Buddyhead: Punk is Dead

You remember Buddyhead right? The bad boy west coast version on VICE? Once associated with At the Drive In and a short lived burnout band called 'The Icarus Line.' At least once in your internet life you should have visited their infamous gossip page, complete with celebrity phone numbers. If you have checked recently, they've announced they're releasing a DVD they assembled in 2004 of some of the best overlooked music videos. Considering we now live in the future, I thought it would be fun to see what videos that were cool back then have made it to now in this era of "YouTube" video sharing. If you want to buy the DVD, check it out here.

1. Psychedelic Freak - "Out Intro Montage" (clip not available)

2. TV On The Radio - "Staring At The Sun"



3. Singapore Sling - "Listen" (clip not available)

4. British Sea Power - "Remember Me"



5. The Jesus Lizard - "Destroy Before Reading" (clip not available)

6. Har Mar Superstar - "EZ Pass" (clip not available)

7. The Icarus Line - "Up Against The Wall Motherfuckers"



8. Turbonegro - "Fuck The World"



9. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Pin"



10. Atari Teenage Riot - "Rage"



11. The Willowz - "I Wonder" (clip not available)

12. The Dillinger Escape Plan - "Panasonic Youth"



13. The Fiery Furnaces - "Tropical Ice-Land" (clip not available)

14. Kill Me Tomorrow - "Born To Be Filed"



15. Enon - "In This City" (clip not available)

16. Your Enemies Friends - "Back Of A Taxi"



17. 400 Blows - "Root Of Our Nature" (clip not available)

18. The Evaporators - "'I'm Going To France" (clip not available)

19. The Locust - "Live From The Russian Compound"



20. Bee And Flower - "I Know Your Name"



21. Decahedron - "No Carrier"



22. The Pattern - "Fragile Awareness"



23. Dios (Malos) - "All Said And Done" (clip not available)

24. The Dwarves - "Over You" (clip not available)

25. Bluebird - "Falling Back To Earth" (clip not available)

26. Ted Leo - "Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone"

Jay Z performs "Reasonable Doubt"

(image from brooklynvegan)

So if you haven't heard, Jay-Z is celebrating the tenth anniversary of his seminal rap album "Reasonable Doubt" by performing the album in it's entirety. Led by musical director ?uestlove, the music is lush and hypnotic, and these clips popping up on YouTube don't nearly do the music the service it deserves. But check the clips anyways... 44 4s.... (not 22 2s)



Dead Presidents....



A snippet of Jigga My N*gga



And from the special encore... well, Encore.



PSA

Arts and Crafts on YouTube

You'd think that with "Music Video Television" burning out in a supernova fueled by reality-TV programs and half-baked shows that repeat the same five popular videos, that no one would bother with the art form anyway. But YouTube, mtv.ca and Yahoo's Launch prove that the music video is more alive than ever.

Yup, this is old news. I also just noticed on Arts and Crafts that they've uploaded all their music videos to YouTube. Considering this was "Olympic Island" weekend, I figured it was only fitting to share what I thought are pretty cool and overlooked clips.

First up, "Oh God" by The Most Serene Republic. I actually wrote this band off last year as just being opertunistic BSS imitators, but this track/video has finally brought me around.



Next is "I'm Still Your Fag" by Broken Social Scene. Frankly, I'm just blown away by this video. It could have been so cheesy and heavy-handed, but it treats all these characters realistically. It's also a pretty great song.



"Your Ex-Lover is Dead" by Stars is not only a beautiful song, but it's perfectly complimented by this "Spotless Sunshine of the Mind" influenced video.



I can't say I'm the world's biggest Feist fan, but the first couple minutes of "Mushaboom (Radio Edit)" are pretty cute.



Another great video by Feist is the clip for "One Evening," featuring a dancing Buck 65.



If you want another decent upbeat clip, "Ageless Beauty" by the Stars will get stuck in your head, but will hit you in the heart. Note the X over Amy Milan's in this one.



Probably the most epic of the lot, Broken Social Scene's video for "Ibi dreams of pavement." Highlights include, of course, Kevin dancing around in his underwear and a cameo by Ibi herself.



And while I have to admit, I'm still coming around to Jason Collett, his video for "I'll Bring the Sun" is pretty inventive for a video just set in a hotel room.

Fewer moving parts means fewer broken pieces

When David Bazan releases an amazing new EP and visits your city, playing some of his first shows as a "solo" performer, then you know it's been a good week. As someone who considers themselves a penultimate Pedro the Lion fan, this has been one of those weeks.

If you don't know the backstory, David Bazan has been recording under the moniker "Pedro the Lion" for years, starting at first as a large five-piece complete with stand up bass on Tooth and Nail, then a minimal slow-core project on Made in Mexico, and finally, a songs-first monolith for Jade Tree (you can also toss the synth and drums only "Headphones" project in there somewhere too).

But like the Lemonheads, Bazan just hasn't been able to keep a band together, with every tour featuring almost a new set of musicians. The final Pedro incarnation, a partnership between Bazan and TW Walsh, produced "Pedro the Lion's Achilles Heel," a thoughtful collection of compelling tracks. But it didn't quite live up to what has been expected of Pedro the Lion.

That's when the "Fewer Moving Parts" EP comes in... the amazing artwork by Zak Sally (formerly of Low, but an amazing artist in his own right) shows Bazan as a lumberjack, alone in a field of treestumps. The final tree, inscripted with a DB + TW heart, is brought down with blow by Bazan's axe, and in doing so, finally puts Pedro the Lion to sleep.

"Fewer Moving Parts" is split in half; you get five amazing songs done in a loud rock context, then five stripped down "acoustic" versions. It starts off with the Pitchfork-baiting "Selling Advertising," the dark "How I remember," the epic and heartbreaking (and probably my most favorite Bazan track in years) "Fewer Broken Pieces," formerly known as "The Devil is Beating his Wife" there's "Cold Beer and Cigarettes," and an amazing new powerful version of "Backwoods Nation," finally getting it's proper release.

If you're a fan of amazing songwriting, or just plain curious, it's worth searching this one out.

Listen to the entire EP at purevolume

MP3: Backwoods Nation ("Fewer Moving Parts" EP version)

MP3: Fewer Moving Parts (Acoustic Live) - via Bradley's Almanac

These Electric Lives

Toronto based band 'These Electric Lives' play an upbeat, richly textured form of new-wave rock stocked with high-pitched guitars and serene keyboards that sit upon a firm bass-drum bedrock.

The band's bass player, Gary, dropped me a line to point towards their official page and their myspace page. I'm glad I did, because 'These Electric Lives' have a refreshing sound that falls in the darker side of pop music.

My favorite songs were "Keep Love Safe," and "Wake Me Up," which are kind of a cross between Interpol, U2 and Metric, are available for download at their Myspace page.

This summer the band is planning on doing a few gigs while also a little recording, so be sure to catch them while you can.

Preparing for Pitchfork: Spankrock

Consummate party masters Spankrock have gone mainstream in a big way in the last six months, with high profile mixing duties, their affilitation with DFA and massive parties at every gig.

Put when you kickstart one of their uptempo jams, don't expect it to sound like anything you've heard before... yes the cowbell is there in "Rick Rubin," along with the keyboards that will make you think there's a Nintendo buzzing away in the background.

The "Spankrock" band is actually made up of four members: Armarni XXXchange, in charge of "computer drums," Spankrock "cool disco mc," DJ Chris Rockswell and Ronnie Darko "cut creator."

If you are only going to hear two jams by Spank Rock, check out their twisted remix of "Drop it Like It's Hot," which you will barely recognize in "Put that Pussy on Me." Then there's the band's twisted homage? (I'm not sure) to Rick Rubin in, well, "Rick Rubin."

MP3: Put that Pussy on Me

MP3: Radio-Active

MP3: BBC Breeze Block Set

Video: Rick Rubin

Pitchfork reviews Yoyoyoyoyo

Spank Rock's webpage

How NOT to steal a sidekick

The most compelling blog/story I've seen for a while is "How NOT to steal a Sidekick," the ongoing saga (starting last week) of a Sidekick (like a Blackberry) that was left behind in a cab, then ended up in the hands of a 16 year old girl. When the previous owner bought a new phone, her new Sidekick, which logs into the T-Mobile site everytime it boots up and stores information, it downloaded all the pictures and login information that the stolen Sidekick's owner had loaded onto the phone. Including glamour shots of the 16 year old and all her login info to AOL and such.

The story goes on from there to where the owner of the phone contacts the "new" owners that the phone is stolen and a reward is offered. Threats are exchanged and finally the original owner goes to the police and gives them all the info about who stole the phone, their names, what they look like and where they live.

But beuacracy is now getting in the way... and it seems like things are getting really interesting. Follow the whole thing on "How NOT to steal a Sidekick," hopefully justice will be served.

Oh yes, this is music related.

MP3: Stolen Sidekick Song by Blind Routine

MP3: Stolen Sidekick Song (Acoustic) by Blind Routine

NXNE: Sweet Thing

It seems whenever an industry music festival in town, you can pretty much bet that whatever the "anti" show thrown on by Dan Burke is will be one raging rock and roll show. It was disheartening this year that his "anti" show was co-opted by NXNE which to me, seemed like a bad omen of sorts.

However, by the time I made it down to the Comfort Zone, Sweet Thing were just setting up to play, and a few minutes later removed all sense of doubt about Burke's ability to pick talent for his shows wisely.

I can't say I've heard of Sweet Thing before, and by looking at their band page, it doesn't look like they play around their hometown of Toronto too much. This is dissapointing, because their too-short set of upbeat pop music was an addictive blend of rock, funk, blues with a dash of cheese.

Owen Carrier, the band's lead singer is a consumate front-man, and while I couldn't place his voice at first, I think he's best described as a new-wave Freddy Mercury. As a focal point, he perfectly balences the band's theatricality while acting as cheerleader during the band's breakdowns, which were always tight, loud and celebratory.

MP3: Down to the Ground

MP3: Take it Back

MP3: Everyone

Check out the band's MYSPACE page

Did you know Sweet Thing opened for that New Pornographers show only for radio contest winners?

Sweet Thing has a New Music Canada page

NXNE: The Great Awake

Last night I had the chance to see The Great Awake again... who rocked out another show in fine form, as always. Check out some pics here.

MTV Movie Awards recap

So I'd have to say the biggest downside of the MTV awards is that for some reason, they're the only awards show that doesn't actually show the whole thing live... so by the time it actually airs all the highlights from the show have circulated widely around the internet. With that said, thank goodness for MTV coming to Canada and making it possible for us humble hoosers to watch the show at the same time as Americans, instead of months later on Muchmusic. Onto the clips! A note for Toronto readers... Pitchfork says Gnarls is coming to Toronto to play the island on September 9th! AWESOME!

Best performance, easily, is that of Gnarls Barkley performing "Crazy." Chewbacca on drums! But here's a question though... why did Cee-lo standing completely still the whole time?



My second favorite music performance? Not AFI. If you want to find an AFI clip, go somewhere else, because I just can't stand those guys... I completely pass on whatever they are up to. No, I actually liked Christina Aguilera's performance of her new single "Ain't no other man." I have to admit, right off the bad, it didn't look promising with a put-you-to-sleep ballad, but instead it's a romping swing-pop fusion. I can't help shake the feeling though, is that she more or less has stolen the conceptual idea of everything I've heard about the upcoming Outkast movie and soundtrack... mind you, if they make the hybrid work like this, I'll be impressed.



Next up... SNAKES ON A PLANE!! Shrek. He's green, but he's not a snake.



Ron Google. Chris Parnell shows again why he is the funniest SNL cast member, and why he and the Lonely Island crew deserve more face time.



And while it wasn't on the show, Kellie Pickler talks to celebs on the red carpet for Leno.



Finally, a couple of classic performance clips from MTV Movie Awards gone past. First up, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, with probably the best performance of "Maps" ever.



One of the best intro clips to the Awards show ever:



And finally some Canadian content... Sum 41 with a very VERY special guest at the end.



Okay this really is the last one, M.J. from a 1995 MTV Music awards show.

Preparing for Pitchfork: The Walkmen

The Walkmen came into the collective consciousness a couple of years ago with their massive breakout hit "The Rat" from their last album "Bows and Arrows." The band is now back with a new album, "A Hundred Miles Off," and a new missive to rock the world again.

Currently in the middle of an American tour, that looks like it's climaxing with their performance at the Pitchfork Music Festival, which either means they will either be impressively good, finishing a tour at the top of their game... or completely worn out and exhausted.

What else can I say about the Walkmen? While being a solid and emotionally charged rock unit, they are professionals, making sure every song works, ensuring a performance that always delivers. On record, they have this uncanny ability to be a perfect soundtrack for a party, but at the same time are perfect for some quiet listening by yourself.

MP3: Louisiana - A Hundred Miles Off

MP3: The Rat - Bows and Arrows

Check out the band's Myspace page for a few songs

Pitchfork reviews the band's live show

A Stereogum thread about the new album

Finally a vintage Walkmen clip, performing on David Letterman:

Preparing for Pitchfork: Chin Up Chin Up

When it comes to Chicago's own Chin Up Chin Up, think positivity, because this messy "big sound" group is out to uplift, engage and spark all-around body shaking. Their sound is reminiscent of American analog Set and Broken Social Scene.

Formed in 2001, the band suffered a serious tragedy when bass player Chris Saatoff was killed in a hit-and-run during the last stages of releasing their 2004 album "We Should Have Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers." After taking time to mourn their loss, they came back with a renewed vision of hope and you can hear the celebration of life in every note they play.

After all the touring behind their "Skyscrapers" album, the band is back in Chicago, working on new material for their next album.

MP3: We Should Have Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers

MP3: Virginia, Don't Drown

Here's the video for "We Should Have Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers



Check out the band's Myspace

Rollin' with Saget

I remember hunting around for this MP3 a few months ago and never really found it. Fortunately it's turned up over at Perezhilton.com and you too can now listen to Bob Saget swear like a sailor... got to love how it ends with "Good night, Michelle." Yes, that's a Full House reference.

MP3: Rollin' with Saget - The Stone Movement

Some behind the scenes Saget action...



Saget talks about recording his rap...



And the infamous Saget stereogum thread.

NOW talks to Jamie Kennedy about the rap.

A Soundtrack for Satan on 06/06/06

Considering that on Tuesday, the official date will be June 6, 2006, or 6/6/6, I figured that instead of cowering beneath a desk I would offer up a sweet mix of songs about the Devil for you all to enjoy. This is a post that my God-fearing mother in law will surely hate, but I relish... devilishly.

Music for the day of Satan.

1. Sympathy for the Devil (Neptunes remix) - Rolling Stones
2. Devil's Pie - D'Angelo
3. Devil's Haircut - Beck
4. Devil Town - Daniel Johnson
5. Devil went down to Georgia - Johnny Cash
6. Run Devil Run - Jenny Lewis
7. Tribute - Tenacious D
8. Sympathy for the Devil - Yo La Tengo
9. The Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden
10. Running with the Devil - Van Halen
11. Handsome Devil (Troy Tate Session) - The Smiths
12. Devil in her heart - The Beatles
13. The Devil's Workday - Modest Mouse
14. Satan's Bed - Pearl Jam
15. Satan gave me a Taco - Beck
16. Sympathy for the devil - Rolling Stones

Do you have your own mix? Your own suggestions/mixtapes? Leave your comments/input!

Here's one for the Oiler fans

I really have no idea how Knob Hockey came to be, but considering it's hockey season and there's a Canadian team in the finals, I figured I'd throw up a worthy hockey link to these crazy guys. They've created a few short viniettes featuring hockey players in the playoffs, acted out using those old 2-D players from old hockey rink games. I think the best is "Pisani" (eh Badda Boom Badda Bing!) and "Goalie's Mind." Hopefully these guys keep up the good work and provide a few more clips!

Hat tip goes to the Accordion Guy for pointing me the way to this one.