consisting of of Huggy Bear’s Chris Rowley, Male Bonding’s John Arthur Webb and Kevin Hendrick, and drummer Sonny Barrett. Out now via What’s Your Rupture?, Book of Curses features the previously released singles ‘Country Pride’, ‘Stevie K’, and ‘Taking Hits’. It’s the first new band Rowley has been involved in in over two decades since playing with Huggy Bear, which led the UK’s response to riot grrrl. For Rowley, Adulkt Life “felt like it could carry the weight of all the things I would want to culturally load into a band without having to compromise any of it.”

Other albums out today: 

Pylon, Pylon Box; Record Setter, I Owe You Nothing; Ennio Morricone, Morricone Segreto; Neil Young, Neil Young Archives Volume 2. 

Video gaming as a job?

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Video gaming as a job?

There is a saying that if you love what you do, you won’t work a single day anymore. Which sounds nice, but there are not that many hobbies that can be transformed into a job. However, video games are one of those hobbies. And the best part is, that you don’t even have to be a professional to make a living from them!

Many gamers may have thought about how good it would be to make a living from what they like, which is video games. You think it’s too late for you, or you’re not skilful enough you’re wrong. In fact, you don’t even have to sit in front of your PC for eight hours a day and you don’t have to win world championships to make a living from gaming. And I tell you one more secret, you don’t even have to use Twitch, but that’s clearly an option too. In this article, we will show you what options you got as a player to make a living from video games. Maybe not all of them will suit you, but they are definitely some good ways you should consider.

Twitch

All the biggest names are represented on Twitch. Some of them are active streamers who play regularly on the platform to entertain their followers, some of them just play casually there. If you’ve thought about making a living from video gaming, you must be familiar with Twitch.

On Twitch, as most often on social media, basically, you have to make followers. By making live gameplay videos, we are preparing to break into a relatively difficult market. All of the games have their best, like Ninja for Fortnite or Faker on League of Legends. And to gain followers in those gameplays you need to have something special. If you stream in another language than English, your audience will be even smaller, so we need to be prepared for the fact that the number of followers will grow slowly. This can be very upsetting in the first period, but perseverance will bear fruit over time.

The point is to enjoy what you’re doing. Because if you change your game every week, you will gain your followers harder. So first of all find what you’re good at. That can be anything from Minecraft to an online casino game. For example, if you go with the online casino idea, you can give some tips and tricks to your followers and build an audience. This idea of giving advice isn’t anything new. On Masterclass, a Poker former world champion poker player, called Daniel Negreanu teaches poker for those who are interested.

You don’t have to set hundreds of thousands of followers camp as your goal right away. Up to five hundred subscribers can be enough to become a Twitch partner and your views generate revenue.

Youtube and Youtube Gaming

YouTube, as the largest video sharing platforms, must be on this list. Almost every single gamer who is present on Twitch can be found here as well, and because of the type of videos, it’s often easier to gain popularity here. However, they post different types of content. You will most likely find shortest highlights, or ‘how to …’ videos from big streamers rather than long hour-long streams. And being present on multiple platforms is a great idea. Because you can transport your followers on another platform.

If you’re afraid of life because you’ll be less skilful or say something silly or controversial in front of the camera, it might be a better solution. It requires video editing skills and patience, but a helpful video for an audience can be a much better idea rather than a stream. And after time, after you become more familiar with streaming, you can set live streams here as well.

When your channel is ready, you may already have a few thousand followers, you can visit domestic game distributors in the hope of cooperation. They may not pay for the video on offer, but they can lend you a game for testing, which is an advertisement for them, and free content for you to share with your followers. If you are already above this level, you can also advertise. But beware, you have serious legal requirements that you need to pay attention to!

Become a tester

Not feeling good in front of the camera? No problem, you can also make money with your hobby as a game tester. It is important to note that this sounds much better in theory than in reality. Game testers do not try out finished games. Their job is to spot bugs and make suggestions for solutions before they appear. If you’ve already felt the frustration of buggy gameplay with a new video game, we need to get bitter. Game testers almost encounter these.

Write a guide or test

After the ugly truth of game testing work, let’s look at another alternative to living without a camera! If you have small writing skills and you understand better than average for one or more games, you can write a guide for them. Almost everyone can publish their own book in the form of an e-book, but you can also launch a separate website on the subject.

It is important to always find out what writings have already been written on the topic that interests you and try to offer something new. However, launching your own site will also bear fruit in the long run. It requires a regular appearance, a well-structured profile and social media communication. If you don’t like these, after putting together a small portfolio, you can also try your favourite online or print magazines.

Conclusion

So you don’t have to be a professional to make a living from video gaming. However, if you want to head in that direction, it’s important to keep in mind that it won’t go overnight. However, if you are persistent and constantly evolving, over time, your hobby can truly become your livelihood.

How to Boost Your Netflix Library Experience with a Trick

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How to Boost Your Netflix Library Experience with a Trick

Netflix is available in 190+ countries and in each country its content varies depending upon the demographics and the local demand.

In all of these countries combined, Netflix is speculated to have over 13,900 titles. But did you know that the majority of its content library i.e. 40% is available in the US?

In this guide, we’ll be showing you a trick to access 40% of the entire Netflix content or more using the help of a VPN.

To clear the air, not all VPNs work with Netflix. You see, Netflix has a strong geo-restriction that prevents even the most prominent VPNs from bypassing its geo-restriction.

If you’re living in France or in any other and want to access American Netflix for more quality content, you won’t be able to do it unless that VPN has residential IPs.

NordVPN is one of the best VPNs that works with Netflix right now. NordVPN for Netflix will not only unblock American libraries but 13 other countries’ libraries as well. Also, with its amazing fast speed, there’s literally no buffering issues.

How to Boost Your Netflix Library Experience with a VPN

Step 1: Subscribe with NordVPN (As discussed above)

Step 2: Download the NordVPN app on any device

Step 3: Run the Installation on your device

Step 4: Once installed, open the app and connect to a US server

Step 5: Once connected, open Netflix website

Step 6: You can search for any TV Series that isn’t available in your region but is available in the US

Step 7: Once it pops up on your screen, start streaming!

Other Netflix Tricks You Should Try

There are so many Netflix tricks in the pocket that will boost your streaming experience for real. I have listed the best ones here:

1. Watch Netflix with Your Friends at Home

Due to the pandemic and the second wave of the coronavirus, you can’t go out for movies with friends. So why don’t you make your own movie night at home using the Netflix Party browser extension that will let you watch Netflix with all your friends.

If any one of your friends has a Netflix subscripttion, they can share the URLs with their friends so they could enjoy the movie night together. It also has a chat room where they could talk to each other about what’s happening in the movie. You just need a single Netflix subscription and a Netflix Party extension, that’s all.

It’s a really fun trick and I would want you to use it with your friends.

2. See Ratings for the Shows/Movies

Netflix doesn’t show the ratings for its Movies to TV Shows. It’s quite frustrating to search for the shows each time to know the ratings and reviews.

That’s all about to change with a simple trick. This Netflix extension will show you IMDB ratings and Rotten Tomatoes score to decide which show you want to watch on Netflix.

3. No Netflix Original Shows/Movies

If you have already watched all the Netflix Originals and you don’t want to re-watch it or even being suggested by Netflix itself, then maybe you should get yourself this extension.

This trick will remove all of the Netflix Originals from your screen, leaving you with the content from different production houses.

There’s no doubt that most Netflix Originals are worth watching, but Netflix has a thing for over-promoting its Original content that makes you frustrated at times. Turn off this extension if you feel like watching the Original shows.

Does Free VPNs Help you Boost Netflix Library Experience?

Free VPNs are not reliable enough to be used with Netflix. Heck, they won’t be able to unblock any Netflix library in the first place.

Even the premium VPNs have a tough time unblocking Netflix because of their strong VPN detection system. Free VPNs do not have a great infrastructure or a strong encryption that could bypass Netflix.

Let’s assume if free VPNs do manage to bypass its restrictions, you won’t be able to complete half of the episode because most free VPNs have data bandwidth limitations.

Even if we assume they don’t have a bandwidth limit and they are completely free and are able to unblock Netflix, then it means they’re selling your data to third-parties to get revenues. This could get you in trouble.

VPNs are completely legal to use and have many benefits when it comes to streaming content that isn’t available in your region, but when a VPN sells your data to third-parties, then it means it knows your browsing history and everything you do over the internet. It can steal your personal information if they want. That is why, avoid free VPNs at all costs.

IDLES’ Joe Talbot Joins LARRY PINK THE HUMAN on New Song ‘WASTED DAYS [INBETWEENS]’

Konstantinos Pappis
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IDLES’ Joe Talbot Joins LARRY PINK THE HUMAN on New Song ‘WASTED DAYS [INBETWEENS]’

LARRY PINK THE HUMAN, the new project of Slaves guitarist Laurie Vincent and producer Jolyon Thomas, have shared a brand new track called ‘WASTED DAYS [INBETWEENS]’ featuring IDLES frontman Joe Talbot. Check it out below.

“‘WASTED DAYS [INBETWEENS]’ is a contemplative look at missing the beauty in the everyday,” LARRY PINK THE HUMAN said in a statement about the song. “In the rush to reach our destinations how we can often lose sight of the joy in our journeys. An awakening. Doing nothing at all is something very special.”

Joe Talbot added: “It’s a track about not knowing the magic ‘til the magic is behind us.”

‘WASTED DAYS [INBETWEENS]’ follows the previously released track ‘Might Delete Later’ and the group’s debut single ‘Love You, Bye’.

WOOM Announce Debut EP ‘Into the Rest’, Share New Song ‘Walk’

Konstantinos Pappis
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WOOM Announce Debut EP ‘Into the Rest’, Share New Song ‘Walk’

WOOM – a London-based four-piece concept-choir composed of members of Babeheaven, Jerkcurb, Arlo Day, Hester and Thidius – have announced their debut EP. Into The Rest arrives February 25 via House Anxiety. Below, check out the group’s new single, ‘Walk’, and scroll down for the EP’s tracklist.

Speaking about the EP in a statement, WOOM described it as “an archival distillation of the past four years of our practice together.” They continued: “The record opens with our most recent original work and follows with arrangements of some of our favourite artists and melodies, which have provided space for us to explore and play with forms and sound over the years. The songs all mean a lot to us and represent our time creating and performing together so far.”

About the new single, they commented: “‘Walk’ is the first original track we recorded and released so it feels very special to us. We wrote it last year, it’s a song about feeling lost and uncovering your way to something new. Our voices and melodies begin isolated then interweave and overlap until they become one entity, like they are being found. This is also mirrored in our new video which we created and filmed late last year in the Sussex woods, capturing the emotive world of WOOM.”

Into The Rest EP Tracklist:
1. I Built You
2. Walk
3. Come Wander / Chimacum Rain
4. Seigfried / Self Control / White Ferrari
5. Unfucktheworld
6. Prototype / Limit To Your Love

Pylon Unveil First Ever Recording ‘Razz Tape’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Pylon Unveil First Ever Recording ‘Razz Tape’

Pylon have shared their previously unreleased first-ever recording, ‘Razz Tape’. It’s taken from the art-rock legends’ forthcoming career-spanning box set, Pylon Box, which is out tomorrow. Hear it below (via NME).

Formed in 1979 at the University of Georgia, Pylon were largely influential in the punk and new wave scene of the early 1980s and were contemporaries of Athens bands R.E.M. and the B-52’s. The new 4xLP box set includes remastered versions of the band’s two studio albums — 1980’s Gyrate and 1983’s Chomp — now available on vinyl for the first time in nearly 35 years, as well as ‘Razz Tape’, a 13-track session that predates their 1979 debut single, ‘Cool’/’Dub’.

“Chris Rasmussen aka Chris ‘Razz’ is a close friend of producer Jason NeSmith,” Pylon’s Vanessa Briscoe Hay told NME. “Back when Jason and I were gathering tapes together for our reissues, Chris invited Jason to listen to a recording he had made of Pylon before we ever set foot in a formal recording studio. The tape grabbed Jason with both the performance and the audio quality. When he talked to me about it, he compared it to early Modern Lovers. I was like, ‘Get out of here,’ until I heard it.”

She continued: “Initially Jason and I discussed using three to four of these songs as a part of a rarities and singles double album as part of a box set which would also include our first two albums ‘Gyrate’ and ‘Chomp’, but when our executive producer Brady Brock heard the tape, he wanted us to think about putting the whole tape out. It’s pretty amazing it both exists and survived intact. Thanks Chris Razz.”

Recalling his experience making the recording, bassist Michael Lachowski added: “Listening to ‘Razz Tape’, I can put myself back into the actual feeling of being that person, at that time, making those notes on that bass and bass rig, with those other people, each their own distinct contribution to the recording. That’s really rare, to be able to somewhat inhabit being in a past performance, in a practice, while recording, on stage. I can recall it from the bass arrangements and sound, the fervent single downward plucking right on top of the pickup, which was all I could do, trying to coax some power or presence out of a wimpy system when in the presence of Curtis’ ungovernable live drumming.”

He continued: “And the recording — unadorned, without overdubs or studio effects, but not live, so therefore not propelled by the energy of performing for an audience, and not even truly mixed, with the bass and guitar amps sharing one mic. The elements are so evident, and the earnestness of the pre-studio rendering of the early songs is seen and charming. Thank you to Chris Rasmussen for making this tape, and sharing it in ‘Box’. It’s one of the many treasures of this project, bringing this rarely heard recording forward from that one night in an art and practice studio.”

Pylon Box also comes with a 200-page hardbound, full-colour book with archival images, featuring testimonials from the B-52’s’ Fred Schneider and Kate Pierson, members of Gang of Four, Sleater-Kinney’s Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein, Steve Albini, and more. Each copy of the set will be autographed by the band’s surviving members: Vanessa Briscoe Hay, Michael Lachowski, and Curtis Crowe.

Sophie Jamieson Previews Upcoming EP with New Single ‘Concrete’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Sophie Jamieson Previews Upcoming EP with New Single ‘Concrete’

Singer-songwriter Sophie Jamieson has previewed her upcoming EP Release with a new single called ‘Concrete’. It arrives with a self-directed music video filmed on the roundabouts and roads of Stratford, Bow and Canning Town. Check it out below.

‘Concrete’ is described by a press release as “a neurotic imagining of her final tired, peaceful moments crawling along her local roundabout,” which ended with Jamieson getting knocked off her bike in that exact place shortly after. “When I was hit, I felt this intense relief as I flew through the air – the relief of being allowed to feel pain, having permission to cry, and a reason to be taken care of,” she explains. “It had a pretty serendipitous connection to the song I had already written, which is a song that fantasises about getting close to the ground – and being allowed to give up.”

Release, which was produced by Steph Marziano (Ex:Re, Hayley Williams, Denai Moore, Lazy Day), is set to arrive on December 1. It includes the previously released title track and ‘Forward’.

Foo Fighters to Appear as Musical Guests on This Week’s ‘Saturday Night Live’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Foo Fighters to Appear as Musical Guests on This Week’s ‘Saturday Night Live’

Foo Fighters have been announced as the musical guests for this weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live. Dave Chappelle will host the post-election episode.

The band, which is celebrating the 25th anniversary of their self-titled debut album, have seemingly been teasing their 10th studio LP as fans have spotted the group’s ‘FF’ logo in various locations alongside an ‘X’, the Roman numeral for 10.

Foo Fighters have appeared seven times on the late-night show thus far. They last performed there in 2017, the same year they released their most recent album Concrete and Gold. This weekend will also mark Dave Chappele’s second time as host, following his Emmy Award-winning appearance in 2016, where he addressed Donald Trump’s electoral victory in his monologue. An announcement on Twitter on Wednesday (November 4) showed a snippet from that monologue, in which the comedian says, “America’s done it. We’ve actually elected an Internet troll as our president.”

Album Review: Sam Smith, ‘Love Goes’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Album Review: Sam Smith, ‘Love Goes’

Sam Smith’s third studio album begins with a declaration: “I want to be wild and young,” they intone, less a plea than a haunting evocation of a former self. Across 11 tracks – plus 6 previously released bonus songs – the British singer revisits the perennial theme of heartbreak, but does so in a way that hints at the deeper process of personal transformation that occurred in years since the release of 2017’s The Thrill of It At All, which Smith has called the “most experimental time” of their life. “Experimental” is probably the last thing you would call Love Goes, arriving six months later than planned after changing its name from To Die For for obvious reasons, but the album does mix a few different styles, oscillating between the disco-inflected euphoria of Smith’s breakout Disclosure collaboration ‘Latch’ and the stripped-back melancholy of the breakup ballads that catapulted them into stardom. That variation in tone is reflective of the internal conflicts Smith wrestled with in the aftermath of their “first real heartbreak”, but the boilerplate instrumentals and generic songwriting too often fail to adequately complement the emotional depths of what the singer so capably emotes.

Still, the versatility of Smith’s powerhouse of a voice allows them to glide through all of it pretty effortlessly. The spare, heart-wrenching opener ‘Young’ is followed by ‘Diamonds’, a solid dance-pop tune in which the singer reminds their former lover “how little I care/ how little I care/ how little I care” – unfortunately, it’s this sentiment that the track’s overly sanitized production clings to rather than underscoring the emotional nuance or potency of Smith’s impassioned delivery. Both ‘Another One’ and ‘My Oasis’ fall back into colourless, radio-friendly grooves, though the latter does boast an unexpected but lively feature from Burna Boy. A blocky synth line runs through ‘So Serious’, offering a moment of respite from the heightened sense of melodrama as Smith gleefully invites listeners to “put your hands in the air if you sometimes ever get sad like me.” It’s the singer’s self-conscious lyrics that really shine through here – rather than just another track about feeling sad, it’s a wonderfully understated song about the guilt that often comes with feeling any emotion too intensely: “God, I don’t know why I get so serious sometimes,” they lament.

Smith is then able to fully let go on the following track, ‘Dance (‘Til You Love Someone Else)’, where the intoxicating production courtesy of Disclosure’s Guy Lawrence and Two Inch Punch renders it a much more captivating version of the Normani-assisted early single ‘Dancing with a Stranger’. The album retreats back into familiar ballad territory on ‘For the Lover That I Lost’ and ‘Forgive Myself’ (thankfully, not that familiar), but reaches its most stirring moment on the Labirinth collaboration ‘Love Goes’, with Smith’s delicate voice pirouetting around the titular line over a crystalline piano that blooms into a lush, Coldplay-esque orchestral finish; the beat, however, feels somewhat stiff, as if unable to fully carry that expansive feeling of freedom that the song shoots for.

The wistful closer, ‘Kids Again’, which Smith says is a hint of what’s coming on the next record, is held back by the same issue that waters down so much of the album: a naturally layered vocal performance, but a sonic backdrop that’s too bland to effectively sell it (with the notable exception of that weeping guitar solo at the end). Love Goes quickly loses momentum as you dive into the bonus tracks – none of which achieve anything the rest of the album hasn’t already done better – but as a whole, it proves that whenever Smith leans into that rawness and vulnerability with an instrumental that does them justice, the effect can be not only satisfying but also genuinely cathartic. Even without an accompanying instrumental, the record’s opening track is striking precisely because it allows Smith to embody their younger self as a commentary on fame and success, while ‘Kids Again’ gravitates towards a pure kind of nostalgia as it longs for the wildness of youth – even when striving for something new, Love Goes ultimately clings to the familiar.

Watch Arcade Fire Debut New Song ‘Generation A’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Watch Arcade Fire Debut New Song ‘Generation A’

Arcade Fire debuted a new song called ‘Generation A’ during The Late Show with Stephen Colbert‘s special live election night coverage on Tuesday (November 3). The host introduced the song by describing it as “inspired by the current climate of the country with a hopeful message to the youths.” Watch the performance below.

“Say wait until tomorrow/ ‘Cause today is always strange/ Say wait until you’re older and you will understand/ They say the generation’s coming/ I don’t think they understand that I am not a patient man,” Win Butler sang on the track.

‘Generation A’ marks the first taste of new music from the band since the release of their 2017 LP, Everything Now. Speaking to producer Rick Rubin on a recent edition of the Broken Record podcast, Win Butler revealed that he has written “two or three” new Arcade Fire albums during lockdown. Earlier this year, Will Butler issued his third solo album, Generations. 

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