Month: May 2021

Last month, BTS and McDonald’s announced that they were teaming up for the new BTS Meal, which consists of 10 chicken McNuggets, a medium fry, Coca Cola, and sweet chili and cajun dipping sauces. Starting today, the meal is available in some countries (including the US), so to mark the occasion, BTS have appeared in a new ad for the meal. In it, they make their way through a fancy-looking McDonald’s and tell viewers about the meal.

McDonald’s US chief marketing officer Morgan Flatley talked about the meal in a new Rolling Stone feature, saying, “BTS are the definition of a global phenomenon. They have an incredibly passionate and loyal fanbase, which is a big reason why we decided to partner with them. Most importantly, BTS are true fans of McDonald’s. Each band member has their own memories with our brand going back years. […] We’ve seen incredible support from BTS’ fanbase with fans creating their own memes and positive content about the partnership in social media. I’ve even gained some new K-pop fan followers myself.”

Flatley also noted that the rollout of the BTS Meal was inspired by BTS themselves, saying, “We took inspiration from a K-pop song release — mimicking the build-up to a new single and engaged fans early and often. Between our April announcement and the BTS Meal hitting restaurants, we’ve had a steady rollout of content on social – posting the release schedule, concept photos of the band, and most recently teasing our upcoming merch collection. We’ve also incorporated subtle nods to the band on our social handles, like adding the superscript ‘7’ on Twitter, and we’ll be leaning heavily into the digital, behind-the-scenes content BTS fans look forward to with weekly drops exclusively available on the McDonald’s app.”

Check out the new commercial above.

2019’s Escape Room was a surprise horror movie hit at the box office, earning $155 million worldwide on a $9 million budget. It was pretty fun, too, with a simple and enticing hook: “We solve the puzzles, or we die,” as one character says in the trailer for the sequel, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions. You can watch it above.

Directed by Adam Robitel, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions brings back two survivors from the first film and pairs them with four new contestants. The stakes are more dangerous in the sequel (someone literally says, “This is way bigger than last time”), including an electrified subway, lasers, quicksand, and a crashing plane. “What we’re going to realize is that on any given day, there are multiple games happening all around the world,” Robitel told CinemaBlend about Escape Room: Tournament of Champions. “They’ve all played the game before. It’s a meditation on trauma, and how people deal with trauma. But also, what they’ve learned through their first trial by fire.”

Here’s the official plot summary:

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions is the sequel to the box office hit psychological thriller that terrified audiences around the world. In this installment, six people unwittingly find themselves locked in another series of escape rooms, slowly uncovering what they have in common to survive… and discovering they’ve all played the game before.

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, which stars Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Isabelle Fuhrman, Thomas Cocquerel, Holland Roden, Carlito Olivero, and Indya Moore, opens on July 16.

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

The streaming era has been great for giving listeners exactly what they want. But when it comes to music you might not want at first, the on-demand age hardly seems ideal. Songs that are difficult, inaccessible, or abrasive are so easy to avoid or click away from that the incentive to be challenging, innovative, and unapologetically original is practically nonexistent. At a time when boundless musical comfort food is at our fingertips, who wants to feast on barbed-wire salad?

I say this as a preface to what I mean as a sincere compliment: Black Midi is the rare rock band with a significant profile that is unafraid of irritating people.

When they stepped into the indie spotlight with their 2019 debut Schlagenheim —the title is a made-up word that immediately puts cautious listeners on blast — this British band set themselves apart with a thorny, elbows-out sound that drew from a compendium of music-geek influences, all of them willfully arduous: fusion-era Miles Davis, Discipline-era King Crimson, the Minutemen at their angriest and least melodic, and avant-garde classical composers like Bartok and Stravinsky. The band’s singer, Geordie Greep — if Black Midi didn’t already exist, Thomas Pynchon would’ve had to invent them — sang in an indescribable, inhuman yelp. (Here’s my attempt to describe it anyway: He sounds like a character in a Fassbinder film if that film happened to be populated with talking dolphins.)

Drawn from hours of improvisations, Schlagenheim throbbed with attention-grabbing instrumental intensity. But it wasn’t loaded with what you might call “bangers.” If Black Midi’s pop appeal was minimal before, however, it has completely evaporated on the new Cavalcade, which finds them doubling down on everything that might have seemed off-putting about the debut.

Take the opening track “John L.,” which was courageously (and hilariously) selected as the first single. When the song dropped in March, some listeners quickly likened it to the goofball funk-prog act Primus, which in 2021 indie-rock discourse (to put it mildly) is not typically considered a good thing. (Those of us who once housed copies of Sailing The Seas Of Cheese and Pork Soda inside a Case Logic CD case might argue otherwise, though perhaps not in public and certainly not sober.) But the fact is that only the first section of “John L.,” in which Black Midi pummels a furiously deranged punk-klezmer riff that sounds like a Tim and Eric bit gone awry, remotely resembles Primus. From there, Black Midi slips into a desolate ambient interlude before charging back to an intricate post-rock climax in which a math-y guitar lick performs curlicues over an obnoxiously sophisticated rhythm section.

One song into Cavalcade and it’s already exhausting. But Black Midi is just getting started on a record that proceeds to reference German cabaret, free jazz, Gilbert and Sullivan, Soft Machine, and (I doubt they would admit this but I swear it’s in there) at least two or three Mars Volta albums. If they announced that their primary influence for this record was the sound of your neighbor’s car alarm going off at 3 a.m., I would not be surprised.

But, again, I mean this as a compliment. I not only like this album, I admire it. This album cuts against the grain of a contemporary music culture that values above all else the sugar rush of instantly likable pop music. (And I’m not talking about some weak little butter knife here; this is a sonic machete.) I have no idea if Cavalcade will help or hurt Black Midi’s career, but I appreciate how they don’t seem to care either way.

The guys in Black Midi — Greep, bassist Cameron Picton, and powerhouse drummer Morgan Simpson — are all in their early 20s, but they’re already veterans of an English rock scene that includes Dry Cleaning, Squid, Shame, and Black Country, New Road. These bands are typically classified as post-punk, and they often have a culture commentary bent to their lyrics, in which deadpan singers dispassionately dissect the banalities of life under late-capitalism against clanging, muscular guitar riffs.

I like some of these bands more than others. The best of the lot is Dry Cleaning, whose 2021 debut New Long Leg is an early critical favorite due mostly to lead singer Florence Shaw’s compelling anti-charisma and deep supply of droll lyrical asides. I also enjoy moments on Squid’s uneven debut from earlier this year, Bright Green Field, which is generally funkier and more danceable than the rest of this field.

But even the strongest of these nü-post-punk acts feel slightly reheated, as the latest iteration of a revival that has already been revived several times in the past 40 years. At this point, I have to ask: Will bands like The Fall ever stop being a foundational influence for the newest generation of cool indie kids? A similar question could be posed to music critics, who still regard post-punk as a “progressive” (and therefore laudable) sound in indie music.

I exempt Black Midi from this conversation because in spite of their association with this scene, they don’t really sound anything like these other bands or post-punk in general. For one thing, Black Midi consciously avoids the de rigueur nü-post-punk themes of economic and spiritual burnout. Cavalcade exists at the opposite end of the spectrum from the workaday naturalism of a band like Dry Cleaning — the songs are highly theatrical about centered on larger-than-life characters both real (like the eponymous protagonist of “Marlene Dietrich”) and imagined. It’s a record that sounds almost nothing like the modern world, which of course is the point. Black Midi is its own world.

In terms of the music, Cavalcade finds Black Midi moving fully into prog. The meat of the album progresses like a suite, with one surly and uncompromising track somehow gliding more or less gracefully into the next. The band has said that Cavalcade was more composed and less reliant on improv than Schlagenheim, and that appears to have carried over to structuring each component piece into a cohesive album. The lurching groove of “Chrondromalacia Patella” shoots chunky, syncopated tentacles at the quieter and prettier “Slow,” which is spotlighted by a post-bop sax solo. And that blends into the spacey, ambient Americana of “Diamond Stuff,” which proceeds logically to the raging “Dethroned,” the closest Black Midi get to the aggressive guitar explosions of the first record.

This path leads to the best song on Cavalcade, the nine-minute closer “Ascending Forth,” in which Greep warbles a weird tale about an alienated and creatively blocked composer over gorgeous Selling England By The Pound guitars and more stupidly convoluted rhythms. By then, if you’ve given yourself over to Black Midi, you might find that what was initially alien or annoying now seems … kind of soothing actually. And then you’ll know you’ve been sucked into this strange, fascinating new world.

Cavalcade is out Friday via Rough Trade. Get it here.

While some Basketball Africa League players have expressed their discontent with J. Cole’s position in the newly formed league, Cole’s teammates on the Rwanda Patriots have a new reason to enjoy having him around. In a video shared to TikTok by basketball trainer Omar Khanani and reposted on TheShadeRoom, Cole gives his teammates boxes of new sneakers — presumably, his Puma RS-Dreamers — which they appreciatively try on.

The announcement that J. Cole would be playing professional hoops abroad sparked waves of excitement among his fans and brought plenty of eyes to the nascent league, a joint venture between the NBA and FIBA. However, Cole’s less-than-stellar debut — he scored three points in his first outing and just two in his most recent — prompted Morocco’s AS Sale star Terrell Stoglin, the team’s leading scorer and one of the top scorers in the league, to posit that Cole being there was “taking someone’s job.”

This is a pretty common sentiment among basketball players toward hoopers who underperform, so it’s not surprising to hear. However, Stoglin’s comments drew criticism from rapper Rick Ross, who admonished him in an Instagram video. “You should be there to support the brother,” he said. “If he made one point on the first game, by the time he get to the 10th, you should make sure he makin’ six a game.”

Check out the video of Cole supplying his teammates with new shoes above.

More details on Showtime’s Dexter revival are coming your way, non-lumberjack fans. And from the way that these tidbits are being received by fans, it’s pretty damn clear that this series is the most anticipated revival/reboot of recent times. No one’s saying, “Who wanted this?” That’s because every Dexter fan wants to see this show redeemed from that anticlimactic ending, and Dexter Morgan must get what he so deliciously deserves. The first chunk of fresh news here is actually a confirmation of what’s been reported already: Dexter’s got a new job at an establishment called Fred’s Fish & Game, which is situated near a gun shop, just to push the murderous theme home. The casting of Michael Cyril Creighton as “Fred Jr.,” the store owner’s son, solidified that report, and Showtime has now revealed Dexter’s new on-the-job name tag on Twitter.

Also, he’s got a homicide-hiding alias now: Jim Lindsay. Could this be a reference to Jeff Lindsay, the author of the Dexter novels? Seems feasible.

So, things are really coming together. Dexter’s got a new life, although he’ll never be able to suppress that urge to kill, as a teaser already revealed. From here, we can all keep running in speculative circles over what original characters might return. There’s been additional back and forth on that issue, although a fresh start indicates that it’s the right call to not start dragging Miami characters in the direction of upstate New York. Fingers are still crossed all over the place for Jennifer Carpenter’s Debra to live rent free in Dexter’s head, though, despite James Remar (who played Dexter’s dad in the O.G. cast) shutting that possibility down, at least outwardly. I’m not really buying that shut down when it comes to Debra, since Dexter could really use her presence in a Dark Passenger sort of way.

The Dexter revival will likely arrive in late 2021.

In celebration of the release of Sour, Olivia Rodrigo sent album-themed gift boxes to some famous folks. Among them was Kim Kardashian, who showed off the gifts only to get outed as a fake Rodrigo fan by her daughter North West.

As Kardashian shows off the goodies in an Instagram Story video from yesterday, she narrates from behind the camera, “How cute is Olivia Rodrigo, you guys? I can’t wait for her album. You guys know I love ‘Driver’s License.’” At this point, North chimes in, “You never listen to it.” With a laugh, Kardashian retorts, “Yes, I do! I listen to it all the time. Stop, North. Saint, don’t we listen to it in the car all the time?” After some prodding, Kardashian gets her other child to audibly agree.

There is certainly some evidence in this very video to support West’s claim that her mother isn’t the world’s biggest Rodrigo stan: Kardashian says she “can’t wait for her album,” but when the video was posted yesterday, Sour had already been released for a few days. As for Rodrigo’s reaction to West’s revelation, she didn’t seem too bothered by it, as she re-posted Kardashian’s video without any added comment.

Along with the Sour merch, the box included a handwritten note from Rodrigo that reads, “Kim, thank you so much for supporting my music! It means the absolute world. I just adore you & I wanted to give you a few goodies to celebrate the release of my 1st album SOUR. Sending you & ur fam so much love.”

After taking the film off Paramount’s hands, Amazon is clearly hoping to go big on July 4th weekend when it starts streaming the Chris Pratt sci-fi actioner The Tomorrow War. In the new official trailer, the film gives off heavy Independence Day vibes but with a time-travel twist as Pratt’s character, a retired military man turned teacher, is drafted to fight a war in the future where aliens have mounted a successful invasion, and mankind is running out of soldiers.

However, complications abound as Pratt realizes that he’s not only fighting to save the future of humanity but also the past, where his family is no longer safe. Here’s the official synopsis:

In The Tomorrow War, the world is stunned when a group of time travelers arrive from the year 2051 to deliver an urgent message: Thirty years in the future mankind is losing a global war against a deadly alien species. The only hope for survival is for soldiers and civilians from the present to be transported to the future and join the fight. Among those recruited is high school teacher and family man Dan Forester (Chris Pratt). Determined to save the world for his young daughter, Dan teams up with a brilliant scientist (Yvonne Strahovski) and his estranged father (J.K. Simmons) in a desperate quest to rewrite the fate of the planet.

The Tomorrow War starts streaming July 2 on Amazon.

Even the GOP is fed up with Mike Lindell.

The pillow-loving free speech pioneer, last seen hosting a poorly-attended rally with special guests Joe Piscopo and Ben Carson, tried to attend the Republican Governors Association conference in Nashville on Monday. But “only a few minutes after he collected his credential at the JW Marriott Hotel, an event coordinator in the lobby told him he was not allowed at any of the official RGA events,” according to Politico.

“These events are for RGA members, and Mike Lindell is not currently an RGA member,” a Republican Governors Association official said. The MyPillow founder’s dismissal from the event may also have something to do with recent comments he made on Steve Bannon’s podcast. Lindell claimed he was going to confront Republican governors Brian Kemp (Georgia) and Doug Ducey (Arizona) about the 2020 presidential election:

“What I’m talking about, Steve, is what I have been doing since January 9. All of the evidence I have, everything that is going to go before the Supreme Court, and the election of 2020 is going bye-bye,” Lindell said during the podcast. “It was an attack by another country — communism coming in. I don’t know what they’re going to do with it after they pull it down, but it’s going down.”

After being denied entry, Lindell reportedly left Nashville on his private plane rather than staying for a few extra days. He could have at least visited Kid Rock’s Honky Tonk Rock ‘N Roll Steakhouse before going home. He would have fit right in.

(Via Politico)

After an especially rough year when it came to criticism, The Recording Academy is changing a number of things about the Grammys. They recently announced some changes, including the elimination of “secret committees” that decide on award nominees (The Weeknd is still boycotting regardless). Now, in the newly published rules and guidelines for next year’s 64th Annual Grammy Awards, the Academy has unveiled a number of other changes, including a significant one for the Album Of The Year category.

The “Rule Updates” section of the new rules and guidelines document notes that at this year’s 63rd Grammys, the “award credited artists, features artists, songwriters, producers, mixers, engineers with 33% playing time of the album.” Next year, though, the “33% playing time rule” has been removed, which means that more people who were involved in making an Album Of The Year winner will be recognized as Grammy winners.

For example, if these new rules had been in effect for the 2021 Grammys, Bon Iver would have won an Album Of The Year Grammy, as they were featured on “Exile” from Taylor Swift’s Folklore. Another historical example: In 2014, Pharrell Williams, Julian Casablancas, and Panda Bear also would have gotten Album Of The Year trophies for their work on Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories.

There are more changes than that for next year, including the establishment of two new categories: Best Global Music Performance and Best Música Urbana Album. Find the full revised rules and guidelines document here.

As much as Donald Trump loves coming up with a disparaging nickname, he’s utter trash at inventing even the most bare-bones insults. Still, if Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was even slightly offended at being called “Jeff Bozo” by the former president, Stephen Colbert has an idea for how to get back at him: Buy MGM and release The Apprentice tapes!

While the latest news on the possible acquisition is that the two companies are very close to making a deal for Amazon to purchase MGM and all its properties, nothing is yet set in stone. Yet according to The Late Show host, Bezos really wants to make this happen and is even willing to spend $9 billion to see it through, despite industry estimates only valuing the company at about $5 billion. So what could make MGM worth so much to Bezos? Colbert had a thought:

“Why would one of the world’s richest men pay almost twice the value for a struggling movie studio that recently went bankrupt? Well it could be that Jeff Bezos has an ongoing feud with the former president Genghis Con. Guess what? All the outtakes from The Apprentice are owned by MGM. Holy mother of DVD extras! The private footage of a TV billionaire is going to belong to an actual billionaire.”

Unless you’ve been living without Wi-Fi for the past several years, you probably know that several people formerly associated with The Apprentice, from contestants to crew, have claimed that Trump was regularly known to say a lot of offensive sh*t—yes, while cameras were rolling. The N-word? Yep! The C-word? That, too. According to Tom Arnold, who claims to have seen a compilation of the footage, Trump also called his son Eric a “retard.” Classy as always!

Colbert, who thinks all of this is very “on brand” for Trump, said that “If this is true, someday soon, Bezos may release the most racist thing in the MGM catalog. Other than Gone With the Wind. Because these tapes have never been made public, but now Mount Flushmore’s arch-nemesis owns it all. And I am here for it!”

You can watch the full clip above (which begins around the 4:20 mark).