Category: news

‘Stranger Things’ creators respond to Millie Bobby Brown’s criticism of show

Brown called the Duffer Brothers “sensitive Sallies” over their reluctance to “kill anyone off”

The post ‘Stranger Things’ creators respond to Millie Bobby Brown’s criticism of show appeared first on NME.

NME

Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers have responded to Millie Bobby Brown’s recent criticism of the show.

Brown, who plays Eleven in the Netflix fantasy series, participated in a video interview with The Wrap in which she and her co-star Noah Schnapp (Will Byers) were asked what they want for their characters in the fifth and final season.

Agreeing with Schnapp’s view that the Duffer Brothers “need to kill” some characters, Brown said: “It’s way too big. Last night, we couldn’t even take one group picture because there was like 50 of us. I was like, ‘You need to start killing people off’.

“The Duffer brothers are two sensitive Sallies that don’t want to kill anyone off. We need to be Game of Thrones. We need to have the mindset of Game of Thrones.”

After telling the Duffers to “kill me off”, Brown continued: “They tried killing David [Harbour, Chief Hopper] off and they brought him back. It’s ridiculous.”

Some fans have since shared Brown’s comments on social media after all of the main cast made it out of Stranger Things 4 alive.

During the latest edition of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Duffer Brothers were asked to respond to the criticism. “We heard,” Matt Duffer said.

“What did Millie call us? She said we were ‘sensitive Sallies’. She’s hilarious. Believe us, we’ve explored all options in the writing room.”

He continued: “Just as a complete hypothetical, if you kill Mike [Finn Wolfhard], it’s like… that’s a depressing… we aren’t Game of Thrones. This is Hawkins, it’s not Westeros. The show becomes not Stranger Things anymore, because you do have to treat it realistically, right?

“So even when Barb [Shannon Purser] dies, there’s two seasons worth of grappling with that, so imagine – is that something we’re interested in exploring or not interested in exploring?”

But Duffer did promise that further deaths were “on the table” as Stranger Things heads “towards the end”.

“This is me basically defending myself against these Millie Bobby Brown accusations and explaining that there are lives behind it, and it’s nothing to do with my sensitivity. So there you go Millie,” he explained.

Vecna in ‘Stranger Things’ (Credit: Netflix)

The epic season four finale saw the main characters attempt to take down villain Vecna, though many fans feared for their favourites beforehand given the Duffer Brothers had teased a “body count”.

In the end, alongside various background characters, there were only three major character deaths across the last two episodes: Dr Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine), Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) and Jason Carver (Mason Dye).

Last month, Matt and Ross Duffer expressed their regret over killing off Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien) in the first episode of the latest season.

Speaking to NME about the forthcoming final season, Matt Duffer explained: “We do have an end. I’m sure a lot of it’s going to change, but now [it’s] the end.

“It’s just one of those things that you come up with and you go, ‘That’s it, that’s right, that’s inevitable – that’s what it has to be’.”

Meanwhile, Stranger Things season four has broken a US streaming record for minutes watched within a single week.

The post ‘Stranger Things’ creators respond to Millie Bobby Brown’s criticism of show appeared first on NME.

‘Monster Hunter Rise’ giving out free items to celebrate sales milestones

Free item packs will be made available later this week

The post ‘Monster Hunter Rise’ giving out free items to celebrate sales milestones appeared first on NME.

NME

Thanks to the sales of both Monster Hunter Rise and the new Sunbreak expansion Capcom is going to give players some free rewards.

According to the official Japanese Monster Hunter Rise Twitter account earlier today (July 5), the base game has reached 10million units sold worldwide, with Sunbreak already at 2million worldwide after its release on June 30.

To celebrate, Capcom will be giving players “two item packs” in the game, which will be available this week on July 7. It’s unclear exactly what these item packs will contain, but their imminent release means players will find out soon enough.

The Sunbreak expansion has been a clear success for Capcom since it was released, as the game’s PC port saw its concurrent player numbers almost double since it launched last week. When the PC port first released in January it peaked at around 135,000 players, with the launch of Sunbreak seeing that number rise to around 231,000 players on the game at one time.

Monster Hunter Rise on PC had a recent update that introduced a number of new features, including Nvidia DLSS, a “classic” feature, a new “detailed photo mode” and multiple vibration types for  controller support as well.

If you are currently on the fence about the Sunbreak expansion, we at NME ran a preview back in June on the game, where we said “Sunbreak is shaping up to be more of what fans want: more Monster Hunter to give you a run for your money, with more mechanics to wrap your head around, which should compel veterans to find new strategies.”

In other video game news, Uncharted 4 almost paid homage to a famous Sean Connery James Bond vehicle stunt in one of its levels.

The post ‘Monster Hunter Rise’ giving out free items to celebrate sales milestones appeared first on NME.

‘Monster Hunter Rise’ giving out free items to celebrate sales milestones

Free item packs will be made available later this week

The post ‘Monster Hunter Rise’ giving out free items to celebrate sales milestones appeared first on NME.

NME

Thanks to the sales of both Monster Hunter Rise and the new Sunbreak expansion Capcom is going to give players some free rewards.

According to the official Japanese Monster Hunter Rise Twitter account earlier today (July 5), the base game has reached 10million units sold worldwide, with Sunbreak already at 2million worldwide after its release on June 30.

To celebrate, Capcom will be giving players “two item packs” in the game, which will be available this week on July 7. It’s unclear exactly what these item packs will contain, but their imminent release means players will find out soon enough.

The Sunbreak expansion has been a clear success for Capcom since it was released, as the game’s PC port saw its concurrent player numbers almost double since it launched last week. When the PC port first released in January it peaked at around 135,000 players, with the launch of Sunbreak seeing that number rise to around 231,000 players on the game at one time.

Monster Hunter Rise on PC had a recent update that introduced a number of new features, including Nvidia DLSS, a “classic” feature, a new “detailed photo mode” and multiple vibration types for  controller support as well.

If you are currently on the fence about the Sunbreak expansion, we at NME ran a preview back in June on the game, where we said “Sunbreak is shaping up to be more of what fans want: more Monster Hunter to give you a run for your money, with more mechanics to wrap your head around, which should compel veterans to find new strategies.”

In other video game news, Uncharted 4 almost paid homage to a famous Sean Connery James Bond vehicle stunt in one of its levels.

The post ‘Monster Hunter Rise’ giving out free items to celebrate sales milestones appeared first on NME.

Sparks are at work on their 27th studio album

The follow-up to 2021’s ‘Annette’ is on its way

The post Sparks are at work on their 27th studio album appeared first on NME.

NME

Sparks have entered the studio to work on what will be their 27th studio album, as revealed on the band’s Instagram.

The post, shared yesterday (July 4), shows the Mael brothers in front of a home computer set up with recording software. Vocalist Ron Mael is sat at the computer, while keyboardist Russell Mael is standing and holding a note pad with chord progressions written on it. View the post below:

The as-yet-untitled album will be the prolific pop band’s third of the 2020s. It follows on from 2020’s ‘A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip’ and the band’s soundtrack album to the 2021 film Annette. In a four-star review of the latter, NME described the film as “a combustible musical melodrama peppered with meta meditations on fame”.

“Their cerebral approach to their craft has kept them on the periphery of mainstream music throughout their 50-year career,” it said regarding Sparks, “but their soundtrack to the film is an engorged melange of plucky synth and haunting glam rock, all underscored with tragedy even at the height of Henry and Ann’s handsome relationship.”

Sparks completed a North American tour in April, and announced that same month they would be reissuing five of their 2000s albums on vinyl for the first time.

In March, Edgar Wright’s documentary on the duo, The Sparks Brothers, won the BandLab NME Award for Best Music Film.

The post Sparks are at work on their 27th studio album appeared first on NME.

Sparks are at work on their 27th studio album

The follow-up to 2021’s ‘Annette’ is on its way

The post Sparks are at work on their 27th studio album appeared first on NME.

NME

Sparks have entered the studio to work on what will be their 27th studio album, as revealed on the band’s Instagram.

The post, shared yesterday (July 4), shows the Mael brothers in front of a home computer set up with recording software. Vocalist Ron Mael is sat at the computer, while keyboardist Russell Mael is standing and holding a note pad with chord progressions written on it. View the post below:

The as-yet-untitled album will be the prolific pop band’s third of the 2020s. It follows on from 2020’s ‘A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip’ and the band’s soundtrack album to the 2021 film Annette. In a four-star review of the latter, NME described the film as “a combustible musical melodrama peppered with meta meditations on fame”.

“Their cerebral approach to their craft has kept them on the periphery of mainstream music throughout their 50-year career,” it said regarding Sparks, “but their soundtrack to the film is an engorged melange of plucky synth and haunting glam rock, all underscored with tragedy even at the height of Henry and Ann’s handsome relationship.”

Sparks completed a North American tour in April, and announced that same month they would be reissuing five of their 2000s albums on vinyl for the first time.

In March, Edgar Wright’s documentary on the duo, The Sparks Brothers, won the BandLab NME Award for Best Music Film.

The post Sparks are at work on their 27th studio album appeared first on NME.

Kid Cudi’s debut mixtape ‘A Kid Named Cudi’ will be released on streaming services this month

14 years after it first arrived, the ‘Day ‘n’ Nite’-featuring mixtape is getting an official release

The post Kid Cudi’s debut mixtape ‘A Kid Named Cudi’ will be released on streaming services this month appeared first on NME.

NME

Kid Cudi has announced his debut 2008 mixtape, ‘A Kid Named Cudi’, will receive an official release on streaming services later this month.

In a series of tweets yesterday (July 4), the rapper revealed that a greatest-hits collection titled ‘The Boy Who Flew to the Moon’ would hit streaming platforms this Friday (July 8), while ‘A Kid Named Cudi’ would follow a week later on July 15, two days shy of its 14th anniversary.

“I am so damn excited u all get to enjoy it again, remastered, [with] all the jams that made people fans from [the] jump, Cudi wrote. “Also, [I] did a new intro.” In another tweet, he confirmed the mixtape would receive a vinyl pressing. View the tweets below:

‘A Kid Named Cudi’ was originally released on July 17, 2008 by New York streetwear brand 10.Deep and Fool’s Gold. Featuring the hit ‘Day ‘n’ Nite’, the project caught the attention of future collaborator Kanye West, who signed Cudi to his GOOD Music label the same year.

Cudi followed up ‘A Kid Named Cudi’ with his debut studio album, 2009’s ‘Man on the Moon: The End of Day’, which also featured ‘Day ‘n’ Nite’ along with singles ‘Make Her Say’ and ‘Pursuit of Happiness’.

Last month, Cudi announced he would be returning to the UK for his first gig in the country in 13 years. Forming part of the rapper’s ‘To the Moon’ world tour, Cudi will perform at The O2 in London on November 15.

Cudi is also currently gearing up to release eighth studio album ‘Entergalatic’. It’s expected to be released on September 30 to coincide with the rapper’s upcoming animated series of the same name. A trailer for the series arrived last month, along with a new song from the album titled ‘Do What I Want’.

In March, Cudi shared a new song, ‘Stars in the Sky’, lifted from the soundtrack to Sonic the Hedgehog 2. The following month, Cudi featured on Pusha T‘s album ‘It’s Almost Dry’, appearing on the track ‘Rock n Roll’ alongside West.

Shortly before its release, Cudi said the track would be the last time he and West collaborated. The pair, who released a joint album together as Kids See Ghosts in 2018, had a public falling out earlier in the year due to Cudi’s friendship with Pete Davidson, the current partner of West’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian.

“I did this song a year ago when I was still cool [with] Kanye,” Cudi wrote on Twitter. “I am not cool [with] that man. He’s not my friend and I only cleared the song for Pusha cuz thats my guy.”

The post Kid Cudi’s debut mixtape ‘A Kid Named Cudi’ will be released on streaming services this month appeared first on NME.

Kid Cudi’s debut mixtape ‘A Kid Named Cudi’ will be released on streaming services this month

14 years after it first arrived, the ‘Day ‘n’ Nite’-featuring mixtape is getting an official release

The post Kid Cudi’s debut mixtape ‘A Kid Named Cudi’ will be released on streaming services this month appeared first on NME.

NME

Kid Cudi has announced his debut 2008 mixtape, ‘A Kid Named Cudi’, will receive an official release on streaming services later this month.

In a series of tweets yesterday (July 4), the rapper revealed that a greatest-hits collection titled ‘The Boy Who Flew to the Moon’ would hit streaming platforms this Friday (July 8), while ‘A Kid Named Cudi’ would follow a week later on July 15, two days shy of its 14th anniversary.

“I am so damn excited u all get to enjoy it again, remastered, [with] all the jams that made people fans from [the] jump, Cudi wrote. “Also, [I] did a new intro.” In another tweet, he confirmed the mixtape would receive a vinyl pressing. View the tweets below:

‘A Kid Named Cudi’ was originally released on July 17, 2008 by New York streetwear brand 10.Deep and Fool’s Gold. Featuring the hit ‘Day ‘n’ Nite’, the project caught the attention of future collaborator Kanye West, who signed Cudi to his GOOD Music label the same year.

Cudi followed up ‘A Kid Named Cudi’ with his debut studio album, 2009’s ‘Man on the Moon: The End of Day’, which also featured ‘Day ‘n’ Nite’ along with singles ‘Make Her Say’ and ‘Pursuit of Happiness’.

Last month, Cudi announced he would be returning to the UK for his first gig in the country in 13 years. Forming part of the rapper’s ‘To the Moon’ world tour, Cudi will perform at The O2 in London on November 15.

Cudi is also currently gearing up to release eighth studio album ‘Entergalatic’. It’s expected to be released on September 30 to coincide with the rapper’s upcoming animated series of the same name. A trailer for the series arrived last month, along with a new song from the album titled ‘Do What I Want’.

In March, Cudi shared a new song, ‘Stars in the Sky’, lifted from the soundtrack to Sonic the Hedgehog 2. The following month, Cudi featured on Pusha T‘s album ‘It’s Almost Dry’, appearing on the track ‘Rock n Roll’ alongside West.

Shortly before its release, Cudi said the track would be the last time he and West collaborated. The pair, who released a joint album together as Kids See Ghosts in 2018, had a public falling out earlier in the year due to Cudi’s friendship with Pete Davidson, the current partner of West’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian.

“I did this song a year ago when I was still cool [with] Kanye,” Cudi wrote on Twitter. “I am not cool [with] that man. He’s not my friend and I only cleared the song for Pusha cuz thats my guy.”

The post Kid Cudi’s debut mixtape ‘A Kid Named Cudi’ will be released on streaming services this month appeared first on NME.

Day6’s Young K unveils stripped-down cover of Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’

The latest his series of monthly covers

The post Day6’s Young K unveils stripped-down cover of Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ appeared first on NME.

NME

Day6 vocalist Young K has shared a stunning rendition of Oasis’ 1996 single ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’.

Filmed in a garden, the video features Young K performing a stripped-down version of the song while accompanied by a guitarist. “And so, Sally can wait / She knows it’s too late as we’re walking on by / Her soul slides away / But don’t look back in anger, I heard you say,” he sings in the chorus.

Young K’s rendition of ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ is the latest in a string of monthly covers released by the K-pop idol, who is currently inactive from the boyband as he serves his mandatory military service. His last cover had been a performance of Corrine Bailey Rae’s 2005 single ‘Like A Star’, which he unveiled in June.

 

Last September, Young K released his debut solo mini-album ‘Eternal’ a month prior to his enlistment in October. The record included seven songs written and composed by the musician, and was led by the single ‘Guard You’. In a four-star review of the album, NME’s Sofiana Ramli praised its ability to supply “melancholic emotions in small but potent doses”.

Earlier this year, fellow Day6 member Wonpil became the fourth Day6 member to go solo with his EP ‘Pilmography’, after Young K and drummer Dowoon, as well as former guitarist Jae Park. Wonpil is also part of the band’s sub-unit Day6 (Even of Day), alongside with the latter two members.

The post Day6’s Young K unveils stripped-down cover of Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ appeared first on NME.

SEVENTEEN drop dynamic new single ‘Cheers’

Performed by S.Coups, Hoshi and Woozi

The post SEVENTEEN drop dynamic new single ‘Cheers’ appeared first on NME.

NME

SEVENTEEN have dropped a new single titled ‘Cheers’, ahead of their upcoming repackaged album ‘Sector 17’.

Today (July 7), the boyband released the powerful new track as a pre-release single in anticipation of their upcoming repackaged record ‘Sector 17’. The song is performed by members Hoshi, S.Coups and Woozi, who are individually the leaders of the boyband’s three different Performance, Hip Hop and Vocal units respectively. They are collectively referred to as the SVT Leaders.

“At the party I spill something out on the piano / No kick, no snare but the rhythm’s freaky / Everybody come with me, the ambience shake it / We build a building from our basement unit,” S.Coups spits in the chorus.

‘Cheers’ will be one of four new tracks from SEVENTEEN’s forthcoming repackaged album ‘Sector 17’, which will arrive on July 18. The re-release will also feature the title track ‘World’, the B-side ‘Circles’ and a Korean-language version of their 2020 Japanese song ‘Fallin’ Flower’, on top of the original tracklist from their May release ‘Face The Sun’.

SEVENTEEN first announced their forthcoming return at the end of their ‘Be The Sun’ concert in Seoul last month, where they shared that they would soon release a repackaged version of their May studio album ‘Face The Sun’.

‘Face The Sun’ had been led by the title track ‘Hot’. The record also included the pre-release single ‘Darl+ing’ in April, which was notably SEVENTEEN’s first English-language single as a group.

In a four-star review of ‘Face The Sun’, NME contributor Abby Webster wrote that while ‘Hot’ “blazes forward into new territory with its brazen sensuality – but, proven by ‘Face the Sun’’s familiar yet sublimely inventive B-sides, SEVENTEEN needn’t start from scratch.”

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Nicki Minaj appears to diss Kanye West during festival appearance: “We don’t fuck with clowns”

West has not responded to the comments made at Essence Music Festival

The post Nicki Minaj appears to diss Kanye West during festival appearance: “We don’t fuck with clowns” appeared first on NME.

NME

Nicki Minaj has seemingly taken aim at Kanye West during her performance at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans over the weekend.

The performance, which took place on Friday night (July 1), was Minaj’s first in-person live performance in around three years. A portion of the set was dedicated to a medley of Minaj’s early guest verses that originally saw the rise in her profile – including Young Money’s ‘Bedrock’ and Drake‘s ‘Make Me Proud’. When her verse from West’s 2010 single ‘Monster’ was queued up, however, Minaj cut it short.

“We don’t fuck with clowns,” she said following the DJ stopping the song, grinning at the audience. Minaj immediately changed subjects, saying that she wanted to “give a shout-out to New Orleans” instead of performing the song. This was followed by a performance of her verse on Birdman’s ‘YU MAD’, per Setlist.FM.

Consequence of Sound has speculated that Minaj could potentially have been referencing West’s appearance on Cardi B‘s new single ‘Hot Shit’, which was released the same day as Minaj’s performance. Minaj and Cardi have a long-standing rivalry, stemming from an incident surrounding Migos‘ single ‘Motorsport’ in 2017.

View footage from the moment below:

Although West and Minaj have not collaborated for several years, the pair worked frequently together in the early 2010s. Alongside her appearance on ‘Monster’, Minaj also provided the spoken-word introduction to ‘Dark Fantasy’, the opening song on West’s 2010 album ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’. The following year, West returned the favour by appearing on Minaj’s debut album ‘Pink Friday’, providing a verse on the track ‘Blazin’.

West has not publicly responded to Minaj’s comments following the performance.

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