[Mixtape] Alex Wiley: "Club Wiley"

After months of waiting, dropped songs and music videos, Chicago's next up and coming rapper, Alex Wiley, has finally blessed us with his debut, Club Wiley. Serving as Closed Sessions' first official release. With features from Vic Mensa, Chance the Rapper, Freddie Gibbs, GLC, Monster Mike, Jean Deaux, Action Bronson, and Kembe X, Club Wiley is full of bangers set to help elevate Wiley up amongst the crowded Chicago hip hop scene.

You can download Club Wiley directly from here. Remember, tickets are still available for the all-ages Club Wiley release party at Lincoln Hall this Thursday with ShowYouSuck and others. Our homies at Jugrnaut (427 S. Dearborn) have a few physical tickets in-store if you're not about that online purchasing life.

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Schedule for Spring Awakening released

Fans of EDM, are you prepared for Spring Awakening? With the three day festival a week and a half away, the full daily schedule has been released. With four stages showcasing DJs doing what they do best, the festival should be a great summer weekend for people ready to party, sweat, and dance in the legendary home of the Chicago Bears, Soldier Field.

Also released is information on two after parties were announced alongside the schedule. On June 15th, Glasslux, Gunlove, and Perfect Kiss will be joined by Fool's Gold's Oliver at Primary night club. Tickets for that are located here. In addition to that show is Bass Kitchen, the official Spring Awakening after party that signals the end of the festival, will feature 12th Planet and some secret guests. Tickets for that show, which will also be at Primary, can be purchased here.

Remember, tickets for Spring Awakening are still available. I've included a video sneak peek below showing how Soldier Field will look for the festival below to tide everyone over until the festival starts.

http://youtu.be/qxNI1TlfYuw

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Lollapalooza after shows and parties unofficially announced

The early bird catches the worm, right? Keen eyes at Entertain Me-dia have discovered the unofficially official list of Lollapalooza after shows and parties. "Accidentally" posted on Do312's mobile site (but not on their desktop site), the list of after shows include a mix of headlining and supporting acts playing venue shows. Personally, I'm a bigger fan of these shows as opposed to the messy and chaotic outdoor shows. You can check out the full list below. Tickets are set to officially go on sale this Friday at 10am CST.

Thanks to Jaime Black of Dynasty Podcasts for the heads up.

  • 07/31 Wednesday 7pm: Benefitting Special Olympics Audiotree and Scion Presents NELARUSKY: Performances by Imagine Dragons, Icona Pop, Brick + Mortar, Kellen & Me @ METRO
  • 7/31 Wednesday 7:30pm: Timeflies w/ Keys N Krates @ THE VIC THEATRE
  • 7/31 Wednesday 8pm (doors): Thievery Corporation w/ DJ Mel @ HOUSE OF BLUES
  • 7/31 Wednesday 9pm: Smith Westerns @ LINCOLN HALL
  • 8/01 Thursday 8pm (doors): Lana Del Rey @ HOUSE OF BLUES
  • 8/01 Thursday 9pm: Hot Chip w/ Bear Mountain @ THE VIC THEATRE
  • 8/01 Thursday 9pm: Atlas Genius w/ San Cisco @ SCHUBAS 
  • 8/01 Thursday 9pm: Father John Misty w/ Night Moves @ LINCOLN HALL
  • 8/01 Thursday 9pm: Hiatus Kaiyote @ SUBTERRANEAN
  • 8/01 Thursday 9pm (doors): Wild Nothing w/ Circles @ EMTPY BOTTLE
  • 8/02 Friday 11pm: Eric Church w/ Frontier Ruckus @ METRO
  • 8/02 Friday 10pm (doors): Local Natives w/ Wake Owl @ HOUSE OF BLUES
  • 8/02 Friday 11pm: The Mowgli’s w/ The Bright Light Social Hour @ DOUBLE DOOR
  • 8/02 Friday 11pm: The Lumineers @ THE VIC THEATRE
  • 8/02 Friday 11pm: Foals w/ Drowners @ PARK WEST
  • 8/02 Friday 11pm: Little Green Cars w/ The Dunwells @ SCHUBAS
  • 8/02 Friday 11pm: Jessie Ware @ LINCOLN HALL
  • 8/02 Friday 10:30pm: Flux Pavilion w/ Dillon Francis, RVSB @ ARAGON BALLROOM
  • 8/02 Friday 10pm: SBTRKT and Disclosure @ THE MID
  • 8/02 Friday 11pm: The Neighbourhood and Family of the Year @ SUBTERRANEAN
  • 8/02 Friday 11pm: Death Grips @ BOTTOM LOUNGE
  • 8/02 Friday 10pm (doors): Heartless Bastards w/ Houndmouth @ CITY WINERY
  • 8/02 Friday 11pm: Chance The Rapper w/ BJ The Chicago Kid @ REGGIES
  • 8/03 Saturday 9pm (doors): DIIV @ EMPTY BOTTLE
  • 8/03 Saturday 11pm: Band Of Horses w/ Reignwolf @ METRO
  • 8/03 Saturday 11pm: Ghost B.C. w/ Skeltonwitch @ DOUBLE DOOR
  • 8/03 Saturday 11pm: Two Door Cinema Club w/ MS MR @ HOUSE OF BLUES
  • 8/03 Saturday 11pm: Matt & Kim w/ Robert DeLong @ THE VIC THEATRE
  • 8/03 Saturday 11pm: Frightened Rabbit w/ Wild Belle @ PARK WEST
  • 8/03 Saturday 11pm: SKATERS and The Orwells @ SCHUBAS
  • 8/03 Saturday 11pm: HAIM w/ St. Lucia @ LINCOLN HALL
  • 8/03 Saturday 10:30pm:  Kendrick Lamar w/Baauer, BJ The Chicago Kid @ARAGON BALLROOM
  • 8/03 Saturday 10pm: Dada Life w/ Nathan Scott, Gus Karas @ THE MID
  • 8/03 Saturday 11pm: Baroness w/ The Royal Thunder @ SUBTERRANEAN
  • 8/04 Sunday 9pm (doors): Wavves w/ E.T. Habit @ EMPTY BOTTLE
  • 8/04 Sunday 11pm: Palma Violets w/ Wild Cub @ SCHUBAS
  • 8/04 Sunday 11pm: Alt-J w/ Guards @ LINCOLN HALL

[via Entertain Me-dia]


Farmville crops dry up as Zynga lays off large number of staff

Does anybody still play FarmVille? I remember when the craze took over Facebook, resulting in a seemingly endless amount of hourly game requests to water plants and harvest crops. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Zynga, the company that popularized (and somewhat legitimized) Facebook social gaming has recently fired more than 500 employees in an attempt to save up to $80 million. The rollout, which should be finalized by the end of August, was deemed a necessary business strategy to ensure the company stays alive for an extra while longer.

It's an unfortunate move for everybody who lost their jobs, but the once seemingly gigantic gaming company have fell upon hard times as of late. As part of the massive layoffs, Zynga has also closed down its offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Dallas. Originally driven by in-game purchases, the company has relied on advertisements to bring in money. Realistically, it was only a matter of time before people realized buying extra energy or rare sheep wouldn't be worth it.

This news doesn't have a direct effect on its catalog of games, so those still finding truffles with pigs should feel good knowing their farms won't be disappearing... for now.

[via The Verge]


Benicio del Toro cast in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

Whoa! Huge news out of the Disney and Marvel camps as Deadline is reporting that Benicio del Toro (Traffic) has been cast for Marvel's upcoming space epic, Guardians of the Galaxy. The James Gunn (Super) film is shaping up to be Marvel Studios' next big ensemble film. Just this weekend, Doctor Who actress Karen Gillan was cast for a villain role in the action-comedy about a group of space superheroes.

While there's no word on which role del Toro will portray, he's joining a pool of ridiculously talented actors, such as Glenn Close (Damages), Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation),  Zoe Saldana (Avatar), John C. Reilly (Chicago), Lee Pace (The Hobbit), and others. Further news also have del Toro penning a multi-film deal, which will set him up for future film appearances along other notable Marvel stars as Robert Downey, Jr, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Natalie Portman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Cobie Smulders (amongst others, of course).

As if Marvel didn't already have a large handle on superhero film adaptations, del Toro's casting helps cement their status. Looks like Warner Bros. and DC will have to do a lot if they want to get even close to Marvel Studio's pedigree.

[via Deadline]


Vine has been added to Android

The new social media trend, Vine, has finally spread its wings and flown from its iPhone nest into the waiting arms of its Android brethren. For those that haven't jumped on board with the new app, Vine is a video sharing social network where users can shoot 6-second clips that run into a continuous loop. With Twitter and Facebook integration, the network has attracted 13 million users.

Vine for Android is lacking some of the basic features found on iPhones like hashtags and direct mentions, it does offer the ability to zoom, which is notably lacking on iPhones. As the updates continue to roll out, these features will begin to fill out. There are also plans to include some Android-exclusive features, as well.

Some creativity can be utilized for Vine videos, such as some inventive stop-motion animation videos. My personal favorite Vine so far has been of a dog touching a Super Mario mushroom for a power up. I personally have been using Vine for live shows, like this sneak peek at ShowYouSuck's live remix of "The Return of Headbanger's Ball" at SXSW this past March. If you haven't yet, follow Ruby Hornet on Vine for future updates.

[iframe id="https://vine.co/v/bdzQM1xWtrO/embed/simple"]

[via IGN]


[Trailer] Wara No Tate (Shield of Straw)

http://youtu.be/NX52yaQ_CIo

My introduction to Takashi Miike started off on the wrong foot. A classmate of mine lent me Audition, emphasizing just how talented the director was. Of course, Audition ended up being a gruesome horror film... from what I heard; I admittedly didn't make it past the first 20 minutes due to the intensity of the film. My next encounter with the beloved director, Ichi the Killer, went way better (and if you haven't seen Ichi the Killer, do it right now, this very second). Since then, Takashi Miike has had his American cult following grow even more with films like Sukiyaki Western: Django13 Assassins, and Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai.

With the trailer for his new film, Wara No Tate (Shield of Straw), Takashi takes his own spin on the vigilante genre. As the plot goes, Kunihide Kiyomaru (played by Battle Royale's Tatsuya Fujiwara) confesses to the murder of a 7-year old girl. In an act of revenge, the girl's grandfather puts out a public message: 1 billion Yen for the murder of Kiyomaru. With the entire population thrown into a chaotic frenzy, the police must protect the alleged murderer from desperate vigilantes so he can face proper justice.

Outside of the cheesy J-Pop music, Wara No Tate is looking amazing. There's no word on a US release date yet, but considering it's already been released in Japan, I suspect a fall date should be within reason.


Penelope Cruz is Bond 24's girl

After all of the shenanigans that surrounded the director possibilities for the next James Bond film, from Christopher Nolan being offered to a multitude of interesting choices to Sam Mendes officially returning to the franchise, the stage is setting for 007. We already knew that Daniel Craig would be returning as the secret agent, but now his femme fatale counterpart has been found.

Yahoo! Movies UK is reporting that the Spanish bombshell Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) will be the Bond girl in the next film. This should be a great step in the right direction for the franchise, considering Cruz's acting versatility should mesh well with Craig's. It's also interesting to note that Cruz will become the oldest "Bond Girl" as she'll be turning 40 by the start of production. Of course, age is just a number, especially when it comes to Penelope. Bond producers must love keeping it in the family, as Cruz's husband, Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), was the antagonist for the most recent Bond film, Skyfall.

[via Yahoo! Movies UK]