Lifestyle, Culture, Technology, Entertainment, Music VOCAL Lifestyle, Culture, Technology, Entertainment, Music VOCAL

Feel the Pride

For the month of June, NYC Pride welcomes WorldPride as it marks the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and a half century of LGBTQI+ liberation. To celebrate this moment, The Ally Coalition have created an emotive community-driven sound and light experience featuring a soundscape by St Vincent, and generated by user messages. The experience is powered by Microsoft AI technology that explores powerful feelings of hope, anger, joy and determination.

 

The Ally Coalition Presents Feel the Pride, an immersive installation celebrating WorldPride, Powered by Microsoft

As WorldPride NYC Commemorates the Reality of Stonewall 50, Artificial Intelligence Creates a Unique Audio-Visual Display of the World’s Sentiments on Pride.

 

For the month of June, NYC Pride welcomes WorldPride as it marks the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and a half century of LGBTQI+ liberation. To celebrate this moment, The Ally Coalition have created an emotive community-driven sound and light experience featuring a soundscape by St Vincent, and generated by user messages. The experience is powered by Microsoft AI technology that explores powerful feelings of hope, anger, joy and determination.

Feel The Pride is an immersive experience that aims to express what Pride feels like with a stunning sound and light display that will take guests on a journey through shared sentiment of what Pride means to them. Either onsite or from around the world using the #FeelThePride hashtag on Twitter, users input their message conveying their personal feelings of Pride from which Microsoft Azure’s Sentiment Analysis tool analyzes the content for sentiment and translates it into a generative sound and light experience. The sounds of St. Vincent and lighting display of color patterns that are presented evolve into a unique presentation for each message based on the underlying sentiment.

The 2019 WorldPride is the first to take place in the Stonewall Uprising’s home of New York City, an event that in 1969 marked a turning point in equality for personal choice of expression which remains a symbol of strength in the LGBTQI+ communities around the world. To commemorate its 50-year anniversary, the non-profit activist spokesgroup The Ally Coalition envisioned an experience that would amplify the passion of this movement, elevating participants with collective hope while grounding them with the connections of community.

The Feel the Pride installation will run from June 15–30, located at 568 Broadway (at Prince St), New York, NY.

For more information, please contact VOCAL or visit www.theallycoalition.org.

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Hollywood Dream Machines: Petersen Automotive Museum x Microsoft

The Petersen Automotive Museum announced today that its upcoming “Hollywood Dream Machines: Vehicles of Science Fiction and Fantasy” exhibit will spotlight a unique and immersive mixed-reality experience powered by Microsoft HoloLens. The display, named “Hollywood Dream Machines: Worlds Reimagined,” will be centered around the iconic Time Machine from “Back to the Future” and the famed Warthog from the “Halo” franchise. Opening May 4, 2019, the experience will offer guests an inside look at these legendary sci-fi machines.

Petersen Automotive Museum Explores Iconic Sci-Fi Vehicles With Microsoft Hololens in New Hollywood Exhibit

The upcoming exhibit “Hollywood Dream Machines: Vehicles of Science Fiction and Fantasy” will prominently feature an immersive mixed reality look inside the Time Machine from “Back to the Future” and the Warthog from the “Halo” franchise using Microsoft HoloLens technology.

The Petersen Automotive Museum announced today that its upcoming “Hollywood Dream Machines: Vehicles of Science Fiction and Fantasy” exhibit will spotlight a unique and immersive mixed-reality experience powered by Microsoft HoloLens. The display, named “Hollywood Dream Machines: Worlds Reimagined,” will be centered around the iconic Time Machine from “Back to the Future” and the famed Warthog from the “Halo” franchise. Opening May 4, 2019, the experience will offer guests an inside look at these legendary sci-fi machines.

Using Microsoft HoloLens, “Back to the Future” co-creator and producer Bob Gale will guide fans into the world of Hill Valley to tour the ins and outs of the legendary Time Machine. For those looking to explore the “Halo” universe, the “Monitor” 343 Guilty Spark will offer guests an inside look at the systems and weaponry of the mighty Warthog.

“The Petersen is proud to partner with Microsoft on this mixed-reality project,” said Terry L. Karges, Executive Director of the Petersen Automotive Museum. “This exhibit is made to highlight the futuristic vehicles and technologies that spark our imaginations, and Microsoft’s HoloLens is a cutting-edge way to express that high-tech vision in real life.”

Produced in collaboration with Comic-Con with additional support by Microsoft and Audi, other key vehicles in the “Hollywood Dream Machines: Vehicles of Science Fiction and Fantasy” exhibit will include the 2016 Audi R8 from “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Captain America: Civil War,” the 2035 Audi RSQ from “I Robot,” the Weyland Industries RT01 Group Transport from “Prometheus,” the 2008 Audi R8 from “Iron Man,” Bumblebee from the “Transformers” series, the GM Ultralight from “Demolition Man,” several Batmobiles, along with over 40 additional iconic Hollywood vehicles, artwork, props and costumes.

“We are incredibly excited to be partnering again with the Petersen on a second mixed reality experience for their guests,” said Ryan Gaspar, Director of Brand Partnerships at Microsoft. “Leveraging Microsoft HoloLens as a means of enhancing the rich stories of ‘Back to the Future’ and ‘Halo’ is an incredibly fitting use of the technology.”

To kick off the exhibit, the Petersen will host an opening reception on the evening of May 4 with live entertainment, and gourmet appetizers and cocktails. VIP ticket holders will be given priority access to the exhibit beginning May 1 with a curator-led hard-hat tour.

“Hollywood Dream Machines” will run through March 15, 2020. To purchase tickets to the exhibit opening reception, please visit http://www.petersen.org/hollywood.

For more information please contact VOCAL or visit www.Petersen.org. 

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About Petersen Automotive Museum

The Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charity. The Museum is located at 6060 Wilshire Boulevard (at Fairfax) in Los Angeles, California, 90036. Admission prices are $16 for general admission adults, $14 for seniors, $11 for children ages 4 to 17. Active military with ID, personal care attendants and children under four are admitted free. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For general information, call 323-930-CARS or visit www.Petersen.org.

 

 

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Lifestyle, Technology, Music VOCAL Lifestyle, Technology, Music VOCAL

AI Powers Music Mood at Sister City

Sister City, a new, meticulously designed hotel in NYC that embraces technology to offer guests a modern respite, debuts a first-of-its-kind lobby music score. Inherent to Sister City’s founding ethos was the question of its sonic landscape — Sister City asks what new shapes music can take as a site-specific, living extension of the hotel, and looked to Brian Eno’s Music For Airports and John Cage’s concept for “4’33”” as touch points for these conversations.

Sister City

Sister City Announces New Generative Music Lobby Score Created by Experimental Musician Julianna Barwick in partnership with Microsoft

Sister City, a new, meticulously designed hotel in NYC that embraces technology to offer guests a modern respite, debuts a first-of-its-kind lobby music score. Inherent to Sister City’s founding ethos was the question of its sonic landscape — Sister City asks what new shapes music can take as a site-specific, living extension of the hotel, and looked to Brian Eno’s Music For Airports and John Cage’s concept for “4’33”” as touch points for these conversations.

Sister City completely rethinks how sound can be specifically designed for public spaces by responding directly to the environment it lives in. Rather than employing a playlist, it expands the possibilities of audiospheres and conceived an idea borne from Sister City’s experiential design, use of technology and love of harmony and balance. They worked with Microsoft to help with the project, and together brought in indie electronic musician Julianna Barwick to collaborate on a generative music score that exists as an extension of the hotel instead of an added layer. The result is an ever-evolving soundscape that uses technology to respond to its environment.

Sister-City_Adrian-Gaut_190008.jpg

“Ever since we first heard Brian Eno’s Music For Airports, we’ve been obsessed with the idea of creating music for a specific space. Working with Julianna Barwick and Microsoft to bring this creative dream to life has been rad — stuff like this is why we build hotels in the first place.” —Ryan Bukstein, VP of Brand, Atelier Ace.

Julianna worked with Microsoft to create a composition that uses Sister City’s sky camera on the roof to respond to the neighborhood: sounds that loop and shift as a pigeon flies overhead; during sunrise, sunset or rain; as a cloud or airplane traverses across the sky. Ever-evolving and in concert with nature’s moving targets, the piece enlightens guests to their surroundings in exuberant and innovative ways.

“I hope it’s going to inspire people to wonder and to be excited and curious as to what the different sounds mean, but also for it to be a pleasing thing to listen to. I lived in New York City for 16 years, so I almost see this installation as an homage to that vibe, and that neighborhood, and my time in New York. So it's kind of emotional a little bit personal.” – Julianna Barwick, musician

This installation utilizes Microsoft’s Custom Vision API to identify the objects captured by the hotel’s roof cam. The AI has been trained to ID various objects or incidents and match them with specific loops and sounds composed by Julianna. The collab is part of Microsoft’s Music x Technology program, bringing together Microsoft technology and boundary-pushing artists to transform the way we create and experience music. Past partnership have featured Brian Eno, Childish Gambino and Alison Wonderland. Sister City’s score will continue to evolve as they invite new artists to contribute.

Julianna Barwick - Recording process

Sister City is a hotel distilled to its most beautiful parts. Created by the people behind Ace Hotel and inspired by the functional perfection of Finnish saunas, Japanese bento boxes, the rock-cut cliff dwellings of prehistory and John Cage’s 4’33”, Sister City offers 200 intimate, efficient rooms, a ground-floor restaurant Floret and rooftop bar Last Light right on the Bowery, Manhattan’s oldest and most storied thoroughfare.

As a hotel, Sister City is inspired by the philosophy of Less, But Better. The inherent satisfaction of having just enough. They asked what was needed for today’s traveler, and shaved off the excess, considering aesthetic sustenance and human connection modern needs as well. The result: a new prototype for compassionate hospitality where efficiency and beauty find union. Sister City provides you shelter from the elements, but orients you to the wider world, as well.



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NAO Takes Fans Into “Orbit” With Interactive Music Video Powered By Microsoft AI

Microsoft has announced another partnership through their ongoing In Culture program that supports today’s most innovative creatives, this time with English singer-songwriter and rising star NAO. Together they are producing a never-before-seen interactive and personal music video to support the “Orbit” track on her new album Saturn released late in 2018.

From the Sky to Your Screen, NAO’S New Video is a Truly Personalized Experience.

 Microsoft has announced another partnership through their ongoing In Culture program that supports today’s most innovative creatives, this time with English singer-songwriter and rising star NAO. Together they are producing a never-before-seen interactive and personal music video to support the “Orbit” track on her new album Saturn released late in 2018.

Go behind-the-scenes of the music video for NAO's "Orbit." R&B artist NAO used Microsoft machine learning and artificial intelligence to launch an interactive music video that brings fans' zodiac constellations to life. Experience it for yourself at http://orbit.thisnao.com

The “Orbit” music video is centered on a Saturn return, a unique occurrence for each of us that exists when the planet returns to the same place in the sky that it occupied at our moment of birth. The astrological inspiration of the song is known as a personally tumultuous time that allows NAO fans a more intimate connection with the artist and her work. The use of Microsoft’s technology and AI create visualizations based on both user inputs and cloud-point data collected gather from a dancing NAO, taking this fan-artist connection even further for a deeper experience as it relates their own personal journey.

To customize the “Orbit” music video the viewer enters their birthday, initiating a launch of the zodiac-filled night sky in which NAO and the dancers move through the galaxy. Colors of the sky and stars can be adjusted as the AI picks up the different constellations in the dancer’s bodies, as well as the fan’s own astrological sign. At completion, fans can share an image of NAO posing in the stance of their astrological sign, along with a plot of Saturn’s return in their own personal timeline.

The process for the music video began at Microsoft’s volumetric capture studio in San Francisco where cameras captured NAO and an accompanying dancer performing choreography to “Orbit” that transformed their bodies into point clouds of data. The Microsoft Custom Vision API was then trained to identify constellations within their movements, resulting in a truly customized experience that allows fans to connect emotionally with NAO’s own personal story within the song.

Based in East London, NAO’s sound is a mix of soul, funk, R&B and electronic music — what she calls as "wonky funk". Saturn is her second studio album, released in October 2018 and supported by the singles "Another Lifetime" and "Make It Out Alive". The upcoming “Orbit” music video release with Microsoft is scheduled for April 26, with a special in-depth experience as a media preview set for April 25 in London, UK.

For more information on NAO, visit www.ThisNAO.com. For information around the Microsoft In Culture program, visit Microsoft.com/InCulture.

All media inquiries can be directed to VOCALnyc.com.


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Celebrating the Women Breaking Barriers in the Sciences

In anticipation of Women’s History Month, Nobel Media has partnered with Microsoft to highlight the achievements of women who broke new ground in physics, chemistry, and medicine. The result, Women Who Changed Science, is a unique web experience that trains a lens on the inspiring journeys and contributions of female Nobel Prize winners.

Nobel Media Partners with Microsoft to Launch Cutting-Edge Storytelling Platform

 

(March 8, 2019) In anticipation of Women’s History Month, Nobel Media has partnered with Microsoft to highlight the achievements of women who broke new ground in physics, chemistry, and medicine. The result, Women Who Changed Science, is a unique web experience that trains a lens on the inspiring journeys and contributions of female Nobel Prize winners. In a world where 64% of American girls and women can’t name another woman in the sciences*, Nobel Media and Microsoft aim to inspire young women across the world to be the groundbreakers of tomorrow.

Women who changed science launches Friday, March 8 on International Women’s Day. Engage with luminaries like Marie Curie, who harnessed the promise of radioactivity, Rita Levi-Montalcini, who redefined how our bodies work, and Tu Youyou, whose breakthrough malaria treatment has saved millions throughout the world. The web experience brings to life the unique contributions of each laureate while exploring the interconnecting lineage of women in the sciences. Raising awareness of their tremendous impact, the collaboration aims to empower the next generation of scientists.

This unique collaboration with Nobel Media is one of Microsoft’s ongoing initiatives to build inclusion in STEM fields. Microsoft believes that nurturing diverse viewpoints and creating opportunities for everyone to experiment with technology incites innovation and sparks breakthroughs. Women who changed science transforms not only how we experience the odds-defying stories of grit behind the prizewinning discoveries of these laureates, but also emboldens the next generation of young women to change our world.

To engage with these laureates, visit the Women Who Changed Science web experience:

To learn more about Microsoft’s movement to build inclusion in STEM fields, see microsoft.com/inculture/social-good/inclusion

For all press inquiries, please contact VocalNYC.com.

*Research conducted by Microsoft in partnership with KRC Research. Survey included more than 6,000 girls and women between the ages of 10 and 30 from across the U.S. (read more)

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International Women's Day

It’s finally our favorite day of the year. Today, we’re celebrating with our friends at Microsoft and Nobel Media who partnered to create the initiative “Women Who Changed Science” — a web experience that highlights the achievements of female Nobel Prize laureates who broke new ground in physics, chemistry and medicine.

Happy International Women’s Day!

It’s finally our favorite day of the year. Today, we’re celebrating with our friends at Microsoft and Nobel Media who partnered to create the initiative “Women Who Changed Science” — a web experience that highlights the achievements of female Nobel Prize laureates who broke new ground in physics, chemistry and medicine. Want to know more? 🤔 Shoot us a DM and we’ll fill you in.

#womensday #womeninstem #goodtobevocal

International Women's Day
 
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Women Who Changed Science: Uncover the Discoveries

Launching March 8 on International Women’s Day, a unique AI-assisted multimedia platform within NobelPrize.org will let you explore the stories and accomplishments of the female greats in science.

Launching March 8 on International Women’s Day, a unique AI-assisted multimedia platform within NobelPrize.org will let you explore the stories and accomplishments of the female greats in science.

The identification of role models is fundamental to female involvement in the sciences. Adopting this challenge, Microsoft has partnered with Nobel Media to develop a cutting-edge web experience that will engage and inspire young aspirants to pursue their dreams with confidence. To further break down engagement barriers, Microsoft AI technologies enhance an immersive journey in the footsteps that lead to some of sciences greatest achievements. The result is an accessible and entertaining discovery that hopes to embolden the next generation of young women to become the visionaries that change our world.

When is the Women Who Changed Science platform going live?

March 8, 2019: International Women’s Day

Continuing through March: Women’s History Month

Visit: www.nobelprize.org

URL: www.nobelprize.org/women-who-changed-science

What is the mission behind this partnership between Microsoft and Nobel Media?

To inspire young women and girls to see themselves in the laureates’ stories and pursue education and careers in science.

Microsoft and Nobel Media have a shared mission to encourage more women and girls to pursue passions and careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). To raise awareness and empower the next generation of women in science, Microsoft and Nobel Media have teamed up to highlight past female laureates through an AI-assisted multimedia web experience  — nearly 70% of young girls and women in America cannot name a woman in the scientific fields. 

  

What will the Women Who Changed Science web experience entail?

Women Who Changed Science brings to life the unique contributions of each laureate while exploring the interconnecting lineage of women in the sciences. Using Microsoft AI technology to surface deep connections between the intricate stories of these women, the digital site weaves together the biographies of these pioneers through images, archival video footage, and their own words.

  

What is the Microsoft AI technology?

Microsoft Cognitive Services APIs empower digital platforms with intelligent algorithms that let the audience see, hear, speak, understand and interpret their needs through natural methods of communication. For more information, visit Microsoft Azure.

Microsoft is dedicated to using technology as a tool for social good, with Cognitive Services enabling the creation of a novel web experience that brings female laureates’ accomplishments to life and draws together extensive materials from the Nobel archive in compelling new ways. 

 

Which laureates will be spotlighted?

Ada Yonath (Chemistry), Barbara McClintock (Physiology / Medicine), Carol Greider (Physiology / Medicine), Christiane Nьsslein-Volhard (Physiology / Medicine), Donna Strickland (Physics), Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (Chemistry), Elizabeth Blackburn (Physiology / Medicine), Frances Arnold (Chemistry), Franзoise Barrй-Sinoussi (Physiology / Medicine), Gertrude Elion (Physiology / Medicine), Gerry Cori (Physiology / Medicine), Irene Joliot-Curie (Chemistry), Linda Buck (Physiology / Medicine), Maria Goeppert-Mayer (Physics), Marie Sklodowska Curie (Physics), May-Britt Moser (Physiology / Medicine), Rita Levi-Montalcini (Physiology / Medicine), Rosalyn Yalow (Physiology / Medicine), Youyou Tu (Physiology / Medicine)

 

What are some example stories from the Women Who Changed Science platform?

Frances Arnold was a free thinker long before pioneering the use of directed evolution to design new enzymes. At age 17, she embarked on a journey of personal discovery: hitchhiking to D.C. to protest the Vietnam War, waiting tables at a jazz club, driving a cab. Decades later, she earned a 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for a discovery that changed medicine, agriculture, and energy forever. 

Starting out as a part-time secretary, Rosalyn Yalow eventually became the only woman on the 400-member faculty of the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Later, her revolutionary methodology for measuring concentrations of hormones in the blood, radioimmunoassay (RIA), launched a new era of medical research — and earned her a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1977. 

In 1903, Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize for her outstanding research in "radiation phenomena." The Nobel Committee had initially intended to award only her husband   and Henri Becquerel, but Pierre Curie insisted that his wife share the honor. In 1911 she won another Nobel Prize for the isolation of radium, by which time she had become world famous and was the director of the Curie Laboratory at the newly established Radium Institute — now known as the Curie Institute.

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Microsoft Lets You Step Inside Muse's New Album

Today the British rock band Muse kicks off the global Simulation Theory album tour in Houston, Texas, giving fans a first look at their much-anticipated partnership with Microsoft. For the holders of “Enhanced Experience” tickets at each tour stop, a VIP pre-party includes a revolutionary approach to audience inclusion that brings fans into the album’s imagined world through interactive virtual reality.

Muse Continues to Push the Boundaries of Fan Experience on Their New Tour, Now with Microsoft VR Technologies to Create a Unique Fan-Artist Connection. 


HOUSTON, TX (February 22, 2019) — Today the British rock band Muse kicks off the global Simulation Theory album tour in Houston, Texas, giving fans a first look at their much-anticipated partnership with Microsoft. For the holders of “Enhanced Experience” tickets at each tour stop, a VIP pre-party includes a revolutionary approach to audience inclusion that brings fans into the album’s imagined world through interactive virtual reality.

As part of their In Culture program that creates visionary initiatives that blur the line between artist and audience, Microsoft has partnered with Muse to develop a totally unique music-video experience through three custom VR games each soundtracked and inspired by a song from the Simulation Theory album. This virtual-reality immersion is initially reserved for dedicated fans purchasing the Enhanced Experience pre-show party package that includes the opportunity to take photos with props and memorabilia from the newest music videos, exclusive album-themed keepsakes, and front-row seats to the show.

The artwork for Muse’s latest studio album is reminiscent of the classic 80’s sci-fi movie Tron, the plot of which loosely aligns with the album title and it’s referenced “simulation hypothesis” that accepts that we’re all actually living within a computer-generated artificial reality. This is also in keeping with the band’s ongoing themes of a futurist technology dominated existence, as well as their visual interpretation that portrays more of a yesteryear’s vision of tomorrow. Complimenting this in contrast, Microsoft has incorporated their technologies to offer an out-of-this-world fan experience for today.

In creating more music videos for Simulation Theory than any previous release, Muse has also created an alternative visual world for the album that establishes a unifying theme for its songs. “The videos are very continuous; that's where the concept can be seen more so than in the music”, informs vocalist/guitarist Matt Bellamy. “So we're going to take that visual world and try to translate it into the live show, with the other performers who will be on stage with us.” The VR games developed with Microsoft take this audience experience far beyond a stunning audio-visual performance, guiding fans deep into the album’s virtual world for a uniquely personal immersion and real connection.

For more information on Muse and their upcoming tour, visit Muse.mu. For information around the Microsoft In Culture program, visit Microsoft.com/InCulture.

For all media inquiries contact VOCAL.  

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Feel the Pride

For the month of June, NYC Pride welcomes WorldPride as it marks the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and a half century of LGBTQI+ liberation. To celebrate this moment, The Ally Coalition have created an emotive community-driven sound and light experience featuring a soundscape by St Vincent, and generated by user messages. The experience is powered by Microsoft AI technology that explores powerful feelings of hope, anger, joy and determination.

Accelerating the Future of Fashion

London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London is continuing its collaboration with Microsoft to inspire the next generation to rethink, redesign and revolutionize the future of the fashion industry. Leveraging Microsoft’s cutting-edge Mixed Reality, Artificial Intelligence, and IoT technologies and LCF’s industry-defining mentors, selected students were invited to participate in a semester-long intensive course that culminates in a final showcase of their prototypes this June.

Hollywood Dream Machines: Petersen Automotive Museum x Microsoft

The Petersen Automotive Museum announced today that its upcoming “Hollywood Dream Machines: Vehicles of Science Fiction and Fantasy” exhibit will spotlight a unique and immersive mixed-reality experience powered by Microsoft HoloLens. The display, named “Hollywood Dream Machines: Worlds Reimagined,” will be centered around the iconic Time Machine from “Back to the Future” and the famed Warthog from the “Halo” franchise. Opening May 4, 2019, the experience will offer guests an inside look at these legendary sci-fi machines.

AI Powers Music Mood at Sister City

Sister City, a new, meticulously designed hotel in NYC that embraces technology to offer guests a modern respite, debuts a first-of-its-kind lobby music score. Inherent to Sister City’s founding ethos was the question of its sonic landscape — Sister City asks what new shapes music can take as a site-specific, living extension of the hotel, and looked to Brian Eno’s Music For Airports and John Cage’s concept for “4’33”” as touch points for these conversations.

Chris Cole's Rail Jam Invitational

We’re excited to announce a new action sports music festival Gnarlytown set for June 22 in San Pedro, CA, co-founded by veteran pro skateboarder Chris Cole in partnership with John Reese of SGE and Nitro Circus. Set at the scenic LA Waterfront Berth 46 in San Pedro, CA, Gnarlytown will combine the perfect blend of action sports, punk rock, and craft beer tasting.

NAO Takes Fans Into “Orbit” With Interactive Music Video Powered By Microsoft AI

Microsoft has announced another partnership through their ongoing In Culture program that supports today’s most innovative creatives, this time with English singer-songwriter and rising star NAO. Together they are producing a never-before-seen interactive and personal music video to support the “Orbit” track on her new album Saturn released late in 2018.