#((PUNCHY GANG RISE UP))

[bestworstcase]

eleventh hour mulling:

- cloud bridge aside, all of the remaining trailer footage seems to take place in the garden acre and most of it occurs at nighttime

- “where am i?” + there’s this shot in the trailer where ruby is nervously going through a section of the garden’s forest, apparently searching? for something, while the cat keeps pace overhead and just behind her, on a vine or cable—i think good odds these two things Go Together

- ep 5 forest where nothing has a name i can almost TASTE it

- in keeping with what rwby’s been doing with the ever after thematically and the “what are you?” play on wonderland’s “who are you?” i think the ever after equivalent is likely to involve forgetting/losing one’s PURPOSE rather than one’s name—and structurally if something like that happens at all i think it’s probably got to happen in five, emotionally building on ruby’s experience with the herbalist; indeed in a sense it has already begun, with ruby’s uncertainty and self-doubt rising fully to the surface.

- can’t tell if wby and little are still in her hood in that shot of the trailer, but judging by the way ruby’s moving (glancing around, jogging ahead then stopping to stare into the foliage)… like 50/50 she loses them somehow.

- something about the cat, the jabberwalker, and “you never were the hero”

- i doubt it will happen in *this* episode but i do have a nagging suspicion that the cat is going to leave them. thought still cooking but the quiet scorn in “you never were the hero” + the contrast that has been established between remnant’s warrior culture and the ever after’s quirky but kind children’s book milieu feels like a cliff we are about to run off of, and as emotional turning points go disappointing the cat has a lot of potential punchiness

- what lesson did alyx learn?? dollars to donuts it wasn’t “don’t lie or cheat”

- all the friends she’d made and lost…

- “edge city” huh. i figure that’s either a ruby angstfest or neo choosing violence with no little in between; leaning more strongly toward the former for how heavily the volume has been focusing on ruby and how the last episode broke open some… large… caskets of hitherto repressed trauma which will need to be followed up on, but on the other hand ruby is kind of the queen of ignoring her problems so like, toss up whether she’ll succeed in that enough to get through one more episode before the breakdown hits

- i don’t think we’re meeting rusty in 5

- he’s been teased in both trailers and the opening and directly mentioned twice, but he’s also connected to jaune Somehow and whatever’s going on with jaune is being kept conspicuously mysterious; on the other hand, weiss tossed out a reference to another character (the lively carpenter) in 4 and a) that’s the blacksmith, and b) the blacksmith is probably “what if you could leave ruby rose behind?”, which lines her up intuitively as the next leg of the story; i think the sequencing here is gonna be either:

forest -> lakeside gazebo market + jabberwalker and neo -> carpenter -> (you never were the hero?) -> rusted knight and jaune

or

forest -> carpenter -> lakeside gazebo + jabberwalker and neo -> (you never were the hero?) -> rusted knight and jaune

- i’m like. 90% “you never were the hero” is happening in relation to the jabberwalker Somehow. if we get to the gazebo before the carpenter i think it’ll probably be in 5; i think the carpenter is likely to be her own episode.

- trying to like war game out the pacing in my head is making me more unhinged than ever; i’m increasingly thinking it’s almost certain that jaune returns to remnant having meaningfully resolved none of his personal issues, which is fucking tasty for volume 10—jaune coming back to his teammates having gotten his head on straight again in the ever after is a touching reunion scene, jaune getting hauled back to remnant still a shattered mess of a person is a hell of a character arc waiting to happen.

- anyway: 5-6, ruby breakdown. 7, getting the gang back together. 8, crossing to the tree’s acre, gravity ensues. 9, the girl who fell through the world. 10, pop quiz and author reveal. if they do lose the cat i think it will be related to trying to brute force their way into the tree’s acre, leaving them alone to deal with whatever the fuck is going on in the ever after’s margins.

- stares at neo. when’s the girl in the tower + girl who fell through the world connection chekhov’s gun gonna fire. WHEN

[skyfcx]

ekidvna replied to your post: antibadnik replied to your post: ...

knUX GANG

     turns on the ‘& knuckles’ mode in the extras menu.

[peralta-guaranteed]

hc of jake and amy hand holding before dating (i’m convinced they did a few times before they ever dated) and also in the beginning of their relationship + getting teased by the squad 🥰

(this has definitely turned out far more emotional than you’d probably thought, anon, but I don’t make the rules when it comes to fic inspiration)

Amy Santiago is sitting in a booth at Shaw’s, laughing at something one of her friends has said, and she feels a warm hand slip into hers under the table. Jake Peralta is laughing next to her, too, but then he’s also smiling at her only, and his hand wrapped around hers squeezes three times. It hits her like a brick to the face, those three little squeezes. She finally understands them.

-*-

He’s lying in a hospital bed, and Amy thinks she’s never seen something more unsettling than a quiet Jake Peralta. The only sound in the room is the beeping of some monitors he’s hooked up to, and the only movement is his chest rising slow and steady. Something it didn’t do about two hours ago, when she was kneeling over him in some alley and screaming while the medics finally arrived and brought him back. It was a fairly ‘minor’ injury in the end, one bullet wound that the doctor’s had to close up, but it had hit some sort of vein that was important and that lost a lot of blood and that stopped his heart for the few moments she remembers stretching like hours in her mind. She doesn’t remember much else, especially not the medic’s or doctor’s explanations. They’d taken her along in the ambulance, because she was his partner, and she was allowed to sit in the hospital room he was recovering in now, because she was his emergency contact, too. She could’ve been nothing after today. Because the bullet from that gun wasn’t aimed at Jake before he pushed her to the side.

Amy looks down at her hands, folded in her lap, pinching each other to remind her she’s awake, she’s here, and so is Jake. Not awake, but here. Still here. They’re squeaky clean, her hands, because she’s spent a good fifteen minutes in the hospital public toilets scrubbing them free of his blood after he was rushed into surgery and she was left behind, alone in the waiting room, her sensible grey pantsuit coloured red all over her arms. She had a list of things to do in her head - contact Captain McGintley to follow the chain of command, and Terry so something would actually get done. Figure out how and who can transport Peralta home and take care of him, if he gets to go home. (He will. He has to. She will take him.) Call Rosa to find out if they booked the perp properly, and that they add assault with a deadly weapon to his rep sheet (not murder, although that’s what he did, that’s what happened). But she couldn’t do any of that, because she was still shaking, her heart was still racing, and all she could see was his blood on her hands, warm and sticky and dark and drying into a rotten brown shade already. So she washed them clean, and then scrubbed some more, and some more, until she felt as red and raw as the wound in his chest had looked in the ambulance when they got his shirt off. (The jacket of her suit is rotting away in the toilet trashcan now, and she’s shivering ever so slightly in only her short-sleeved blouse, but it is clean and there is not a hint of Jake’s injury anywhere anymore, except in his gaunt cheekbones and the pale colour of his face, and the silence of the room.) His hand twitches while she’s staring at her own, and if it’s instinct or reflex of whatever that makes her reach out and grab it immediately, she doesn’t care. His hand is warm under hers, and it twitches again and then wraps its fingers around her and holds her, steady and calm. He blinks awake, a little disoriented, but then he focuses on her and - smiles.

“You’re okay.” He says, and that’s what breaks her in the end.

She doesn’t outright sob or anything, but she does let her head drop so her hair is hiding her face, hiding the tears he doesn’t need to see first thing after waking up from literal death. She feels his hand pull on her to make her look at him, though, and she can’t deny him, even if her tear-streaked face is probably not a good view.

“Hey, no- don’t-” He rasps, his voice still coming back, “I’m okay too.”

She laughs through her tears, a short little snort, but it helps calm her down - and him too, it seems, because he smiles again.

“You’re far more than just okay, Peralta.” She smiles back, and feels his hand tighten around hers, three little, but distinct squeezes.

-*-

She shouldn’t feel this nervous. She’s a cop, a detective. A good one. She’s done this before, and it’s never been nice, but it’s always something she’s gotten through.

But she fears tomorrow’s court date more than anything else in her life right now, which is why she’s trying to drown the thought of it at Shaw’s. The hangover will probably not be helpful with her witness statement that could possibly make or break this ruling, but her panic demands more alcohol. However, the next beer she orders at the bar is intercepted by a larger, more calloused hand than hers.

“Alright, Santiago, that last one was your sixth, and I really don’t need to deal with Seven Drink Amy tonight.” Jake says as he settles down next to her, hands the beer over to Rosa, who leaves them alone at the bar before Amy can whine and complain.

“I need that drink, Jake. It’s my only friend right now.” 

“We both know that’s just Six Drink Sadmy speaking.” He pats her arm as she spreads out over the slightly sticky bartop and whines some more.

“You’re worried about tomorrow.” He continues, reading her thoughts like he sometimes does, which is such an annoying thing he can do. His hand is still on her arm. “You don’t have to be.”

“That girl’s entire life is at stake. And the gang boss is going to kill me and her if he gets off-”

“He’s not going to get off. Not if you tell them exactly what you told the lawyers taking your written statement.”

“Says you.”

“Says Sofia.” There’s a weight to those words that hits her stomach, and it’s only partially the fact that a damn defense attorney is on her side. The other part of why those words from the woman Jake started dating just recently hurt her, she doesn’t want to think about. “Look, I’m gonna drive you home, you’re gonna take a hot shower to detox, then you’re gonna get your perfect 8 hours of sleep, show up at court tomorrow in your best, darkest pant suit, and rock this like you rock everything else.” His hand has wandered down her arm to her hand, now, flips it over to hold it, and it’s pure coincidence that their fingers spread and interlock, surely. “Okay?” He asks one more time, and she sighs.

“Teddy can pick me up-”

“Teddy’s at that conference, remember.”

Oh, right. Something that had been lost to memory between drink three and four, the fact that her boyfriend had booked himself into a seminar the week the court date was announced. It’s a really good one, he’d said, if she wasn’t already busy he would’ve asked her to join, too. Already busy. Regular Amy doesn’t get punchy a lot, and maybe it’s her closeness to Seven Drink Amy right now that makes her want to knock him out for that, but she felt that way when she helped him pack his luggage two days ago too, and she was stonecold sober then.

“Okay.” She nods and tries to get off of the barstool, wobbles quite heavily. “Take me home, Peralta.”

He snorts a laugh and obviously swallows down some sort of joke as he pulls her into a standing position, their hands still locked together. She thinks she imagines it at first, but even after she’s sobered up the next day, she remembers those three short, tight, almost painful squeezes before he let go and steered her to his car.

She doesn’t have much time to think about it, or about how she basically held hands with her best friend while both of their partners were out of town, either. Or how he helped her into her apartment and waited until she was showered and had downed some water and aspirin before tucking her into bed. She can’t think about any of that, because she has to get ready for court.

And when she sits down in the witness’ chair, the gang boss on the bench before her staring her down with murder in his eyes, she notices a set of dress blues in the otherwise thin crowd of people who were allowed in to watch the trial. Three rows down, Jake gives her a silent thumbs up when their eyes meet, and she feels the phantom of his hand again, squeezing hers three times before she begins to speak.

-*-

They’re gonna die. She’s certain. They’re gonna die in here, in this cramped little closet, wedged between some industrial shelving and a broken down sink.

Jake had pulled her in and locked the door behind him, squished her against the wall and himself against the door, and killed the radio on her shoulder as well as his own. The last thing they’d heard crackling through it was “four officers down”. Someone had fallen behind her when she ran for safety, and for a second she thought it had been Jake. That he was standing here now, almost pressed against her in the tight space she would usually panic in, that she could feel his erratic breath on her ear, his racing heart under her hands, was pretty much the only comfort she had left.

She wonders how long it’ll last.

The mission had been an absolute bust. They had expected a gang. They had not expected a well-armed mafia. And now officers were wounded, or dead, and they couldn’t use their radio to find out anything, for fear of being discovered. She can hear gunshots and shouts from further away, and it’s only her paranoia that make them sound as if they're getting closer, but Jake is listening just as intently. Amy thinks of Rosa and Charles, who were on the other side of the building. She thinks of Terry, who’s probably trying to reach any of them by radio from his station in the surveillance van. She thinks of Holt, and can’t see where he might be right now, still next to Terry or commanding whatever backup might be coming in or-

She feels Jake’s hand wrap around hers, still pressed against his chest, and realises that she’s been hyperventilating. If she gets any louder, she’ll give away their position. His forehead against hers is cold, colder than he usually is, clammy with sweat, but the simple pressure of it helps her focus. She can hear him breathe deep, slow, exaggerated, and understands that he’s doing it for her. He probably thinks she’s having a panic attack because of her claustrophobia, or maybe all things at the moment combined. He’s not that far off. She breathes with him, feels the air from their exhales swirl between the few spaces were they don’t connect. There aren’t many. If she looks up, she could kiss him. She’s not quite that sure that she’s going to die in here anymore, but she would definitely hate herself if she did and never found out what that felt like, or if her last kiss on Earth was really from Teddy the night before they broke up. But when she moves her head, she meets his eyes instead, pupils blown wide in the darkness around them. He looks scared and terrified, and his heart under their combined hands is still racing, and the last thing he needs is for Amy to confuse him before they go out in a hail of bullets, action-movie-style, which he’d probably love if it wasn’t so real right now. She wants to say something, anything to calm him down, but she can’t speak, and not just because there are footsteps approaching outside their door.

She feels his hand tighten around hers, three times, faster than before. And then he pulls her into a close hug when the door behind his back opens to reveal blinding light, and she realises he’s shielding her, has been ever since he pushed her first into this storage space. He only lets go when they both hear Terry’s voice, and the Captain’s, the first telling them they are safe, the second immediately trying to update them on the situation with the SWAT team. He holds her hand a second longer than the rest of her, and the three squeezes that follow are far softer and slower than the ones before.

-*-

Amy Santiago and Jake Peralta are sitting in a booth at Shaw’s, laughing at something one of their friends has said, and she feels his hand slip into hers under the table. For only a split second, she’s tempted to pull her hand away. It’s still so new and shaky and unsure, their whole thing, yet at the same time it isn’t. It’s been growing for so long, between them and around them, it feels like it’s always been there. But the rest of the squad is still pulling excited faces whenever they get a little closer, Charles still squeals at every mention of their ‘evenings together’, and Rosa has rolled her eyes so hard she almost strained a muscle the first time she heard Amy refer to Jake as ‘babe’ in front of her. It’s all a little bit embarrassing, and sometimes she wishes they’d stuck to just one of their rules, of not telling anyone until they figure it out. But then she wonders, what was there left to figure out? She was with Jake, and she wanted to be with Jake, and deep down, she could see none of that change at any point in time. Forever, possibly.

Charles is still talking, riding the wave of getting their laugh, but then Jake’s smiling at her only, and his hand wrapped around hers squeezes three times. It hits her like a brick to the face, those three little squeezes. She finally understands them. She remembers them from before, from tense moments and situations of fear, from where he’s been there for her at the worst parts. Holding on tight and feeling the three little bursts of pressure, only wondering a long time later if he did it on purpose, or if it was some sort of reflex.

She feels it again now, and she can finally hear it.

I. Squeeze. Love. Squeeze. You. Squeeze.

[boxy-art]

punchy gang rise up

he rising alright

[ferreteh]

someone save my son, he’s stuck original pic by @boxy-art: https://boxy-art.tumblr.com/post/183638343789/punchy-gang-rise-up

[animebw]

Binge-Watching: Snow White with the Red Hair S2, Episodes 4-6

Oh damn, things are really kicking into high gear, aren’t they? Let’s dig into how Snow White’s second season builds off its first to great effect… but also takes a frustrating wrong turn in the process.

The Battle Rages

Well, holy shit, looks like I was I was more right than I thought about the plot kicking up in earnest. We’re halfway through the second season now, and only are we following the longest continuous storyline of the show thus far, we’re following what very much feels like a payoff to the entire first season. Snow White’s first twelve episodes mostly played like a scattered series of character vignettes, introducing or fleshing out main and supporting players in low-key settings, with few plots carrying over multiple episodes. And as enjoyable as those episodes could be, I couldn’t help but be frustrated at how long every significant action seemed to take. That problem’s been completely overturned by now; Snow White’s second season is taking everything built up in the first season and tying it together into a single cohesive storyline, with constant forward motion and a bevy of Things Happening™ that keep the action moving forward at a strong clip. We’re in the midst of a war between rival nomadic tribes, a mercenary mountain-dwelling group and a nefarious pirate gang, and Shirayuki’s caught right in the middle. Miyaha, a one-off antagonist from the first season, has returned as the primary found of knowledge for these two players, cluing us in on their relative politics and rivalry. Shirayuki’s kidnappers were escapees from the Claw of the Sea seeking to bring her to the Lions of the Mountain out of misguided attempt at protecting her, and now, her kidnappers themselves have been kidnapped. It’s a right old mess, and all our important players- Zen, Raj, Kiki, Mitsuhide- are charging into the fray to sort it out right.

It’s a hell of a change of pace from the first season, trading in languid wandering through the garden for breakneck, if measured, horseback riding and ever-shifting strategies to get Shirayuki out of this mess. And I’m very much down for it, because this is the kind of energy I was missing from the first season. I’m already plenty invested in these characters and their struggles, but now that the plot is supporting them in a big way, they’re only becoming stronger. That moment where the stopwatch Zen gave Shirayuki is broken in the commotion of her kidnapping? Christ, I felt that hard. Meanwhile, Raj’s continued quest to better himself takes on a powerful extra dimension when Shirayuki gets captured right out from under his nose; he couldn’t even protect her in his own castle, and he’ll be damned if he lets himself stay that weak. Shirayuki, ever the consummate fighter, keeps pushing against the boundaries of her confinement like the badass she is, and man, it’s been far too long since I’ve seen her in quick-thinking escapee mode, getting out of a tight spot with wits and bravery. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the leader of the Claw of the Sea is a badass pirate lady with a punk drawl and a blade on the end of a swingy chain, because apparently someone working on this show has a direct pipeline to my browsing history and I appreciate it very much. Not to mention now that the action is kicking up in earnest, Bones gets to bring their A game once more to a bevy of well-choreographed, punchy action scenes. It’s been a slow ride getting here, but now that we’ve finally arrived, I’m definitely enjoying watching the pieces all collide so satisfactorally.

Not This Shit Again

Sadly, there’s a part of me that can’t enjoy the second season’s welcome uptick in tempo as much as I want to. Because as good as the rising plot is, I can’t help but feel the lack of Shirayuki and Zen’s wonderful chemistry. These two have always been this show’s center, and building a larger arc around their desire to reunite with each other isn’t a bad way to go, but we’ve gone four straight episodes without them being able to interact at all, and your boy is thirsty here. Even Shirayuki herself is complaining about how long it’s been since she heard Zen’s voice, and I don’t blame her one bit. This show’s foundation is built around the charming chemistry these two share, so it’s only natural that something feels missing now that they can’t talk to each other, especially since it’s cockblocked them just as their relationship was really getting going. I swear, if the second half of this season doesn’t give our lovebirds plenty of time to reconnect and be adorable together, I’m going to be very grumpled indeed.

But there’s an additional level of annoyance to the lack of ShiraZen content this season, a level that takes their absence from an acceptable sacrifice to an active frustration. Not only am I dying of thirst from lack of the central relationship, the show’s actively making my thirst worse by packing my mouth full with the salt-and-vinegar-flavored potato chips of love triangle bullshit. Christ, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten to complain about this particular stick in my craw, isn’t it? Look, love triangles can be done well, but the vast majority of the time, I find that they just drag the entire affair down with needless will-they-won’t-they shipteasing that only makes the process of reaching the inevitable romantic conclusion that much more excruciating. And it feels especially aggravating this time around, because Shirayuki’s in a relationship already. She and Zen have a good thing going. Zen even just said that he hopes they can get married once this is all over. So why is Snow White suddenly trying to build drama around Raj and Obi developing feelings for her? I know neither of those avenues is gonna work out, and at least Obi’s aware himself of Shirayuki’s relationship, so what possible purpose could this serve? Because the only potential outcome I can see for these plots is for yet another wrench to be thrown into the show’s central couple, hamstringing their development with more unneeded drama that they seriously don’t deserve. At least Raj has the decency to treat his filthy, filthy shipping siblings with the disgust they deserve, so maybe we can get out of this mess without it being too painful. I just hope Shirayuki and Zen actually have a chance to grow in more engrossing directions before the season’s over, because I’d hate if such a wonderful romantic opportunity was squandered for such cheap time-wasting. But I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Odds and Ends

-I swear, I can hear Raj’s wrist cracking in the OP as he gesticulates.

-”My brother is studying state affairs?!” akjdhaksdh good lord Raj how long have you been a mess

-OF COURSE HE HAS A VIOLIN TOO WHAT AN EXTRA MOTHERFUCKER

-He’s got a point, it was dumb not to let Raj know about the potential danger to Shirayuki. Everyone’s a little at fault here.

-”I’m surprised that idiot son of mine isn’t hiding at a time like this.” Wow, even the king knows Raj is a dunderhead. That’s gotta hurt.

-”But you have a tendency to store all the fire inside you and get burned.” Mitsuhide’s great, y’all.

-oh my fucking god that shuffle Kiki what even

-”Mistuhide, when we get back, you’re going in the punishment chamber.” aksjdhaskjdhasdaksjdhakj

-Hah, I thought the birds were gonna play a hand here.

-”Did you drag her out by force without letting her speak?” I love that this is what makes Zen the angriest. It’s not that they kidnapped her, it’s that they didn’t bother to ask her what she wanted.

-OH MY FUCKING GOD KIKI YOU MAD LAD

Six episodes to go. See you next time as the story continues!

[dipulb3]

Rotating speakers on Vizio's Elevate soundbar aren't just a gimmick

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/rotating-speakers-on-vizios-elevate-soundbar-arent-just-a-gimmick/

Rotating speakers on Vizio's Elevate soundbar aren't just a gimmick

Ty Pendlebury/CNET

Soundbars capable of reproducing the atmospheric effects of Dolby Atmos soundtracks have been around since 2016, but until now they haven’t been very innovative. To work well, Atmos devices need extra speakers to reproduce those height effects, and usually they’re small, static drivers aimed at the ceiling. The Vizio Elevate costs a bundle but it tries something radically new: motorized speakers that rise up and revolve according to whether you’re listening to music or a compatible movie. The craziest part is, it actually works!

Like

Motorized speakers work well.

Excellent sound for movies and music.

Plenty of connections

Includes rears and wireless sub.

Don’t Like

Not as easy to use as Sonos Arc

No Apple AirPlay support

Somewhat short surround cables

The Vizio Elevate is expensive for a soundbar, but Atmos bars in general have always tended toward the high end. The Samsung HW-Q950T comes close in terms of specification but that system is also $1,700. The Sonos Arc ($799 at Sonos, Inc.) offers the simplicity of a single bar and includes a voice assistant, but it doesn’t sound as good as the Vizio. With its moving speakers, the Vizio Elevate really is its own animal.

Newbies beware however: The Vizio Elevate’s manual setup can be complicated and isn’t helped by the confusing remote. Some users may also find the wired surround speakers a pain depending on where they choose to place the subwoofer — the cables are probably too short for large rooms.

The rotating speakers reek of gimmickry, but in practice they work well, adding oomph to music and spaciousness to true Atmos soundtracks. If you don’t mind plunking down the money for a fully featured, great-sounding soundbar, the Vizio Elevate is a very serious contender. If the Elevate is too rich for your blood, however, the Vizio SB36512 is our Editors’ Choice winner and an excellent alternative at less than half the price.

Build quality: A step above

Ty Pendlebury/CNET

The Vizio Elevate is a 5.1.4 soundbar which offers compatibility with both immersive standards: Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. In addition to the main speaker itself, the Elevate’s setup includes rears, a large subwoofer and a remote. If you wanted to deck out the Arc with a similar array of speakers, namely the Sonos Sub and two Symfonisk for the rear channels, it would cost about $1,700.

The Vizio Elevate may be a plastic soundbar at heart but its design is… ahem… elevated. The main bar feels sturdy and comes in a two-tone finish — part thick vinyl wrap and part gun-metal aluminum. This is a big speaker at 48 inches wide and a table-swallowing 6.5 inches deep. The ends are covered in a matte-black material, which makes it hard to see the matte-black controls, but the raised buttons are actually easier to use by touch. The front of the soundbar includes a colored LED that makes it relatively simple to tell which input you are on, as well as a white LED level meter.

The main speaker features a whopping 13 drivers, including a dedicated center channel and 5 tweeters in total. The swiveling speakers are situated at each end and rotate when the system detects a Dolby Atmos/DTS:X signal, revealing the Atmos logo on one side and DTS:X on the other. 

Ty Pendlebury/CNET

The subwoofer is one of the largest I’ve seen on any system, measuring 11 inches wide by 14 inches deep and 16 inches high. The rear speakers feature both forward-facing and upward-firing drivers and are tethered to the sub by a 30-foot cable (the connection between the soundbar and the sub is wireless). The cable was long enough to drape behind my couch and along the side of the living space to the sub at the front, but the length could be an issue for some installations. 

Vizio claims the system is capable of 107 decibels, and I did find it was quite loud, so no worries about filling even the largest living spaces. The Elevate includes a wall-mount bracket in the box (BYO screws, however), and Vizio designed the bar to mate seamlessly with the Vizio OLED TV.

A mountain of features

Connectivity is excellent with two separate HDMI inputs, as well as a third, labeled “HDMI Out,” which supports eARC. There’s also an optical digital input, a 3.5mm analog audio and a 3.5mm “voice assistant” input, USB and Bluetooth. The Elevate connects to your network via Wi-Fi and supports Spotify Connect and Chromecast built-in. Unlike the Arc, it lacks Apple AirPlay support but its physical connectivity is far better than the Arc’s.

Ty Pendlebury/CNET

The Elevate also lacks a built-in voice assistant, found on the Arc and other soundbars, but I don’t see this as a major disadvantage. Using Alexa or Google Assistant on a soundbar can be annoying as the volume will mute if it hears the wake word, which means you could miss some of your show. If you want to use a voice assistant to listen to music through the Elevate it’s easy to set the soundbar up as the default speaker for an inexpensive Google or Echo speaker nearby.

Ty Pendlebury/CNET

The remote looks like the ones that come with cheaper Vizio soundbars but differs in two important aspects. There’s an LCD display at the top, and four buttons which help with setup at the bottom. Having both Effect and EQ options is a little confusing because they perform very similar tasks, and navigating menus via the different buttons takes a little getting used to.

Adjusting the volume of the subwoofer was easy enough with the Level button but not everything was intuitive, and you will need to know to download the Vizio SmartCast app to complete the setup of Wi-Fi, for example. I also had some issues updating the firmware from the website, but Vizio told me it was because one of the files was misnamed and assured me it was now fixed.

In comparison the Sonos Arc was a simple pleasure to use, install and update, although that speaker’s setup does heavily favor iPhone ($599 at Apple) users — Sonos’ TruPlay calibration app is not available on Android. I had some issues with the Arc initially and these were helped by using TruPlay (on an iPad ($385 at eBay)).

High and mighty sound

The Elevate is twice the price of the existing SB36512, but you can’t expect twice the performance. I was unable to test the two models side-by-side, but in my experience there are always diminishing returns when going from an excellent, affordable speaker to a much more expensive one. 

For these tests I compared the Elevate side-by-side against the Sonos Arc, because the two are roughly the same price. The Vizio acquitted itself very quickly with authoritative sound quality across all kinds of material. Unlike the Arc, which performs better at home theater than music, the Elevate was equally capable with both — a rare feat among soundbars.

I started my tests with music, Radiohead’s My Iron Lung to be precise, and I found that the Arc wasn’t quite as accomplished as the Vizio. The Arc played the song at a remove, slightly boxy and distant. By fiddling with the EQ I was able to improve definition to the percussion, but Thom York still gave the impression he was phoning it in. The Vizio was the opposite, lively and punchy thanks to that subwoofer. It wasn’t quite perfect, though, as I needed to back off the treble a little, but much more listenable overall.

I moved to something more ethereal with Yulunga (Spirit Dance) by Dead Can Dance, and the Arc improved somewhat, with a crispness and presence in the stereo shaker eggs for example, even if it wasn’t able to dig deep on the larger drums. The Vizio’s authority was evident from the first few bars of the song. Lisa Gerrard’s voice floated free of the speakers, and the string accompaniment was easier to hear. The sub was able to let the drums and gong sounds fully resonate in my testing room.

I moved to movies and TV next, starting with the infamous egg-stealing Chapter 10 of The Mandalorian. The episode features a chase scene through clouds and an inevitable canyon run (it wouldn’t be Star Wars if you couldn’t flip your ship vertically or had to contend with guard rails on gang planks). During this scene the Arc was able to convey a real sense of height as the Razor Crest descended into the frosty planet’s atmosphere, pursued by two X-wing fighters.

As lovely as the Arc sounded, it was the Vizio’s dedicated rears and sub which really helped anchor the action. The Elevate’s surround effects were much more pinpoint and the metallic thud of the ship as it skidded across the floor of the icy canyon sounded impactful and scary. It didn’t have the same vertiginous feeling of height as the Arc however.

The sub and rears again helped the Vizio convey a sense of space in my next test, the Thanator chase scene from Avatar. Insects buzzed around the listening position, dialogue was clear and explosions bombastic. In comparison with the Arc, it could occasionally send an insect-like click to my right that made me think the Elevate’s rears were somehow still working, but the sense of surround was much less palpable.

The revolution starts here

Are revolving, motorized speakers going to become a trend? Probably not. The up-firing speakers of the Vizio Elevate add some impact when in stereo mode it’s not really enough to justify a potential moving-part weak point down the road. 

The Elevate may not be as easy to use as the Arc, but it’s the better performer, and that’s really what matters. The Vizio soundbar is also a better value, due to its enhanced connectivity and dedicated subs and rears. The Vizio SB36512 still offers the best value of any Atmos soundbar I’ve tested, but if you want an upgrade, the nifty Elevate is a more refined and home-theater-ready speaker.

[emiledekeyser]

White Riot: how white punks fought racism

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Rubika Shah’s film White Riot zooms in on Rock Against Racism, the iconic political and cultural movement that rallied against the rise of the fascist party National Front and the increase of racist attacks in 1970s Britain. Supported by the likes of X-Ray Spex, The Buzzcocks and The Tom Robinson Band, RAR has strong links with the punk scene which was booming in the UK at the time.

The title is borrowed from the first single by The Clash, another punk band heavily associated with RAR. The song was well-intended: The Clash were trying to argue that black and white kids are in the same boat, and the white punks should join forces with the black kids who were standing up for themselves against the far right, against institutional racism, against police brutality. However, because of its awkward wording, ‘White Riot’ has often been completely misinterpreted as a white power anthem. 

Despite its good intentions, ‘White Riot’ remains an ambiguous song and, therefore, an odd title choice for an anti-racism film. At first glance, it could be argued that focusing on ‘white’ riots doesn’t sound all that inclusive. But during the film, it suddenly dawned on me: much like the song, the film is a call to arms for white people to be robustly anti-racist. Moreover, it teaches us four valuable lessons on how the white people in the UK punk scene used their platform to stand up against racism.

#1 confrontational lyrics

Perhaps punk’s most obvious outlet: by its very nature, punk lyrics are confrontational and in-your-face, and so are the anti-racism messages expressed in songs.

One of the most powerful examples can be found on Power in the Darkness, the debut album by The Tom Robinson Band released in 1978. It can hardly get more straightforward than songs such as ‘Better Decide Which Side You’re On’, ‘Ain’t Gonna Take It’ and ‘The Winter of ’79’, in which Robinson expressed his dystopian predictions (all the gay geezers got put inside / and coloured kids were getting crucified) for the year ahead.

Straightforward in-your-face lyrics also characterise The Ruts’ The Crack (1979). The punchy anthem ‘Babylon’s Burning’ perfectly captures the social disorder and discontent, while ‘SUS’ criticises the law that authorised the police to arrest any ‘suspected person’, which resulted in the explicit targeting of black people who were bound to lose when it was their word against the police.

However, things don’t always go entirely to plan. Similarly to The Clash’s ‘White Riot’, Stiff Little Fingers’ ‘White Noise’ was equally misunderstood. In the song, racial stereotypes are listed (Rastus was a n**** / thug, mugger, junkie / black golly gob / big horny monkey) and condemned through the use of irony (black wogs / your face don’t fit / black wogs / You ain’t no Brit), but the ironic stance adopted by singer Jake Burns leaves a lot of room for (mis)interpretation.  

#2 blending of black and white genres  

Punk and reggae, it’s an odd combo. The former is fast and guitar-oriented, the latter slow and bass-heavy. Yet, because of their shared marginalised position in society, it was almost natural for punks and black kids to be drawn to each other. The genre-blending served as a bridge between the two groups. The Clash covering Junior Murvin’s ‘Police and Thieves’ and Toots & The Maytals’ ‘Pressure Drop’ was a stepping stone for punks to get into reggae and vice versa. The same thing can be said for Basement 5, a quartet of London Rastafarians mixing dub-reggae with ferocious punk riffs.

It raises a question though. There is a case to be made that there are elements of cultural appropriation in all-white bands such as The Clash, The Ruts (‘Jah War’), The Slits (‘Cut;), and The Members (‘Stand Up and Spit’) incorporating reggae into their sound. However, it’s worth pointing out that these bands gave it their own twist, it’s punk reggae rather than the shameless white reggae made famous by The Police. Besides, even Bob Marley gave his nod of approval in ‘Punky Reggae Party’, his homage to the punk genre. Who would argue with the indisputable King of Reggae? ‘Punky Reggae Party’ shows that there was mutual respect and closes the debate. 

#3 concerts uniting black and white

Rock Against Racism made a point of always having black and white artists on the bill. In the film, RAR-founder Red Saunders explained this policy: 'We always had black and white bands together to break down the fear, because the National Front is trading on nothing but fear.'

Their very first gig had the London reggae ensemble Matumbi and 999, who had a huge following of white working-class punks. The most famous RAR concert was the Carnival Against The Nazis, held in 1978 at London’s Victoria Park. After a huge protest march through London, the demonstrators were treated to a diverse line-up featuring Steel Pulse (roots reggae from Birmingham), X-Ray Spex (fronted by black feminist icon Poly Styrene), The Tom Robinson Band and The Clash.

The Clash would continue to do this during their career. Through their support acts, they introduced their predominantly white audience to traditionally black genres such as reggae (Lee Scratch Perry, Mikey Dread), old school rhythm and blues (Bo Diddley, Lee Dorsey), and even hip hop (The Sugar Hill Gang and Grandmaster Flash). They did not only incorporate these ‘black genres’ in their music but also gave a platform to the originators.

#4 grassroots activism

In the build-up to the 1978 Carnival Against The Nazis, Steel Pulse and The Clash were photographed while protesting outside the National Front headquarters with signs reading ‘Black & white unite and sounds for integration’. In the film, RAR-collaborator Ruth Gregory jokingly remarks that the musicians look much too cool to actually hold the placards. It’s a brilliant scene but also quite telling, as it implies that she regards this as a more symbolic form of protesting.

Someone who cannot be accused of symbolic protesting is Tom Robinson. He was involved with Rock Against Racism from the very beginning, walking along in protest marches, attending various meetings of the RAR Central Collective, and playing RAR concerts. Robinson very much belonged to the grassroots movement. Because of this, The Tom Robinson Band had the honour to headline The Carnival Against The Nazis, despite being a lot less well-known than The Clash. The RAR-team felt that after a long day of protesting and advocating for a better world, Tom Robinson was the ideal person to bring everyone together and to unite black and white.

The hard work carried out by the RAR-collective, along with the support of various bands, paid off: the National Front was defeated at the 1979 general election. But, as the closing credits state, the fight is far from over. Institutional racism hasn’t disappeared and there are still fascists marching down the streets. White Riot proves how important it is for bands to use their platforms in order to encourage their fans to organise, unionise, and fight the good fight.  

[spicynbachili2]

US, China in feisty clash on trade, influence at APEC

China and america traded heated barbs Saturday forward of an APEC summit, lashing out at one another over protectionism, commerce tariffs and “chequebook diplomacy” within the area.

In duelling back-to-back speeches at a pre-APEC enterprise discussion board, China’s President Xi Jinping and US Vice-President Mike Pence pulled few punches, laying out sharply contrasting visions for the area of 21 international locations.

Xi lashed out at “America First” commerce protectionism and in a thinly veiled swipe at Washington harassed that world commerce guidelines shouldn’t be utilized “with double requirements or egocentric agendas”.

The world’s high two economies have been embroiled in a spiralling commerce battle, imposing tit-for-tat tariffs on one another’s items in a confrontation that specialists warn may torpedo the worldwide financial system.

Xi urged the world to “say no to protectionism and unilateralism”, warning it was a “short-sighted strategy and it’s doomed to failure”.

For his half, a combative Pence warned that US tariffs would stay in place except Beijing “modifications its methods”.

“We have put tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese language items and that quantity may greater than double,” he informed CEOs from across the area.

“We hope for higher, however america is not going to change course till China modifications its methods.”

President Donald Trump determined to skip the summit in Papua New Guinea, leaving the door open for Xi who arrived two days earlier for a state go to and has been the undoubted star of the present.

The APEC summit of leaders from 21 international locations throughout the area has developed right into a tussle for affect between an more and more assertive China and a extra withdrawn US.

In distinction to Trump, Xi arrived earlier than the summit, opening a brand new highway and a faculty in Port Moresby and holding talks with Pacific Island leaders.

Papua New Guinea rolled out the crimson carpet for the Chinese language chief, with dozens of individuals from varied tribes serenading him sporting parrot feathers, possum pelts and seashell necklaces.

– ‘Constricting belt’ –

In his speech, Pence lashed out in unusually robust phrases at China’s Belt-and-Street initiative that sees China providing loans to poorer international locations within the area to enhance infrastructure.

The vice-president inspired Pacific nations to embrace america, which, he mentioned, didn’t supply a “constricting belt or a one-way highway”.

He mentioned the phrases of China’s loans have been “opaque at finest” and “too typically, they arrive with strings connected and result in staggering debt”.

As if pre-empting the criticism, Xi defended the plan amid assaults that it’s akin to “chequebook diplomacy” to additional Chinese language pursuits within the area.

He denied there was a “hidden geopolitical agenda… neither is it a lure as some folks have labelled it”.

And the Chinese language chief warned that nobody would acquire from heightened tensions between the US and his rising superpower.

“Historical past has proven that confrontation — whether or not within the type of a chilly battle, scorching battle or commerce battle — will produce no winners,” he mentioned.

Pence too harassed that Washington wished a “higher relationship” with Beijing.

“China has an honoured place in our imaginative and prescient of a free and open Indo-Pacific, if it chooses to respect its neighbours’ sovereignty, embrace free, honest, and reciprocal commerce, and uphold human rights and non secular freedom,” he mentioned.

He added that america would be part of forces with Australia within the improvement of a brand new naval base to be inbuilt PNG’s Lombrum Naval Base on Manus island, in what’s seen as a transfer to curb China’s affect within the Pacific.

– ‘Raskols’ –

Formally, the 21 leaders will talk about enhancing regional financial cooperation below the theme of “embracing the digital future” however the punchy speeches laid the bottom for a tense gathering.

Overseas ministers assembly forward of the summit have been unable to publish a joint assertion, apparently as a result of variations over language on World Commerce Group reform.

Within the absence of Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the summit itself has been comparatively low-key and the main target has turned to the venue Port Moresby.

The capital of Papua New Guinea has been ranked as one of many least habitable cities for expatriates, with a excessive stage of crime, typically perpetrated by feared avenue gangs often called “raskols”.

Delegates have been suggested to not enterprise out alone — particularly after darkish — and officers and journalists have been hosted on large cruise ships moored within the harbour as a result of questions of safety and a dearth of resort rooms.

Story Continues

The run-up to the summit was additionally overshadowed by the acquisition of 40 luxurious Maserati automobiles that sparked anger within the poverty-hit nation, which suffers from continual healthcare and social issues.

Chinese language President Xi Jinping mentioned erecting commerce obstacles was short-sighted and doomed to failure

Chinese language President Xi Jinping mentioned erecting commerce obstacles was short-sighted and doomed to failure

US Vice President Mike Pence harassed that Washington wished a ‘higher relationship’ with Beijing

Papua New Guinea has rolled out the crimson carpet for the visiting leaders, serenading them sporting parrot feathers, possum pelts and seashell necklaces

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[nofomoartworld]

Hyperallergic: K-Pop Conquers the World

I admit it: I’ve come to prefer Korean pop over American pop. The familiar argument, that Korean producers replicate American pop conventions with sly distance and scientific expertise, won’t fly — given the present mediocrity of the American Top 40, what’s to like? Rather, the auteurs behind K-pop have mastered a sort of transhistorical bricolage that stateside comes naturally only to indie bands and the occasional hip-hop beatsmith, turning the planet’s entire history of recorded music into the K-pop producer’s playground — a massive compendium of discrete ingredients available for ransacking, for twisting into concise pop structures. If this is the counterargument to the plagiarism charge, I don’t entirely buy it either, since it could just as easily produce surreal garbage. Maybe it’s just that when a musical cottage industry starts training kids to be pop stars since before adolescence, some of them turn out really talented.

I.U.: Palette (Loen/Fave)

Since going “mature” four years ago on her breakthrough album, Modern Times, I.U. has specialized in several international ballad styles, none of them originally Korean. Assuming an air of dreamy sophistication, the former ingenue has dipped her toes into lounge-jazz, bossa nova, neodisco, Celine Dion facsimile, and any number of styles consistent with notions of cosmopolitan urbanity. Leave it to an aesthete this shrewd to identify each genre’s good parts and isolate them in palatable replicas for her fanbase. The floaty, feathery R&B she offers on this album is typically delightful.

Qualities that would repel in an Anglophone or Francophone singer fascinate in her: her choices in stylistic sources position her as the final link in a chain denoting moments of self-conscious self-differentiation. Slow R&B burners this fluffy, not to mention cocktail ballads this demonstrative, would already qualify as shamelessly retro if Justin Timberlake sang them; I.U.’s translation of this mode into Korean adds an extra layer of distance, such that the music turns obsessively self-reflexive, containing mirror upon mirror. Awareness of form ensures a willingness to stretch formal boundaries, and this album uses blank space to such masterful effect that each song blurs the traditional distinction between ballads and dance tracks. Piano, strings, quietly subtle rhythm guitar, and cannily minimal drum machine create thin, restrained, readymade shapes. While she sings straightforwardly around the melody in the foreground, her breathy backup vocals — or strings, or a softly ostinato keyboard texture — fill in the empty spots between the lines drawn by the discrete instruments, tricking the listener into imagining vast expanses of space. Paradoxically, the effect is intimate; the songs and their singer have room to breathe, especially on “Love Alone,” the album’s centerpiece — a slow, haunting, excruciating ballad extraordinaire. Swaying with stark power while stealing from Brazil the concept of saudade, the song’s gentle, plucked acoustic guitar harmonics accentuate a melody inextricable from the rawness of her voice. Nine more songs in this vein produce an album of exquisite delicacy.

Thrilling in its reticence, Palette is primarily a triumph of arrangement, of instruments positioned next to each other in complimentary proportions. Hence, you can feel the ache in I.U.’s singing. Play it at night over headphones and gasp at her every whisper.

Day6: Sunrise (JYP Entertainment)

Each release by this guitar-toting gang has leaned a tad more heavily toward arena rock, and their full-length debut is where they turn on their distortion pedals and crunch up a storm. Pounding energetically as they do, there’s nevertheless a dull predictability to this move that makes me wish they’d lighten up again.

As their eye shadow and punchy, theatrical dynamics would indicate, they draw as much influence from mid-’00s American emo bands as from late ‘00’s Korean indie-rock, but their strengths are inversely proportional to those of most emo bands. Theoretically I’m not sure whether Dashboard Confessional is a band anybody should emulate. As with those avatars of bathetic yearning, Day6’s ballads, so huge and soaring and plaintive, are kitsch masterpieces — the magnificent “I Smile,” its solemn, arpeggiated guitar chime ringing out through the air, flaunts heartbreak the way a jock might bare a set of washboard abs. Their upbeat songs, however, land with a joyless thud, beholden to excessive notions about how hard the drums must hit and how gritty the guitars must sound. If the mix were crisp rather than merely polished, the guitars might crack sharply and provide serviceable contrast with the songwriting’s earnest sensitivity, but instead the band bulldozes the material into a blunt thrash. Comparison with Daydream, last year’s sublime mini-album, reveals much; when their power pop was still agile on its feet, their amusement at getting to act like heartthrobs shone through. Here the distorted whomp obscures such frivolities. The difference is slight but exhausting.

Many of their hooks remain fetching — ”I Wish,” “I’m Serious” (what a title!) — but taken together they equal an album overwhelmed by hasty rock loudness. Barring a resurgence in rhythmic spring, I hope they shift their focus to ballads exclusively. Adducing a bleeding heart may just inspire emotions extreme enough to satisfy.

Ignito: Gaia (Mnet)

I’m skeptical of foreign language rap — each language’s cadence clicks with a different set of rhythms, and not always those specified by received Anglophone convention. Thankfully, Ignito concedes nothing to such expectations, and the Korean rapper’s second album delivers sensationalist energy while realizing the language’s sonic potential for rapid-fire delivery.

Musically, this album turns being loud and obnoxious into a battle cry. Producer Kontrix’s beats — which combine synthesized strings, power chords, sinister showoff lead guitar, giant slabs of slammed electronic boom, and, on “Metal Rising,” a massed choir — recall prior hip-hop accompaniment less than they do Kavinsky, the Star Wars soundtrack (prequels only) interpreted for synthesizer, and any music imbued with the sort of grandiosity whereby a hero has only four minutes to save the world. This is maximalist orchestral technocratic schlock of the highest order, conjuring a mock sense of shock at its own presence — “oh no, it’s me!,” cry the electronic violins and the blues guitar. The bullheaded arrogance necessary for a rapper to choose this as his musical setting astounds, and Ignito delivers. He’s got the voice for it: deep, aggressive, froglike, inhabiting a defiantly angry yet infuriatingly self-assured tone that matches the orchestration exactly. Lacking sufficient knowledge of Korean rap to place him in context, I’ll compare him instead to Kevin Gates; both convey the sense that their tongues are too big for their mouths, so they can only blubber their lips. But Ignito’s flow is quicker and more multifaceted, more mindful of internal rhymes, more willing to stretch a line and break the meter. Treating macho puffery as a kinetic skill, the album plays like a pushy show of technique. He’s got the eye of the tiger, and you’re gonna hear him roar.

No clue what the lyrics are saying beyond an English chorus or two, and I’m not sure I want to — given his manner on the microphone, he might be an unpleasant character up close. I’m grateful to the language gap for rendering delectable such a vivid portrait of gruff masculinity in the abstract.

Lovelyz: R U Ready? (Woolim/CJ E&M)

Whatever the virtues of sugary soda and tacky plastic product, a reasonable consumer could wonder just how many girly electropop albums one needs. The answer is a zillion, obviously. This Korean girl group’s second album, as tangible as Silly Putty, terrifically demonstrates why.

So cheerful one might consider them a parody of pep, PC Music’s fantasy of what the perfect K-pop band would sound like, Lovelyz inhabit a childish cuteness that, contrary to expectations, isn’t common in K-pop proper — even the danciest stars typically court the adult contemporary market as well. With song titles like “My Little Lover,” a singer (one of eight) named “Baby Soul,” and a musical style whose cartoon simplicity codes as pre-erotic, Lovelyz instead pursue the diminutive. The album thrills in its one-dimensionality. Fizzy bright synthesizers squeak, whirr, and pop like balloons pop; synthetic slapped funk bass bounces like a rubber ball; hyped-up drum machines get the party going; breathless vocals project utter delight at the fact of their presence in such a playful environment. Imagine a digital electronic template as sweet and clean as Britney Spears’s, with the mood altered from flirty ambiguity to the joy a child feels upon seeing a pile of birthday presents, each shinier than the next, wrapped in glossy paper and tied with a bow. I’ll extend the metaphor: the singers, ebullient as they are, represent the kid. The spritzy beats, and by extension the whole album, represent the most fabulous gift one could have hoped for. What a treat to witness such joy.

This album ticks off so many of my taste boxes — sleekly stylized product, formalized genre exercise, crafty simulations of emotional structure, sonic textures you can taste and feel — that it inspires the sneaking suspicion that these elements all belong to one mode. They don’t necessarily, though. The album’s just perfect, that’s all.

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