Month: August 2021

Microsoft is trying its best to make Xbox Game Pass the best deal in gaming, with huge acquisitions like Bethesda and adding EA titles to its vast catalog. But Google is attempting to do the same with its mobile gaming hub, and it’s added a number of new titles and features to its Google Play Pass this month as it battles with Apple for mobile gaming supremacy.

The company announced on Friday that it’s adding several mobile games to the subscription service, starting with the mobile version of Tesla vs. Lovecraft, a dual-stick shooter that puts you in the inventor’s shoes as you battle a number of horrible monsters from the H.P. Lovecraft canon.

There are also a new batch of puzzle games to the subscription, which runs $4.99 a month or $29.99 per year. Starman and Who Is Awesome? lead the way there, the former an immersive puzzle game and the latter a two-directional platformer.

You can read the full details about the expansion on Google’s Quicksave blog, as there’s a lot that’s been added in recent weeks. If you’re a big mobile gamer (and have an Android device) it’s a pretty valuable expansion to the program, which already has a lot of titles like the lovely Stardew Valley, Monument Valley, Limbo and others. Google stressed that it’s not just a games platform, with some educator-approved learning apps and Google Play Books included in the package. But titles like Tesla vs. Lovecraft, Cytus II and the Delight Games library are certainly the more notable additions for gamers looking to get the most mobile bang for their buck.

Victor Oladipo is headed back to the Miami Heat. According to report by Shams Charania of The Athletic, Oladipo will sign a free agent contract with the team that traded for him last year with the hopes of getting a work at him before he hit the open market.

While the Heat paid a relatively low price to bring Oladipo in from the Houston Rockets, the former All-Star only appeared in four games before the team decided to shut him down. Eventually, it was determined that Oladipo would need to undergo season-ending surgery on his previously torn quadriceps. He’d later go on to say that there were longstanding issues with his original surgery that needed to be corrected by going under the knife one more time.

As Charania noted, signing Oladipo to a deal while he presumably spends most, if not all, of this season rehabbing gives Miami the opportunity to sign him to a substantial contract next summer.

Oladipo has been on a lengthy road to recovery since tearing his quad in early 2019. Since then, he’s suited up for three teams — the Indiana Pacers, the Rockets, and the Heat — but has not quite looked like his former self. It is evident that he believes he’ll be able to get back to that level eventually, and Miami wants to position itself in the event that happens.

Barack Obama is turning the big 6-0 today and the folks at Fox & Friends couldn’t be more excited. Not because it’s the former president’s birthday, but because he was planning to throw a ginormous party in the middle of a pandemic, which is never a good idea. So it gave Steve Doocy and his so-called ‘Friends’ a chance to wax holier than thou about COVID and vaccinations and double standards.

Doocy could hardly contain his excitement when he hypothesized that Obama’s Martha’s Vineyard bash — which had originally included a guest list of 500 that reportedly included the likes of John Legend, Michael Jordan, and George Clooney, plus a staff of 200 to cater to the A-list attendees — could turn into a “super-spreader event.” (Thanks, Dr. Doocy.) But what got the gang really amped was the news that the Obamas are planning to downsize the shindig given due to health concerns over the new COVID Delta variant.

As The New York Times reported, Obama spokeswoman Hannah Hankins released a statement on Wednesday morning to announce that: “Due to the new spread of the Delta variant over the past week, the President and Mrs. Obama have decided to significantly scale back the event to include only family and close friends. He’s appreciative of others sending their birthday wishes from afar and looks forward to seeing people soon.”

But the gang wasn’t buying it. While Doocy posited that “maybe it was a tone-deaf thing,” according to Mediaite, co-host Lawrence Jones was less generous in his assessment that the revised party plans were simply “Because he got caught!” But the sarcasm didn’t stop there.

After guessing that the party would still likely include “a couple hundred people,” Doocy suggested that “Maybe [Obama] didn’t watch the news. Did he know about this pandemic?”

“The problem is they told us you can’t do that you can’t have your wedding, you can’t have your funeral,” Doocy continued. “But we’re going to have this gigantic opulent party on Martha’s Vineyard for 500 elites and, you know, it was wrong.”

Jones, however, stuck to his guns that “They wouldn’t have changed it if they didn’t get caught.” (Note to Lawrence: It would be very hard to hide 700 people anywhere on Martha’s Vineyard—an island that measures less than 90 square miles—especially under a tent at the home of a former president. So subterfuge was not likely ever part of the plan here.)

Doocy wasn’t about to let the tomfoolery end without getting in the last word though: “So anyway, let’s see if George Clooney’s still going to Martha’s Vineyard,”

You can watch their full performance here.

(Via Mediaite)

Deafheaven have so far surprised fans with the rollout of their upcoming album, Infinite Granite, as singer George Clarke is putting more emphasis on clean, non-screamed vocals these days. This gives the band’s new music a lighter (but still intense) post-rock sound, which is on full display on their latest song, “In Blur,” which also has a strong dream-pop influence. The song is set to be the band’s last pre-album single.

The band’s George Clarke told Apple Music 1’s Hanuman Welch of the song:

“I think it was like the third track that we had really gotten ahold of and really laid the ideas down for. For me, it was the first time that we are really stepping into this new identity, and that came with the vocal experiments. The chorus started out with this bellowing Peter Murphy thing, and that got refined over time. And then we experimented with all these auxiliary vocals, the strange pitch-shifted ooh-ahhs was at the beginning, and, “who are you nows,” towards the end of the track, which was like a big mouth strikes again. We wanted just to bring in strange voices and fill out that idea across the board, have different characters, and I think for the first time really utilizing the vocals in a very creative way. To me it just feels very fresh for us, and I remember feeling that same way when we were making it.”

He also spoke about anticipating the reaction to their changing sound, saying, “We have a rule about not feeling confined at all during the writing process, not saying no to things, trying things out, not letting of anyone other than ourselves dictate what’s happening creatively. Of course, inevitably after we finish records, everyone gets out of the fog and then starts to think, ‘Oh, I wonder how people will respond to this.’ And what [Deafheaven’s Kerry McCoy] always says is, ‘It’s not really our business at the end of the day.’ I think that for us, the only thing that’s really paramount is that we can continue to be inspired and continue to write music that’s inspired, and hopefully our fans see that and come with us. I feel like for a lot of people who are familiar with our music, this will feel like a cool and more natural direction, I think, than maybe what you’d expect.”

Watch the “In Blur” video above.

Infinite Granite is out 8/20 via Sargent House. Pre-order it here.

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.

There’s a webcomic, one of those relatable, simply-drawn four-panel stories, in which a little cartoon dog sits at a table sipping from a mug of tea. The house he’s in is on fire, and in the second panel, he finally reacts to his situation: “This is fine,” he insists, although things around him are most certainly not in any way “fine.” The comic, a 2013 strip of the gag-a-day comic Gunshow has since been stripped down to these first two panels and re-shared into cultural ubiquity, a meme detached in many ways from its original context to describe most of our everyday existence in the era of Trump and COVID.

Isaiah Rashad’s new album, The House Is Burning, is very much the audio equivalent of this comic, with Isaiah playing the role of Question Hound, and his lyrics reflecting both of the juxtaposed states in play in the comic. On one hand, there is a creeping, nauseous sense of paranoia and dread. On the other, there is the Chattanooga rapper’s bemused insistence that everything is fine, the denial of the disaster in progress that threatens his very existence. The appeal of The House Is Burning is, yes, in its relatability, the tension between that sense of helplessness in the face of certain doom and our own (pardon) dogged need to press forward as though this is all normal, even though we know it’s not.

In the five years since we last heard from Rashad on the fan-favorite The Sun’s Tirade, the Tennesseean native has lived through his own version of this hell, in part of his own making. In the lead-up to his latest release, he’s been candid about the fires that burned around him; his twin battles with anxiety and addiction led him to nearly imploding his own career, spending nearly all his rap money, and returning home to Chattanooga, where family and friends couldn’t believe that Rashad, a Top Dawg Entertainment employee, was running on fumes and drinking himself to death as a result.

Tracks throughout the album augur this sense of weary, doomed resignation. “Some n****s gon’ die in the cardboard, some n****s gon’ die in the feds,” he observes on the hook to album opener “Darkseid.” On single “Headshots (4r Da Locals),” amidst seemingly celebratory fare about cars with bass and his indefatigable sex appeal, Rashad sneaks in the cutting line “I got a crib bigger than Budapest / And the shots ain’t bringin’ my soldier back,” making the double entendre and stiletto slice of the grim reflection slide by behind the cool glamor of his stolid facade.

However, these gloomy ruminations share equal time and space with party tracks like “Wat U Sed” with TikTok star Doechii and Kal Banks and “From The Garden” with Lil Uzi Vert, where Rashad indulges in the excesses and flexes expected of rap stars of his stature. On “Lay Wit Ya,” the first song he promoted as a single from the album, he calls himself “a cold piece of work” and smears his sweaty come-ons with a fine layer of affected disaffection — some might call this pimping — as he works hard to appear like none of this is work. In reality, all the water rolling off his back may not look like it affects him, but underneath, he’s treading for dear life — a lot like the rest of us.

So there is relief and release in the pure R&B songs that smatter the tracklisting. “Claymore” with Smino finds Rashad finding solace in the temporary company of a string of women — and even that can’t keep him from heeding the siren call of his addictions. He gets even more vulnerable on “Score” with 6lack and SZA as he details his “war scars and more sh*t” for a potential paramour, warning her before she gets too close how likely he is to run. As is usual in Rashad’s discography, the album is sprinkled with references to hip-hop classics and figures like Chad Butler (aka Pimp C) of UGK, for whom a track is named, and callbacks to Goodie Mob’s “Cell Therapy” on “THIB,” reinforcing that relatability factor that has so endeared him to fans.

What results is a portrait of a man on fire, struggling to find inspiration and hope in dire circumstances and coming out on the other side by the sheer will it takes to stop pretending everything is fine. In that comic I mentioned earlier, the part that often gets cut in its ongoing meme-ification is the final two panels, in which Question Hound eventually just melts away from the heat and his own refusal to take action. That’s the key difference here; recognizing that he needed help, Isaiah sought and received it with the support of his TDE cohorts and leadership. The real takeaway from the album isn’t even really on it: The house is burning, but the choice to burn with it is entirely up to you.

The House Is Burning is out now on TDE/Warner Records. Get it here.

Isaiah Rashad is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Well padwans, it’s time to either start saving or start becoming one with the force really fast. Disney World’s Star Wars resort is nearly open for business and the only way anyone is getting in is with several pretty pennies or some serious Jedi mind tricks. Disney has officially revealed the price sheet for their upcoming Galactic Cruiser resort, and it starts at a shocking $4,809 for one room that can be shared by up to two people for two nights. Good news is, if you’re a family of four needing two rooms for the two-night package, you’ll encounter some savings and will wind up only paying… $6,000.

I suppose to give Disney some credit, the resort is pretty damn cool. It boasts itself as a completely immersive experience, where “you are the hero” and can write your own Star Wars story. According to the website’s description:

“You and your group will embark on a first-of-its-kind Star Wars adventure that’s your own. It’s the most immersive Star Wars story ever created — one where you live a bespoke experience and journey further into a Star Wars adventure than you ever dreamed possible… Throughout the ship, you’ll interact with an eclectic collection of characters, sit down to exotic galactic cuisine and perhaps even plot a secret mission together… As the itinerary continues, you’ll take the story further and deeper. Choose your path. Seek out the inner workings of the legendary starship, learn the traditional art of wielding a lightsaber, and even jump on a transport to the planet Batuu — where your mission continues at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge!”

Each of the three two-night packages includes your stay at the resort, as well as all meals, “exclusive experiences, missions and activities,” valet parking, and entry to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the part of the park that contains Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. Meaning yes, if you want to visit the rest of the parks, you have to spend even more. In addition, the resort doesn’t provide you with any space-ready clothing but encourages you to wear your own “galactic favorites,” so get ready to buy all new threads or be walking past Stormtroopers in kakis and flip flops.

After having her breakout moment arrive during a global pandemic, Olivia Rodrigo was first taken aback by her fame. Help eventually arrived when she got some sage advice in the form of a tweet from a fellow star: Cardi B. Rodrigo appreciated Cardi’s words so much that she turned it into wall art.

Rodrigo recently sat down with GQ for a lengthy profile where she discussed her abrupt rise to fame. The profile mentioned how Cardi’s tweet sits in a white frame and is the only thing on her new apartment’s bedroom wall. Rodrigo noted she was overjoyed when she saw Cardi’s kind words.

“I honestly bawled,” she said. “I literally saw it and cried. I was like, ‘Thanks, Cardi. I’m not going to listen to bullsh*t.”

Rodrigo said she enjoys her new apartment, but moving out of her parent’s home was definitely a bit of a learning curve, saying, “I love living alone. I also just don’t know how to take care of myself, though. I don’t know what to buy from the grocery store or how to clean up after myself, I realized. It’s been a learning experience.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, Rodrigo said she specifically asked her Sour producer Daniel Nigro to not watch her Disney+ series when they were working on the project. “I’ve always just wanted to be taken seriously as a singer-songwriter — not that being an actor takes away from that at all,” she said. “I wanted him to know me for me and not the side character that I was playing. I also just get really self-conscious about stuff like that, on a human level. I hate it when my friends listen to my songs or watch anything related.”

Read the full GQ profile here.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

A few weeks ago, Unknown Mortal Orchestra shared a buzzy new bit of pysch-pop, “Weekend Run,” and now they’ve shared yet another new single. Two new songs in a row definitely seems to indicate the band is gearing up for another new album, though no announcement has come yet.

“That Life” follows in the footsteps of the first single, it’s more sunny funk accompanied by a very intricate puppet video. The puppet in the clip was created by puppeteer and fabricator Laura Manns, who has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for her work on shows like The Muppets and Sesame Street.

Speaking of the new track, the band’s Ruban Nielson explained that he was equally inspired by Where’s Waldo? and a Hieronymus Bosch painting. “I saw this painting by Hieronymus Bosch called ‘The Garden Of Earthly Delights’ and in the painting there was a mixture of crazy stuff going on, representing heaven, earth, and hell,” he said. “When I was writing this song, ‘That Life,’ I was imaging the same kind of Where’s Waldo (or Where’s Wally as we call it in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK) of contrasting scenes and multiple characters all engaged in that same perverse mixture of luxury, reverie, damnation, in the landscape of America. Somewhere on holiday under a vengeful sun.”

Check out the new song above and stay tuned for more new music coming soon.

Discussing nepotism is always a minefield for The View co-host Meghan McCain thanks to the fact that her entire media career is built on the fact that she’s the daughter of the late Senator John McCain. However, when it comes to the matter of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his brother, CNN host Chris Cuomo, McCain actually had a leg to stand on if she could have avoided falling into the usual trap of making the conversation about herself, which of course, she did.

During a panel discussion on the report detailing Governor Cuomo’s long list of egregious acts of alleged sexual harassment, McCain tore into his brother for not covering the scandal on his CNN show on Tuesday night, which she labeled as “the worst kind of nepotism.” Again, this was a valid criticism to make because alleged sexual harassment is a much more serious issue than landing a job on a daytime talk show. McCain was justified in her remarks, and her being part of a political dynasty doesn’t negate that.

You can see McCain’s full comments at the 3:30 mark below:

Where things went off the rails is when McCain couldn’t resist tying the topic to an unrelated discussion from last week where she got dismantled by Sunny Hostin after defending Hollywood nepotism. Via The Daily Beast:

“I also think it’s interesting, we had a conversation about nepotism on this show a few days ago,” she said. “You want to talk about nepotism? Not having to talk about the biggest scandal in the country when it has to do with your brother and you’re hosting CNN, that’s nepotism.”

Referring to Chris Cuomo, who completely ignored the harassment report about his brother as well as his own involvement in the investigation Tuesday night, McCain added, “The Cuomo family and CNN are the worst kind of nepotism that the media has an example of.”

McCain then took another unnecessary step by proclaiming that if her brother was a governor caught in a similar scandal to Cuomo, “You are damn straight I would be talking about it on The View this morning, and that makes all of them cowards.” However, McCain’s tenure on The View has shown this would probably not be the case.

When McCain’s father-in-law Doug Domenech, who was a member of the Trump administration, got wrapped up in an ethics investigation in May 2019, The View co-host conveniently took sick days that coincided with the breaking news. When McCain’s mother, Cindy, made headlines for falsely accusing a BIPOC family of sex trafficking at an airport, The View co-host did not bring it up on the show.

(Via The View on Twitter)

Although it happened in 2004, the Malice at the Palace remains one of the most dissected and infamous moments in recent NBA history. Later this month, a new Netflix documentary episode titled Untold: Malice at the Palace will aim to shed more light on the night.

On Wednesday, Netflix teased the doc by releasing a trailer.

In the video, Ron Artest says “I want the story out there. Go frame by frame.” He, along with the ex-players like Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal, and Reggie Miller, are speaking in the series and promising to offer new insight into the brawl.

Additionally, Netflix says that the documentary shows some never before seen footage from the event, which is an interesting hook considering it’s been almost two decades since it happened. The footage, notably, isn’t coming from TV cameras that already documented the event. Instead, the footage is coming from the Palace at Auburn Hills, which was the home of the Pistons at the time.

Untold is overall a sports documentary series that, in addition to the Malice at the Palace, covers topics like connections between organized crime mafia and the Trashers, a hockey team that was ultimately targeted by an FBI investigation, and tennis star Mardy Fish and how anxiety almost ended his career. The five-episode series drops on August 10.