Best New Tracks
- Major Lazer: "Keep It Goin' Louder [ft. Nina Sky and Ricky Blaze]"
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- Tiny Vipers: "Dreamer"
- Das Racist: "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (Wallpaper. Remix)"
- DJ Kaos: "Love the Nite Away (Tiedye Mix)"
- YACHT: "Psychic City (Voodoo City)"
Monday, June 29
Video: Kanye West: "Street Lights"
Over on his blog, Kanye West has posted Javier Longobardo's video for the 808s and Heartbreak electro-shoegaze lament "Streetlights". It looks like one of those pastel 80s beach-party T-shirts come to computer-animated life.
Considering that "Streetlights" is one of the most woozily cinematic tracks Kanye's ever composed, this could've been, uh, better. On the same day that big brother Jay-Z drops a video where he's hustling Harvey Keitel at poker and making jumpshots over Lebron James, this one doesn't quite hold up. Not everything has to look like Akira, Kanye!
Posted by Tom Breihan on June 29, 2009 at 12:50 p.m.
Tags: Kanye West, video
MGMT, Karen O Guest on Flaming Lips LP
This is just getting better and better.
So we've got that potentially amazing girl-with-beard cover (still unconfirmed). Lots of talk about how this is going to be the Lips' return to weird. And now we get news that both MGMT and Karen O are set to make very special appearances on the Flaming Lips' upcoming double album, Embryonic, according to an interview with Wayne Coyne himself on Swiss website Die Klangschau.
"We have MGMT doing a song with us and we have Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs doing a couple songs with us," said the Wayner. "For the Karen O tracks, I just called her up in her hotel room and we just did it right over the telephone. It's pretty absurd." (Insert "phoning it in" joke here.)
No word on what these featured players are doing on the record, exactly, but I'm hoping for screams, yelps, and squiggles. You can listen to the whole interview here.
Wavves' Nathan Williams Speaks About Barcelona Meltdown, Future Plans
"I can't fuck up once? If people think that I'm not going to fuck up, there's no reason to even come and watch me."
Last month, Nathan Williams, the force behind the San Diego noise-pop entity Wavves, played a self-destructive mess of a set at Barcelona's Primavera Sound Festival. As Pitchfork's Ryan Schreiber described here, he made fun of the crowd, scrapped with his drummer, and dodged bottles, all before soundmen finally shut off his mic. In the process, Williams set off a frenzy fed by posting and then removing an apology on his own blog, wherein he admitted to taking a cocktail of Ecstasy, Valium, and Xanax before coming on stage.
In the aftermath of the meltdown, Williams cancelled his European tour and returned home. Now, he is breaking his silence, talking for the first time about the Barcelona set and its aftermath, working with Hella drummer Zach Hill, and what the future holds for Wavves.
Video: Jay-Z: "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)"
The would-be Auto-Tune killer keeps his hair long for this slick clip courtesy of cinematic video auteur Anthony Mandler (the Killers, Beyoncé). Jay sets up shop in an abandoned building, jams with his band, and chops it up with Harvey Keitel and LeBron James while making this song look a bit better than it sounds.
Posted by Ryan Dombal on June 29, 2009 at 9:35 a.m.
Michael Jackson Live CD/DVD, Jackson Family Tribute Tour Possible
Plus, the Jackson family speaks out.
Following the death of Michael Jackson on Thursday, speculation runs rampant as to what the Jackson family's next commercial move might be. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a memorial tour featuring the surviving Jackson brothers as well as Janet Jackson may be in the works. The New York Daily News reports that Jackson's last rehearsal for his planned 50-night stand at the O2 Arena in London may be headed to DVD and CD. The night before his death on June 25, Jackson's rehearsal at L.A.'s Staples Center was recorded on high-definition audio and video by AEG Live, the company promoting the London concerts. Reuters reports that AEG Live plans to refund all tickets for the O2 Arena shows, which were scheduled to start July 13.
Over the weekend, there were many more developments in the Jackson saga:
Friday, June 26
Jackson's Cause of Death Not Determined
Test results expected in four to six weeks.
CNN reports that Los Angeles County Coroners performed an autopsy on Michael Jackson earlier today. But in a press conference this afternoon, operations chief Craig Harvey declined to give Jackson's cause of death. "The cause of death has been deferred," Harvey told reporters.
Harvey said that the coroners had requested additional testing, which are expected to take four to six weeks. He also said that Jackson's body showed "no sign of external trauma or indication of foul play," according to CNN.
Harvey did say that Jackson had been taking prescription medications, but he couldn't comment on whether those medications played a role in Jackson's sudden death yesterday.
Posted by Tom Breihan on June 26, 2009 at 6:05 p.m.
Tags: Michael Jackson
Video: Wilco and Feist Perform "You and I" Live for the First Time
Last night in Los Angeles, Wilco and Feist performed their duet "You and I" live for the first time outside of the studio. And thanks to the magic of YouTube, we can all watch it. (Via Stereogum)
"You and I" appears on Wilco (The Album), out June 30 on Nonesuch. For more live Wilco action, stay tuned to http://wilcoworld.net and Wilco (the iPhone app) this Saturday night 10 p.m. CDT for a webcast of the band's show at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California.
Posted by Amy Phillips on June 26, 2009 at 5:45 p.m.
Echo Chamber: Colin Meloy
"Just watched a documentary about GG Allin and my day has been officially ruined."
-- If that's not a ringing endorsement of Pitchfork.tv's current One Week Only feature-- Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies-- from the Decemberists' Colin Meloy, we don't know what is. (via @colinmeloy)
Posted by Ryan Dombal on June 26, 2009 at 4:55 p.m.
Tags: Colin Meloy, Echo Chamber
Reznor Reveals Rejected Timbaland Remix
Calls Tim's "Hand That Feeds" mix "laughably terrible"
Trent Reznor hasn't been shy about declaring his disdain for Chris Cornell's recent Timbaland-produced dance-pop experiment Scream. But in a new interview with Sound Opinions, the radio show/podcast from Chicago-based rock writers Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot, Reznor went a little deeper.
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