Merry-Go-Roundtable

AI is here and it's coming for your music! Except, not really. Carter got a chance to talk to Zack Zukowski, part of the duo behind the music generating project Dadabots. Dadabots uses " a modified SampleRNN architecture to generate music in modern genres such as black metal and math rock". How this works exactly, and what applications they think it might have for human musicians are just as fascinating and strange as the actual music their AI produces.

Dadabots website: http://dadabots.com/

Dadabots Bandcamp: https://dadabots.bandcamp.com/

24/7 Tech Death Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNNmBtNcccE

We've launched a Patreon! Check it out here: https://www.patreon.com/mgrm

The massively popular multiplayer online battle arena game League of Legends turns 10 years old this year. Three of our contributors who love the game, Blake Michelle, Tracy Nicoletti, and Dan Blomquist sat down to discuss what makes the game so addicting and so special, along with things they hope to see improve going forward.

We've launched a Patreon! Check it out and consider donating here: https://www.patreon.com/mgrm

Dan's piece on PUBG and battle royales can be found here: https://bit.ly/2V6gXtn

Tracy's piece on Pokemon Let's Go can be found here: https://bit.ly/2VNp3v8

Blake's Billie Ellish review can be found here: https://bit.ly/2Lqyvki

What better way to dissect the cultural juggernaut that is AVENGERS: ENDGAME than to cover an often overlooked demographic when it comes to these movies: the moms. Kevin sat down with his mom for a lovely discussion of all things ENDGAME for a delightful chat that highlights the movie's strengths, weaknesses, and overall impact.

OBVIOUSLY THIS IS A SPOILER HEAVY EPISODE, PROCEED ACCORDINGLY.

Well it's finally been confirmed, Disney is coming in swinging into the streaming arena and it's most likely that our access to content will never be the same again. Carter has a wide ranging speculative conversation with his friend Mason Maguire about what the future might hold for all of us.

Kate's excellent tear-down of the Disney live-action remakes can be found here: https://merrygoroundmagazine.com/you-have-forgotten-who-you-are-live-action-the-lion-king-1/

The essay breaking down how Parks and Rec divorced itself from reality can be found here: https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/already-great?fbclid=IwAR1hlz4KK68BJJHfKXWShBnhg0QmgV3VJpBJ06mwH1dbQEKUlMYkyf6fAyE

Means TV's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3VHfy8e1jbDnT5TG2pjP1w

Are You For Real, the short film Carter made with Mason: https://vimeo.com/303960922?fbclid=IwAR1xCFTHc5VqCMlYHSi1KCuNH0iZAWddQAu-YcfE053KJ5rb6rAKQu6V9j8

SPOILER ALERT. Now that it's been out for a few weeks, it seemed safe to have a very spoiler-heavy discussion of US. Carter was joined by a huge host of guests to try to unravel this very messy and very interesting movie.

If you want to read Kevin's review of the movie, it can be found here: https://merrygoroundmagazine.com/jordan-peele-points-fingers-us/

One of the best pieces on the internet offering an interpretation of the ending can be found here: https://bit.ly/2FZYglu

Carter interviewed a trio of border activists from Arizona who are currently on a tour screening their documentary film, UNDETERRED. UNDETERRED is a powerful film about the impact that Border Patrol has had on small border communities close to Mexico.

The official website for UNDETERRED can be found here: https://undeterredfilm.org/

If you'd like to donate to a shelter for migrants who come from all over Latin America seeking refuge and asylum, you can check out this website: https://www.sheltersforhope.com/

Carter got a chance to talk to legendary independent filmmaker Joel Potrykus. They talked about Joel's methods, themes, and stink bug paranoia.

Joel's new movie, RELAXER, is in theaters this Friday, you don't want to miss it.

We were lucky enough to be granted press passes to South by Southwest this year and sent our contributors Kevin Cookman and Alec Larios to provide on-the-ground coverage! They've watched a ton of movies together, turned in some great reviews, and very clearly had an excellent time.

Kevin's review of US: https://merrygoroundmagazine.com/jordan-peele-points-fingers-us/

Alec's review of BEACH BUM: https://merrygoroundmagazine.com/the-beach-bum-surfs-over-viewers-heads/

Our music contributor Amanda Ball pitched this great discussion on Drake and his legacy following the 10th anniversary re-release of his mixtape SO FAR GONE. What followed was a lengthy examination of a complicated artist who's been in the spotlight for a solid decade now. Even if you're not a Drake stan, there's a lot to be gleaned about how modern artists stay relevant and the impact Drake has had on the culture.

Mike's review of Scorpion can be found here: https://merrygoroundmagazine.com/scorpion-by-drake/

Amanda's writing for us can be found here: https://merrygoroundmagazine.com/author/amanda/

As always, be sure to check out CJ's other podcast on our network: Trailer Trashed: https://soundcloud.com/trailertrashed

Increasingly, more and more of our daily media consumption comes from YouTubers and podcasters; the people who fill our daily need for new content provide invaluable services. However, our TV editor, Kate Brogden, recently noticed that more and more content creators seem to be burning out and losing steam, needing to cut back or even stop releasing entirely. This lead to a discussion of why this might be happening, which caused us to come up with some interesting conclusions.