Pop band McFly will be joining the lineup for their 2024 summer season. The band will be headlining The Jockey Club Live and Sandown Park Racecourse on Thursday 8th August, following previously announced acts Pete Tong’s Ibiza Classics (Friday 26th July) and Madness (Wednesday 31st July).
Aaron Taylor-Johnson is reportedly on the verge of accepting the role of James Bond, bringing an end to months of speculation over who will succeed Daniel Craig. The 33-year-old actor, known for his roles in “Nocturnal Animals,” “Kick-Ass,” “Nowhere Boy,” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” has been formally offered the opportunity to portray the iconic British secret agent, according to reports from The Sun.
While Taylor-Johnson has not yet officially confirmed his acceptance of the role, sources indicate that he is the front-runner to become the seventh actor to take on the part since the franchise’s inception in 1962.
The news comes after a recent poll suggested that Idris Elba remained the public’s top choice for the role, despite being 51 years old and having previously ruled himself out due to commitments to other projects, such as the crime drama “Luther.”
Should Taylor-Johnson accept the offer, he will join the ranks of illustrious actors who have portrayed Bond, including Sean Connery, Roger Moore, and Pierce Brosnan.
Speculation surrounding Taylor-Johnson’s potential casting has been ongoing for some time, with other A-list contenders like Tom Hardy, Henry Cavill, and recent Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy also being considered for the role.
The decision to cast Taylor-Johnson as Bond would mark a significant milestone in his already successful career, which has seen him receive critical acclaim and accolades, including nominations for BAFTAs and a Golden Globe win for Best Supporting Actor.
As fans eagerly await an official announcement regarding Taylor-Johnson’s potential portrayal of James Bond, speculation continues to swirl about the direction of the franchise under new leadership. Barbara Broccoli, the longtime producer of the Bond films, has emphasised that the decision is not merely about casting a role but involves a comprehensive reassessment of the franchise’s future direction.
Usher has announced his 10th and final show at London’s O2 Arena for March 29th, 2025. The multi-platinum, 8-time Grammy award-winning global entertainment icon has already sold out over an incredible 9 nights at the venue. His European dates have been extended for his massive tour, Usher: Past Present Future.
Multi-platinum recording artist, songwriter, and producer Zayn has released his soulful new single, “What I Am.” The song is the first release from his highly anticipated fourth studio album, Room Under the Stairs, due out on May 17, 2024, via Island Records UK / Mercury Records.
Pop icon Sia and 2024 Grammy Award-winning global artist Kylie Mingoue have teamed up to unveil a captivating music video for their collaborative track “Dance Alone.” Released on May 3, 2024, via Atlantic Records, the song is a standout highlight on Sia’s highly anticipated album Reasonable Woman.
Calling all music lovers! Get ready to groove at the upcoming Got The Love Festival on May 25th, 2024. We’re thrilled to announce an exclusive opportunity for you and a friend to win 2x Standard Tickets to this amazing event!
WENDY, the main vocalist of the iconic K-Pop group Red Velvet, releases her second solo EP, “Wish You Hell” via SM Entertainment and distributed by Virgin Music Group globally. The project is available digitally, along with pre-order for the physical product, which is out on 12 April.
Whether you have albums on vinyl or spy the album covers while using Spotify, some are immediately recognisable. A recent study asked 2000 Brits to decide which album covers are the most iconic/recognisable, choosing from a curated list of over 60 albums which regularly feature in round up lists for their covers.
By Ari Mattes, University of Notre Dame Australia; Alison Cole, University of Sydney; Bronwyn Carlson, Macquarie University; Harriette Richards, RMIT University, and Tom Clark, Victoria University
Like most biopics, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer – which won seven awards, including the big one, Best Picture – seems kind of silly, an exercise in dress up. We watch “serious” actors like Robert Downey Jr. (who won Best Supporting Actor) and Cillian Murphy (Best Actor) go to extraordinary lengths to essentially imitate real life people, inevitably failing to be 100% true to life.
By Alison Cole, University of Sydney
Industrial. Mechanical. Brutal. These are the words acclaimed electro-acoustic composer Hans Zimmer uses to describe his music for Dune: Part Two, released in Australia on Thursday.
Dune: Part One (2021) showcased Zimmer’s expertise in manipulating sound to create timbres that uniquely fit an onscreen environment. The new film is no exception.
By carefully considering the Dune universe and drawing on a range of audio production and editing techniques, Zimmer creates a rich score that breathes life into author Frank Herbert’s fantasy world.
Zimmer looks to the film’s visual world – such as the costume colour palette, or the way the cinematographer shoots the film – to inform his sound and instrument choices.
“It starts off with creating that sonic world that I want the tunes or the motifs to live in,” Zimmer said in an interview.
He uses several tools to achieve this, drawing on plugins and audio editing tools to fragment, granulate, stretch, shorten, reverse, repeat and feature certain parts of a sound’s frequency range. He also processes distinct sounds such as metallic scrapes, or sand falling into a metal bowl.
The result is a unique soundscape in keeping with the war-footing narrative at the heart of the film. The militaristic feel of the score is created through the use of deep drums and percussion, repetitive (and at times delicate) vocals and ominous synthesisers that range from warm tones to uncomfortable screeching metallic tonalities.
All combine to draw the viewer into both a deep human narrative and the treacherous environment in which the tensions play out.
Zimmer is very familiar with processing sound to design unique sound worlds – an approach that stems from his lifelong fascination with electronic music. For Dune: Part Two, he composes a sonic landscape that feels as unrelenting as the planet Arrakis itself.
There are several familiar components, such as synthesised real-world elements, vocals and a repeat of melodies used in the first film. Both Paul’s and the Kwisatz Haderach melodies are repeated, as is the House Atreides theme.
In the track Eclipse – which repeats elements of the Holy War cue – ominous deep brass, deep percussion, unnerving vocals and synthesisers work to create a sinister mood.
Added on is an evocative blend of bagpipes, synthesisers and processed sounds invoking an otherworldly atmosphere. Combined with soloist Loire Cotler’s ethereal vocals, these disparate musical elements intertwine to build a memorable ambience.
The lines are blurred between the soundtrack and the film’s sound design to create moments of building tension. For the viewer, the dynamic use of these musical elements creates an almost visceral experience.
Compared to the first film, Dune: Part Two expands the atmospheric musical world in a far more foreboding and dramatic style – brought to life by woodwinds and synths.
The soundtrack, which is worth listening to as a complete album, is both a dynamic continuation and expansion of the first film’s quieter, moodier score. There’s a significant shift in tone and a deliberate weaving of melodic themes from the first film.
The first track, Beginnings Are Such Delicate Times, expands on a theme we hear briefly in the first film – played in the bagpipes as the Atreides first arrive on the landing fields of Arrakis. In Dune: Part Two, this theme stands out as Zimmer has transformed it from a military announcement to a moment of pure emotion.
A Time of Quiet Between the Storms develops this same bagpipe melody with a new purpose: as the romantic love theme between Chani and Paul Atreides.
The track opens with a single wind instrument, synthesisers and percussion. The percussion transports the viewer back to Zimmer’s Dream of Arrakis from the first film’s opening. The weaving of this foreboding theme contrasts with a feeling of hope.
The new Emperor and the Bene Gesserit themes are threaded with a return of the first film’s Holy War theme, which has now been transformed into the theme we hear at the point of Paul’s victory in the film.
By exploring the relationship between a film’s soundtrack and sound design, Zimmer creates a sound world full of personality and new timbral possibilities.
Alison Cole, Composer and Lecturer in Screen Composition, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
