check out two new songs (and their videos) by beck

the super cool music blog site stereogum.com managed to track down two video previews from beck's much buzzed-about (and much leaked) new album guero (coming out at the end of march).

after the wonderful introspection of his last grammy nominated album sea change, guero marks a return of the upbeat from the ever talented good ol' beck. with all these great new releases coming out over the next few months, 2005 is totally shaping out to be a wonderful year in music!

check out the two videos for epro (quicktime) and hell yes (windows/real) .

check out the hot new video by lcd soundsystem now!

just barely a month in and hot nyc band, lcd soundsystem, have come up with one of the more exciting releases of 2005. their must-have soundtrack to january is full of kick ass punk club anthems that just ask to be played out loud.

if you don't know this band just yet, check out their new single 'daft punk is playing at my house' right here! (quicktime fast/slow)

britney spears is truly over

ugh! to think that three years ago i was perfectly fine with claiming the talentless brit-ster as a guilty pleasure (at least the vidoes were fun).
but these days, she's become train wreck central as britney drops to new crappy lows with her white trash paparazzi image and even more pathetic musical direction.
this lame cheap new video 'do somethin' really marks the middle of the end.

bjork brings us the coolest video of the month, heck, maybe even year!

what may be the coolest, funniest video in ages belongs to the ever amazing bjork.
directed by the equally awesome spike jonze, the video (shot entirely in iceland) is all about bjork getting into a domestic spat with her cat boyfriend (don't ask) and then ending up on an all night rager where she partys with a crew that conveniently beatboxes just like all the session players on her amazing album 'medulla'.
it sounds all kooky (and it is) but you'll just have to see it to believe it.
contender for best video of the year, may i present bjork, cat and crew in 'triumph of the heart' (click on the medulla quicktime player to watch).

i normally don't post these, but this is too funny to ignore

from the public tv station WOUB, comes this very painful and horribly funny clip from their in-house (and probably now switched to tech-ie or staff researcher) weather man, louis.
it's so bad that you think it's a joke... but then again this is broadcast from ohio university, so it's not so surprising after all.
poor guy is infamous... check it out here

it's the return of new order!

2005 will be a great year for fans of new order/joy division.
not only are bernard sumner and crew releasing their highly anticipated new album 'waiting for the sirens call' in march, but the long awaited biopic of joy division helmed by famed photographer anton corbijn has already begun casting.

marking a return to more dance orientated tracks, the new album is being buzzed as one of their best collections ever and fans will be able to experience it all first hand when they perform for their new material at this years coachella music festival.

just to give you a preview now, check out a stream of their first single "krafty" here (real/win)

finally, if you want to read up on even more updated info, check out these sites daily:
world in motion and new order online

award for 'what the f**k' craziness this month. btw, this is the face of the woman that needs to never work in radio again!

hot 97 morning show host miss jones and her crew were taken off the air indefinitely and was told to donate one weeks pay when they aired a misguided 'spoof' of the we are the world song on their popular show.

the level of bizarre ignorance is pretty staggering, so much so, that you just have to hear it to believe it. now's your chance!

while you're at it, here's a sampling of the lyrics:

"There was a time, when the sun was shining bright
So I went down to the beach to catch me a tan.
Then the next thing I knew, a wave 20 feet high
Came and washed your whole country away.
And all at once, you can hear the screaming chinks.
And no one was saved from the wave.
There were Africans drowning, little Chinamen swept away.
You can hear God laughing, 'Swim you bitches swim.'

[Chorus]
"So now you're screwed. It's the tsunami,
You better run and kiss your ass away. Go find your mommy.
I just saw her float by, a tree went through her head.
And now your children will be sold. Child slavery."

complaint letters were sent in almost immediately and miss jones and her crew have been suspended indefinitely, but just to make sure, please write in some more here. we can only hope that some incensed asian group will try to sue emmis communications in which case her career will be hung out to dry.

of course, asian america's only voice in hip hop, jin, quickly put out a response track.

postal service return with the single release of 'we will become silhouettes'

the ever wonderful postal service are still working their awesome debut album give up two years onwards. it's not hard especially since this album is chock full of sweet sometimes hokey electro pop that you just can't seem to get out of your head.

after the releases of the instant classics 'the district sleeps alone tonight' and 'such great heights', the postal service kick off their 2005 with the official release of their glorious lullabye 'we will become silhouettes' (featuring new b-sides).

take a look at their new video here:
quicktime hi/low
windows player via launch.com

and is this band is new to you or if you just want to listen to remixes of previous tracks, check out all their stuff at the subpop postal service page here.

2005 oscar nominations announced

the oscar nominations were announced today (jan 25) with the aviator gathering the most amount of nominations with 11 nods, while finding neverland and million dollar baby got 7.

surprisingly hot contenders javier bardem (the sea inside), paul giammati (sideways), jim carrey (eternal sunshine...) and liam neeson (kinsey) all got the brush off.

also big newsmakers the passion of the christ and farenheit 9/11 both failed to woo the the nomination board of the academy.

finally, one of the more interesting awards of the year falls under the best documentary section. out of this years list, 4 out of the 5 nominees have screened across the US to much acclaim and popularity, proving that this form of storytelling will only get bigger in the coming years.

to see the full list and watch all the nominated films' trailers go to the oscar site here .

new artist alert: miri ben-ari

ladies and gentleman, may i present 2005's first breakthrough music artist miri ben-ari. hailing from isreal as a classically trained musician, miri found herself on the hotlist of many hip hop acts when kanye west featured her heavily on his massive grammy winning debut 'college dropout' and also gave her a amazing hook in last year's smash single 'celebrity overnight' by twista.

currently putting finishing touches on her debut release, the highly buzzed album features a who's who of collaborators in which everyone from fabolous to mya to scarface to anthony hamilton and of course twista show their love for miri.

to find out more about this hot act, check out her website here and while you're at it, click on the media section to watch her EPK cause the last 5 minutes is absolutely smokin!

you have been warned!

johnny carson passes away jan 23 2005

one of the greatest entertainers in history passed away quietly today.
a staple of our viewing experiences while growing up, johnny carson was not only loved by all who tuned in on a nightly basis to his 'tonight show', but mr. carsons brand of gentlemanly banter and graciousness has yet to be replicated by any host since.
he shall be dearly missed.
to read a brief description of mr. carsons amazing life, check it out here.

new show alert: instant star

as many of you know, within a very short period, i've become obsessed with the canadian teen show degrassi: the next generation. not only is it one of the most over the top dramatic shows around, but unlike most sugar coated teen programs, degrassi tends to leave all their plotlines open ended, allowing all the characters to stew in their experiences.

so without even watching the show, i have faith that the new show from the creators of degrassi called instant star, will be equally entertaining and offer teen angst by the glorious bucketful (with a nice dose of avril inspired grrl rock pop thrown in).

focusing on the life of teenager alexz johnson, this musically inclined girl literally becomes a superstar overnight and subsequently deals with the excitement and confusion that fame bestows on this young girl.

check out ctv's entertainment profile of this show here (click on to the video file in the right column).

hopefully, noggin will pick up the rights for US broadcast, but for now, you can only watch it in canada (or if you have really good friends that can record it for you weekly).

tv's best new show? 'unscripted' is a definite contender

hbo once again comes up with a cult ready show for tv fans, this time in the form of 'unscripted'.
detailing the painfully sad and hilariously pathetic obstacles of real life struggling actors (krista allan, bryan greenberg and jennifer hall), the show follows our heroes as they face the daily grind of trying to find work in la.

produced by section 8 (clooney and soderburgh's production company), the shows docu-verite style is similar to their previous hbo program 'k street', but somehow works even better for 'unscripted'.

just two episodes in, it's not too late to get yourself caught up in one of this seasons funniest and surprisingly honest best new shows.

hbo - sundays at 10pm (repeats throughout the week)

apple announces two new items for you to rush out and buy: the ipod shuffle & the mac mini

once again steve jobs has proven that they are on the forefront of design and gadgetry. his latest creations, the mac mini and the ipod shuffle, are destined to be instant hot sellers in the computer and mp3 player market.

the mac mini is only 2.9 pounds and retails at only $499 and according to the website "houses a 1.25 or 1.42GHz G4 processor, 40 or 80GB hard drive, a slot-loading CD-R/DVD-ROM optical drive, 256MB DDR SDRAM and ATI Radeon 9200 graphics chip with 32MB dedicated DDR SDRAM — all whisper-quiet". sounds all good to me!

as for the ipod shuffle, the $99 512mb gadget literally just shuffles songs from your itunes playlist and is smaller than a pack of gum.

according to reports, after his macworld presentation, steve jobs announced that the mac store across the street had ipod shuffles available and about 100 fans stampeded the store picking up 2-3 shuffles at a time. oh the stupid insanity (now how do i get myself one on the internet...).

introducing the kaiser chiefs

the new indie darlings 'kaiser chiefs' have been on everybody's lips for the past month. storming both the uk and us charts (kroq in la loves them!) with their blend of brit indie pop mixed with catchy guitar hooks, these north london boys are preparing to release their debut album 'employment' sometime in march.

2005 is definitely turning out to be an exciting musical year!

to watch the video for their anthemic single 'i predict a riot' check it out here at launch.com
or to find out more of the band and check out the latest info, go to their uk site here.

check out john legend's live aol session performance

originally scheduled for release late last year, columbia records was smart enough to hold off until this month to introduce the silky sweet voice of john legend.

his debut album 'get lifted' is a wonderful mix of old skool soul mixed in with street sass. add to the fact that this songwriter is a talented pianist, comparisons as the male version of alicia keys has been thrown around by many.

check out this guy in action as he performs two tracks from his wonderful debut via the always wonderful aol sessions:
used to love u
ordinary people

to find our more about john legend, watch videos and to hear selections from his wonderful album check out his website.

check out the 1st single from the doves' new album 'some cities'

after a two year break from the studio, uk northerners the doves return with their highly anticipated new album ' some cities'.

since their amazing album 'last broadcast' (one of my favorites of 2003), the doves not only gained international accolades, but really put themselves on the map as a band to keep an eye out for.

their latest album is not only tipped to be one of the biggest of february, but from the sound of the 1st single, also hints at a more retro sound mixed in with their usual kick of lush soundscapes.

weirdly like a soundtrack for driving along the cold grey british seaside click here to listen to the catchy 'black and white town' (you need realplayer or windows player to listen).

if you want to find out more about the doves, go here.

check out the new single 'thru the glass' by thirteen senses

thirteen senses are one of my favorite uk indie bands that got on my rader relatively late last year. but no hurries, it just means that we can spend more time with them in 2005! lucky for us, they have decided to re-release their super catchy single 'thru the glass' this week.

to watch the video go here (you may need to register):
http://www.nme.com/features/110998.htm

or if you want to find out more of the band, listen to audio clips or watch all their videos check out their website at: http://www.thirteensenses.co.uk

free fiona apples album 'extrodinary machine'!

after an insane 6 year break, it looked like the reclusive fiona apple was finally going to release a new album in the form of 'extrodinary machine' this year. but word from the producer jon brian is that sony music has decided to shelve the album indefinitely due to the fact that they couldn't find a proper single from the eclectic collection.
infuriated fans have combined their efforts to start the free fiona campaign. asking fans from all over the world to write to sony music and demand the release of her highly anticipated work.
if you want to join the cause, go here and sign the petition:
http://www.freefiona.com/

hopefully we'll finally be able to get her work
but if you're still dying to hear something... well...

ashlee gets booed... again! lindsay lohan sucks!

poor ol ashlee just can't get a break. the undertalented sister of jessica simpson got another kick in the face since her lip syncing fiasco a few months back. this time the girl gets a harsh booing from an angry crowd after her closing performance at this years orange bowl (football game for all you foreigners). check out the clip here thanks to ifilm.com:
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2662083

while you're at it, check out the equally untalented lindsay lohan as she embarks on a pathway to a grand boo-ing:
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2659488
or this actual LIVE performance from aol sessions (makes you wish she was lip syncing)
http://mp.netscape.com/video.index.adp?mxid=1213313&refID=007200&partner=&_AOLFORM=w597.h395.p7

if you have more time go to the viral videos section of ifilm and check out loads of fun stuff like tara reids boob exposure on the red carpet, the infamous bj scene from brown bunny and loads more!
http://www.ifilm.com/viralvideo?ifilmid=2659488

looking to discover some cool new music? check out the international house of pussy!

as you know, i pride myself in having a pretty good grasp of music out there. but one day while trolling the sites, i discovered someone who is not only more updated with what's hot out there in the music world (sometimes months in advance), but his compilations are exceptional collections that we should all wish we get on a monthly basis.

joining the world of blogging, ANFUNNY2003 (his moniker) has given us access to his impeccible taste.

so if you're looking to discover some new music and really get an idea of what will be hot, then check out this site now:
http://theinternationalhouseofpussy.co.uk

aol first-listen world premieres jlo's new single

aol music's first-listen series world premieres jlo's 1st single "get right" from her forthcoming album rebirth. though we're easily trudging into familiar territory, this is probably one of the few arenas in jlo's current career that she can succeed in. so all eyes (even if you care or not) will be on her for the next few months. you have been warned...

to get a preview of the song:
http://www.jlo.net/media/audio/jennifer_lopez-get_right_by_www.JLo.net_.mp3
or click here:
http://music.channel.aol.com/artist/main.adp?artistid=371168

or watch the bizarrely fun full video from these following sites:
http://www.launch.com
http://www.mtv.com