Monday, February 28, 2011

Video: Lady Gaga - Born This Way



Thursday, February 24, 2011

Video: LCD Soundsystem & The Muppets - Dance Yourself Clean

 Some enterprising bloke in Brighton, England, has made an unofficial video to the opening track from LCD Soundsystems last album This is Happening.  The kicker is that features Kermit the Frog, Cookie Monster, Miss Piggy and Animal playing the song from atop a building (ala The Beatles). 

Interspersed with shots of Kermit and Piggy cavorting about on the beach, this clip is more entertaining than it has any right to be.  Enjoy!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Review: Cut Copy - Zonoscope

by purefunk.com.au

The sun has set at the Laneway festival and the rain is threatening.  Thankfully the expected downpour fails to materialize and my goal of catching the first live performances of Cut Copy's new album Zonoscope go ahead as scheduled.

The album had leaked early that week, and it was tempting to try and find it, but instead I made myself familiar with the new stuff via their website stream.  So it goes when you're that rarest of musical creatures - Australian and critically acclaimed overseas.  You have to do these things to try and circumvent the pirates.  It wasn't always like this, but after the Cutters last album dropped into a musical landscape that was being reshaped in the image of synth-pop, the genre-defining In Ghost Colours felt like their zeitgeist moment.

Three years later and you would expect that in the face of the genres that have risen in that time (Dubstep, UK Funky) that Cut Copy would be suffering under a redundancy of sound.  That is not the case.  Never ones to be happy to coast on their accomplishments, Cut Copy have touched on a melange of new sounds on this full length, all the while never losing sight of the dance-floor.

'Need you now' leads off the record, a 'slow build and release' dance track in the tradition of great micro-house and minimal techno records of the last decade.  The maturity is in the patience that the boys show; there's no urgency to get the crowd amped from the jump.  'Take me over' bounces along, courtesy of an initially distracting bass line borrowed from Men at Works 'Down Under'.  Thankfully the distraction dissipates once the sublime chorus rushes in, and guess what - repeated listens reward.

The restlessness in the album becomes even more apparent in the mid-section.  New instruments crop up, vocals float and reverberate, and bouncy bass-driven tracks are followed by beat-less interludes.  'This is all we've got' exemplifies this transition perfectly, rolling along on Dan Whitfords echoing vocal over a sample of some playful children.

Although the basic song structures don't strive for much more than their past guitar-driven work, it's how they're presented that's different here.  The Cutters have, presumably with a little help from indie-pop veteran mixer Ben Allan, decided to muck about a bit with the way their music sounds.  For the most part it works seamlessly.

If the album lags, it's probably with the most straightforward track 'Alisha', which lacks the punch of earlier tracks and suffers in comparison.  However, the band knows all to well that you can't leave the crowd standing still for too long and finishes with 'Corner of the sky' and 'Sun God', both of which find new ways to deviate from their synth-pop paths without forgetting the writhing hoards out in the crowd.

Devastating rains categorized December and January, and it took until the last month of the season for the sun to shine like it should.  As if on queue, Cut Copy are back too, sound-tracking what's left of a crazy summer.  Just the way it should be.



 Download 'Where I'm Going' HERE

Video: Kanye West feat. Rihanna and Kid Cudi - All of the lights

Kanye West, Kid Cudi and Rihanna bring the visuals in the clip to Kanye's trimumphant 'All of the lights'.



Friday, February 18, 2011

Video/News: Radiohead - Lotus Flower + Radiohead release 'King of Limbs'

Radiohead dropped a bombshell earlier this week when they announced they had a new album in the can and ready for release.  Even more shocking was that the release date was going to be today, and even more shocking is that today is today, and the album is out now!  

Download the King of Limbs HERE (It will cost you a few bucks)

If you're not sure whether or not this album is going to rule, check out Thom Yorke crazy dancing to the very addictive electronic grooves of 'Lotus Flower', which is on the album.



Video: Distant Relatives (Nas and Damian Marley) - Patience

Although I was not a big fan of the Distant Relatives album, I was a fan of the track 'As we enter', and I am a fan of this video.  The track samples 'Sabali' an awesome Damon Albarn produced tune from Amadou and Mariam who will be performing at Womadelaide in a few weeks.  Anyway, the track is pretty dope, the video is reminiscent of Kanye's 'Power' clip, and it too is dope. 


DISTANT RELATIVES "Patience" from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.

 

CBD's (Celeb Birthday Dances) - John Travolta

Today in the states (which is Feb 18 over there) is John Travolta's birthday, and to celebrate the swinging scientologist, here's a few of his classic dance scenes.





Video: Cut Copy - Need you now

The opening track on Cut Copy's awesome new album Zonoscope is 'Need you now'.  It now has a pretty wacky sports-themed video clip to go along with it.  Check it out.


Cut Copy - "Need You Now" from stereogum on Vimeo.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Stream: Lady Gaga - Born this Way

Gaga arrived in an egg and then put on a performance of her new single 'Born this way' at the Grammy's.



Listen to the track HERE

Buy it from Itunes HERE

Born This Way

Video: Grammys - Rihanna, Eminem, Dr Dre, Adam Levine, Drake

At this point, winning a Grammy means your slightly more relevant than Vanilla Ice, but even so, the artists nominated usually put on a helluva show.  A few of our favourites are below, although I was a little underwhelmed by the whole 'welcome back Dr Dre' bit in Eminem's performance.  That said, it's nice to have you back Doctor.




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Uploaded by yardie4lifever2. - Explore international webcam videos.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Video: Two kids in hilarious dance-off!

I couldn't think of anything to say that would be as funny as what you're about to witness.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Video: Black Eyed Pea's at the Super Bowl Halftime Show

The BEP empire got the Super Bowl halftime party started, and with their performance answered the big question on everyone's lips - Why is Usher soooo much better than the Black Eyed Pea's?

Okay, so maybe I'm being more than a tad harsh, at least Janet Jackson wasn't there and after all, they did bring out the one and only Slash.  What an amazing idea, I don't know why anyone hadn't thought of having a gratuitous Slash cameo before.  Pure genius.




Sunday, February 6, 2011

Video: A couple of Eminem Commercials from the Super Bowl!

Eminem don't do commercials.  That is unless in one of them he appears as a puppet, and in the other he gets to rep Detroit (and a certain car company).  For the record, the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl.



Saturday, February 5, 2011

Video: James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream

You may have heard it, you may have not.  The Wilhelm scream is that inhuman wail that you hear time again in movies and advertisements.  No-one can remember who first screamed it, but it's like a running joke that no-one gets.

James Blake is no joke, and yet like the Wilhelm Scream, nobody gets him.  Not yet anyway.  He's the dubstep (or whatever the latest name for hybrids of said genre are) heir, and has a new album out this week.

He is haunting, uber-talented to the point of being eerie and has a full head of hair that almost cascade over his anorak.  Could he be the next Lady Gaga?  I think not, but technically I would not put it past him.  He seems to take on any genre and fashion it into his own musical sword, slicing his way through... heck I don't even know how to classify his Feist cover 'Limit to your love'.  Anyhoo, enjoy the Wilhelm Scream and try to describe him for yourself.  Golden Gaytime for the best answer.