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NEWS EXTRAS

Issue 72 APRIL 2016

EXTRAS

• Graham Nash's new solo album; Melinda McCarthy on being The Boss ; big Oscar winners in-store. Pg 4 • Dandy Warhol's Courtney Taylor-Taylor; Born to Dance director Tammy Davis; Buzzocks' Steve Diggle. Pg 6 •Competition, quiz, STACK Social. Pg 8

FEATURES

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DVD/Blu-ray The Peanuts Movie: Steve Martino upholds the legacy of Charles M. Schulz’s beloved comic strip. Pg 10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens :

VR BECOMES REAL PlayStationVR is coming – and it doesn't look like it'll cost you your life savings.

CINEMA,DVDs, GAMES&MUSIC

A look back at the fervor that erupted when the blockbuster sci-fi saga returned to cinemas. Pg 12 TECH Bamboo Spark: The stylus that puts the pen back in your hand. Pg 13 Netgear Arolo Q: Netgear takes its networked home security cameras to the next level. Pg 14 GAMES Dark Souls III: YouTube personality Vaati Vidya on the final chapter in the Dark Souls trilogy. Pg 16-18 MUSIC Hollie Smith: The Kiwi soul songstress on her third solo album Water or Gold . Pg 20 Dave Dobbyn: Graham Reid considers the NZ icon's latest LP Harmony House . Pg 22 GAMES Quantum Break , Ratchet & Clank Pg 24 DVD/Blu-ray Creed , The Dressmaker , Daddy's Home , Heroes: Reborn , The 5th Wave , 99 Homes , Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Road Chip , Homeland: S5 REVIEWS

of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Rumours recently surfaced

T he PlayStation VR headset is currently available for pre-order at JB Hi-Fi, priced at $629.98 and due to be released on October 30. However, you'll have to purchase any additional PlayStation Cameras or Move Controllers separately – if you don't already have them. “Ever since we unveiled PS VR during the 2014 Game Developers Conference, we’ve received a tremendous response from gamers and developers alike,” said Andrew House, president and global CEO

from several media outlets

involving Sony's apparent plans to unveil an 'upgraded' PlayStation 4 at this year's E3, with the

EXTRAS

but if the rumours are indeed true, it would make sense to launch at the same time as PSVR. Paul Jones

necessary grunt under the bonnet to seamlessly power PSVR. At the time of writing, existence of the new PS4 was yet to be confirmed,

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CINEMA,DVDs, GAMES&MUSIC

FAMILY AFFAIR How Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan coaxed Rocky out of retirement. W ritten and conceived by Sly Stallone, the 1976 classic Rocky received 10 Oscar nominations, three wins, and launched Stallone as a serious contender. The first film told the story of how underdog Rocky beats nemesis and world heavyweight champ Apollo Creed, played by Carl Weathers. Over the course of the franchise, the two men bond, until Creed is finally KO-ed in Rocky IV (1985). Fast forward to 2015 and Creed , which introduces audiences to Apollo's son, Adonis Johnson, played by rising star Michael B. Jordan. Adonis's father died before he was born, but boxing is in his blood and he persuades Rocky to come out of retirement to train him. A longtime fan of the Rocky movies, writer-director Ryan

Coogler began plotting the idea for Creed even before he began filming his award-winning drama Fruitvale Station with Jordan. Reluctant to proceed without Stallone’s blessing, he never even dreamed that Sly would consider co-starring. “I’d been such a fan for so many years, I imagined when I met Sylvester Stallone, I’m gonna

Pg 26-29 MUSIC

Last Shadow Puppets, Lontalius, Parquet Courts, Ben Harper, The Cars, Jeff Buckley. Pg 31-32

RATINGS GUIDE

meet Rocky,“ says Coogler. “But he’s so different from that guy. He turns it on. He transforms. He gets on set, he goes over to the corner, and gets into his walk with all the Philadelphia speech and vocabulary. But the real Sly? He’s a very academic and serious guy. We are blessed to have him in our corner.” Adds Jordan: “The first time I met

Sly, he began teaching me to shadowbox right there. He punched me in my chest. I was like, 'ooh, he’s still got a bite to him'. He was really collaborative, and very open and excited about it. When it comes to fighting, he’s a real boxing historian. He can name all the fights and rounds in precise detail.” Gill Pringle

All information believed correct at time of printing. All images used for promotional purposes only. Copyright of respective owners is acknowledged. © 2016 Scribal Custom Pty Ltd. No part of this magazine may be reprinted without the written permission of the publisher.

Creed is out on DVD and Blu-ray on April 6.

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EXTRAS NEWS

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After the cannibal gore-fest The Green Inferno , Eli Roth is set to tackle a very different sort on man-eater in Meg . NASH’S NEW PATH Graham Nash talks to STACK about his first solo album in 14 years.

M yself at Last , the second track on Graham Nash’s sixth solo album This Path Tonight , is about the end of a relationship and the start of a new one. But it could also be seen as a statement of intent from an artist who’s spent the best of the past two decades performing and recording with his celebrated music partners Stephen Stills, David Crosby and Neil Young. Speaking to STACK from California, the affable English-born singer-songwriter agrees: “This year it’s about me,” he affirms. This Path Tonight was written with and produced by Shayne

The album itself came together very quickly: Nash and Fontayne penned more than 20 songs in a month and it was recorded in just over a week with a small group of musicians; in fact, one of the tracks, the moving Levon Helm tribute Back Home , was taken directly from a demo Nash recorded on his tour bus. Although mainly personal in nature, the bonus tracks on the deluxe version of the album feature two fiery political numbers: Mississippi Burning , a traditional protest song about the murder of three college student civil rights workers in the 1960s, and Watch Out for the Wind , which was inspired by the police shooting of a young African American in Missouri in 2014. So does longtime activist Nash believe that Donald Trump will be the next inhabitant of the White House? “Normally I would say, no, there is

WHO'S THE BOSS? A s a fledgling improv comedy performer, Melissa McCarthy created a red-haired, overly made-up character named Michelle Darnell whom she described as a “megalomaniac narcissist”. Unable to shake off her creation, 15 years later, Darnell takes centre stage in McCarthy’s latest comedy, The Boss . A colourful financial guru who fills stadiums with her admirers, The Boss sees Darnell shamed and sent to prison for insider trading, and forced to rebuild her image with the help of her one-time assistant, Kristen Bell. As mistress of her own comedy empire, McCarthy squirms at female stereotypes.“I think a confident woman who knows what she wants and asks for it is labeled as pushy or aggressive, but when a man does it, he’s considered to be really good at his job,” she argues. If her Darnell alter-ego is easy to laugh at, then McCarthy turns serious when STACK meets with her. “I think it’s good to know that, at the end of the day, you’re in charge of your own behaviour. Do you excel? Do you try hard? Do you work as hard as you can? I like the concept that you can adjust your ‘You’re in charge of your destiny’ attitude.” Gill Pringle

Fontayne, who Nash met when the latter signed on as second electric guitarist with Crosby, Stills and Nash. It’s a very personal record, inspired in part by his recent split with his wife of almost 40 years and the beginning of a new relationship. “Divorce is a difficult process,” Nash admits. “I am a private person but I am a musician, and as a musician you have to be as honest as possible, and this is what is going on with me in my life.”

not a shot in hell that Trump will be the president of the United States,“ he replies. “But remember we elected Ronald Reagan twice, and we elected George W. Bush twice, so you never know…” John Ferguson

EXTRAS

This Path Tonight by Graham Nash is out on April 15.

The Boss is due in cinemas from April 14

BIG OSCAR WINNERS DUE OUT NEXT MONTH A lthough the film with the biggest haul of won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and The Danish Girl , which saw Alicia Vikander pick up the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Although dates are stlll to be announced, this year’s The Revenant

APRIL 2016 H O L L I E S M I T H WATER OR GOLD Academy Awards – Mad Max: Fury Road with six – is already out, most of the year’s other high profile winners will start heading onto the DVD and Blu-ray shelves in May. Top of your pre-order list should be The Revenant , which earned Leonardo DiCaprio his overdue Best Actor Oscar and Alejandro G. Iñarritu ( Birdman ) his second consecutive Best Director statuette. The survival epic is due to be released on May 18 and is expected to be followed a week later by the star-studded financial crisis dramedy The Big Short , which This year’s best actor Oscar winners

winner of Best Picture (plus Original Screenplay), Spotlight, has been earmarked for an early June release, alongside Room , for which Brie Larson won the coveted Best Actress award. Sylvester Stallone had been expected to win the Best Supporting Actor award for Creed – which is out this month on DVD – but the statuette instead went to British actor Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies , which was released last month.

HOLLIE - WG - 205 x 57 STRIp - 22_3_16.qxp_HOLLIE - WG - 205 x 57 STRIp - 22_3_16 22/03/2016 12:21 Page 1

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EXTRAS NEWS

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GIMME SHELTER! How a storm nearly wrecked The DandyWarhol's new album Distortland .

L ate last year, The Dandy Warhols nearly gave up. A huge storm ripped through Portland and stomped its docs straight through the roof of The Odditorium, the studio-cum-hangout which Courtney Taylor-Taylor and his bandmates have occupied for years. “It happened five days after we turned in our record,” the frontman tells STACK . “To work on a record for three years and not have copies or duplicates or back-ups, outside of that same room? Dude, and then we left on tour three days later, so if we hadn’t found it, it would’ve been raining into our studio for months.” Distortland was a hell of a ride in general (“You know how you know a record’s done? When you have destroyed, or damaged severely, every interpersonal relationship in your life”), but the journey began on

Taylor-Taylor’s Yamaha cassette four-track, a piece of equipment he’s owned since he was a child. “It’s been working for 25 years or something; it’s f–ing insane. I’m very fast with it, I know what to do. It has a couple bells and whistles on that particular model that I know how to abuse. And they really respond to abuse,” he laughs. Zo ë Radas

DIY PLEDGE FOR DIGGLE

Distortland by The Dandy Warhols is out on April 8; check out www.stack.net.nz to read the full interview

W ith their self-released 1977 EP Spiral Scratch , the Buzzcocks effectively gave birth to indie music. So it’s kind of appropriate that guitarist Steve Diggle is taking a 21st Century approach to DIY music for his upcoming solo album. He has teamed up with PledgeMusic to help fund it and fans willing to chip in can choose from a range of exclusive items, including signed posters, one of his trademark polka dot shirts, and a special box set containing the new LP plus his first three solo efforts. “They said you can do meet and greets, but people do value these bits and pieces more,” Diggle told STACK while on tour in New Zealand with the Buzzcocks last month. “I am known for my polka dot shirts, and those have gone very quickly.” At press-time, pledges had just passed the three-quarter target mark, but Diggle says he is not expecting to make any money out of the project: to him it's just a good way to retain artistic control, while giving something back to the fans. He agrees that it is a return of sorts to the DIY ethos of the Buzzcocks’ seminal Spiral Scratch EP. “It has come full circle – we’re back where we started in a way,” he says. Diggle hopes to start recording the as-yet- untitled album this month, with a view to releasing it in June. It’s likely to include a few things not usually associated with the Buzzcocks, such as acoustic guitars and piano. The punk legends’ latest jaunt Down Under was a 40th anniversary tour, so for the most part, the band have been concentrating on favourites from their first four LPs. However, the Buzzcocks' latest album, The Way, has just been issued here and Diggle is pleased that some of their Kiwi fans have recognised some of their new songs. “We have got an armoury of classic songs and whenever we play there is always someone who says, ‘why don’t you play that one?',” he says. “That said, People Are Strange Machines is off the new album; it’s a catchy song and rocks live. And we have been doing The Third Dimension , which is one my favourites off The Way . It’s back to our more experimental roots – a little bit darker, a little bit different.” Tim Mackrell

EXTRAS

TIME TO STEP UP AND EMBRACE NEW GENRES Director Tammy Davis says the success of Born to Dance shows Kiwis can make all sorts of different genre movies.

A lthough New Zealand has deservedly received acclaim overseas for its horror and fantasy, the local film industry has largely stayed away from other commercial genres. However, Born to Dance director Tammy Davis believes that the success of New Zealand's first ever hip hop dance movie shows that the local industry should consider embracing other sorts of genre films. “I think what we have proven is that we can diversify and make lots of different films,” the first-time director of New Zealand’s highest grossing local movie of 2015 tells STACK . “We can make dramas, make comedies, we can make dance

films… we can make any films we like. This really opens up the door. Whatever kind of genre of film you want to make, we can do it.” Born to Dance is out now on DVD and Blu-ray here, and the film is slated for theatrical release in a number of other international markets. Davis is doubtful that there will be a sequel, but the actor-turned-director has a number of new projects in the pipeline, including a six-part TV drama series and a feature-length expansion of his short film Ebony Society . John Ferguson

The Way by the Buzzcocks is out now; visit www.stack.net.nz for the full interview.

Check out the digital edition of STACK for the full interview.

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ALSO AVAILABLE COMPLETE SERIES 1, 2 & 3

“UNMISSABLE” Sunday Star Times

The Hit Nordic Noir Series Returns!

ACADEMY AWARD ® NOMINEE BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

HHHHH “Truly daring stuff” David Farrier, 3NEWS

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EXTRAS SOCIAL / COMPETITIONS / QUIZ

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If you fancy yourself as a writer, or want to share your thoughts on a DVD/Blu-ray, game or CD, then post your own reviews online for any title on the website. READER REVIEWS DVD | GAMES | MUSIC Got something to say?

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Happy Birthday Jack Nicholson born on April 22, 1937 #STACKBirthday #JokeOfTheDay “I like to hold hands at the movies. Which always seems to startle strangers.” TOM RHODES Did you know? In 1974, a journalist from TIME magazine informed the actor that who he had believed to be his sister was in-fact his mother…

QUIZ

Q1 Which lead star was advised by his director to watch Greta Garbo's classic film Ninotchka  in order to help him get into character for his 1988 action movie? Q2 Who was the only actor to secure nominations for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for the same part in the same movie? Q3 In which movie do four illusionists rob a bank whilst performing in front of an audience? Q4 This award-winning WWII homefront movie was described by film historian Leslie Halliwell as being "set in a rose strewn English village, Hollywood variety". Title please. Q5 Which 1973 movie's soundtrack

is identical to the soundtrack of Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969)? Q6 After winning two Academy Awards, which actor waited 34 years before appearing onscreen again? Q7 Five strangers meet on board a train to be told their sins and subsequent fates. Name the title of this campy horror movie. Q8 In which movie did Bob Hope first sing the song that became his signature tune? Q9 Paul Muni, Montgomery Clift, Alan Arkin and Ryan O'Neal. What's the link? Q10 Who, in a 1987 movie, played siblings in a rock band?

EXTRAS

and it was his maternal grandparents who had raised him as their son.

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STACK ’s Fave Movie Quote: “Nobody owes nobody nothing. You owe yourself.” - Rocky Balboa

A9. The need

Imitation of Life (1934) & (1959) A7. Gold Diggers A8. MGM Studio's trademark, Leo the Lion does not roar at the beginning of the opening credits

A6.

(1939) A5. Joseph and His Brethren

A4. The Wizard of Oz

A3. Man in the Wilderness

A1. Roald Dahl wrote the screenplay for (1971) starring Richard Harris

Burt Reynolds' character Quint Asper

A2. Quentin Tarantino – named after

You Only Live Twice

Quiz Answers March 2016 (Issue 71) -

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DVD & BD FEATURE

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You’re a good man, Steve Martino Blue Sky's Steve Martino upholds the legacy of Charles M. Schulz’s long-running comic strip phenomenon in the new film adaptation Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie. By Alesha Kolbe

respectively – as a great honour. “Craig and Brian in particular have a real tremendous understanding of their father’s written word and the cadence and rhythm of that kind of dialogue – they provided a connection to the source material. That was so valuable for us in the making of this movie.” Anyone who has seen a Peanuts strip will recognise the unique artistic style that has since become iconic. From Pig-Pen’s omnipresent overlapping scrawl to Snoopy reclining atop his kennel, Martino didn’t miss a beat when it came to translating Schultz’s signature images into animation. “We went to great pains to draw our inspiration for the movie from the comic strip,” observes the director. “I did look at the animation styling that Bill Melendez developed on the specials, but everything about the writing of the film, so much of what we did in posing and designing the look of the world and posing the characters, for me it came from looking at the comic strip. That was my guide. “Even though we’re using computer animation, I believe that we can create an

detail now that I never had looked at before. I felt as though we needed to do that to deliver a film that felt right within the world of Peanuts.” Bringing the gang to life also involved close

C harles M. Schulz’s beloved strips featuring Charlie Brown, Woodstock, Lucy, Linus and friends total almost 18,000 over a period just shy of 50 years, and have been adapted numerous times for film and TV. The latest big screen version comes from Blue Sky’s Steve Martino ( Horton Hears a Who! and Ice Age: Continental Drift ), who has combined his longtime love of the Peanuts characters with his experience in animated features. “I grew up with these characters. I started reading the comic strip before I could read,” he says. “My dad and I used to share a love of the comics and he used to read them to me. “I’ll tell you, when I first started I thought, ‘wow’, what an honour to work these with characters.” While Martino had the passion and expertise required for The Peanuts Movie , he did face considerable pressure from friends and family to not “screw it up”. “That kind of pressure is a very good motivator,” he notes. “Certainly it’s what was in our tank for myself and the rest of the team at Blue Sky. We wanted to do our very best to uphold the tradition of what Peanuts has been for us in our lives.” To properly honour Schulz’s legacy, Martino and his team undertook a tremendous amount of research. “We had access to every comic strip. We were looking at the art, the writing, every aspect of what Charles Schulz created, with a level of

DVD & BD

We went to great pains to draw our inspiration for the movie from the comic strip

collaboration with Schulz’s family and members of his team, and the director feels he gained a lot of friends in the process. “It was that really good kind of working relationship where we would challenge each other along the way,” he says. Martino describes working with Craig and Bryan Schulz – Charles’s son and grandson,

experience that would be rich and detailed and worthy of a feature film presentation,” he adds. “I told everybody on the team I want to find Charles Schultz’s... pen line in everything that we do.”

• Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie is out April 6

FROM STRIP TO SCREEN

GARFIELD Born in 1978, Jim Davis’s fat feline became the world’s most syndicated comic strip. The 2004 film version proved less successful,

DICKTRACY Chester Gould’s lantern-jawed detective debuted in 1931 and is still read today,

THE PHANTOM Lee Falk’s costumed crime-fighter, aka The Ghost Who Walks, first appeared in

DENNISTHE MENACE Hank Ketcham’s mischievous moppet has been playing up since 1951.

in a world where smartwatches are

1936. 60 years later an awful film adaptation starring Billy Zane came and went, but the strip is still running.

His big screen debut came in 1993, with Mason Gamble as Dennis, and Walter Matthau as neighbour nemesis Mr. Wilson.

now a reality. Warren Beatty brought him to life in a not bad 1990 live-action version.

however, even with Bill Murray voicing the CGI cat.

APRIL 2016

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AN INTELLECTUAL THRILLER BY THE CREATOR OF COWBOY BEBOP!

OUT APRIL 14 ON DVD & BLU-RAY

DON ’ T M I SS T HE S E OT HE R NEW AN I ME R E L E A S E S

OUT APRIL 28

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With the home entertainment release of STARWARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS imminent, STACK looks back at the fervor that erupted in the lead-up to its cinema premiere. A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH!

I t’s hard to believe we’re about to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the comfort of our own home theatres after what seemed like an interminable wait following the announcement in January 2013 that J. J. Abrams would be helming Episode VII. During that time the film was breaking records before production had been completed, from multi- million views of teasers and trailers on YouTube to box office returns from ticket pre-sales. Speculation was rampant regarding plot details, which is a credit to J.J. Abrams’ ability to maintain a shroud of secrecy in an age when spoilers and leaked scripts can compromise our viewing pleasure. The aforementioned trailers were paused, scrutinised, dissected, discussed and recut. A behind-the-scenes montage from San Diego Comic-Con 2015 provided a further glimpse of faces old and new. And fan reaction videos depicted ecstatic weeping at each new snippet of footage that was revealed. When the movie finally opened here on Thursday, 17 December 2015, it was devoured by ravenous fans between midnight and dawn, leaving sidewalks outside cinemas eerily deserted for the early morning sessions – a time that traditionally saw impatient patrons lining the streets in the very definition of the term ‘blockbuster’. Oh how times have changed. A long time ago in our own galaxy, circa 1977, you had to queue around the block to see Star Wars and hope that tickets for that particular session didn’t sell out before you reached the box office. Even as late as 1999, when The Phantom Menace was one of the most anticipated movies in history (!), diehard fans camped out for months in advance to be at the very first session of the first new Star Wars movie in 16 years. But there were no tent cities and folding chairs springing up on Hollywood Blvd in 2015, prior

DVD & BD

• Star Wars: The Force Awakens is out on April 13

to the opening of the The Force Awakens – everyone had bought tickets online well in advance, in a record-breaking frenzy. Welcome to the future of Star Wars.

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FEATURE TECH

A Spark of Creativity

The Bamboo Spark will put the pen back in your hand, writes Paul Jones.

paper on the right and a pocket for a smart device on the left. A pen, anchored in the centre, is instrumental in the design of the folio, as this is where the magic happens. While it writes like a standard ballpoint, the electromagnetic board located beneath the pad accurately senses the smart tip of the pen and tracks the strokes. The pad can be up to 50 pages thick and still recognise the written text. Users simply pair their smart devices via Bluetooth to a free Bamboo Spark app, and once the page is full, a button situated next to the pad is pressed and the relevant information is

paper (generic paper is fine to use), so this is a fair indication of how often I’ve used the device. The Spark has become indispensable in meetings and interviews, and perfect to whip out on a train to instantly record creative design and editorial ideas. It’s light to carry or slip into a satchel, and with its neat, compact, professional appearance, it would fit as seamlessly into a boardroom as it would in a design studio or lecture hall. The Bamboo Spark combines the best of old and new. If, like me (and the rest of the office), you prefer writing on paper with a trusty pen in hand, but like the concept of orderly digitising notes with the option to share with others, the Spark is about to become your new best friend.

TECH

W e get a plethora of tech through the doors of the STACK office on a monthly basis for review. Generally, we test it for a month, box it up and send it back. However, after spending five weeks with Wacom’s Bamboo Spark, I have a message for the company: If you want it back, you’ll have to come down to Melbourne and pry it from my dead fingers! I’ve never been a huge fan of writing on a touchscreen with a stylus. It lacks the soul and the passion involved in scrawling down ideas, storyboards or meeting notes on a page. Am I a traditionalist? Not by any stretch of the imagination, but I do – and always will – prefer to scribble words and designs with a pen or pencil on paper.

transferred to the device. It's that easy. From here, the sketches or words can be exported as an image or PDF in an email, text, or printed directly. If it isn’t possible to pair with a device straight away, the Spark can hold up to – and retain – 100 pages of notes.

When I first played with the Spark, as a journalist, the glaring omission in the feature set was not being able to export the written words as text. Well, low and behold, Wacom announced at the recent CES in Las Vegas that this feature has now indeed been added, and unless you write like a doctor, words written in pen can now be sent to colleagues as text. I’m now on my fourth pad of

Which brings us to the Bamboo Spark, a piece of tech that Wacom, the company behind it, are calling a ‘smart folio’. Wacom are generally synonymous with top shelf graphic design tablets for digital artists, but here they have turned their expertise to a more conventional idea. Around the size of an iPad case, when opened, the gatefold contains an A5 pad of standard

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TECH FEATURE

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chat room

viewing angle. You can be pan and zoom the vision. Unlike the wireless Arlo cameras, you need to plug the Arlo Q into an power point. Aside from the startling hi-def vision, the big selling point here is the ability for users to communicate via their smartphone microphone through to a speaker on the camera. The number of applications this would prove useful for is extensive, from the obvious protection against home intruders to the monitoring of sleeping children or teenagers left at home. However, what proved invaluable for this family was gauging the level of separation anxiety our pet dog was registering. And my word, what a surprise we got. When movement or audio is detected, a push notification is sent to your smartphone/ desktop. You then log into the Arlo app where you can view the ‘action’ live. A 15 second video is also recorded and saved in the library. We had no idea that the dog could howl, let alone the volume he howled at! We're suprised the neighbours are even talking to us. However, by selecting the mic button on the user interface, I spoke directly to said pet through the speaker located on the camera unit, assuring him that everything was OK, and order was momentarily restored. Throughout the day I was able to speak and keep him calm (if you’re away from a Wi-Fi hotspot, just be mindful of your data allowance). Of course, this two-way works well with humans in the house, too. Latency here did cause a few problems, but we're assured by Netgear that a future firmware update will address this problem. If the thought of receiving multiple push notifications as your pet/human moves around the house during the day/night is too much to bear, Arlo Q allows you to exclude a particular area on the camera, known as an ‘Activity Zone’. Similarly, audio sensitivity can also be adjusted. A feature called ‘Modes’ will enable operating times to be scheduled, so you can program office hours or school home times. Another differential for Arlo Q is the addition of free cloud recording for seven days, and more extensive plans can be purchased that bump up the storage levels and length that the recordings are retained. With forthcoming geo-fencing and IFTTT support, the Arlo Q offers you complete versatility and control. It will cover everything you need for personal security solutions with a host of customisation options and a brand name you can rely on. The secret life of your pet's days are numbered!

I first trialed the Arlo range over a year ago when it launched – installing it in my property as a cost effective security option, which is still in use on a daily basis. Battery powered, if it detects movement, users receive a push notification enabling them to log on – using the free Arlo app on their smartphone – to find out what's happening. It’s a great system, but the one feature missing is the opportunity to communicate through the camera; you could then 'politely' relay the message to burglars rifling through your undies drawer in search of valuables that Big Brother is watching – and talking. Netgear takes its networked home security cameras to the next level with Arlo Q. By Paul Jones

TECH

the police are on their way. Well, Netgear clearly listened to me,

and the latest evolution in the Arlo range does indeed incorporate this audio feature. Organising your own home security is now an easy proposition thanks to systems like Arlo, and it’s simple to

the desktop stand, that also happens to be

In less than three minutes you are up and running.

magnetic; at one point I had it stuck to the side of the fridge to spy on the dog. The video is streamed

in crisp 1080p and the Arlo Q has night vision for up to eight metres, a 4-megapixel image sensor

see how this burgeoning sector is becoming more popular by the week. Netgear’s newest addition is the Arlo Q, a system designed to

(yes, you can take photos with it) and features a 130 degree

work in conjunction with your existing Arlo cameras. In terms of set-up, the Arlo Q, like Arlo before it, is idiot proof – another great selling point. In less than three minutes you are up and running. Download the app, follow the prompts to connect the camera to your modem/router, and press the pairing button to connect – it really is that simple. The first thing you notice is how light the Arlo Q is. It comes with a mounting bracket for a permanent fix, or you can simply utilise

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GAMES FEATURE

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YouTube personality VaatiVidya is widely regarded as a leading authority on FromSoftware’s Souls canon.This month he reviews the final chapter in the Dark Souls trilogy, Dark Souls III , for STACK .

You can find his YouTube channel here youtube.com/user/VaatiVidya

best to exploit their weaknesses. To this end, the new tools at your disposal are "weapon arts". Weapon arts are special moves (activated with L2) that differ based on the weapon you wield. For example, the Longsword's weapon art allows you to break an enemy's guard with a powerful uppercut. In contrast, the Bandit

A common misconception about Souls games is that they're primarily designed to be "difficult". Many writers will proudly tell you that these games are not for cowards or newcomers and that invariably, you'll throw your controller, gnash your teeth, and be crushed by this punishing game. Close, but not quite. In reality, Souls games are designed well, and difficulty is a result of this. Dark Souls III is no exception. Yes, it expects you to die. But it also expects the player to learn from death, and come back stronger. In a similar way, Dark Souls III has taken the best from its predecessors. It has the distinct, atmospheric areas of Demon's Souls ; the powerful characters of the original Dark Souls ; the mechanical improvements of Dark Souls II; and the heady thrills of Bloodborne' s frantic combat. This

Knife's weapon art enables your character to dash with increased speed, unlocking a more aggressive playstyle. Combat has always revolved around the weapon you wield,

GAMES

• Dark Souls III is out April 12.

least 30 weapons, 20 equipment sets, dozens

to stumble upon a tough but rewarding late-game area. Souls is at its strongest when it puts faith in the player's intelligence, and its faith in a player's navigational ability is somewhat lacking. Additionally, the care put into dense environmental design is wasted when a player can simply warp past it all, instead of being forced to run through it again. In closing, Dark Souls III is a well-crafted farewell. If you're a series veteran, the game will play upon your nostalgia with plentiful references to memorable characters and encounters. If you're a newcomer, you will be succeed. After you complete it, other games just won't feel the same. You can then dive into all the other Souls games just to see what made Dark Souls III so great. challenged, you will die, you will overcome, and you will

of spells, and at least 10 NPC questlines that help you attain these valuable items. While the early-game is more linear than Dark Souls and Dark Souls II , the world is folded in on itself like never before, hiding unique treasures around every corner. The more you give, the more you get – and the same goes for the lore. You could go through the game without even thinking about the story, but look more critically, and you'll discover disturbing truths about the characters, bosses, and the world you took for granted. My biggest criticism stems from the linear world. While levels are densely packed and folded in on themselves, I still yearn for the deeply convoluted map designs of Dark Souls 1 . Gone are the days where I could be journeying through an early-game area, only

and this relationship has been strengthened in Dark Souls III. Every Souls game has given players the option to choose a starter class with different weapons and spells, but this is the first time every playstyle feels viable. For example, bow-only builds have never been a popular choice, but the short bow now has a fast-firing mode, and quick- shots that become available after you roll. The pyromancer's ‘pryomancy hand’ now includes a close-range L2

is the final game in the Dark Souls franchise, and players can expect to experience

the best of everything that has come before. Combat in Dark Souls III remains reactionary. Before

attack, fleshing out the ranged options we've

always had. And finally, there are now a wide variety of spells and miracles in the early- game. In the first five

you go into an encounter, you consider your strengths, what

hours of Dark Souls III, you have access to at

type of enemy you'll be facing, and how

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E X C L U S I V E C A P P R E - O R D E R O F F E R *

*While Stocks Last.

©2014Necromonger,LLC.Gearbox& theGearboxSoftware logosare registered trademarks,andBattleborn isa trademark,allusedcourtesyofGearboxSoftware,LLC.All rights reserved.Battleborn ispublishedanddistributedby2K.2Kand the2K logoare registered trademarksofTake-Two Interactive Software, Inc. intheU.S.andothercountriesandusedhereunder license. “ 2 ”and“PlayStation”are registeredtrademarksofSonyComputerEntertainment Inc.“ Ø ” isatrademarkofthesamecompany.Allothermarksarepropertyoftheir respectiveowners.

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All Blacks Rugby Challenge 3 is about to take to the field. STACK spoke with Daniel Visser, managing director at WickedWitch Software. Scrum Down

motion capture system that allows us to add new animations and improve existing ones as required. What prompted the idea to include the Rugby Sevens? We saw Sevens as a great way to add an entirely new experience to the game. Sevens is fast and furious, and there is a growing fan base and new competitions... it was a lot of fun to develop.

Before development commenced, what did you identify as the key changes you wanted to implement with Rugby Challenge 3 ? We invested a lot of development time to add a pro mode, Rugby Sevens, and an online fanhub for users to create players and teams – each of these major features bring a whole new experience to the existing game. As well as this, significant time was spent improving subtle details of the games based on a lot of fan feedback that had been captured. Are you using a new game engine? We worked closely with the Sidhe team who were responsible for the previous games. We used a lot of their code to ensure we preserved the gameplay experience that players have enjoyed in the previous versions. We also kept the UI flow familiar for the fans, and concentrated on building in the large new features, and making dozens of smaller improvements. It was heavily reworked for the new platforms.

• All Blacks Rugby Challenge 3 is out April 14

GAMES

on the game for more than a year, in addition to the management and QA at Tru Blu.

Can you tell us how Be a Pro Mode will work?  You can play rugby from a professional rugby player’s point of view, customise and control your player though their career. Gain an all new insight and experience from controlling the game from a single player’s perspective. As you progress you are given objectives depending on your position, which get more difficult over time and tie into the new Be a Pro achievements. How does the Be a Pro Mode and Career Mode differ? In Be a Pro Mode, the primary difference is that you control one player on the field, and must play to that position. The career is also different as you must complete objectives and achievements along the way. It really is a whole new way to play the game! What’s involved in securing all the official licenses? The management at Tru Blu work tirelessly to contact, secure, and deal with every country, league and team in the game. There is also a rigorous approval process for every team, sponsors and other official licenses that appear in the game – it is a lot of work!

Sevens is fast and furious, and there is a growing fan base and new competitions

How much does forum/fan feedback shape the way the game develops? At the beginning of development, lists of feedback were compiled from forums, email feedback and social media in general. These were then categorised, ranked and prioritised. This is how a lot of the secondary features, such as adding tattoos to custom players, made it into the game. How big is the team that worked on the game? Wicked Witch had about 40 staff working

Union is quite a complex game for beginners. How do you make the game accessible to players who aren’t necessarily big union fans, but enjoy playing sports sims? In the career mode you can simulate games and focus on the manager side. We even added several features to simulate the end of a game, specifically for this experience. Did you employ motion-capture technology during development? Yes, Wicked Witch has an in-house

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MUSIC REVIEWS

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New Zealand songstress Hollie Smith returns this month with her highly anticipated third solo album Water Or Gold . She tells John Ferguson the recording process didn’t go quite as smoothly as the finished product might suggest. LEADING THE WAY

old school. Whereas this was the first time I have done the home studio thing, so going to NewYork was great because they have some really great gear, and that transformed the whole album.” Although rooted in soul/R&B, first single Lead The Way is an out and out rocker, while the title track faintly recalls the guitar-heavy grooves of early Funkadelic. Smith acknowledges the funk influences, but believes there a number of different elements running through the album, with each musician bringing their own flavours to the record. “I think the big difference with this record is that I wrote most of it on guitar, so there are a couple of songs that are definitely more riff-based. It’s more simplistic; when I write on keys, I do a lot more chord movements and there is a lot more room for me to move vocally, whereas this is more back to basics.” Water Or Gold is not without its heartbreak and includes the moving Helena , her tribute to her close friend and media personality Helena McAlpine, who died in 2015 after a long battle with breast cancer (she got to hear the recorded version just before she passed.) However the tone of the album leans more toward the upbeat – so is she in a happier frame of mind these days? “With music, I am a little less in my own bubble, a little less precious,” Smith replies. “It’s also good to add a little bit more energetic stuff to the live set. I’ve always been known for doing the slow, ballad-y shows, so it’s quite nice to have a bit of a rock out because I have never really been able to that. But the one thing I enjoy about this record is that every song is completely different. It’s quite cohesive but really different.”

T here’s a relaxed, live-sounding vibe to Water Or Gold , Hollie Smith’s eagerly awaited follow-up to her 2010 sophomore set Humour And The Misfortune Of Others . It’s a remarkable achievement, not the least because there was not a lot that was either relaxed or live about the making of the record. “It was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle,” Smith tells STACK from the offices of her record company in Auckland. “The core recordings – bass, drums and keyboards – were done down in Wellington at my drummer’s house in his little home studio there. And then we had a couple of extra musicians do a couple of sessions at their own places, and then I did all my vocals at home. So by the time we got to NewYork, I had never really heard it all put back together again.” And just to make things that little bit harder, she adds that everything that could have gone wrong in her studio did; while she did not end up losing anything, she admits it was a close run thing – near the end, she was sprinting to record parts and keeping her fingers crossed that they would turn out OK. She needn’t have worried: Water Or Gold is a rootsy, soulful slice of R&B that also finds Smith really rocking out on a number of songs. It’s a triumphant return for one of New Zealand’s most talented and powerful vocalists, who first came to fame in 2006 with the hit single Bathe In The River (taken from the movie No. 2 ). Her debut album Long Player was a double platinum-selling smash, although its success was soured by a costly dispute with Blue Note Records over its international release. She bounced back in 2010 with the aforementioned Humour And The Misfortune Of Others and since then she has kept busy with her Band Of Brothers collaboration with Mara TK in 2011, and Peace Of Mind , the 2013 release which saw her team up with fellow iconic singer- songwriters Anika Moa and Boh Runga. While Water Or Gold is much

other quite a bit”), including for Kiwi expat Aaron Nevezie (The Black Keys, Danger Mouse), who mixed the album with her at his NewYork studio. “That’s why I decided to do it in NewYork: because there was so much to be done in the post-production,” she says. “Normally I would be in a live studio and everything would be recorded as we wanted to hear it; a lot more organic and

I am a little less in my own bubble, a little less precious

MUSIC

more a solo effort – she also produces for the first time – Smith is full of praise for the musicians who played on it (“We bounced ideas off each

Water Or Gold by Hollie Smith is out April 1.

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H O L L I E S M I T H WATER OR GOLD F E A T U R I N G T H E S T U N N I N G N E W S I N G L E S L A DY D E E , H E L E N A , L E A D T H E WAY & WAT E R O R G O L D

w w w . h o l l i e s m i t h . c o . n z

N E W A L B U M O U T A P R I L 8

MUSIC FEATURE

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(part narrative, part Biblical vision), and Dobbyn delivers them with increasing desperation as the music surges and drives behind him in a wide sonic palette. When Dobbyn lets out a whoop you feel it was probably spontaneous as he was riding the hurricane. At the other end of the album, the title track features a hauntingly repetitive rhythm with the lead guitar mixed high and the voices in unison like another piece of the musical landscape, before you notice the whole thing has become thicker and more claustrophobic. Then it ends abruptly, like a release. Between those points the sound of the album is punctuated by interesting settings (the widescreen Tell the World , the New Wave chug of Ball of Light and lyrics which play off “infidels” and “infidelity,” the gorgeously dreamy, submerged sound of Submarine Blue , and the home-recording piano of Too Far Gone beneath the embellishments). It is an album of lyrical darkness’n’light and images from nature (storms, wind-swept beaches, the fire that cleanses) and his optimistic spirit is tempered by the realities of life... yet by the end, the journey has been one of hope and enlightenment: “Sing through the storm and you are halfway to Heaven, my friend,” as he says. When musicians put their work into the world they lose control over it and others will adopt and adapt it to their own purposes (as happened with Dobbyn’s Loyal ). Sometimes Dobbyn has put his sentiments to work in ways he knows will connect with the spirit of the time ( Welcome Home ). Nothing on Harmony House sounds as if it can be beaten into some other purpose, or is as obvious as Welcome Home . It is a collection of songs which would have been interesting anyway, written by a mature, thoughtful artist who also has a mainline to his pop and rock sensibilities. But he has also been wise enough to let others have an input into how they can be realised and elevated (the gospel choir allusions on the empathetic and reassuring You Get So Lonely ). Back on Twist , Dave Dobbyn closed with the lovely piano ballad I Can’t Change My Name . People of his musical status can’t, but he can change the context in which he places his distinctive songs. With Scott and Buda he has undergone a quiet, subtle reinvention to keep his music fresh (for himself and us) and relevant; yet throughout, he always sounds like Dave Dobbyn. And, especially given how exceptional this is, you wouldn’t have him any other away. Harmony House is his most consistent and interesting album since, and is perhaps even better than, the terrific Twist... which you should also have in your collection.

Graham Reid considers Dave Dobbyn's new album Harmony House. Magic what he do

W hen producer Sir George Martin died in March, much was made – quite rightly – of his long association with The Beatles. What wasn’t made more clear to a couple of generations of people for whom The Beatles are a band from the distant past, was how unusual and almost unique that relationship was. Martin was there for just about every Beatles record over seven enormously productive years, and in many ways enabled them to realise the increasingly complex sounds in their heads. Today artists change producers regularly, usually to get “other ears” on their music or – as in the case of U2 and Coldplay working with Brian Eno, for example – to push them in new directions. Over the decades Dave Dobbyn has worked with many producers, among them Bruce Lynch ( Loyal ), David Long ( Available Light ), Britain’s Adrian Sherwood and Skip McDonald ( Anotherland ), American Mitchell Froom ( Lament for the Numb ), Ian Morris ( Hopetown ) and, in 1995, with Neil Finn for his most interesting and experimental album Twist . On that album, all of Dobbyn’s signature styles were there, but in the studio Finn and Dobbyn gave them interesting sonic tweaking ( Betrayal, Rain on Fire ), added unusual instruments ( Naked Flame ), and the two of them, along with Froom-offsider Tchad Blake, were credited with “noise.” It still sprung hits and popular songs in concert ( The Lap of the Gods, It Dawned on Me, Language among

others) but stood apart for its unusual qualities. It still stands tall today in Dobbyn’s extensive discography. So it should be no surprise that he has invited “other ears” in for his new album

MUSIC

Harmony House ; this time Samuel Flynn Scott and Luka Buda of The Phoenix Foundation (and it was mixed by Lee Prebble in his Surgery Studio

in Wellington). In their own way they do what Finn did two decades ago: just tweak Dobbyn’s signature sound and place his voice in new, different and sometimes quite arresting musical settings. Harmony House – another in his cleverly ambiguous titles – finds Dobbyn in these uncomfortable times and his songs address this world, the world to come, love and the Lord. The opener Waiting for a Voice sets the tone immediately. Its lyrics about salvation might have been peeled from Dylan’s recent songbook ...his optimistic spirit is tempered by the realities of life...

For more interviews, overviews and reviews by Graham Reid see: www.elsewhere.co.nz

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