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SweetAfton23 (aka Molly), PCWEI’s patron saint of ukulele players, is back. This time she got a chance to perform with Johnathon Coulton and Paul & Storm at one of their shows in Seattle. Check her out as she helps out JoCo and the gang with a couple of tunes:
“Tom Cruise Crazy”
“Baby Got Back”
Check out the rest of the videos, including her original song, “Road Trip”, which I highly recommend.
I figured I’d pick something topical this week for the Random Cover of the Week. And since both The Raconteurs and Gnarls Barkely made headlines for pushing up the release dates of their respective albums (with The Raconteurs’ Consolers of the Lonely coming out next Tuesday and Gnarls Barkely’s The Odd Couple already out). So what better way to celebrate that with The Raconteurs covering Gnarls Barkley’s ubiquitous “Crazy”?
Today’s my second-favorite holiday that honors a guy that allegedly drove snakes from a place that had no snakes (my favorite of course being Whacking Day). In honor of “Saint” Patrick, here are the three most musically gifted Muppets — Beaker, Animal, and The Swedish Chef — preforming “Danny Boy”, a song that everyone thinks is Irish but actually isn’t.
If you didn’t see Be Kind Rewind let me catch you up a little bit. The movie centered around the concept of “sweding”, which is basically remaking a movie using whatever materials you have on hand. In the movie they swede a bunch of movies, ranging from Ghostbusters and Robocop to Driving Miss Daisy.
Sweding seems to have caught on with the movie’s fans, as a bunch of homemade swedes have started appearing on YouTube. Jurrasic Park, Die Hard, and even Back to the Future have been remade. But the best so far is Star Wars:
It starts out ok, but really kicks into gear when the X-Wings and Tie fighters come in. The guy making the Tie fighter noise just kills me.
One word isn’t even enough, it isn’t even enough, it isn’t even enough to describe how strange this new Modest Mouse video is. It’s for “Fly Trapped in a Jar”, from We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, and it looks kind of like Dr. Seuss directed a Robert Palmer video starring the bad guy from The Incredibles. While doing acid. And mushrooms. Not that I would know.
What do you get when you cross The Beatles with Van Halen? A surprisingly good mix of “Runnin’ With the Devil” and “Drive My Car”. It uses David Lee Roth’s isolated vocal track from “Runnin’ With the Devil”. If you haven’t heard it, go listen to it. It’s good for a laugh.
I actually watched Kimmel last night post-Oscars, and this had me almost in tears from laughing. Hilarious. See if you can spot all the celebrity cameos:
Indie darling Feist performed her infectious hit “1,2,3,4″ live on the Grammys last night. It’s a good, relatively subdued version of the song, featuring what seems to be a modified dixieland jazz band.
BTW, since she’s been on the Grammys now, can we still call her indie? Regardless, here’s the video:
From the “glorious things happen when creative people have too much time” department, here’s a mashup of the audio from the most recent trailer for The Dark Knight with video from the 1966 TV movie version of Batman (starring Mayor Adam West). This thing is brilliantly executed and points out just how silly the 60s version was.
For those of you that don’t remember the 60s, here’s a version using Tim Burton’s 1989 adaptation.
If you’re anything like me you’re a big fan of Scrubs, and you think that one of the funnier characters on the show is The Todd. Well here’s The Todd, rapping a song about his favorite body part, uninhibited by NBC’s puritanical rules:
For the full story behind this video head on over to TV Squad
The Today Show’s Al Roker sat chatted with Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhardt, and Christopher Nolan on the set of The Dark Knight. There’s also some good behind-the-scenes footage.
Sunday Music Spotlight alums Rilo Kiley cover Pete Townshend’s “Let My Love Open the Door”, along with fellow alum Feist and Death Cab for Cutie’s frontman Ben Gibbard. Jenny Lewis is cute when she’s drunk…
This song is like crack…So much so that Sony is using it in a camera commercial now. Anyway, here’s the official video (with one of the cooler animation techniques I’ve seen in a while):
It’s fun to see Jack White as a bullfighter, and Meg as his assistant, in the video for their cover of Patti Page’s “Conquest”. Meg leads Jack into the bullring. Jack fights the bull, wearing him down. Then the magic happens…
“Conquest” is the newest single from Icky Thump.
First it was Alfonso Ribeiro. Now it’s Vin Diesel. Apparently break dancing videos were HUGE back in the day, because both of them made videos to teach you how to be the hippest of hoppers. Looking back on this it’s hard to believe anyone actually thought this was cool…
This is probably the most random of the Random Covers. It’s a manualist named Gerry Phillips performing the theme from Super Mario Brothers. What’s a manualist? It’s a person who makes music by squeezing their hands together, forcing air out in the process. It sounds kind of like farting in tune…
If you’ve got some time to kill I highly recommend checking out Gerry’s full YouTube page. He has 62 videos up there, ranging from covers of Britney Spears, Journey, and Ozzy Osbourne to his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel performing “Bohemian Rhapsody”. I’m gobsmacked.
There’s a new trailer out for I am Legend, the big screen adaptation of Richard Matheson’s post-apocalyptic novel
I am Legend hits theaters December 14th and has the potential to be very, very cool or very, very bad.
Robot Chicken put together a great spoof of 300. Playing on the fact that the movie isn’t historically accurate, the twisted minds of RC gave another historical tale the same treatment. So watch as George Washington, John Hancock, and the rest of the founding fathers kick some serious British ass!
Who knew that underneath that gruff exterior Darth Vader was really a hard-core blues harp player?
An example of how bleeping profanity can actually be funnier than letting it go…
You may remember Peter, Bjorn, and John’s “Young Folks” as the mental super glue I posted in an old Sunday Music Spotlight. Well here’s a bluegrass cover by Dawn Landes. As much as I like the original, this might just be better…
It’s like Marvin Gaye and Jack Johnson had a rather large love child… All kidding aside, it’s actually quite good. Just a little strange.
Sunday Music Spotlight alums Spoon made an appearance on this week’s Saturday Night Live, playing two songs. Quite possibly the most exciting thing on SNL in years. It would have been better if they’d gotten that cute little robot to come out and dance with them. Check them out:
Spoon - “Underdog”
Spoon - “You’ve Got Yr Cherry Bomb”
Remember Reading Rainbow? It was the show where LeVar Burton tried to convince you to read, WHILE YOU WERE WATCHING TV. Yeah, not a great concept. But this clip is great. It’s rap pioneers Run DMC on the show, rapping for reading:
Via BoingBoing
This, um, odd looking feller manages to put together a perfectly decent cover of Charles Mingus’ “Better Git it in Your Soul” (the opening track to one of jazz’s greatest albums, Mingus Ah Um).
Last week at the legendary Ryman Auditorium the fans who showed up to see Bob Dylan got a special treat. Not only did they get a surprise opening set from Elvis Costello, but none other than Jack White showed up to sing with Bob. To top it all off it wasn’t just any song they performed, but “One More Cup of Coffee”, a song Dylan had never performed live. Gee, that would have sucked to see. Behold the power of YouTube…
This kid plays us a cover of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” (from The White Album) on a banjo. And surprisingly it works somehow…
So the story goes like this:
Bruce Springsteen is playing a show in Copenhagen. Before the show he’s walking around and sees a guy on the street playing one of his songs. So he plays “The River” with the guy. Crazy.
Oh KT, how you keep surprising me. Here is a positively kick ass looped cover of The Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back”:
A few fun facts about Ms. Tunstall:
Twisted, but funny…
This time it’s by a dude, which makes it slightly creepy…
The New Pornographers performed “My Rights Versus Yours” on Letterman last week. Here’s the video, complete with Neko’s gloriously short skirt:
It’s not new, but I just ran across Junior Senior’s “Can I Get Get Get” the other day. And I dig the Danish Sugarhill Gang meet The B-52s groove they’ve got. It’s a bit cheesy, but I don’t care.
Sunday Music Spotlight alum Feist appeared on Letterman last night to play her uber-infectious ditty “1 2 3 4″. And as a special treat she had a choir made up of indie music stars, including members of The New Pornographers, The National, Broken Social Scene, Grizzly Bear, and others. Check it out:
The Apples in Stereo have released a second video for their song “Same Old Drag” (off of the most excellent New Magnetic Wonder
Personally I prefer the first video for the song, with it’s Wayne’s World vibe:
I know it sounds strange. Just watch it. Trust me. It’s worth it. This chick’s bringing banjo back…
This video is very simple: it’s a little yellow robot (think an animated Peep) dancing to Spoon’s “I Turn My Camera On”. Sounds dumb right? Well it should be. But for some reason I can’t stop laughing…
That little limbless robot has far better moves than I do.
But wait, there’s more, and this time it’s a public performance:
Brace yourself. You’re about to hear a Darth Vader impersonator cover a song by a YouTube sensation.
If you don’t know what Chocolate Rain is all about, here’s the original:
Yes, that’s his real voice…and it gives me nightmares.
For more about Chad Vader - Day Shift Manager check out http://www.blamesociety.net.
Props to Crazy Joe for the tip
Check out this surprisingly well made fan film about what happened to Soundwave when he found out he wasn’t going to be in Michael Bay’s craptacular Transformers…
This should appeal to two very different types of geeks…It’s the cast of the original Star Trek performing the Camelot song from Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Here’s the trailer for Be Kind Rewind, the latest movie from director Michel Gondry (who made Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
I’m not sure if the Japanese are super-creative, completely insane, or both. Here’s something they call Human Tetris. I won’t even try to explain, just watch…
Alfonso Ribeiro, best known as Will Smith’s dorky cousin Carlton on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, pitches his instructional breakdancing book in this vintage YouTube gem. That’s right, an instructional breakdancing book. A book. Not a video. A book. Because 9 out of 10 experts agree that the most effective way to learn how to dance is from a book. Luckily the book also comes with a breaking board, a rap sheet, an instruction poster, AND “the right kind of music, Rap Attack” (actually BOTH volumes of Rap Attack). Oddly enough Tom Jones isn’t included on Rap Attack…
I heard about this little video clip while listening to the Don & Mike Show today and it’s up PCWEI and personal favorite Christopher Walken. He is a true American original, an eccentric, and a pop culture icon for utter such lines as “What I need is more cowbell” while on SNL.
Or who could forget this memorable moment as the couragous Captain Koons in Pulp Fiction
Well now we’re given this treat straight from YouTube. Yes it’s Christopher Walken cooking chicken. It’s rather low-fi, and the production values are well frankly no existant. But who the hell cares is Christopher Walken cooking a friggin chicken!!!
Man do I love R-Rated trailers. I’m pretty sure that a normal trailer would make Superbad look dumb as shit. But leaving in the profanity and sex jokes makes it look pretty damn funny. It stars Michael Cera (who played George Michael on the tragically short-lived Arrested Development
The teaser trailer for the next Batman movie, The Dark Knight is out. After the successful reboot of the Batman franchise in Batman Begins
(here’s a link to a higher quality version)
The trailer doesn’t reveal very much, but here’s what we know:
Read the rest of this entry »
The more I hear this song the better it gets…
Meg and Jack are at it again. When last we caught up with the wacky duo they were playing a two song concert on a bus in Winnipeg. Well that didn’t end their Canadian mischief. This time word spread of a secret show before their concert in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Fans showed up. The crew got all the gear ready. The former Mr. and Mrs. White take the stage. And play one note before proclaiming that they’ve now officially played in every province and territory of Canada. And leave. Being the intrepid reporter that I am I’ve managed to wrangle footage of the entire concert:
I’m glad that The White Stripes get the whole “we’re weird, and that’s why you love us” vibe that makes rock n’ roll so much fun.
Joining the pantheon of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Don Johnson, Joe Pesci tried his hand at rapping in the late 90s. Here’s the video for the song “Wiseguy” off of his album “Vincent Laguardia Gambini: Sings Just For You” (which I’m ashamed to admit I actually own…from back in the BMG music club era…):
The world’s greatest fake rock band regrouped for a performance at Live Earth. In this clip they invite seemingly every bass player in the building to join them for “Big Bottoms”. If you don’t understand why this is funny please go watch the bloody movie. Or, if you really want to blow your mind, go watch these same guys turn into a folk band in A Mighty Wind.
Let’s say you’re a rock band. You’re scheduled to play a show in Winnipeg. And you’re bored before the show. What do you do? If you’re the White Stripes you post a message on your message board telling fans to be at a certain spot at a certain time. Then you round them up onto a bus and play a couple of songs for them. Kick ass!
Here’s what one lucky person on the bus said, in their description on YouTube:
On July 2, 2007, a small group of dedicated White Stripes fans got an excellent surprise. A message was left on a message board that said: “Please meet us at the southeast corner of Water Avenue and Waterfront Drive (near the Provencher Bridge) at 3:10pm SHARP. Further instructions will be delivered there”.
Around 100 people arrived 10 minutes after the message was posted. Only a few (Including myself and Free Press Photographer, David Lipnowski) made it onto a Winnipeg Transit bus where they were soon joined by Jack and Meg White. They played wheels on the bus, and Hotel Yorba for these incredibly lucky fans. They left the bus after the two songs, and thanked the fans. They hopped into a white van and headed on down to the Provencher bridge.
David and I ran from portage and main, to the forks and arrived in time to hear them play We’re gonna be friends. Jack then had a jam session with one lucky busker.
And now, because with camera phones everything can be recorded, here’s how it went down…
Read the rest of this entry »
Meh. Would have been more exciting about 10 years ago. Though Spider Pig made me chuckle…
Finally, it all makes sense…
This in one of the more interesting covers I’ve seen recently. It’s Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” with all of the melody parts played on Theremins. Kooky. And surprisingly not terrible.
Holy shit this guy has fast fingers…
I know this has been floating around for a while, but I haven’t been able to get this song out of my head for two days, so here you go. Jack seems to play the title character, with Meg as a hooker with a bad eye. Because that makes sense…