Pitchfork is entering the print medium with The Pitchfork Review
After 17 years as an online-only outlet, local Chicago media powerhouse Pitchfork will be entering the print realm next month with the launch of their inaugural quarterly magazine, The Pitchfork Review. The magazine will consist of long-form Pitchfork features, high quality photos, illustrations, and more meant to be read over the course of a few months (a la "quarterly") rather than in one sitting. The introductory rate of $44.99 will include a year-long subscription of four issues, as well as subscriber-only digital content, limited edition gifts, and exclusive invitations to various Pitchfork events. Individual issues of The Pitchfork Review will be available at newsstands at $19.96, commemorating the year of Pitchfork's launch.
It's an interesting endeavor for Pitchfork, considering how multiple outlets are moving away from the dying print medium. Just last week, The Onion announced the end of its weekly print installments, focusing more on their digital and video content. However, with Pitchfork's high quality of writing and a plan that would only consist of four issues a year, I could see The Pitchfork Review thriving in its own realm while not directly competing with other print publications such as XXL and The Source.
What do you guys think? Are you into the idea of reading The Pitchfork Review while you sip your coffee?
[via Pitchfork]
[Video] Help fund the Roger Ebert documentary, Life Itself
Roger Ebert's death earlier this year was felt not only in Chicago, but in the film community all around the world. Whether you loved him or loathed him, it's hard to argue against how influential Ebert was for film criticism and journalism. I've shared my thoughts on how Ebert personally impacted me previously, but now, people can truly show support for the iconic film critic.
Life Itself, named after Ebert's memoir of the same name, is a documentary about Ebert's life that attempts to show Ebert not as the film icon he was known for, but as the fully-realized person that he was outside of his status. Director Steve James (Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters) is handling the documentary with famed director Martin Scorsese (The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street) serving as executive producer. James began production four months before Ebert's untimely death, gathering interviews from colleagues and filmmakers as well.
While the majority of the budget has been made and the documentary has entered post-production, the crowdfunding campaign is to help cover extra costs for the documentary for things such as hiring a composer for an original soundtrack, high quality graphics and animations, music licensing, video archives, and much more. Supporters have access to a number of incentives, including an early online link to stream Life Itself in its entirety, limited-edition signed copies of the doc on DVD and blu-ray, shirts, and more.
If you're interested in donating money to the Life Itself campaign, visit its Indie GoGo page for more information. Below is James' video proposal for the Life Itself campaign.
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[via Indie GoGo]
[Video] Killzone: Shadow Fall launch trailer
Killzone 2 was one of my favorite PS3 games, not for its single-player campaign, but for its level-based multiplayer. In fact, I don't think I once bothered with the actual story. When Killzone 3 came out, I dove right into the multiplayer, but it wasn't the same. With the PS4 launching on Friday, Sony and Guerilla Games are releasing Killzone: Shadow Fall to demonstrate how powerful the next generation of gaming is on the new PlayStation. Gone are the series' iconic muted, dull colors, replaced by vibrant, radiant colors signifying not only the changing landscape of Helghast, but also the PS4's processing power. I can't speak on the game's story, but I know I'm gonna spend the majority of my weekend playing my ass off in some multiplayer.
Watch Killzone: Shadow Fall's launch trailer below.
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Animuse: "Changing Faces"
Following the release of The Lucy List, Animuse dropped their latest single this week, "Changing Faces." Like most other Animuse songs, the Savier-produced track holds that signature heavy sound Savier's known for, as well as the dark lyrical themes both Savier and Elishua typically deliver. However, the presence of guitar riffs and tribal drums adds an extra rhythmic layer to their established song. Check it out below. A FragDFilms' directed video for "Changing Faces" will be releasing very shortly, of which a teaser has been released. Based off of my personal talks with Bryan over the video, you'll all be in for a visual treat when it drops.
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The Beatles named most pirated artists in the world
The Beatles revolutionized both rock and roll and pop. The face of the music landscape today wouldn't be what it is without the English band paving the way for every musician to ever write a song over the past half century. It comes as no surprise, then, that The Beatles have been named the most pirated artists on list compiled by MUSO, one of the leading anti-piracy monitoring companies. MUSO reported that exactly 186,876 illegal Beatles files have been removed from the internet. With an average of roughly 1,000 downloads per file, that totals about 190 million illegal downloads a year. Of course, while The Beatles are immensely popular, a reason for such a large number of illegal Beatles' songs is because of their relatively late inclusion to iTunes. It was only three years ago when EMI, The Beatles' record label, entered an agreement with Apple to bring the band's entire catalog to the popular music service.
The full list of Top 10 illegally-downloaded artists is below. I'm not surprised by the majority of the names, but Fleetwood Mac is at second? REALLY?
1. The Beatles (187,687 uploaded files)
2. Fleetwood Mac (72,984 uploaded files)
3. Bob Marley (60,024 uploaded files)
4. Led Zeppelin (59,011 uploaded files)
5. Cliff Richard (56,576 uploaded files)
6. Stevie Wonder (45,496 uploaded files)
7. Jimi Hendrix (44,093 uploaded files)
8. Elvis Presley (40,794 uploaded files)
9. ABBA (35,193 uploaded files)
10. The Rolling Stones (34,444 uploaded files)
[via NME]
[Video] Call of Duty: Ghosts live-action trailer
James Mangold, the Oscar-nominated director behind Girl, Interrupted, Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma, and this summer's The Wolverine, directed a TV spot for the next Call of Duty installment, Call of Duty: Ghosts. The video features a group of four friends (including Community's Charley Koontz) teaming together and shooting stuff a la Call of Duty. However, a well-placed cameo by Megan Fox gives the video an extra shot of testosterone, as well as points out that Ghosts will be the first game in the franchise to feature female characters online.
Watch the video below in preparation for Call of Duty: Ghosts' release tomorrow, November 5th.
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[Video] Rockie Fresh & Casey Veggies Announce Joint Mixtape
Casey Veggies and Rockie Fresh took to MTV yesterday to announce a collaborative mixtape between the two artists, dropping towards the end of the year. Fans are probably already aware of the fact that the Chicago and L.A. natives have been working together for years and their chemistry is one of the best in the industry, so this announcement is very promising of dope music being made! The 'tape is tentatively entitled Fresh Veggies and will be presented by Puma.
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Kanye Talks Life With Ryan Seacrest
The meltdown via Twitter over Jimmy Kimmel aside, the larger than life Kanye West has come across rather human as of late. Albeit, not at his shows where he can be found wearing golden masks and singing from cliffs with Jesus, but rather in interviews where he seems to actually be fairly genuine. Last night he linked up with none other than Ryan Seacrest to talk about his recent engagement to Kim Kardashian, his nerves about raising his new baby North and much more. Check it all out below.
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