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In other brain-melting news, have you heard? The VMAs are coming. And we will be there to live blog it! I'm going to try and sound even more old fogie than last year!
Get pumped. The list of presenters at this year's ADD-fest include: Michael Phelps, Miley Cyrus, Lindsay Lohan, Scarlett Johansson, Ciara, Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. McLovin! I love that kid.
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Just kidding ... I mean the above video is about Fraggles (that's punk band Allister covering the theme song), but it's not like I'm fixated on Jim Henson children shows or anything. I'm not. So this is my last Muppets post for the week. Probably.
I can't make any promises.
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Find more covers here.
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Paul Simon sings, "Been a Long Long Day." He looks so young there (in that polo, he looks like he could be in Vampire Weekend). And this song is beautiful.
Elton John, "Yellow Brick Road." This is my favorite Elton song, and one of my favorite songs overall.
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The Buffalo Springfield original is a powerful song, but seeing this video as a child was a truly moving experience.
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"Act Naturally"
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Just 'cause I want to, all posts today will be Muppet-related.
Read up on legendary Muppet Show house band Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem at the MuppetWiki.
Fun fact: "In Muppet Babies [baby Animal] was voiced by Howie Mandel (1984-1985) and Dave Coulier (1986-1991)." (via)
Here, Floyd takes centerstage on "New York State of Mind."
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You may have already seen this if you went to the Murakami exhibit at Brooklyn Museum this spring. (Backdoor compliment translation: I saw this video months ago, kids. I'm so cool.) It's cute, right? I go back and forth on Murakami (those Luis Vuitton bags annoy the crap out of me), but I think his self-consciously commercialized J-pop style works here. And Teddy Bear Kanye is adorable.
The song itself is pretty understated as far as 'Ye goes. In a good way.
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I was playing around with Imeem, and you better believe we're going to be doing some more with this in the future. Here's my experimental playlist for now.
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(It's cheesy, but I love putting words together to make new ones; that's called a "portmanteau." Anyway, the post ...)
Musicians are rallying for Obama, with some pretty neat tunes. Above is "Cumbia de Obama," by Fosforo. You can download it and read the bilingual lyrics here.
Extra Golden is featured on Ear Farm for their Afropop Obama salute.
And local band Clare and the Reasons, who I've mention before, is giving away their Obama song, "Obama Over the Rainbow."
Stereogum is not so hot on ex-Eurythmic Dave Stewart's prObama contribution (neither are we, when it comes to it), but there are a lot of high profile people (Whoopi Goldberg, Forest Whitaker, Joss Stone, Macy Gray, Barry Manilow, Margaret Cho...) in the video.
And, not a song, but an interview with NY Mag reveals that Obama has locked up the RZA endorsement (though as he mentions, he himself can't vote because he's been convicted of a felony).
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Gene Simmons is not the only member of KISS branching out into other areas of art/commerce. Paul Stanley, who apparently attended New York High School of Music and Art for art, is an avid painter. And his work is ... not terrible. See more here.
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YACHT has released this barnstormer of a warm weather jam just in time for fall. According to their bulleted press release:
• The Summer Song was originally recorded as a love letter to tourmates LCD Soundsystem, and released for free online
• YACHT is as surprised as you are that DFA wanted to release the song
It's a sweet little ditty; the video (and the song, a little) is thematically similar to that Matt & Kim video where they get food thrown at them.
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A friend of mine has a theory that if you start singing the "Fresh Prince" theme song in a room full of 20-somethings, about 90% of them will sing along with you. I've seen it in action, it's pretty amazing.
Anyway, via XKCD, one of my favorite webcomics, here's a new twist on Will Smith's classic anthem.
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TVOR is streaming a new track, "Golden Age," from their website to promo their forthcoming album, "Dear Science," which drops Sept. 23. All I can say is, wow, this is a departure. They've still got the anxious, tightly knit harmonies going, but the '80s-style dance party in the background is new. This one is going to take some digesting. I'm looking forward to the rest of the album, though.
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I'm on the fence about this movie. I love Michael Cera and I love movies about bands. And he plays a bass player. But watch this trailer:
It looks twee-er than Juno (the trailer uses the same freaking font, even). But I did like "Juno," and that cab thing looks really funny. And I like movies set where I hang out. But, though, I'm worried that the film is just going to be used for hipster self-validation for months after it comes out. (It's more than possible that I am a hipster.)
Anyway, the news is really that the soundtrack listing came out:
“NICK & NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST:
ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK”
(ATLANTIC)
In Stores And Online September 23rd
1. Chris Bell – “Speed Of Sound”
2. Devendra Banhart – “Lover”
3. Bishop Allen – “Middle Management”
4. Vampire Weekend - Ottoman”
5. The Dead 60s – “Riot Radio”
6. Takka Takka – “Fever”
7. The Submarines – “Xavia”
8. We Are Scientists – “After Hours”
9. Band Of Horses – “Our Swords”
10. Army Navy – “Silvery Sleds”
11. Richard Hawley – “Baby You're My Light”
12. Shout Out Louds – “Very Loud”
13. Paul Tiernan – “How To Say Goodbye”
14. The Real Tuesday Weld – “Last Words”
15. Mark Mothersbaugh – “Nick & Norah’s Theme”
Looks like some good stuff on there, and it will be interesting to hear what Mothersbaugh does on a non-Wes Anderson project. But ... you know what? I'm too old to care about the "Garden State" effect. It's official. I'm a grown-up, not a damn hipster. I hope.
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• Defamer has a great round-up of "7 MTV-Defining Stars Who Wouldn't Be Allowed on MTV Anymore". Music Television, which now relegates its music to between-show bumpers, has completely abandoned its original identity of the cool, angsty kid on the block, in favor of becoming the channel broadcasting a steady feed of spoiled rich kids who don't mind looking like complete brats on TV. Daria would hate these people. But then again, she hates everyone.
• Ms. Spears might be reuniting with her first love Justin Timberlake later this fall, reports Page Six. Just for an album, though.
• The new Deerhunter album is out now, by accident. Due to a glitch, frontman Bradford Cox leaked the whole album, "Microcastle," when he meant only to share a few other tracks online. Spinner has the story. iTunes has the (legit, profit-producing) album. Deerhunter's blog has Cox's mea culpa.
• (via) More Decemberists coming soon!
• And finally, today is Kenny Rogers' birthday. Celebrate the man by browsing through his doppelgänger's at Men Who Look Like Kenny Rogers.
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There is something just inexplicably awesome about this video. It may have something to do with the eye makeup and luscious hair of the lead singer.
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I raved about my boy (Island's) Nick Thorburn's side project Human Highway a few weeks ago, and the album is out today. You can stream it at their MySpace page.
Of course I would be remiss if I didn't give love to Thorburn's partner in this endevor, Jim Guthrie, who I believe spent a stint as Island's guitarist. He's great.
The songs are lovely and less weird than those of Thorburn's main gig. They've got a bluesy, kind of stoner rock feel to them, with simple guitar, base and drums scoring. "What World" gets a little dramatic with orchestral and synthetic flourishes, but for the most part, these songs are pretty chill.
More after the jump.
Last week, the Brooklyn-born Neil Diamond took the stage at Madison Square Garden for four days, and if you think the 67-year-old rock star is past his prime, you need to take a closer look.
Besides playing a bopping 2-hour set that had more hits than a classic rock radio station, Diamond has revitalized his career with his two latest albums.
Valleywag is reporting that online mixtape-sharing venture Muxtape is down, due to unspecified problems with the RIAA. Apparently, they'll be back. But will they be as cool? Not if the RIAA has anything to do with it, I'm guessing.
According to the Mux blog, there is a Muxtape for Bands in beta, which sounds pretty cool. With no other information at my disposal, I would speculate that this is a sharing service for unsigned bands. Like MySpace three years ago, without all that social networking junk and a prettier interface. Neato.
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I missed this until now, and in case you did too, here it is. Boing Boing's Xeni Jardin sits down with all around cool guy David Byrne to talk about his "Playing the Building" installation in which he basically turns a building into an organ. Sadly the installation closed last week, but the video is still pretty neat. I like that Xeni and David have the same hair.
The magic word, if you're curious, occurs around the 3:30 mark.
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That's the opening strains of The Decemberists' "The Crane Wife 3!" I knew it sounded familiar.
Sadly they have no video, so enjoy this performance of "O Valencia" on Letterman.
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Guns N Roses' "Chinese Democracy" is looking less and less like a joke these days, as leaks and various other news confirms the existence of actual songs that would make up an album. The latest, Billboard reports, is that, "according to sources," negotiations are on for the album to be exclusively unveiled at either Wal-Mart or Best Buy. Dude, way to keep rock and roll alive.
Joan Baez (and others) immortalized labor activist Joe Hill in song, John Lennon praised the "Working Class Hero" and Axl Rose is potentially partnering with one of the most notorious union busters of our age. Not to mention, Wal-Mart is terribly unhip.
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So I had on my calendar the phrase, "Songs about Dogs." I guess I wanted to do something with the "Dog Days of Summer." Damn, I am clever. I should work in advertising or something.
Anyway, the Ethan Embry/Jennifer Love Hewitt vehicle "Can't Hardly Wait" posits that this song is about a dog, although if you listen to the words, I'm not sure that's true.
Barry Manilow, "Mandy"
David Bowie, "Diamond Dogs"
The Beatles, "Hey Bulldog"
The Stooges, "I Wanna Be Your Dog"
For something a little more contemporary...
Lil Bow Wow Ft. Snoop Dogg - Bow Wow (That's My Name)
So, there you are: five songs about dogs, mostly. Add your own in the comments.
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It's almost that time again. CMJ Marathon, the huge music conference that gobbles up downtown Manhattan and the very reason for this blog's existence (last year we won a prize from our bosses for our coverage), is coming. October 21-25.
And the confirmed line-up so far:
3OH!3, A Place To Bury Strangers, AIDS Wolf, An Albatross, Ane Brun, Anna Ternheim, Annuals, Beach House, Broken Social Scene, Cool Kids, Crystal Castles, Cut Off Your Hands, Deerhoof, Del McCoury Band, Delta Spirit, Donavon Frankenreiter, Envy On The Coast, Gang Gang Dance, Lee “Scratch” Perry, IRAN, Jay Reatard, Japanese Motors, Juliana Hatfield, Jupiter One, Lykke Li, Margot And The Nuclear So And So’s, Minus The Bear, Roisin Murphy, The Dears, The Takeover UK, They Might Be Giants, The Virgins and Yo Majesty. Follow the news here.
There's a lot to be excited about here. Cool Kids are an awesome live show, and The Dears will depress the hell out of you. They Might Be Giants are practically a New York institution. Deerhoof, yes! BSS, another hot ticket, if not my personal favorite.
But, as always, the real excitement is the bands you've haven't heard of yet. And for that, you'll have to wait until the event itself. My strategies vary from hitting up the earlier acts for a headliner that you already like to picking a venue at random to wandering the LES and getting in wherever you can get in (this is tricky on Friday and Saturday nights).
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• Kanye's new video for "Champion" casts him as an Olympic athlete, instantly dating the video, as no one is going to care about the Olympics anymore in two weeks. Gabe, over at Videogum, takes a look into the process from whence this concept came. (Also, the sample Kanye uses in the song is "Kid Charlemagne" by your favorite band and mine, Steely Dan!)
• The Jay-Z vs. Noel Gallagher feud is kind of awesome. Hear Jay's dis track here.
• The Walkmen's new album drops next week! Hear a preview at Spin. Also check out their Daytrotter session from last week.
(via)
• It's making the rounds, and it's awesome.
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"Solsbury Hill," Peter Gabriel
The song's use in trailers and commercials for heartwarming films about family was mocked in the excellent alternate trailer for "Shining". But what films has this song actually been used in?
According to iMdb:
• "In Good Company" (2004): Topher Grace shows up Dennis Quaid in the business world AND dates his daughter Scarlett Johnassen.
• "Vanilla Sky" (2001): I saw this movie and the Spanish original, and I still can't really tell you what it's about. Tom Cruise is a crazy man. And possibly dead?
• "Party of Five" (1996): I never watched this show.
• "L'Argent fait le bonheur" (1993): Some French comedy.
• "Say Anything" (1989): Just kidding! The PG song used in this John Cusack masterpiece is "In Your Eyes."
So only four soundtrack uses, and one of those is a French film and another is a TV show. I would have expected more. I suspect it's been used in more marketing campaigns, but iMdb doesn't track that. And I don't have the resources to actually research that myself. But off the top of your head, neighbor, do you know any?
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http://view.break.com/549229 - Watch more free videos
(via)
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So we did some office karaoke last night (I am an embarrassing mic hog, by the way; someone get me my own band, stat), and this song came up on the rotation. Who even has thought about this song in, like, a million years?
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Songs for Newsworthy News, a venture by One Ring Zero's Michael Hearst to publish almost a song per day relating to current events. My favorite, from Aug. 4, "Brian May of rock band Queen,/Has put together all the pieces./He’s finally finished his astrophysics doctoral thesis." Hear it and more at the above link.
eh.www.amNY.com
