Daily Archives: October 13, 2019

How galaxies and their supermassive black holes grow together – Astronomy Magazine

Posted: October 13, 2019 at 12:47 pm

A cosmic linkAstronomers already know theres a close relationship between the size of a galaxy and the size of its supermassive black hole. That indicates the two somehow know about each other, despite the fact that the supermassive black hole is so much smaller than the galaxy around it.

You may imagine a giant black hole sucking in everything around it until the entire galaxy disappears like water down a drain, but thats simply impossible. Gravitys influence diminishes quickly as the distance between two objects increases. So, stars more than a few light-years away from the galaxys center arent ruled by the supermassive black holes presence at all, but instead by the mass of stars, gas, and dust around them.

A typical supermassive black hole only accretes, or sucks in, matter from a region just a few light-years across. And its gravity only influences the central few parsecs about 10 light-years or so, 1 parsec is 3.26 light-years of the galaxy.

And yet, the mass of a galaxys spheroid component its central bulge and the mass of its supermassive black hole are related. Theres also a link between the way stars in a galaxys bulge move and the mass of its supermassive black hole. What these relationships mean is that somehow, the galaxy at large and its supermassive black hole are connected. So, of course, astronomers want to know how.

But computer simulations can show galaxies and their black holes from start to finish, giving insight into whats happening. In fact, they can show thousands of galaxies, all growing and evolving over time.

Quinn and his colleagues used sophisticated code, called ROMULUS, to watch young galaxies evolve, looking at how much the supermassive black holes activity influenced the amount of star formation in the galaxy, and how the galaxys growth affected the black holes feeding habits. Their simulation included thousands of galaxies in various environments, from galaxy clusters to regions where galaxies are few and far between, exactly like the real universe.

Their work gives the clearest picture to date of how black holes and galaxies grow together, and shows that the two appear closely coupled, regardless of many of the factors that might disrupt their symbiosis. What this study shows is that the supermassive black hole and the stellar population of a galaxy grow together, Quinn said. The team found that no matter how many stars a galaxy was forming, only a small fraction of the gas available to make new stars was gobbled up by the central black hole instead.

And the fraction of gas consumed by the black hole, he said, stayed the same even in the face of factors the team thought might change it. The black hole had the same amount of food regardless of the number of nearby galaxies, how long the galaxy had to evolve, and even the number of other galaxies it had smashed into in the past. Thats interesting because galaxy interactions like flybys that happen in clusters such as the nearby Virgo Cluster and mergers such as the famous Antennae Galaxies can affect both star formation and black hole activity in galaxies.

The team also found that because that fraction of gas available to the black hole stays the same, galaxies and supermassive black holes have a relationship that is self-correcting. If the supermassive black hole starts out too large for its galaxy, a lack of available gas and dust in the galaxy appears to throttle down the black holes progress so it grows more slowly. Alternatively, if the black hole is small relative to its galaxy, plentiful gas and dust allows the black hole to grow at a faster rate, ultimately catching up to its host.

Of course, the results offer a generalized picture and some galaxies may not follow this template, especially as their central black holes go through periods of high activity, which most do. Quinn suggests that perhaps observing real galaxies at the extremes of the model, such as galaxies with very active black holes or dwarf galaxies with extremely heavy black holes, could help to confirm whether this model is a good fit for all, or if tweaks are needed under certain circumstances.

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How galaxies and their supermassive black holes grow together - Astronomy Magazine

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Cyberpunk 2077 photo mode teased yet again, but how would it work in first-person? – GamesRadar

Posted: at 12:46 pm

If you ever find time to play tourist during your travels through Night City, it looks like the game will oblige you with a Cyberpunk 2077 photo mode. Developer CD Projekt Red told a fan last year that it was "planning to have" photo mode, and a brief video posted to Cyberpunk 2077's official Twitter account today seems to hint that we'll learn more about it soon.

The video is a brief pan over the Night City skyline, its neon billboards and window-studded high rises shining out into the night sky. A stylized camera icon appears on the screen (though that symbol will probably be as meaningless as a floppy disc save icon in the future) and the video loops. The included hashtags "#CaptureCyberpunk" and "#PhotosFromNightCity" tease more to come. That is photos plural after all.

While photo mode has become a near-standard inclusion for many big-budget games, making it work with Cyberpunk 2077's dedicated first-person perspective will require some interesting decisions from CD Projekt Red. People love taking pictures of their characters - especially when they can customize them, as Cyberpunk 2077's character creator will allow - but in normal play you won't see much more than your hands and arms. If photo mode lets you pull back and look at your character at any point in the game, that would create a whole lot of extra animation work that CD Projekt Red would have to do for a fairly small portion of the game.

On the other hand, if a traditional Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer mode comes to the game after launch, CDPR would need all of those animations for player characters eventually. Having all those third-person animations ready to go would be future-proofing with an extra benefit in the near term. Or maybe V will just wink out of existence whenever you get ready to frame a shot, I dunno! I trust the developers to make the best choices with the resources and tools they have, and I'll be interested to see whatever form Cyberpunk 2077 photo mode takes.

Read about how the developers are working to give each neighborhood of Cyberpunk 2077 "its very own atmosphere and vibe".

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Cyberpunk 2077 photo mode teased yet again, but how would it work in first-person? - GamesRadar

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33 Best Cyberpunk Books of All-Time (2019) – Nerd Much?

Posted: at 12:46 pm

Prolific novelist K.W. Jeter met and became friends with Philip K. Dick through friends in college, and in fact he may be best known for writing three sequels to Blade Runner that were commissioned after the success of the filmand after Jeters friend Dick had died in 1982.

Dick even appears as a fictionalized version of himself in Dr. Adder, the first novel in Jeters Dr. Adder trilogy. Dick read Jeters novel after its completion in 1972, but Jeter couldnt place the book with a publisher until after Dicks death. His praise for Jeters book appears posthumously.

The book is nasty, brutish, and short: extreme (especially at the time) violence, sexual content, and a general attitude of disrespect that reviewers at the time found distasteful. But extremism belongs in cyberpunk, and limiting it to extreme forms of posthuman body modification and drug use but leaving everything else out seems disingenuous at best.

Indeed, a scene in the adaptation of Dicks own Minority Report adds a gruesome, visceral sequence when the main character must have his eyes replaced in his citys seedy underbelly and, while recovering in blindness, takes a big bite from a fetid, rotten sandwich.

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33 Best Cyberpunk Books of All-Time (2019) - Nerd Much?

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6 Of The Biggest Dance Mix Shows: Group Therapy, ASOT, Clublife, & More – CULTR

Posted: at 12:45 pm

Once upon a time, club-goers went out solely for the music, the person playing them wasnt part of the appeal. The rise of the DJ superstars began thanks to expert tastemakers who had inside access to the new and obscure records. These curators started to offer an experience other clubs and DJs couldnt, and so the demand grew. Some of the DJs still do exactly this only now its with an audience of millions of people globally. We take a look at some of the biggest and longest-running mix shows by these tastemakers that unearth the biggest hits. Kicking off with Tiesto, who in the early days was working in a record shop by day and then to the likes of Diplo, Above & Beyond, Pete Tong, Hardwell and Armin Van Buuren.

ClublifeTisto

Tistos Clublife started in 2007 and has become one of the most sought after mix shows for DJs to get their records played on, it has now aired over 650 episodes and inspired his compilation series. Each week the Dutch icon shows us his tastemaking prowess that has kept him at the top for decades, teasing exclusive releases from around the scene among them many from his revered record label Musical Freedom. It has aired on 3FM and Radio 538 in Holland. Previously it was 2 hours long, however, this year Musical Freedom took the reigns of the second hour with exclusive mixes from its roster. You can also hear the biggest songs via the Clublife Playlist on Spotify.

A State of TranceArmin van Buuren

Armin van Buurens live radio show A State of Trance is now 18 years old and coming up on its 950th episode. It is co-hosted by Ruben de Ronde and airs weekly on Thursday 20:00 (CET) and 14:00 (EST) live on YouTube and is broadcasted on various stations. The two-hour show covers the best music in trance and dance, with special guests frequenting the studio. Armin holds events for the milestone episodes which attract hundreds of thousands of fans. Armin ensures he covers the best from his label Armada and its subsidiaries. Listen to full episodes here.

Radio One Essential SelectionPete Tong

Pete Tong is the definition of the dance mix show, he has taken over the radio waves of the UKs BBC Radio 1 for as long as many clubbers can remember. Originally called the Essential selection, it was later rebranded as just Pete Tong. They kept the segment Essential New Tune, where we get to hear his pick of the best new music, an accolade that often signals a future club hit. The show also pairs nicely with the Essential Mix also on BBC whereby Pete brings in select artists for a coveted slot to show dance lovers what they are all about.

Group TherapyAbove & Beyond

Group Therapy is brought to us by none other than Above and Beyond, and it has evolved into a world of its own. While it got it was named after their 2011 album, the show embodies its meaning with a warm and positive community. The trio now holds major events for all the shows milestones, recently celebrating #350 in Prague and treating fans to a chilled river livestream set from a boat beforehand. The weekly show consists of the best current trance among them releases off their Anjunabeats imprint.

Hardwell On AirHardwell

Hardwell has been on hiatus for year now yet his radio show remains as active as ever. Premiering new music from himself as well as his Revealed label is a staple for the show. Hardwell has special features throughout the tracklist such as Community Pick Of The Week, Hardwell Exclusive, Track Of The Week and more. The show has consistently aired weekly from March 2011. This is one of the picks for fans who love the electro big room side of dance music.

Diplo & FriendsDiplo

While in the US he has an entire station called Revolution radio, over the pond in the UK the outspoken and iconic DJ has hosted his eclectic mix show Diplo & Friends for some time. Each week he drops an exclusive mix and brings on two talented artists for guest slots, often unearthing new talents for their first shot as well as bringing on seasoned DJ veterans.

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6 Of The Biggest Dance Mix Shows: Group Therapy, ASOT, Clublife, & More - CULTR

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Jimmy Page and Scarlett Sabet Are the Music-Poetry Power Couple the World Didn’t Know It Needed – Interview

Posted: at 12:45 pm

Scarlett Sabets poetry is felt three-fold when she performs it. The written words arent the same when she says them; they are trance-like, told as if from memory. To call the London-based talent a poet and performer seems inadequate. Shes more so a musician, or, perhaps, a mystic. Her haunting readings have taken place at storied book shops such as San Franciscos City Lights and Shakespeare & Co. in Paris, and shes been invited to read at the likes of Wellesley College. She has published four collections of poetry on her own imprint: Rocking Undergound, The Lock and The Key, Zoreh, and Camille earlier this year. Today, she debuts her spoken word album Catalyst, produced by her partner, the legendary musician Jimmy Page. Interview sat down with the couple to talk about coming together for this project, the brilliance of the Velvet Underground, and paying to produce your own work.

STEPHANIE LACAVA: You two met in 2012, but it was two years later that your relationship started and you first talked about collaborating together. It would be five more years before todays release of your project on all streaming platforms. Why this album now?

JIMMY PAGE: One project that I knew it shouldnt be was poetry with music. So with the production of Scarletts work, I wanted to create an individual character for each poem, a sonic landscape to compliment it.

LACAVA: And with all due respect, that was also a cool move. It would have been kind of eye-rolling to do music accompaniment.

SCARLETT SABET: Yes. It feels exciting, but also like a natural progression, I think, because we live and work together every day. Literally every one of these poems, Jimmy was there when I wrote it, and he was the first person that heard it and hes seen me perform so many times.

PAGE: It was six years ago that I first heard Scarlett read.

SABET: At Worlds End Bookshop on the Kings Road in Chelsea.

PAGE: I thought, This is really interesting. Shes really interesting. Shes definitely got something there. And the people in attendance soaked up Scarletts reading.

LACAVA: Surely, youve read a lot of crowds.

PAGE: Thats a good point. The whole place hushed. Rocking Underground was the first poem I heard of Scarletts and when we started production, we began with it.

LACAVA: I think people assume the title of the poem is a music reference, but its actually quite literal

SABET: I was on a train. My computer had broken. It was just one of those, ugh, kind of despairing Sunday nights. I just remember there was a guy with a backpack in my face, and I got out my notebook, and there was the rhythm of train.

LACAVA: Do you usually listen to music while you write?

SABET: Its got to be something thats trance-like. I can understand why youd listen to jazz, for example.

LACAVA: Thats a place where both of your practices kind of overlap.

PAGE: Well, yeah. I did this interview with William Burroughs for Crawdaddy Magazine in 1975. We started to talk about trance music. I thought maybe hed been to see Led Zeppelin on just one occasion. Actually, it was many times at Madison Square Garden. Anyway, we then started talking about this whole trance ethos, about the Master Musicians of Jajouka, this whole genre of tribal trance music from Morocco.

LACAVA: You learned about Jajouka from Brian Jones?

PAGE: Yes. To be fair, I know that Brion Gysin had introduced Brian Jones.

SABET: He was a painter and musician, Burroughss lover, and he came up with the cut-up technique with Burroughs.

LACAVA: Ah. What was your connection to Jones?

PAGE: Id heard Elmore James songs (which Jones played a lot,) but I couldnt quite work out how to play the music. People would say it was literally, from the neck of a bottle. I thought, So, lets see how this guy Jones does it. Sure enough, he gets up on stage and starts doing some Elmore James songs, and he has the equivalent of what everyone would know as a slide on his finger. I started talking to him when he came offstage, and I said, Well you know, youve really got that down. What are you actually using? You must understand that nobody that I knew played slide guitar at all. This is the first time Id seen somebody do itbefore Jeff [Beck] was doing it, before the Rolling Stones. So, he said, Oh, have you got a car mechanic near you? And I said, I literally do have one not too far away. He said, Go there and ask for a bush. Its called a bush. A thing used used in car maintenance. And he said, Youll find that itll just fit on your finger absolutely perfectly, and thats what I use. This guy was so generous.

LACAVA: Is there any young musician today who has really impressed you?

PAGE: Well, I was so impressed with the two guys that I saw with you.

LACAVA: Stefan Tcherepnin and Taketo Shimada, the New York-based Afuma.

SABET: They were so good. You said that was reminiscent of New York in the 60s?

PAGE: Well, well, yeah. It was. It definitely had that sort of trance vibe.

LACAVA: Back to Scarletts start. You did your first reading at Shakespeare & Co. in Paris in January of 2015. Jimmy help set it up?

PAGE: So, when Sylvia (Whitman, owner and daughter of George Whitman) was giving me a tour after my own book signing, I saw the poetry section there, and I said, Do you having readings here? And she said, Yes. And I said, Well, French as well as English? Oh, no. Only English. And I thought, I know a poet.

LACAVA: It was Sylvia who introduced me to Scarlett years ago.

PAGE: After hosting Scarlett, Sylvia said to me, Its really powerful in print, but her renditions, theyre in another realm.

LACAVA: So, Sylvias now the fourth person in this interview.

PAGE: Thats right. And something else funny happened when I was back at Shakespeare and Company. The man in charge of the rare book department said, Oh, Sir, that Franoise Hardy track that you were on was absolutely amazing. Thats one of my favorite pieces of your guitar work. I thought, Well, wait a minute. Im going to check, Im going to track this down. When I heard it, lo and behold, theres this distortion box. Its called a fuzz box. And I was the one who helped create this thing, and there it was on Francoise Hardys Je nattends plus personne. I did it when I was a session musician. It was a session in Pye Studios at Marble Arch, downtown where all these Petula Clark hits were done. It wasnt until you were in the studio that youd see the artist come in. And youd go, Oh, I know who this is. Or, I dont know who this is. But when Francoise Hardy came in, I knew who she was. She had on one of those turtlenecks and that sort of tweedy skirt.

LACAVA: You also did some early sessions with Nicobefore she was part of the Velvet Underground.

PAGE: Nico came to London to record the Gordon Lightfoot song Im Not Sayinwith Andrew Oldham as a solo artist. So, theres this huge orchestral session with Nico singing, and Andrew asked me to write a B-side with him for Nico, routine, play, and produce it on a separate session, which I did. Its called The Last Mile. I was a staff producer on Immediate Records.

LACAVA: How old were you?

PAGE: 19 or 20. I was going to routine her at her apartment just near Baker Street in London with my acoustic 12-string guitar. Nicos son with Alain Delon was there and he was holding up my guitar in the air, and I decided it was time to rescue it.

LACAVA: When did you see her again after that?

PAGE: Steve Pauls Scene Club (Pauls nightclub The Scene at 46th and Eighth Avenue) had been decorated by Andy Warhol. I dont know what youd call it here, but its this silver wrap

LACAVA: Mylar.

PAGE: All the walls were covered with Mylar because Andy Warhol said that color was the color of speed. And playing down there was Nico and The Velvet Underground. I had an incredible connection with Lou Reed, and we spent lots of time talking.

SABET: Was that the first time you met him?

PAGE: Yeah, and Id seen The Velvet Underground on more than one occasion. They were almost like a resident band. Andy Warhol was keen for them to be there. I can tell you exactly what it was like. When I heard the first album, it was just exactly what they were like. They were just like that. It was absolutely phenomenal.

LACAVA: See, thats interesting in the context of his new project, as well. The difference between seeing someone in person versus the recording

PAGE: The other thing about Steve Pauls and The Velvet Underground was that it didnt really have too many people coming to hear it, which I found extraordinary.

LACAVA: How many people were there?

PAGE: Well, hardly any people. Like, nine, a dozen people. It was so radical, such a radical band. You know, Maureen Tucker just playing the sort of snare drum. And the fact that there was the electric viola with John Cale. You just didnt get this sort of line-up. It was really arts lab, as opposed to pop music, this wonderful glue, this synergy between them that was dark. It was very dark.

LACAVA: You mentioned Warhol. Do you remember seeing him there?

PAGE: No, he wasnt actually there, but I met him with the Yardbirds. I dont actually remember the hotel, but there was a reception for the Yardbirds. He came in, and he was with one other person. I was talking to him, and he said, I just want to feel the band, feel the Yardbirds. I want to feel their presence, was the exact quote. We had a conversation and at the end of it he said, You should come to the Factory, and do an audition. But we were working, and I didnt manage to do that. And then I saw him again in Detroit in 67, when we were playing there. Andy Warhol was proceeding over this wedding, and The Velvet Underground were there. So, I got a chance to say hello again.

LACAVA: Something interesting that Scarlett told me once was that you steered her toward self-publishing. That legitimacy doesnt come from a labelit comes from creating the thing you want to create.

PAGE: Yes.

LACAVA: You could have told her the opposite, based on your experience.

SABET: Jimmy was like, Well, look. The first Led Zeppelin album, I paid for that.

LACAVA: You produced and paid for it?

PAGE: Yes.

SABET: They had a record. He then took it to record companies. He took it to Atlantic and said, This is what weve got. Im not releasing singles. Take it or leave it. He literally said the words, I didnt want to go around cap in hand saying, Oh please. Wed like to write some songs. Its better to do it.

PAGE: What Ive been producing over the last few years are Led Zeppelin rereleases and catalog items. It means a lot of listening to quarter-inch tapes, and its all in real time. I had to approach this project in such a way that the first album speaks for itself. The last and ninth album of the studio albums were Coda, so on every album in between, I had to make sure all of these companion discs were done and present the idea to the record company along with new artworkthat way to ensure the complete vision of the recordings were released.

SABET: With the sound engineer, Drew, Jimmy would explain how he wanted to kind of layer some of my voices. And I practiced some on cassette, so it was like a guiding track, and then Id listen back, and I understood the timing and what we were going to do for each one. If there was a sound or there was a better take, wed talk about that.

PAGE: The first one that I wanted to try was Rocking Underground, which opens up the whole of this work. It was recorded on a cassette tape. It was so noisy, but urgent. I said, this is what were going to use, but then it needed some extra work to be done to augment the base layer

LACAVA: Oh, thats cool!

PAGE: So, it opens, and its really disturbing, all this ambient noise. And I know we pulled it off. Because theres such a variety on it, and it will be such a surprise. Its the sort of thing that you listen to for, say, Side One, from beginning to end. The whole sequencing is there for a reason.

LACAVA: Were living in an age of the ubiquitous podcast. Everyone has those things in her ears.

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Jimmy Page and Scarlett Sabet Are the Music-Poetry Power Couple the World Didn't Know It Needed - Interview

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The Alchemy Tour marked the perfect end to festival season (DMNW Review) – Dance Music Northwest

Posted: at 12:45 pm

Were you at the Gorge in October this year? The legendary venue increased their festival season to hold an event for Seven Lions, Slander b2b Nghtmre, and The Glitch Mob. Insomniac Events and USC Events worked with Gorge Staff and Live Nation to host the event.

We planned smart for the cold weather. People had multiple layers, blankets, and beanies. The rave gods smiled on the Gorge, as we were gifted no wind on the festival site. Not to mention the pulsating dubstep, trap, and psy-trance that kept us warm all night, and a surprise set from Jason Ross as the sun set over the Columbia River.

Seven Lions headlined the event with the last set of the evening. He took the stage just after 10:30 p.m. and ended around midnight. One of the PNWs favorite adopted sons, he was able to expertly mix heavy bass and dubstep songs fluently into psy-trance. What an insane combination of tracks that he chose. Notable songs included December, a Dreamin X Clarity mashup, and a remix of Above & Beyonds Sahara Love.

Slander stood on stage with their lifelong friend NGHTMRE, as they showed the Gorge what they are about. We love Slander and NGHTMRE, and then when they were together it was next level. NGHTMRE has such a great ear for music while Slander knows exactly how to throw a killer party.

Over the last few years they have stepped back from the microphone and have let their high energy music speak for itself. Did we mention that Slander brought their Atom Stage to The Gorge? Dont know what that is? We got you covered.

The Glitch Mob were certainly the wild card on this lineup. As per usual, the trio performed everything in Ableton Live, making for a unique performance to say the least. They started right after the sun went down, and we all know how the The Gorge changes a little after sundown.

The Glitch Mob brought the Pacific Northwest to a state of pure hype. With heavy drumming, they dipped into the corners of bass music, trap, and beyond. They ended with their traditional Skullhead,off of their masterful Love, Death, Immortalityalbum.

It was so much fun last weekend. We saw strong support from Seven Lions and Slanders fanbases. Conscious Crew saw a welcome return after they werent involved during Bass Canyon or The Group Therapy Weekender.

What was your favorite set? We want to know how you combated the cold weather! Let us know on Facebook or Twitter!

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The Alchemy Tour marked the perfect end to festival season (DMNW Review) - Dance Music Northwest

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Desert Daze Festival 2019 Day One Review Featuring Stereolab, The Flaming Lips and DIIV – mxdwn.com

Posted: at 12:45 pm

Ilana Tel-Oren October 12th, 2019 - 9:51 PM

Desert Daze returned to the Lake Perris State Recreation area for the second consecutive year, boasting a weekend full of psych and indie rock, as well as heavy-hitting headliners including Ween, The Flaming Lips and Wu-Tang Clan. Festival founder Phil Pirrone learned from a tumultuous start last year with parking and security and took to social media to personally answer the festival-goers questions. Opening a second entry to the festival grounds this year made it a breeze to enter the festival on day one and wait times were minimal if not non-existent.

One of the first performers announced for the 2019 lineup was Stereolab and their set was met with much anticipation and excitement.Stereolabs manager started hyping the crowd in an odd but funny way by reading Desert Daze Testimonials, some of which were pretty bizarre, including one from Flash from Costa Mesa who was a cop turned extreme anarchist by experiencing Desert Daze. When Stereolab entered the stage, the crowd went wild, particularly over front woman Laetita Sadier, who donned a statement-making rainbow flowing dress. Sadier enjoyed giving the crowd clues as to which song was next. For example, saying this is an expansion trip were all on an expansion trip! before going into the song Expansion Trip and all right lets Ping Pong! Their hour-and-a-half long set was an expansion trip in its entirety. The band was tight and showcased some serious instrumental talent. Their set ranged from french disco to heavy 60s inspired psych sounds and the crowd was loving it.

Flourences featured electronic clicking noises and an 80s-inspired danceable rhythm. Percolator had fast bass arpeggios and singing that was incredibly impressive to watch and listen. Youre still here! Were going to play something a little more disco but not French Sadier said, somehow in surprise of the crowd they drew in and before going into Contranatura. Come and Play in the Milky Night, was utterly trance-enducing and made liberal use of bass arpeggios again. Its time for disco of the French sort Sadier said before going into French Disko. They finished up their set with some jammy psych sounds and it was safe to say that their performance was headline-worthy.

The Flaming Lips brought out all the theatrics from what seemed like hundred of balloons, a giant disco ball and finally a hamster ball that transported front man Wayne Coyne on a crowd surfing journey. The band performed The Soft Bulletinin its entirety and then some. After a thematic Richard Strauss opener, they got started right away with opening track Race for the Prize and immediately dropped colorful balloons on the crowd who were excited to bounce them around. Coyne himself waved around a large balloon that read Fuck Yeah Desert Daze. Coyne shared that his friend, Lindsey was about to give birth during their set and encouraged the fans to cheer for her. In fact, he shared a couple of inspirational message that night, encouraging everyone to be grateful for the present moment. The audience had a chance to participate in Sleeping on the Roof by making insect sounds on queue. They played a couple extra songs including Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1 and ended the set with Do You Realize? The legends certainly knew how to keep the audience entertained, from dropping glittering disco balls to utilizing a large light-up gong.

Animal Collective performed a colorful set at the Moon Stage, with animated visuals that correlated with the songs appearing on the massive screen behind them. While their sound certainly cant be classified as easy listening, there were several stunning moments of sound reverberating from the stage. Songs like In the Flowers and DownDownDownDown were hypnotically stunning, while songs like Grass were more abrasive. Hello desert seekers happy to be here with you David Portman aka Avey Tare addressed the crowd in the middle of their set.

Atlas Sound, the project of Bradford Cox, provided a set of dreamy, echoing songs.The Deerhunter frontman donned a head to toe mustard outfit. An Orchid was like a 50s love song with fluttering synths, Sheila was a dreamy song with a dance beat. Ladies and gentlemen Noah Lennox, he gestured to the Animal Collective member who joined for Walkabaout, their collaborative song, which certainly incorporated both of the groups sound well. Cox took a minute to share a message about mental health, encouraging anyone struggling to reach out and seek help. It appeared to be a personal message as well, as he mentioned to the crowd he wasnt sure that hed even make it to Desert Daze. Meanwhile, L.A. outfit Part Time filled the Theater stage with dreamy, dance-worthy sounds, playing songs off their new album like I Didnt Know. They ended their set with a brilliant lounge-inspired cover of The B-52s song, Dance This Mess Around.

Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, lo-fi band Crumb has been gaining more fans by the minute. Their new album Jinx is full of heavy-hitters to blast on repeat and they played several of those songs including Part III and Ghostride. The band even performed a couple brand new songs including closing song Tunnel and another song that featured a sultry sax solo. The crowd watched intently, nodding their heads along and getting into the lo-fi, jazzy sounds. The bass player shared gratitude to the crowd and their fans, as Desert Daze would be their final stop after a several-month tour.

Were DIIV we have a record that just came out Friday, were gonna play the entire thing. Zachary Cole Smith said to the crowd. The colorful string hangings flowed beautifully with the shoegaze opener Horsehead. Deceiveris the bands latest album and its predominantly slow, heavy shoegaze. This is only the second time weve done this, bassist Colin Caulfield said after pausing before the second song. This is kind of a night time record we made, he continued to share, expressing the irony of performing under the beating sun. Every song is in a different tuning they explained the holdup before going into Skingame which had the crowd nodding along. I hope nobody here wants to hear our old songs because were not playing any of them Caulfield joked before heading into Blankenship, probably their fastest song on the record. Their sound completely washed through comedian and musician Fred Armisen, who was impersonating different types of lead guitar players. You know its gonna be a long night when you hear this chord before strumming the heavy E minor. He led the crowd in a sing along a gold crown it gets thrown around before moving onto making fun of singers and drummers.

Frankie and the Witch Fingers delivered an early set of pure, raw energy reminiscent of a King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard performance. They played several songs off their new album ZAM,starting their set with Work. By the time they started the second song, a pit formed and continued for the rest of their set. Realization mixed up softer and heavy parts with screeching guitar solos that made the crowd go nuts. Another song had clicking sound effect from the singer, who clicked his tongue into the mic while comically making eye contact with the crowd. Each of their songs were easily over 5 minutes, with incredible soft moments from beginning and end to booming bass and shredding guitar in the middle. Aaaah the lead guitarist screamed into the mic and the crowd screamed back before going into Dark Sorcerer which had the crowd singing along to the chorus. You guys are so fucking fun this is the best festival in the world.

Other highlights included an early, shredding set from Triptides who just released a new album. They performed a couple new songs including Power of Creation and Changes.

Those who stayed up to catch noise-rock act Metz were met with sounds of pure fury! The mosh pit inside the Theater tent kicked up so much dust it was barely breathable. Songs like Spit You Out and Eraser were sure to leave the crowds ears ringing through the night.

A couple crowd members high fived each other at they safely held up a crowd surfer. Jessica Pratt played a dreamy set with acoustic guitar and keys. Stoner metal act Witch got the smoke flying with their heavy, headbang worthy jams.

Connan Mockasin shared a bizarre video depicting himself as a creepy music teacher and after it was fun watching him play and sing softly along to W.I.T.C.H., who could be heard from The Block stage to the Theater tent, as he riffed atop their simple chords.

Wand beckoned the crowd into the Theater tent with rocking psych sounds.Brazilian Group Sessa drew a crowd to the Moon Stage with their acoustic lullabies and performed asweet cover of Helen Smiths Im Controlled by Your Love.

Many festival goers stopped at the installations, one including some swings right between the Theater and Moon stages. The Desert Daze community was a sight to see, filled with plenty of friendly faces and not a glitter-butt in sight. With a strong start to the weekend, the roll is expected to continue with another two full days of amazing music from Devo, Flying Lotus, Wu-Tang Clan and many more.

File Photo: Sharon Alagna

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Desert Daze Festival 2019 Day One Review Featuring Stereolab, The Flaming Lips and DIIV - mxdwn.com

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‘Addictive Technology’ Is the New ‘Reefer Madness’ – The Atlantic

Posted: at 12:45 pm

The irony is that, just as voters in states across the country are rejecting exaggerated claims about marijuanas harms and legalizing the drug, alarm over allegedly addictive technology is on the rise.

Read more: I wont buy my teenagers smartphones

In recent years, CBSs 60 Minutes featured Anderson Cooper interviewing Tristan Harris, director of the Center for Humane Technology, who claims technology is leading to human downgrading and is destroying our kids ability to focus. The Washington Post ran a headline declaring Subtle and Insidious, Technology Is Designed to Addict Us. Even The Atlantic ran a piece that asked Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?which, naturally, went viral on everyones smartphone.

A slew of books, with titles such as Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked, The Hacking of the American Mind: The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains, and Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction Is Hijacking Our KidsAnd How to Break the Trance, paint a bleak portrait of the human psyche under the trance of internet-connected devices.

Moral panics are often based on half-truths. Reefer Madness wasnt all wrong. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, fully 9 percent of people who consume marijuana develop a cannabis use disorder, even though the drug is widely understood not to be chemically addictive (at least not in the way nicotine, alcohol, or heroin leads to compulsive dependence).

Similarly, personal technologies are potentially addictive to some people, but like cannabis, not to everyone. By promoting the idea that technology is hijacking our brains and getting all of us addicted to our devices, techno-fearmongers promote the exception rather than the rule. They redirect the debate to the product instead of the underlying causes of addiction for the unfortunate few suffering from the pathology. The fact is, the vast majority of people are not and will never become addicted to their devices or their favorite social-media platforms just as almost no one gets addicted to alcohol from having a glass of wine with dinner or addicted to pot from toking up from time to time.

Clearly, the extreme use of pretty much anything can be harmful. However, for those who use marijuana or Facebook moderately, the negative effects are negligible. While headlines spread fears about addictive technology, the data show that almost nothing is happening. Earlier this year, Scientific American reported on a study of 350,000 adolescents that found that technology use had a nearly negligible effect on adolescent psychological well-being. The article added, Eating potatoes is associated with nearly the same degree of effect and wearing glasses has a more negative impact on adolescent mental health.

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'Addictive Technology' Is the New 'Reefer Madness' - The Atlantic

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Immortality bombshell as 4,000-year-old map for the soul unearthed in Egypt – Daily Star

Posted: at 12:43 pm

The oldest etchings of the mythical path to immortality has been found in a 4,000-year-old coffin of a map for the soul to attain eternal life in Egypt.

Ancient Egyptians believed that by following the zig-zagging map in The Book of Two Ways they would reach Osiris, lord of the underworld.

Osiris is the high court judge of human souls in ancient Egyptian religion.

He was classically depicted as a green-skinned deity with a pharaoh's beard.

It was believed that anyone who saw Osiris would achieve immortality and after a great feast with the deity they would achieve all their hopes and dreams.

But the route was perilous with the dead having to cross a lake of fire, the abode of the knife-wielders, gates of fire and darkness, and other hellish obstacles and demons.

Several copies of the ancient guide have been found, but a new study published in The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology by Harco Willems suggests this discovery is the earliest known copy of The Book of Two Ways.

It was unearthed in 2012 in the famous necropolis city of the dead Dayr al-Barsha, located on the east bank of the Nile.

Inscriptions in the tomb refer to Djehutinakht I from around the 21st to 20th century BC and it was originally believed to belong to him, Ancient Origins report.

It was previously assumed the coffin must contain the body of Djehutinakht I, but Willems study points to an elite woman called Ankh as the likely inhabitant.

This comes after reports that the Great Sphinx could have a twin hiding under sand mounds in Giza.

Meanwhile, an ancient Egypt expert may finally have revealed the function of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

And Tutankhamun's great-grandmothers coffin was recently opened, which revealed the noble lady had blonde hair.

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Watch the ‘Toy Story 4’ Filmmakers Discuss Fan Theories on Andy’s Dad, Toy Immortality – Collider.com

Posted: at 12:43 pm

Toy Story 4 director Josh Cooley and producer Mark Nielsen discussed a number of fan theories about the entire Toy Story franchise in a new video for Vanity Fair. If youve been wondering where the hell Andys dad went, you wont exactly get an answer, but Cooley and Nielsen share their thoughts on what couldve happened to Andys perpetually absent father.

Witness protection, maybe? Cooley says.

Nielsen offers, Id like to think that maybe they split up? Maybe hes still alive and living somewhere in another town? Maybe he was part of the CIA and is deep undercover. Any of those are possible, we dont need to know because its really all about serving the story of Woody playing the father figure role in Andys life.

Image via Disney-Pixar

Cooley and Nielsen read through a number of theories submitted by Reddit users covering everything from whether or not Boo from Monsters, Inc. and Bonnie from Toy Story 3 and 4 are the same person, whether the girl who used to own Jesse before abandoning her in Toy Story 2 grew up to be Andys mom, and if Home Improvement takes place in the Toy Story universe.

Maybe thats who Andys dad is, Cooley suggests. Tim The Tool Man Taylor.

Things get a little dark when one Reddit user posits the theory that the toys are immortal, and will outlive every human on earth before ultimately inheriting the planet.

That seems plausible, Nielsen says. I kind of buy that.

Image via Pixar

One of the things Ive heard is that maybe the toys are some sort of vampire that instead of sucking blood they suck the joy out of children and live forever, Cooley laughs. We never really thought about that when making the movie, its more about just family and being friends.

The filmmakers also explain the ending of Toy Story 4, and why they chose it over two other possible endings that had been written. So if you havent seen Toy Story 4 yet, you might want to skip that part of the video, or loudly sing a Randy Newman song to yourself to block out the spoilers. Watch the video below, and check out our review of Toy Story 4.

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Watch the 'Toy Story 4' Filmmakers Discuss Fan Theories on Andy's Dad, Toy Immortality - Collider.com

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