At first glance, MTV’s celebrity-offspring singing competition Rock the Cradle doesn’t seem like much more than a third-rate American Idol knock off. The dueling karaoke numbers of these celebrities-by-default isn’t helped much by the ludicrous over-hosting, the asinine judging panel, and the contestants’ syrupy vows that they have what it takes to “make it” on their own (except, you know, for being the child of someone famous and getting on the show in the first place).

This glorious train wreck of a television show does have one saving grace–the parents. Some of them have a bizarre synergistic relationship with their kids, as if it’s another way to extend mom or dad’s fame just a bit longer. Witness: the Dee and Jesse “Blaze” Snider tag team…

Many of the parents appear at the live show taping to appraise their progeny’s talents after they have been harshly judged by a blue-ribbon panel that includes Avril Lavigne’s choreographer and the lead singer of the Go-Gos. And nearly all of them star in completely natural and fluid staged video packages, dispensing essential rock-star parental advice with varying degrees of verisimilitude.

But at least everyone seems to genuinely care about each other amidst the wackiest jet set talent show ever conceived. It’s nice to see Bobby Brown on TV again outside the context of an E! True Hollywood Story. Particularly sympathetic is Crosby “Son of Kenny” Loggins, who possesses a disarming humility (on silver spoons: “I used to get a lot of crap for what my dad did. I didn’t care. ‘Danger Zone’ put food on my table.”) that is incredibly out of place in RtC’s world of whiz-bang presentation and contrived verbal sparring. Surely MTV knows this too and has prescribed some of the least convincing cockiness and the most unexpected bleep in TV history to give the family Loggins more “edge”:

Soft rockers don’t swear! But at least they’re setting a better example than Lil B. Sure! (son of obscure R&B veteran Al B. Sure!):

At the risk of making this page look like an ‘I HEART KANYE’ lovefest, we got some good news for all y’all Ye fans. Looks like the graduate will be bringing his good life and the “Glow in the Dark” tour to L.A. Here’s the list of places where he’ll show up for some fake sh*t.

Yeah, you saw the sign right. We also like umbrella-ella-ellas, skaterboys, and superstars.

YO! What if… nah… but… they were at that award show… YO! DAFT PUNK WILL BE THERE!!! Of course I’m kidding, but I’m also praying, wishing and dreaming. We might like Kanye (not as much as Kanye likes Kanye), but we love Daft Punk.

Tickets go on sale Friday 2/15 at 10 am on ticketmaster.

Here’s the new (READ: creepy) “Flashing Lights” video while you wait to get your money right or, you know, wait for the tix to go on sale.

Vampire Weekend came to the Echo last night and they killed. These witty preps from NY played a great live set, effectively translating their unique sound onto a live stage with a ton of energy. Long live danceable bass lines, airy island guitars, and diverse rhythms. Oh! and that keyboard! The boys got some chops. Did I mention the wonderful lyrics? Hold on, I think I’m drooling.

Indeed, there’s a lot of buzz surrounding this band of four Columbia grads - so much that even MTV got an interview with Ezra, Rostam, Christopher, and Chris. The best part about all of this? Vampire Weekend doesn’t even release their debut self-titled until January 29th. Granted, their notorious “Blue-CDR” of recorded full length promos was leaked and has been floating around the internet for awhile. But, that’s a lot of hype for a band with no official LP. So, why all the buzz?

Answer: Gloriously catchy tunes, excellent live shows, and a fresh sound.

Say all you want about Paul Simon’s Graceland, early Talking Heads, and African tribal music/drums. These kids can play fantastically well, and desearve the attention. Here’s a video of “Mansard Roof”:

Pick of the set: “Oxford Comma.” Vampire Weekend is out 1/29/08 on XL.

Last week marked a significant milestone in the indie music world. In this day and age, as obscure and less-marketed music constantly finds itself thrust into the popular culture spotlight, it becomes less shocking when an Of Montreal ripoff pops up in an Outback Steakhouse commercial, when Mates of State is shown touting AT&T phone service, when Bright Eyes graces the stage of The Tonight Show. Yet, despite these leaks of indiedom into the ‘real’ world, it still seems rather surprising that, of all the bands in the non-mainstream world, for Animal Collective to have been asked to perform on the Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

Who is the brilliant executive who ok’d this decision? (They must be a genius.)

Better yet, who’s the brilliant closed-captioner who, while watching the band’s performance of “#1,” decided these words would accurately describe the ethereality of the song to the hard-of-hearing?:

Honestly, were they unable to see that Noah Lennox, (AKA: Panda Bear) clearly does not possess any estrogen? Perhaps the captioner lacked his sense of sight, and had to rely upon his sense of hearing to communicate to those with the former and without the latter.

All joking aside, though, Animal Collective’s appearance on national television not only makes great strides in the world of independent music, but for the band themselves.

Strawberry Jam, the title of New York City-based band Animal Collective’s newest release, seems somewhat of a contradiction, for the sugary-sweet artificiality conjured up by the album’s name clashes horribly against characteristics of the group’s previous releases. Known for its revolutionary delves into uncharted areas of electronic psych-rock, Animal Collective—which consists of members David Portner, Noah Lennox, Josh Dibb, and Brian Weitz operating under the clever monikers of Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin, and Geologist, respectively—push, often, into unsettling, confusing territory; sugar-coated and generic it is not.

However, despite the inherent contrasts which arise through the album’s name, Strawberry Jam, upon first listen, seems more of a delightfully fitting name than misguided misnomer. In fact, the album emerges as a collection of songs as accessible and easy to love as, well, strawberry jam.

Blending together their traditional high-register harmonies with intensely developed and intricately executed electronic instrumentation, Animal Collective seems to abandon their previous musical style—vaguely ethnic songs strongly influenced by experimental folk structures—on Strawberry Jam. The result emerges as an oddly fantastic one. Unexpectedly, the characters of Animal Collective jump from upbeat trip-pop—seen on track such as “Peacebone” and “Chores”—to mellow, reflective numbers, such as “Fireworks” at the drop of a hat. These constant shifts, however, work together perfectly, with each track building off their predecessor.

Performing on Conan may have been a public jumping point for Animal Collective, but Strawberry Jam should be seen as their long-deserved bridge between a discriminating audience and those who appreciate well-crafted music. So, pull out that white bread and peanut butter, and spread a liberal amount of Strawberry Jam onto your next afternoon snack.

Watch Animal Collective’s national television debut here.

Do you have one of those music videos you just wish you never saw? The video for that song you were listening to and just thought, “Hey, I wonder if they made a music video for this… it’s pretty good.” You then proceeded to look up and watch the video, only to be disturbed by its contents. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. I, too, had this unfortunate experience lately with the song Do You Right by 311.

The song is fairly relaxing (it’s about marijuana - what did you expect?) and I figured it could have a decent music video to go along with it. I’m not sure if I have the proper words to express what I saw after that… an extremely colorful mural, back-up vocalist SA Martinez busting some strange moves in fast motion, lead vocalist Nick Hexum shirtless (but in a baggy jacket) sporting a Green Bay Packers cap while awkwardly moving his hands around, waterfalls, rocks, and a few species of monkey zooming by in the background - I’m so confused. This one scene, at exactly 1:24 into the video, contains most of the elements of my confusion:

Now I know this video is from the early 90s, but are we really going to let that be an excuse for this absurdity? All I can say is… witness it for yourself here.

	311
	First Straw

The long-awaited trailer for the movie version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street has recently been released online. As many Sondheim-enthused fans, Johnny Depp-lovers and Tim Burton worshipers know, Steven Sondheim’s award-winning Broadway musical Sweeney Todd is going to be released as a full-fledged feature film this upcoming Christmas season.
Sweeney Todd is a haunting musical about a demon barber who kills his patients and works with the woman downstairs to turn them into mince meat pies to sell to the citizens of London. As twisted as this plot line is, the musical is all about eerily alluring melodies and blurring the line between horrible and beautiful. Tim Burton is the perfect choice to transform this musical into a feature film, because he has a knack for incredible visual design and finding the human core in the weirdest of people. The seriously qualified and outstanding cast includes Johnny Depp (who worked with Tim Burton on Corpse Bride and Edward Scissorhands), Alan Rickman (known for his portrayal of villains such as in Die Hard and Harry Potter), Sasha Baron Cohen (of recent Borat fame), and Helena Bonham Carter (who often works with Tim Burton and will be familiar to those who have seen Fight Club).

From the awesomely dark trailer, renowned director and cast, this film definitely seems to have a lot going for it. However, there are several risks involved- mainly the musical aspect- as it is rumored that Johnny Depp, as seen in the trailer, speak-sings all of Sweeney’s songs. The trailer shows that the publicity for this movie will be as a movie first and a musical second, which is smart. A lot of people would probably be turned off if it were simply a movie-version of the musical. But fans shouldn’t be deterred- although Burton will definitely put his own mark on the story, the musical’s creepy elegance is sure to be maintained. We just have to hope that the preview is just that- a preview for the awesome movie that is sure to come.
You can check out the trailer for Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street here.

Has anybody noticed that most music videos suck out loud now? If you flip to MTV, you’ve only got a 1 in 5,000 chance of actually seeing a video instead of some kind of bizarre faux-reality show. If you win the cable lottery and catch a video, it’s probably just strobe lights or a 4 minute close-up of spinners (maybe with a few strobe lights for good measure.) Where are the great music videos of our time? Where are our Thrillers? Our Virtual Insanities?

Well I just caught the full version of Feist’s video for “1 2 3 4″ off her new album The Reminder and it’s one-shot glory gave me new hope in music videos. Check it: