The Blues

so I was fooling around on Youtube and discovered something that in hindsight should have been obvious: a lot of the jams I like were covers of old blues songs. Some of the blues songs are better, I think, like "Going Up Country."

For example, "Black Betty" by Ram Jam. Or Leadbelly: vs

"House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals, and also Leadbelly vs

And "Going Up the Country" by Canned Heat and Henry Thomas vs

Funniest video I've seen in a long time: NSFW

so this is pretty great. It was related to some other video, God knows why.

Don't watch it at work, unless your work is very progressive.



I am glad these guys exist. They're like the Vengaboys crossed with Yin Yang Twins. Crazily, they're also Berry Gordy's son and grandson.

North Korean army getting funky

so here is the North Korean army getting funky.

Music Jam: Lana Del Rey is awesome

so the other day I asked a friend what music she was listening to, and she suggested Lana del Rey:

hot chick
raspy voice
sings about whiskey
i love it
she's my spirit animal

To me, that is a pretty good recommendation. So I checked her out, and she is great (and also the hot chick part is accurate.)

"Video Games" is my favorite so far.




"Kinda Outta Luck" has a very 60s vibe to me.


Somebody on Youtube suggested that she should do a James Bond theme song, which is a great idea.
She also kind of reminds me of the National.

Awesome new Beastie Boys video

so here's a new video from the Beastie Boys; or really, more of a short film. It's for their new song "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win" from an upcoming album. I could watch a full movie of this. There's a bigger version on their site if you want to watch it in all its glory.

Hipsters on video

so for some reason, this 9 second video I made is one of the most popular one I have on Youtube, even more than ones that I consider way more awesome, like Massanutten Extreme, snowboarding down 13th Street, and Teddy getting tackled by a wolf at the Presidents Race.

It's of hipsters in Williamsburg. Enjoy?

Music Jam: Pomplamoose

so my friend Kate told me about this band, it's a unsigned duo from the Bay Area called Pomplamoose, a play on pamplemousse, the French word for grapefruit. They're kind of girly, but undeniably catchy and fun and stuff. And it helps that the lead singer has a great, jazzy voice and is pretty gorgeous. I bet so many dudes fell in love.

Here's one I like, and there a ton more on their Youtube page.



They do little stories after the songs too. Here's their Myspace, Twitter and Wikipedia page.

Cereal

so here are a bunch of cereal commercials.











I ate all of these.

Music Jam: Discovery - "So Insane"

so I found this MP3 on my iPhone and have no idea where it came from, but I really liked it. It's sort of a combination of Junior Boys, Passion Pit, and Ladytron, but with no cute Bulgarian girls. I couldn't find a real video, so all I have is this homemade one.



The band is made up of Rostam Batmanglij from Vampire Weekend and Wes Miles from Ra Ra Riot. There's more good songs on their Myspace, and check out the weird/cool dance videos on there also:

Music Jam: Miike Snow - "Animal"

so it's been awhile since I was into new music (or new to me, at least) but here's a jam I'm really liking lately: it's Miike Snow's "Animal." The band, pronounced "Mike Snow" is from Sweden, and they have one self-titled album.

It's catchy indie rock with some electronic flourishes, some harmonies and falsettos -- nothing revolutionary, just good stuff. Apparently they were producers for pop songs like Britney Spears' "Toxic" of all things, but you wouldn't get that from these songs at all.

Music Jam: Beck - "Steve Threw Up"

so this is an old Beck song that which was released on vinyl in limited quantities in 1994, and had a limited vinyl re-release in 2000. My friend had the record in about sophomore year of high school and I was a big fan, but I had mostly forgotten about it until I was working on the Buzz Bin page on Wikipedia. The song is about one of Beck's friends who threw up after taking LSD. Pretty good stuff.

And the backing band is That Dog, who had some minor success in the mid 90s are had a couple members in The Rentals.

It's not actually a video, but hey, enjoy.

Ladainian Tomlinson is my new favorite football player

so I like funny athletes. Thus my new favorite.



My friend made the point that it looks like Eric Wareheim (of Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!) made it. He might be the old guy with the wig.

Secret Santa in Japanese

so my coworker got me one of these for our office Secret Santa thing. Man, Japan is such a strange country.

New Hot Chip video: "One Life Stand"

so there's a new Hot Chip video, for "One Life Stand" off an upcoming album of the same name. It's ok, but I do like their somewhat robotic dance moves. I'm going to copy them next time I'm in the tha club.

Hot Chip - One Life Stand (MySpace Exclusive)

Hot Chip | MySpace Music Videos

There's also another new song out, "Take It In."

Music Jam: Friendly Fires - "Jump in the Pool"

so this jam is "Jump in the Pool" by Friendly Fires, an English band that were on the shortlist for the Mercury Music Prize, a British music award.



The video has some cool parts and some weird parts, like the synchronized swimming and close-ups of the singer and band, respectively. I like the song a lot though, kind of ethereal like M83 with some good and busy drumming. Pitchfork mentioned the song sounding like 10cc in the beginning, which is a pretty funny comparison -- new electro indie stuff to 70s AM soft rock. And the chorus is kind of strange: it's about a pool? But still, good stuff. Their other single "Paris" is a good one too.

They only have one album out so far, and here's their Myspace.

HORSE

so I made this video awhile ago. Enjoy.

Music Jam: Noisettes - "Never Forget You"

so this is a song I've been liking a lot recently: it's called "Never Forget You" by English band the Noisettes. I'm not sure where I heard it, I'm guessing it was at a bar or something because it was on my Shazam iPhone app (the one you use to figure out what a song is.)

Anyway, it's pretty great -- 1960s girl group style with fuzzy guitars, and I can't not like a song where a girl with a great voice wants to skip work and drink whiskey. It makes me imagine sitting in a dark bar early in the day with a good old friend/flame. Good stuff.

Unfortunately the video's sound quality is a little off, but the one on the Myspace song player is better. They also played on Letterman, pretty solid. And their other songs on Myspace are good too, from their album "Wild Young Hearts."

Music Jam: Theatre of Disco

so I found this band from a mixtape my buddy made awhile ago -- Theatre of Disco is an electronic group from Australia. What is it with Australia and good electronic music? Cut Copy, The Presets, Avalanches, etc etc.

Anyway, the trio of Theatre of Disco don't really have a sound I can nail down -- it's mostly dancey electronic rock, or maybe rocky electronica. Sometimes it's a bit like Calvin Harris, LCD Soundsystem, Fujiya & Miyagi, or Cut Copy's more driving songs. "On the Train" was the first one I heard, it's a rolling ditty with funny, did-I-just-hear that lyrics like "everybody on the train got herpres, they've got STDs." "Oke" is another good rock song, while "Larry" and "Go Fifi" are more techno-ish dance songs. It's all good stuff.

Here's their Myspace, and below is a video of the band and friends dancing in Tokyo to "Oke." They also have an EP out.

Winkers

so this is amazing. Pants called Winkers.



via DCeiver

Houston

so I went to Houston last year for my buddy's wedding, and I took a bunch of videos. I finally put them together: