If you aren’t laughing out loud with happy tears streaming down your face by the end of this video then something is clearly wrong with you. English folk rock band Mumford & Sons have enlisted funnymen Jason Sudeikis (SNL), Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Ed Helms (The Office), and Will Forte (SNL) to play far-out versions of the four bandmates in this twisted, self-deprecating parody. The music video for “Hopeless Wanderer,” a track off M&S’ album Babel, gets sillier and sillier as it goes on and by the end you want to watch it all over again. From the unsuspecting start to the full on make-out sesh between Sudeikis and Forte, this is one unforgettable clip that proves Mumford can take a hit, laugh at themselves, and enjoy the ride.
Category Archives: Music
Jay Z spontaneously performs “Picasso Baby” at NYC gallery, waxes lyrical about the art of performance
On Friday night Jay Z (rest in peace hyphen) premiered his music video for “Picasso Baby,” a track off his latest album Magna Carta… Holy Grail. But it’s more than just a music video, claims the rapper. He calls it “a performance art film” as it incorporates more than just him rapping along to his rhymes. Jay introduces the clip with reflections on performance and hip-hop as art. It’s a music video/documentary hybrid, if you will.
Last month Hova took over Chelsea’s Pace Gallery in New York City for six straight hours where he rapped “Piscasso Baby” in front of a crowd consisting of excited fans off the street as well as famous artists, actors, dancers, and performers. Mark Romanek, who previously collaborated with Jay on his 99 Problems music video, directed this eight minute video (the final two minutes or so is all credits) and shot it all using eight different cameras. Celebrity cameos include Alan Cumming, Judd Apatow, Michael K. Williams, and Wale.
It’s definitely one of the most candid and straight up fun music videos I’ve ever seen. Jay seems to be having a genuinely good time amongst his people and his high energy is contagious to the viewer. So, enjoy this performance art film music video documentary, or whatever you want to call it.
Justin Timberlake takes back the night in music video for “Take Back The Night”
JT keeps the party going with his latest music video for his new 20/20 Part 2 single “Take Back The Night.” The creatively-edited clip bounces back and forth between Justin dancing in the street, headlining his Legends of the Summer tour in Yankee Stadium, and tearing up the dance floor at a NYC nightclub. Go on, listen to the MJ-inspired track again, this time with some fun and sweaty visuals.
Kid Cudi & other artists design unique beer bottle labels for Beck’s
Musician Kid Cudi was approached by Beck’s to design a unique label for their beer bottles. It’s an annual tradition for Beck’s; this year six artists from different disciplines were selected to participate in creating limited edition beer labels. Over 13 million bottles featuring custom labels imagined by Cudi, fashion designer and entrepreneur Marc Ecko, artist and musician Willis Earl Beal, multi-medium artists The Date Farmers, interactive digital duo TM Sisters, and photographer William Hundley will sell for the remainder of the summer. Check out this clip from Beck’s starring Cudder as he details the label design he came up with; the three rings that make up the background of the label represent Cudi’s Man on the Moon albums (yes, a third album to close out the trilogy is in the works).
Eye the new designs in the gallery below, and watch the other artists’ videos at Beck’s YouTube channel.
Justin Timberlake and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis lead 2013 VMA nominations
We’re nearly approaching August and you know what that means: the MTV Video Music Awards is fast approaching. Justin Timberlake and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis lead with the most nominations for a Moonman this year with six apiece. JT’s “Mirrors” off his solid comeback album The 20/20 Experience and Macklemore & RL’s catchy “Thrift Shop” are in the running for Video of the Year along with Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven,” Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” and T. Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble.” Close behind are Bruno Mars with four nods, and artists Pink, Robin Thicke, Miley Cyrus, and Thirty Seconds To Mars managed to pick up three nods each.
For 2013 the VMAs will air live on Sunday, August 25 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. To honor the new host venue, one of the borough’s most influential artists KAWS was asked to redesign for this year only the famous Moonman statue. It features his signature x’s for eyes, crossbones through the head, and puffy gloves for hands. No doubt artists will be clamoring for a win to claim the limited-edition, wickedly awesome trophy pictured above.
To view the full list of nominees, pop after the break. Continue reading Justin Timberlake and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis lead 2013 VMA nominations
Kid Cudi announces ‘Cud Life Tour’ hitting 20+ cities starting this summer
Kid Cudi is going on a 20+ city tour starting later this summer and rappers Big Sean, Tyler The Creator, and Logic will be joining him on the road. The Cud Life 2013 Tour kicks off in Salt Lake City, Utah and will travels to major cities like Las Vegas, San Diego, Seattle, Philly, Boston, Toronto, and East Rutherford, New Jersey. Noticeably absent from the current list of tour stops are New York City and Los Angeles. According to all things Cudder source DatNewCudi.com, the Lonely Stoner plans to add additional dates and locations in the fall so stay tuned. For now, jump after the break for more tour details and a link to snag tix. Continue reading Kid Cudi announces ‘Cud Life Tour’ hitting 20+ cities starting this summer
Justin Timberlake debuts ’20/20 Part 2′ single “Take Back The Night”
JT is on a roll. Shortly after dropping a music video for the third single off his new hit record The 20/20 Experience he debuted the first single off his sequel album The 20/20 Experience — 2 of 2. The MJ-influenced tune is called “Take Back The Night,” it’s produced by Timberlake, Timbaland, and Jerome “J-ROC” Harmon, and it’s embedded above for your listening pleasure. 20/20 Part 2 has been given a street date of September 30 and the iTunes preorder page reveals it will contain (at least) 11 tracks.
“I originally recorded a massive amount of material and decided on the 20 tracks that I wanted on the album over a year ago,” JT says in a press release. “But, when I was mixing and going through all of the songs there were so many that I loved — I couldn’t resist… I had to throw in something extra on the 2nd half.”
Fans were pleasantly surprised to find two bonus tracks on a deluxe edition of 20/20 Part 1 so perhaps what Justin is referring to there is a special edition of Part 2 containing a few bonus jams of its own. Continue reading Justin Timberlake debuts ’20/20 Part 2′ single “Take Back The Night”
The Weeknd readies new album ‘Kiss Land’ with lead single & fall tour
The Weeknd is back for more. After dropping three mixtapes for free–namely House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence–he packaged them all together in his first studio album Trilogy and released it last November. Since then, Abel Tesfaye has been hard at work on prepping his followup album that will consist of all-new tracks this time around. Kiss Land is the forthcoming record, and it shares the name with the album’s lead single. It sounds like The Weekend, or what you’re used to at least, but there’s no denying the sheer amount of musical growth that’s embedded inside the track. Everything sounds better, clearer even: from the popping production value to the sensual-as-ever lyrics. After signing with Universal Republic Records he promised fans that his sound would not waver from its original mentality. “You will continue to get what you fell in love with, and I will continue to give you what you ask for,” he wrote in a note. “Kiss Land” the single delivers; it’s classic The Weeknd infused with a spurt of musical maturity. Jump after the break to preview the 7 minute 41 second introduction to the next phase of The Weeknd; download it at iTunes. Kiss Land is due out at the end of the summer. And in other news, The Weeknd going on a 28-date tour called The Fall; dates and locations are listed below. Continue reading The Weeknd readies new album ‘Kiss Land’ with lead single & fall tour
Justin Timberlake’s “Tunnel Vision” music video strips & strides (NSFW: nudity)
“Tunnel Vision” is a fine choice as the third single off Justin Timberlake’s new album The 20/20 Experience. Like “Suit & Tie” and “Mirrors” before it, it contains that infectious flow with executive producer Timbaland’s signature touch that emits freaky sound effects you can’t help but groove along to. Above, eye the dual nature of the track’s single artwork; it’s JT, no, wait, it’s a naked woman! The song’s music video grows naturally from here, featuring a cool, quick-on-his-feet Timberlake whose dance moves embody Timbaland’s beats with perfection and many, many naked women whose breasts are supple with desire. “I got that tunnel vision for you / I got that tunnel vision, I only see you,” croons JT. Look out for Timba, too; he’s in there! The racy, intoxicating clip awaits after the break. Continue reading Justin Timberlake’s “Tunnel Vision” music video strips & strides (NSFW: nudity)
Kanye West goes CGI in leaked music video for “Black Skinhead” [Update: Final version with interactive twist is up]
Kanye West opted out of a traditional marketing campaign when he launched his sixth studio album Yeezus last month. There was no lead single, there was no radio play. He performed two tracks when he visited Saturday Night Live, he previewed a number of songs at New York’s Governors Ball music festival, and he projected himself on buildings around the world leading up to the album’s release. Unorthodox, yes; but we’re talking about Kanye West here, remember.
The rapper is still tied to a record label (read: Universal Music Group) and so he’s likely been guided to select a track to become Yeezus‘s lead single. The winner is the harsh yet addicting romp “Black Skinhead;” it’s making its way onto the radio in edited form and a new music video for it has leaked onto the ‘Net. There’s no telling whether or not this is the real deal–it originally landed on a Universal Music staging site that is now password protected–but nevertheless it’s provocative and worth a watch. In it a CGI West with major muscles raps shirtless (and at times pants-less) inside a black void that’s pixelated and made to look homemade. It borrows the dark imagery from his SNL performance and still manages to reel you in and not let go until the very end. It’s bizarre, it’s different, it’s Kanye.
Update (7/9): A day after the leak Kanye addressed it on Twitter claiming it is not the final version of the music video. Across six tweets he said, “The BLKKK SKKKN HD video that leaked yesterday was not the official version. Me and Nick Knight have been working on this video for 5 months and for creatives it’s heartbreaking when something like this happens. The final version will be ready within the next week. So any website that may have the unapproved / unfinished ruff. I ask you to please take it down. Allow me and Nick to give the world what we’ve been losing sleep over. And to who ever leaked the video… FUK YOU!”
In consideration, I’ve taken down the leaked cut and will post the final version when it launches soon. Even Rapdose, the source of the leak, removed it from their website. It’s still hanging around though (like at Billboard.com) if you’re curious.
Update (7/22): The final version of the “Black Skinhead” music video is up and it’s only accessible via kanyewest.com. That’s because there’s an interactive element to it; in addition to some aesthetic changes, the main difference between the leak and the final cut is that this one’s playing speed can be manipulated by the viewer. Using your curser which happens to be giving the finger you can speed up and slow down the clip as it’s rolling (the slight lag time is disappointing, though). There’s also a social element as well; viewers can snap photos at any time and post their pics to Twitter and the like. Give the Nick Knight-directed interactive experience a go at Kanye’s site.
Kid Cudi drops WZRD-produced track “Going To The Ceremony”
Out of nowhere, months after debuting his fourth studio album Indicud, Kid Cudi released a never-before-heard track titled “Going To The Ceremony.” In the SoundCloud stream, embedded below for your listening pleasure, Cudder acknowledges that it’s WZRD-produced, meaning his WZRD partner Dot Da Genius also had a hand in the production of the guitar-tinged song. Whether or not it was made during WZRD‘s production window to be left on the cutting room floor remains unknown. On the song streaming site Cudi leaves a note, “it’s all happening.” Is WZRD 2 in the works? I leave you with this.
Daft Punk remixes R.A.M.’s “Get Lucky”
Can’t get enough of “Get Lucky,” the irresistable hit single off Daft Punk’s latest prize Random Access Memories? Well the Pharrell Williams assisted and Nile Rodgers enhanced track has been remixed by the electronic duo themselves. Clocking it at over 10 minutes in length, the remix does not deviate too far from its original incarnation, but it’s chopped and mixed up just enough to notice and appreciate the revitalized orchestration. The remix streams exclusively on Spotify; log in and listen to it after the break. Also after the jump you’ll find a video promo for the new track. Buy “Get Lucky” (Daft Punk Remix) on iTunes and preorder the vinyl here which drops July 16. Continue reading Daft Punk remixes R.A.M.’s “Get Lucky”