I'm not a huge Down With Webster fan. Let's just get that out of the way. It's no disrespect to them. They make good music and are really kind of a big deal - it's just that most of their fans are 16-year-old girls and, well, I'm not one of them.
Anyway, while I may be indifferent about the band, I'm really loving their new video for "Big Wheels". Finding the boys inside an old Nintendo game cartridge, we see them perfectly recreate scenes from Mario Kart, Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros., among other awesome classic games.
Sidebar: I was very late on the Florence + the Machine train. I'm not sure why. Despite everyone telling me to check them out, the snippets I would hear on car stereos sounded noisy.
Then, "Cosmic Love" came along and opened my ears. I was converted and haven't looked back since.
Anyway, still riding high on the slow-building success of Lungs, Florence Welch and company are prepping their second album for its November release. The first single and video has dropped for "What The Water Gave Me" and it is amazing!
It's got a more of a raw, 70s rock feeling to it, in my opinion, while still sounding like definate Machine material.
And to match the stripped down production, we have a video that is shot in studio and it looks like it was a pretty rockin' time.
Of course, Gaga would move the release of her new video for "Yoü & I" from Thursday to today, Madonna's birthday, just to rub it in her face.
Bitch.
Just kidding. Probably just a coincidence. Right? Like how "Born This Way" coincidentally sounds like "Express Yourself".
Anyway, it's all forgiven because, even though I can't stand this song, this video is Lady Gaga's best videos since "Bad Romance", believe me.
Think Shania Twain meets Marylin Manson. We see Gaga in all sorts of Frankenstein-ian scenarios with her sexy male model lover. She's got bionic limbs! She's being electrocuted! She's a mermaid! It's all a very stylized version of kink, if you ask me. And it serves nicely as a metaphor for the lengths you would go through for a lover. After all, the song is about her on-again-off-again boyfriend, so who know how many times she's felt she had to "change" for him. Or, how many times she's felt he's brought her back to life, if we continue with the Frankenstein's monster theme.
But, what's more revealing is Gaga, in near-nude makeup, at the piano, seranading herself, dressed in drag. After all, who can love Gaga, more than Gaga herself?
There is a lot going on in this video, and after the WTF-ness of her past efforts from Born This Way, it's nice to see her return to her music video making prowess.
One of the most highly anticipated albums of the year has got to be Feist's Metals.
After a few samples posted on her YouTube page, we now have the first proper song. While I was hoping for the harder sound that was in her first preview, "How Come You Never Go There" serves as a nice reminder of Feist's knack for gorgeous melodies and evocative lyrics.
Think of this as an amuse-bouche to open up your palette, because this promises to be an album that features bolder and stronger sounds from Feist.
If you were two of the biggest names in hip hop with millions at your disposal, what would you do? Well, act like a big kid of course.
That's what Kanye West and Jay-Z are doing in their simple, but fun, video for "Otis", off their excellent collaborative album Watch The Throne.
The two guys seem downright giddy as they trick out a Maybach, take girls on a joyride, and mug in front of fireworks.
I enjoy this video so much, not only because it seems like Jay and 'Ye are having a blast, but also because it kind of goes against the typical hip hop video template. I mean, this video looks like something that would come out from a young rock band, doesn't it?
Check it out! And be sure to check out the album, which is brilliant.
OK Go have become renowned for their music videos. And just when you think they can't come up with a new gimmick, they do, and it rocks.
I mean, kaleidescopic effects are one thing. Tightly chorographed dance sequences are another. But, when you meld the two together, it becomes something incredible.
Honestly, the video is just plain mesmerizing. And, just when you think there's nothing more to it, they start spelling messages with their feet.
Sure, it looks a little Human Centipede at times, but it's definitely worth watching. Also, play with the fun interactive version here!
Leave it up to Robyn to save a particularly boring and annoying Coldplay song.
She did a live cover of Coldplay's "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall" at Radio 1 Live Lounge and, wow! She saved that song! Sparkling synths and a gradually building drumline almost makes me wish this was her orignal song, but somehow, this song sounds like it belongs to her.
British MC Theophilus London has been impressing me. I mean, I'm no hip hop head, but I recognize good music when I hear it, and Theo (can I call you Theo?) has been making music that sounds different from the norm, somehow managing to take retro sounds and make it fresh.
After slowing things down with a jam that could have come straight from my father's record collection, he's going hard in his new single "Last Name London", with a pulsing bassline and a relentless synth drum.
What makes it even cooler is the accompanying video that looks like a Nike ad from the 90s. In an era where it's all about swag, I love that he gives a little nod to one of the biggest status symbols from back in the day. Right down to the basketball dunks and the girls jumping rope.
While it's definitley not the first time this has been done, I have to give props to the Beastie Boys and Spike Jonez for taking the whole toys-in-music-videos genre to the next level. I mean, this is pretty much what I would do every Saturday morning from the age of 9-14. Yes, I played with my action figures till I was 14.
Anyway, "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win", featuring my fave, Santoigold, has it all. Assisinations attempts, snowmobile gun chases, zombies, sharks, helicopter fights, submarine attacks, and a Yeti.
Basically, I don't even know what the song really sounds like, but I love this video.
