GIF Talk

Evan Roth (of G.R.L. and F.A.T.) has created a 10-minute ode to the asinine antics of animated Graphics Interchange Format files. What better way to celebrate than setting this massive mashup to Girl Talk and marvelling at how obsessed we are with babies and cats and science fiction and...

Cloak & Cipher

"New song. Quarry Hymns. Not to be confused with Corey Haim."

Land of Talk has a new album and a new tour.

These sweet pilgrims of sound also played Some Are Lakes during their Take Away Show (presented by Black XS Live Sound and La Blogotheque). And if you want to hear Elizabeth explain the story behind Some Are Lakes, there's a great version of the song that was recorded during a Yours Truly session.

Gingercide

The gingerism on display in M.I.A.'s new video for "Born Free" feels like South Park meets Children of Men on steroids. And while satire and exploitation serve their purposes, I have to consider them little more than stepping stones to a sad truth: our capacity for arbitrary hate will never die.

Please, for the good of humanity, don't be an idiot.

Liars "Scissor"

Liars "Scissor" from A Bruntel on Vimeo.

If you're seeking something surreal and steeped in futility, well... you've come to the right place. Check out the Liars website, Sisterworld, and/or their MySpace page.

Yours Tru.ly

Holly Miranda "Lover You Should've Come Over" (Jeff Buckley cover) from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

I have two new favorite things in the whole wide wild world:
1) YoursTru.ly, a magical music blog. Dive into YT's Vimeo Channel.
2) Holly Miranda playing Jeff Buckley's Lover, You Should've Come Over.

Homeless Creep

That guy played these songs on this show. And the Flying Spaghetti Monster saw that it was good.

"If there’s any homeless person who deserves a moment in the spotlight, a huge royalty check, or even just a warm place to sleep, it’s Mustard, the homeless guy who came onto Opie and Anthony’s Sirius XM radio show to blow the minds of everyone in the building with a unique and extremely soulful rendition of Radiohead’s Creep." ~ BiH

Noah and the Whale

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for Spring.

Land of Talk

It may not feel okay somedays, but at least there's incredible music to help you get through it. Throw in a a gorgeous video that feels like a collaboration between Luis Buñuel and Miyazaki-san and color me enamored.

A Slow Parade

It's not often I come across a song I really like on a TV show, but if I was hedging my bets, I'd say the next one comes from House, too. "Double A" Bondy is a former member of Verbena, for anyone who remembers them, and he's currently wrapping up a tour in support of his second solo album "When the Devil's Loose."

Check out the use of "A Slow Parade" near the end (37:30) of Episode 9 from Season 6 ("Wilson").

LaundroMatinee

My favorite music blog is My Old Kentucky Blog. LaundroMatinee, according to its Vimeo account, is essentially MOKB's vlog counterpart:

"Craig 'Dodge' Lile from MyOldKentuckyBlog.com, with help from the incredibly talented Jeff DuPont (audio) , Doug Fellegy (video), Tim Wilsbach (video), Joe Wallace (Video), Michelle Castillo (Video) and Nate Karamanski (video), has created laundromatinee.com - a site that features the in-studio sessions MOKB records for its SIRIUS XM Blog Radio show (Tuesdays at Noon EST on SIRIUS 26/XM 43)."

P.S. I'm absolutely smitten with this video in particular.

Secret Of The Easy Yoke

Some part of me likes to think that the greatest time in my life was when I was a Christian. Over the years, I've lamented losing the faith I'd previously built my life around. Recently, though, I realized that the solution is not simply to return to church. Church was never the highlight of my spiritual experience. Church was a lot of somebody else's interpretation of a popular book along with some songs I didn't really like. The highlights were sharing my search for meaning with other people and challenging myself to live by a higher standard of consideration for everyone.

Regardless of how I feel about religions and churches, I'm still not quite sure what to make of the whole god thing. But if there's a song that captures the transitional experience, it's most certainly this one. To paraphrase David, "Well, a lot's changed since I heard this song, but it's an interesting document."

Just Mob It

In the Age of Irony, the flash mob is a troublesome brainchild. Conceived to poke fun at hipsters and conformity, this mockery mob-ishness has been hijacked by those savvy Swedes as a tribute to the late King of Pop. For all the cheap jokes we've slung in Michael Jackson's direction over the years, it's easy to see that these people are dancing for anything but irony's sake. These performances are like human fireworks. They don't try to drag out the whole song; they get the point across in less than two minutes. And then, as if nothing had ever happened, they disappear into the crowd.

I could think of no better way to commemorate the strange man who gave us such ridiculously catchy music and some flippin' sweet dance moves.

Dinner with the Band - Tokyo Police Club