Stop Okay Go

Quickies

-Music from Jill Sobule, the original girl who kissed a girl, performing on Don Was' "Wasmopolitan Cavalcade of Recorded Music" on My Damn Channel from earlier this year. Also check out the 'Horrible People' channel with The Daily Show's Kristen Schaaal, Joe Lo Truglio and David Wain of The State and Wet Hot American Summer Fame.

(via Popdose)

-There are some maps like this celebrity baby name map, that are entertaining, and others that are mostly pointless. And then there are other map-like ideas that haven't yet reached their full potential as a resource, such as this Twitter Grid where you can type in a keyword and monitor all Twitter posts that relate to that keyword.

My Twittergrid is set to monitor all Slipknot-related news, of course.

-Bey and Jay might play Obama's inauguration. Maybe.

-Choo choo!

-First Official Images from Public Enemies, a gangster flick based on a Brian Burroughs novel and directed by Michael Mann, set to open in Summer of '09. Christian Bale, Johnny Depp (not playing a ghoulish, eccentric character for a change) AND Billy Crudup all pretty boy floyded up?? Women all over the nation are going to have coronaries. Because it is a period piece, it is unlikely to feature a rock soundtrack the way previous Mann films have...

-"The four most disappointing albums of the year so far."

-Travis Barker and DJ AM will be performing together on New Year's Eve.

We Love You California

 
Ha ha, the first comment on this You Tube video of my boys =VH= doing the gerunded, rifftastic,  Ain't Talkin' Bout Love: "Who TPed Dave?"

Old Preacherman Roth is feelin' a little too good at 2:40.

Houston Knows the Score

Seattle sexyman John Roderick of Harvey Danger/Long Winters fame has only been Twittering for four days and it is already one of the most interesting & entertaining Twitters on ze Net.

The Long Winters: The Commander Thinks Aloud.mp3

Dulcian

A few months back I did a post on what has become one of my favorite Bowie songs, Lady Grinning Soul, that featured glam rock legend Mick Ronson tickling the ivories in an amazing, possibly inappropriate, way. (Later making the ivories write bad checks).

I'd link back to the song but it has since been deleted because of my completely rational fear of the Internet Overlord mp3 copyright boogie men.

Anyway, Mick Ronson's daughter Lisa Ronson is the featured vocalist of a band called The Secret History along with Michael Grace Jr., who used to be part of My Favorite: "an artful, depressed collective of pop innovators, hailing from Long Island but longing to be in Paris."

The Secret History's EP Desolation Town came out on the 11th, parts of which can be heard here. According to their press release they've garnered comparisons to Roxy Music and the Smiths, but I hear strong echoes of Natalie Merchant doing "Because the Night" in Ronson's voice, especially in the song It's Not the End of the World Jonah. Which is a wonderful thing because I used to like the deep, unusual bassoon like quality to Merchant's voice and you don't hear enough variety in women's voices in music these days.

Tommy Lee Jones Is Boss

More miscellaneous items and things from the inbox:

-Sweden's Luke Jackson has a new album called '...And Then Some' filled with power pop songs as played by the Malmos Opera Orchestra.

-"We call him Sir Sergio, the Disco Inferno": Beloved L.A. Stopokaygo sweetheart, the endlessly creative Ariel Pink has contributed cover art & vocals for a new short-player by Nashville's Jensen Sportag due December 2nd called Sergio.

-Jihae's voice brings to mind the soft kittenish purrings of Charlotte Gainsbourg. The wispy, dreaminess of her song Best Thing is captured in this video. Her album Elvis Is Still Alive (you hear that Ye?) can be streamed here. Recommended!

-"Pop Guy": This imagined, Huey Lewis-based conversation between model Jessica Stam and her boyfriend cracked me up.

-The Soulstrut Boys talk about their favorite sayings their fathers and family members used while growing up. A few excerpts:

-"Don't be such a ladies blouse!"

-"Pouring syrup on sh-t don't make it pancakes."

-"Sweatin' like a whore in a church."

-"They got their sh-t in a mess kit."

-"A little of the hows-yer-father."

-"What kind of mickey mouse operation is this?"

-"Does Rose Kennedy own a black dress??"

-Tommy Lee Jones Is Boss. In Japan.

Quickies

-Google maps now tracks things like Craigslist hook-ups and pirate whereabouts?

-Forgot about Dre! Jimmy Iovine talks about the delay in releasing Dr. Dre's Detox.

-El Guincho "creates sunny songs full of peppy tribal percussion, lovely programmed drum loops, delightful dub, cheery Tropicalia and a whole lot of repetitive "world" rhythms that are strangely addictive."

-The Mystery of the Chinese Democracy Sales Figures.

-Random Slipknot picture of the day.

-Belgian psychedelic electropop duo Aeroplane is another act on the Anthem 'Band to Watch' list. They recently completed a remix of Grace Jones' Williams Blood ; the song as well as a conversation between Jones and BBC's Peter Tong can be heard here.

Cornershop

Another old viddy. Several months back I did a post on the infectious song Girls and Boys In Love by The Rumble Strips. Turns out, the Rumble Strips are a splinter group formed by a former member of the band Vincent Vincent and the Villains, Charlie Waller. They are also the second act I'm aware of (Lily Allen being the first) to mention Tesco's in song. Who oh who will do it again? I'll bring you the latest on this trend. Not really.

Anthem Magazine is naming Vincent Vincent and the Villains a "Band to Watch" in their latest music special issue:

They've been teasing us with theatrical low-budget music videos and rockabilly tunes for over four years and finally have an album- a "Best hits" of sorts titled Gospel Bombs...Charlie Waller left to form the Rumble Strips... (Vincent Vincent) are to rockabilly what Vampire Weekend is to Afrobeat guitar-pop. Imagine the Troggs as a rocksteady band revamped to play alongside experimental pop outfits like Mystery Jets.

Pretty Poison

Today's video comes from London's The Real Tuesday Weld. The song, Kix, is a cover of Cole Porter's beloved classic I Get  A Kick Out You set to electronica beats and sung here by a Powerpuffed stand-in for lead singer Stephen Coates. Coates has one of the loveliest crooning voices I've heard, like a vintage brandy, well suited for the era (30-40's) that he favors.

If you like what you hear here be sure to go to their Myspace page and check out the steampunky 'Puttin on the Ritz' version of Beyonce's Crazy In Love. and other inspired covers. Their single "Last Words" was on Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. See video here.

The Real Tuesday Weld's concept album The London Book of the Dead, with  vintage characters in a re-imagined 1930s London is out now.

Quickies

 

-Rap pioneer MC Breed died in his sleep yesterday night after a battle with kidney disease. He's best known for the song 'Ain't No Future In Your Frontin.' More info here.

-Michael Jackson is now "Mikaeel Jackson."

-It's that time of year again!Largehearted Boy, gaddlove'im, is keeping up w/all of the year-end lists. Here's the one that I'll be reading.

The Smart Set

- Beck has announced plans to collaborate with my girl Charlotte Gainsbourg on her forthcoming album. Beck's father David Campbell was responsible for the string arrangements on Gainsbourg's last album 5:55.

-In the latest Joaquin Phoenix news, Gorillavsbear notes that not only is Phoenix giving up acting to pursue music, he has chosen rap as his specialty and that Phoenix grabbed the mike at Dam-Funk's Funkmosphere in Culver City! (Casey Affleck was there filming the whole thing for some reason.) The only good thing to come out of this is that a friend of mine knows Dam-Funk and he is very cool, so hopefully he gets loads of publicity out of this.

-I just got done tearing through an illustrated adaptation of F.Scott Fitzgerald's book 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button', that has of course, been made into the much anticipated film starring (Boo) Bradley Pitt and Cate Blanchett and comes out this Christmas. I knew a little about the plot and was leery going in but ended up loving it and would recommend it as a Cliff's Notes version of the book. If you have about $15 and 15 minutes to burn it's a touching shot glass full of thought-provoking philosophy. The story is a fun exercise/tinkering of time within a traditional narrative structure that would be nearly impossible for the studios to screw up. But they'll find a way.

 

-John Legend, Willie Nelson, Feist and Toby the Grinch Keith will be caroling at Stephen Colbert's place this Christmas.

-Here's a mixed bag of songs. I haven't yet heard all of them. Some are from the inbox, some that I've just picked up whilst meandering around the Net and wanted to listen to this weekend. Yers for the takin', sexy readers!

 

 

Soup With Prince

 

-"Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Part 2 in the back of a cab."

-Madonna the Grouch.

-Didn't this once happen to Ziggy? Still, McCain has it better than Chris Matthews.

-Something from Joaquin Phoenix or maybe a new Op-Ed section of the Onion. Hard to tell.

-M.I.A.: (Sigh) And so it begins...

-Miley Cyrus's Squealing Svengali.

-Results of a Google Blogsearch about the hysteria surrounding the year 2012, or, the end of the Ancient Mayan Calendar and the name of a new film.

-Via Popcandy: The New Yorker visits Prince's House.

Genie From A Cigarette

 

I found this video of Australian songbird Tina Arena  on the same page as Miami Horror (post below). Man she has got some set of pipes on her. Though in Australia they probably don't call them pipes. They probably have some cute, rustic and charming colloquialism for 'pipes' like "kookoocallers" or "rickyshickyshantytubes" or...well I could go on and on.

Just kidding, love Australia and Arenas is a bit of national treasure out there, having performed for years. She's probably best known for having done the theme for the movie The Mask of Zorro with Marc Anthony. The song she performs here is a cover of an old song by 60's icon Lulu. Couldn't find the Arena version of the song but here's the original by Lulu.

Verbatim

The caption of this You Tube Video by Australia's Miami Horror:

Don't Be On With Her! The first single from the debut Miami Horror EP "Bravado" out Nov 15. Don't be fooled, this is 2008 not 1983. Check out www.myspace.com/miamihorror for the proof.

While I was not fooled, I thought the neon drumsticks were a nice touch. And even though the 80's thing is getting played out, these guys went to a whole nuther level in making the video look authentic.

Nonreturner

  -Via FEK: American Girls is a song that was done by Homie, a project that appeared on the Meet the Deedles Soundtrack and included members of Weezer, Soul Coughing, Cake, and Shufflepuck.

- Brianjosephdavis.com:(via WFMU):

"Original Soundtrack is a live performance of 20 television sets and DVD players. On each DVD player is a different, commercially available movie left at its "menu" stage. The DVDs all feature endlessly looping musical cues (this is a design feature found on approximately 50% of all DVDs). Performed using a customized mixer, loops are combined and stacked, resulting in a slightly unstable but scored 90-minute performance that moves from psyched out strings to destroyed funk and beyond."

-Apparently Chris Matthews is going to re-appear on Ellen DeGeneres daytime talk show and it will mark the first time he's been on since, this happened:

..Which prompted this reaction from Ellen(lol) as well as some self-defense classes to prepare for Matthews' return visit today. Too funny!

-In Dark Trees: "Haunting..with soul to spare." You can download the entire album, Skin, for *free *on Last.fm! There are plenty of creepy Joe Frank moments like in the song below.

The Duetress

Today's video comes to us from Will Oldham aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy. Tiny Mix Tapes has news of a new Bonnie "Prince" Billy album set to be released on March 17th of 2009, called Beware, an LP that is being described as his "most ambitious" to date.

Anyway, in keeping with the tradition of featuring simple animation videos, here is an old one (Hullo, from two years ago!) for the song Agnes, Queen of Sorrow. Warning: It may cause you to shed a few tears into your beer (like you're the Marquis de Sad). It is a duet with Oldham and Marty Slayton. Slayton is a popular country-music-background-singer who has worked with the likes of George Strait, Lee Ann Womack, and Reba McEntire. And her voice lends the perfect tinge of melancholy to this countrified heartbreaker. The song seems to be about a couple just trying to hang on and get past the days following the loss of a child? Or it could just as well be about a couple trying to prolong their relationship in general. In any case it's fantastically depressing and worth a download. (Also, I love how at the end of the video they just forget about their problems and play ping-pong.)

Quickies

 
-Elton John is against gay marriage, for civil unions. (via Current).

-Live at KEXP features performances by Pela, Vampire Weekend, Elbow, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and Calexico and is available digitally.

-Random and Hilarious: Britney Spears Vs. Department of Eagles! (No One Womanizes Like You).

-Oh, ew!! WHY?!: The Roots sign on as Jimmy Fallon's house band.

-If you are in Boston, Marnie Stern may soon be in a kissing booth near you.

-Via Educated Community, a peek inside former Prince Asaka's art-deco residence in Tokyo.

Love Out Loud

The LA Times is reporting that there will be a triple-header at The Smell on Tuesday night (November 18th) of Love Is All, Abe Vigoda and Vivian Girls. Along with No Age, these three bands might be classified as another example of a creative hive of friends (see post below), who are often mentioned by music writers in the same breath. Rising stars. A wave. A movement, as Carl Blau might say. Young up and comers. Scrappers!

Did a lil digging and Love Is All are amazing. They're from Sweden, of course, and each of these gems from their back catalog is worth a right-clicky:

-This song reminds me of duets they used to do on The Muppet Show. And Josephine Olaussen's Bjork-like Santa Baby whinings are just adorable.

-In this energetic ditty Love Is All sound as if they are gearing up for a rumble in which they will kill the opposing team with a one-two combo of snaps and saxophones.

-And finally my favorite. Their plaintive and distinct cover that stays true to the spirit of the Dire Straits original.

Body Electric Company

Here's some grainy live footage of the Deerhoof-like Molly Siegel & her band Ponytail going nutso while playing the song 7 Souls at some club sometime late last year. Once you get past the blood curdling screeching there are some of the same jammy elements found in any good My Morning Jacket rambler. Listen to the song Celebrate the Body Electric.

I did a lil' research on the band and found out that they were part of a scene that began in early shows at the "Copycat Building" in Baltimore, as part of a musical scene that included previous SOG mentionees Dan Deacon and Beach House.

Besides Ponytail, here are some songs by some of the other bands that performed at the Copycat Building as mentioned by Jeremy Hyman (one of the members of Ponytail). It is a mixed bag of punky stuff, but you can hear a common thread running through all of their sounds. I've contended for some time that creativity happens in clusters, or, if one had to boil down the idea to one word, creative "Hives" but I wouldn't want to give Malcolm Gladwell any ideas.:

Quickies

-The recession is hitting everyone including SOG favorite Neil Young.

-Here's a new orchestrally manuvoered Neptunes version of Chester French's song She Loves Everybody.  Who will stay married longer, Peaches Geldof and Chester French or Cannon and Carey? And how will Katie Holmes figure into the equation? Tune in for the next episode of Bored Idiots Roundtable!

-If anyone cares, I've started a different non-music site : What The World Needs Now...

-I'm in love with this Weezy cover (via). Maybe it was another mishap with a paint pen. Man those things are dangerous.

McGill University

Cameron McGill may be joking about his death in 2056 but if I'm still around then, I will be watching to see if it comes to pass.