Music Video?

Tucson, Arizona's Music Video? is a great electronic band that made a good showing at SXSW last week in Austin. Check out the write-up on NPR.

Music Video? on NPR

2007 End Of The Year Songs

Working from home warrants a lot of time to listen to music and I mostly tend to play my 'Current Music' playlist in iTunes. While I am concentrating on work there are songs that wrestle with my subconscious, causing me to come to and take notice. I have compiled these tunes that have been swimming in my head for the past month and a half, into one playlist called '2007 End of the Year Songs'. I think these songs are the best from the best of the best.

	Bat for Lashes What's a Girl to Do?	Creepy, sad and so well executed. One of the best songs, videos and bands of 2007.
	Duran Duran Falling Down	Classic Duran Duran yet with a contemporary sound.
	Beirut Cliquot	Sexy and classic-sounding French village music from a musical savant just barely old enough to drink.
	The Bird And The Bee Carol of the Bells	The enigmatic re-do of the classic Christmas carol (with lyrics!). The only thing wrong with this song is that it is the only child of a non-existent album.
	Erasure Sucker for Love	Yes, Erasure.
	Jarvis Cocker Running the World	A poignant song sung with the right ingredients of the rock-n-roll spirit and pop catch.
	Just Jack Starz In Their Eyes	Everyone wants to be a pop star. Even Just Jack.
	KT Tunstall Saving My Face	As usual, I love the album that is not the commercial success of the two. Give it a try...
	Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs Different Drum	A brilliant pairing of artists that find their voice in the songs of the 60s. This song still applies to life today.
	Pink Crash & Burn	This is a bonus track on I'm Not Dead that has become the mantra of my personal life. Pink describes the busy and demanding rock star life from an airplane, massaging it into the positive spin of "I'll never crash and burn."
	Iron & Wine House By the Sea	I am immediately withdrawn into the world of Gordon Lightfoot and Dan Fogelberg but with an alternative music spin. This is good working music.
	Bruce Springsteen Radio Nowhere	I am a product of the 80s and damn proud of it. Unfortunately this also means my 'first experience' with a lot of classic music acts is disgraced with some of their worst music. The Boss is in this category and I am happy to change my mind with his latest effort.
	Tegan and Sara The Con	This song is like an Indiana Jones movie; it starts with quick opening credits that dive straight into non-stop action. If inclined, check out the brutally honest lyrics online.
	Rilo Kiley The Angels Hung Around	I don't know why this album is so different from Rilo Kiley's others. This song sounds like a classic 70s country song sung with the crystal clear voice of a Southern Belle.
	Maria McKee Late December	Maria is the best musician alive and probably one of the most forgotten if ever known. Of course, she is my number one.
	M.I.A. Paper Planes	Controversial? You decide. War profiteering epitomized into children's voices, gunshots and the 'cha-ching' of a cash register.
	Lavender Diamond Open Your Heart	Channeling Olivia Newton-John circa the mid to late 70s. If you like this song, get the album. If you want to keep liking the album, don't ever watch the band's videos on YouTube.

Visit the iTunes iMix

M.I.A. - Paper Planes

M.I.A. has made a video for Paper Planes and has found the song hitting roadblocks with the censors. Apparently, the gunshots used in the chorus are too much for America to handle and the meaning of the song has been convoluted into a pro-violence mantra - which is all too ironic.

M.I.A. performed the song on Letterman and during the middle of her performance, realized that the gunshots had been "censored". Watch the performance on YouTube. It is obvious that she was unaware of the change from her earlier sound check because she turns her head to the DJ during the first chorus as if to inquire about what was going on. MTV also joined in on the skewing of ideals by censoring out the gunshots in the official version of the video as well. She responded to it all on her official MySpace blog.

More

• M.I.A. Official Website
• Arular album review at All Music

Related

• M.I.A. on the Asian Pacific Post

Tori Amos Will NOT Be Disrupted

Tori Amos interrupted Code Red to tell two audience members on the front row to 'get the fuck out'.

More

• Tori Amos' Official Website
• American Doll Posse album review at All Music

Related

• Akon Throws Audience Member into The Crowd
• Akon - Sorry Blame It On My Humping
  

Amy Winehouse - Love Is A Losing Game

Amy Winehouse has made a video for my favorite song from her album Back to Black. How, do you ask, do they get Amy Winehouse to pin down a video despite her having a habit of canceling concerts and meandering around her neighborhood in a bra and jeans at 5 a.m.? The solution is to splice together existing concert and candid footage into an Olan Mills-style montage complete with dramatic fades and double exposure.

More

• Amy Winehouse Official Website
• Amy Winehouse in her bra on Perez Hilton
• Back To Black album review at All Music

Related

• A look at the bouffant harido on Bad Fads Museum
  
• Classic Motown Records
• Olan Mills
  

The Bird and The Bee - Carol Of The Bells

That weird juxtaposition of Christmas and creepy that we like.

Download It
amazon | iTunes

More
The Bird and The Bee Website
The Bird and The Bee - Again & Again

Related
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Flashback: When I Wasn't Gay

Sandra Bernhard put out an album in 1994 called Excuses for Bad Behavior, Pt. 1. I don't remember why I bought this CD since the most of what I really knew of her was from her lesbian kiss on Rosanne. It was my last years of college and I remember not taking to it immediately, but loving every track in the end. A few years later I moved to NY and saw Sandra Bernhard at the Westbeth Theatre and was completely blown away. She has the magic.

Album Highlights
Manic Superstar, Sympathy For The Devil, Phone Sex (Do You Want Me Tonight), 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover

This marks the first entry in a recurring blog focused on recently revisited/rediscovered things from my past, mostly music, that are clear indicators of my inner-queer but from a time when I wasn't out. Oh the things time will tell.

More
Sandra Bernhard's Website
Sandra on MySpace
Album Review on All Music

Related
Maurice
REN Rose Centifolia Facial Wash

Beirut - Elephant Gun

Zach Condon, a.k.a. Beirut, is a young buck-of-a-talented musician. His style is his own and seemingly well thought out and mature despite having not really had that much adult life. Grab some wine and cheese and enjoy the traveling, spirited and very French sound of Beirut. The video is great visually and adds a life to the song that is different than when heard alone.

More
Beirut Website
The Flying Club Cup
Beirut at The Avalon in LA

Related
Alaska In Winter
Regular Beat Records

Bat for Lashes - What's A Girl To Do

Bat For Lashes has made an incredible video directed by Dougal Wilson. It is one part Donnie Darko with a hint of Lily Allen's original video for 'LDN', fried in the 'one-take' batter of a Feist video.

More

• Bat For Lashes Website
• Bat For Lashes on Facebook
  
• Bat For Lashes on MySpace
• Video: Prescilla