John Mayer - Queen of California

Music video by John Mayer performing Queen of California.

2012 VMA Nominations: The Complete List

Drake, Rihanna and Katy Perry lead the charge going into the September 6 awards show.

By Gil Kaufman

The videos have been reviewed, the list has been narrowed and you are now looking at the full list of nominees for the 29th annual MTV Video Music Awards.

Rihanna and Drake lead the pack with five nominations each, followed by VMA darling Katy Perry with four and a bumper crop of new and veteran faces with three noms each.

While new acts like the Wanted, Carly Rae Jepsen, A$AP Rocky, Frank Ocean and Gotye are looking for their first taste of Moonman gold, they'll be facing some wily veterans in the form of Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Usher, Maroon 5, Linkin Park and Coldplay.

What are you waiting for? Start voting for the 2012 VMAs now!

We have no idea who will go home happy and who will be drowning their sorrows September 6 when the show airs live at 8 p.m. ET from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. But we do know the broadcast will feature performances from four-time VMA veteran Alicia Keys and VMA first-timers One Direction.

The full List of 2012 MTV Video Music Awards Nominees:

Video of the Year

Katy Perry, "Wide Awake"
Gotye, "Somebody That I Used To Know"
Rihanna, "We Found Love"
Drake feat. Rihanna, "Take Care"
M.I.A., "Bad Girls"

Best New Artist

Fun. feat. Janelle Monae, "We Are Young"
Carly Rae Jepsen, "Call Me Maybe"
Frank Ocean, "Swim Good"
One Direction, "What Makes You Beautiful"
The Wanted, "Glad You Came"

Best Hip-Hop Video

Childish Gambino, "Heartbeat"
Drake feat. Lil Wayne, "HYFR"
Kanye West feat. Pusha T, Big Sean & 2 Chainz, "Mercy"
Watch the Throne, "Paris"
Nicki Minaj feat. 2 Chainz, "Beez in the Trap"

Best Male Video

Justin Bieber, "Boyfriend"
Frank Ocean, "Swim Good"
Drake feat. Rihanna, "Take Care"
Chris Brown, "Turn Up the Music"
Usher, "Climax"

Best Female Video

Rihanna, "We Found Love"
Katy Perry, "Part of Me"
Beyoncé, "Love on Top"
Nicki Minaj, "Starships"
Selena Gomez & The Scene, "Love You Like a Love Song"

Best Pop Video

One Direction, "What Makes You Beautiful"
Fun. feat. Janelle Monae, "We Are Young"
Rihanna, "We Found Love"
Justin Bieber, "Boyfriend"
Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa, "Payphone"

Best Rock Video

Coldplay, "Paradise"
The Black Keys, "Lonely Boy"
Linkin Park, "BURN IT DOWN"
Jack White, "Sixteen Saltines"
Imagine Dragons, "It's Time"

Best Electronic Dance Music Video

Duck Sauce, "Big Bad Wolf"
Calvin Harris, "Feel So Close"
Skrillex, "First of the Year (Equinox)" 
Martin Solveig, "The Night Out"
Avicii, "Le7els"

Best Video With a Message

Demi Lovato, "Skyscraper"
Rise Against, "Ballad of Hollis Brown"
Kelly Clarkson, "Dark Side"
Gym Class Heroes, "The Fighter"
K'Naan feat. Nelly Furtado, "Is Anybody Out There?" 
Lil Wayne, "How to Love"

Best Art Direction

Katy Perry, "Wide Awake"
Drake feat. Rihanna, "Take Care"
Lana Del Rey, "Born to Die"
Regina Spektor, "All the Rowboats"
Of Monsters & Men, "Little Talks"

Best Choreography

Chris Brown, "Turn Up the Music"
Rihanna, "Where Have You Been"
Beyoncé, "Countdown"
Avicii, "Le7els"
Jennifer Lopez f/Pitbull, "Dance Again"

Best Cinematography

M.I.A., "Bad Girls"
Adele, "Someone Like You"
Drake feat. Rihanna, "Take Care"
Coldplay feat. Rihanna, "Princess of China"
Lana Del Rey, "Born to Die"

Best Direction

M.I.A., "Bad Girls"
Duck Sauce, "Big Bad Wolf" 
Coldplay feat. Rihanna, "Princess of China"
Frank Ocean, "Swim Good"
Watch the Throne, "Otis"

Best Editing

Beyoncé, "Countdown"
A$AP Rocky, "Goldie"
Gotye, "Somebody That I Used to Know"
Watch the Throne, "Paris"
Kanye West feat. Pusha T, Big Sean and 2 Chainz, "Mercy"

Best Visual Effects

Katy Perry, "Wide Awake"
Rihanna, "Where Have You Been"
David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj, "Turn Me On"
Linkin Park, "BURN IT DOWN"

Via: MTV.

Liars – “Brats”

The Liars’ new video for the buzzing WIXIW track “Brats” sadly does not continue the story of their amazing “No. 1 Against The Rush” clip, but it’s just as freaked-out in its own right. The video, animated by Ian Cheng, works as a nightmare reimagining of the archetypal Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd story, as rendered in glitched-out CGI.

Insane Clown Posse - Chris Benoit (Official Video)

Insane Clown Posse Chris Benoit - Directed by The Deka Bros. Produced by Made in Michigan Entertainment, Deep Blue Pictures & Psychopathic Records

Arctic Monkeys – “Come Together” (Beatles Cover)

Last Friday, a few of us spent the end of our Friday afternoons attempting to watch choppy illegal streams of the BBC’s Olympics coverage — exactly the sort of thing NBC was trying to prevent us from seeing. Those of us who succeeded in tuning in saw some perfectly ridiculous things during the Ceremony, which filmmaker Danny Boyle directed, my favorite being the cartoon punks on pogo shoes who bounced around during “Pretty Vacant” and “Firestarter.” But the actual ceremony included a full-scale tribute to the entire history of British pop music, featuring performances from Paul McCartney, Dizzee Rascal, Frank Turner, and a ton of others, and music from the Rolling Stones, New Order, the Specials, David Bowie, the Kinks, the Jam, Happy Monday, and, um, Fuck Buttons. And Fuck Buttons side project Blanck Mass! Seriously. It was pretty impressive.

The show also included Arctic Monkeys playing live in the middle of the bowl, blasting through their first hit “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” and then covering the Beatles’ “Come Together,” accompanied by cyclists dressed as glow-in-the-dark gloves.

Slug Guts - "Scum"

Australian band Slug Guts make an ungodly howling, clattering, pounding postpunk racket, something you already know if you downloaded their “Adult Living” mp3. They also look fucking badass, something that “Scum” video directors Sam Dixon and Adric Watson take full advantage of. In the video, the various members of the band huddle close together in a dark corner, clamping cigarettes between their teeth and generally radiating as much menace as humanly possible.

Psy – “Gangnam Style”

I’ve watched a whole ton of K-pop videos in recent months, but I have no idea what the fuck is even happening here. It is amazing.

Lana Del Rey - "Heart-Shaped Box" (Nirvana Cover)

Last night in Sydney, Lana Del Rey continued her amazing year-long run of just fucking with all of us by stepping onstage at the Enmore Theater and covering Nirvana. And not just any Nirvana song! She covered “Heart-Shaped Box,” the first single from In Utero and thus the way Kurt Cobain deigned to introduce the world to his not-so-happy-about-being-famous phase. Given that all of LDR’s moves are painstakingly calculated and clearly all fame and its effects, this isn’t just a case of a singer singing a song she likes. I guess it would’ve been even more poignant if she’d covered “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle” or whatever, but that probably wouldn’t have caused the Aussie crowd to whoop with recognition like it did. Bonus points for the discordant string-squeaks. Check out a surprisingly clear-sounding fan-made video, which sadly cuts off early.

The Killers – “Runaways”

A couple of weeks ago, the Killers smashed the universe upside the head with “Runaways,” their new and refreshingly gigantic single, a ridiculous song that gets better every time I hear it. It’s the sound of a band figuring out everything that anyone ever liked them for in the first place. And now we get the widescreen-scope video for the song, which keeps things relatively simple. It shows the band bashing away under a mythic American desert sky and on a ledge overlooking their Las Vegas hometown. Warren Fu directs and does a nice job making the Killers look like the biggest band in the world. 

The Killers’ new album Battle Born is out Island/Vertigo. Here’s the cover:

Taken By Trees - "Dreams"

Earlier this month, we posted “Dreams,” the gorgeous new bliss-pop single from Taken By Trees, the new project of former Concretes singer Victoria Bergsman. For the song’s brand-new video, director Amanda Marsalis gauzily films Bergsman swanning around Hawaii’s lush North Shore and doesn’t show us her face until the very end. The end result is just extremely pretty.

Casiokids - Olympiske Leker

The official video for Casiokids' special Olympic-themed song "Olympiske Leker". Directed by Chad Blevins

Tim Heidecker – “Bob Dylan’s ‘Titanic’”

As you may know, Tim Heidecker (of Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! fame) sometimes dabbles in soft rock. Without much further ado, here’s Heidecker about his latest, epic project:

Recently, I read that Bob Dylan’s new album Tempest will feature a 14 minute song about the Titanic.
So I wrote this song to see if I could beat the Master to it. I can’t wait to see how close I got to the real thing!

Lyrical sampler:

oh titanic – how could you let us down
oh titanic – you’re lying on the bottom of the water just waiting to be found
The director Cameron on the set of true lies
As the scene played out out he closed his eyes
a vision of his next film was becoming clear
the story of the shipwreck for all to hear.
DeCaprio was cast and Winslet as Well
LIttle did they know the shoot would be hell
Cameron pushed the limits of CGI
all the special effects really defied the eye

And it goes on like this (full transcript here). It should be noted that that section comes after a harmonica solo.

Andrew Bird - Eyeoneye

Andrew Bird - Eyeoneye. From the album Break It Yourself. Dir. Yu “Ewan” Morita.

Andrew Bird – “Give It Away”

In Andrew Bird’s video for the lilting Break It Yourself song “Give It Away,” a human pinata visits a birthday party, with predictably disastrous results, before the assembled moppets band together to perform emergency surgery. It’s weird, and it my humble opinion, this guy probably shouldn’t rent himself out for any more birthday parties. Jessica Paliza directs.

Hawk Eyes -“Headstrung”

Brand new video for our new single 'Headstrung' Animated and Directed by Robin Fuller.

Hot Chip - How Do You Do?

Hot Chip’s new video for “How Do You Do?,” a jittery roller-disco jam from their new album In Our Heads, is pretty much fun with green-screen and light-filters. It shows the band, along with various unrelated scenery, transposed against non-sequitur backgrounds and glowing all sorts of different colors. Rollo Jackson directs, and the song, it bears mentioning, is just insanely catchy.

Madonna - Turn Up The Radio (Explicit)

Music video by Madonna performing Turn Up The Radio (Explicit).

Bat For Lashes – “Laura” + NSFW The Haunted Man Cover

A flurry of Bat For Lashes news hit the web this afternoon as she premiered the studio version of “Laura” on BBC1. Capitalizing on that attention, Bat For Lashes also dropped the beautiful, theatrical clip for the track. Scope all that and the NSFW, Ryan McGinley-shot The Haunted Man album cover down below.

Com Truise - "Brokendate"

Com Truise - "Brokendate" (dir: Will Joines)

Michael Andrews - Bubbles In Space

Over 100 high school students drew 3000+ frames for this new video for the new single “Bubbles In Space” by Michael Andrews. Making of here. 

Lil Wayne - My Homies Still (Explicit) ft. Big Sean

Music video by Lil Wayne performing My Homies Still (Explicit).

Future – “Same Damn Time (Remix)” (Feat. Diddy & Ludacris)

Future’s “Same Damn Time” is arguably the Awesomely Dumb song of the summer. Meanwhile, both Diddy and Ludacris have done enough work to earn lifetime achievement awards in the field of Awesomely Dumb. And yes, it’s fun to hear all three of these guys together on the remix, and it’s even more fun to watch them throw money around in the remix’s video. Alex Nazari directs, blurrily.

Raveonettes - "She Owns the Streets"

The Raveonettes’ new video for their shimmery fuzzpop song “She Owns The Streets” takes the lyrics pretty literally. It consists almost entirely of distorted camcorder-style footage of a girl who appears to spend all her time dancing in New York streets. Peter Kaaden directs.

Lana Del Rey – “Summertime Sadness” Video (Feat. Jaime King)

Lana Del Rey’s new video for the luxuriantly depressive Born To Die might actually be the most Lana Del Rey thing that ever happened. The video, all full of fake-vintage crackles and worn-out golden-hour light, stars former supermodel and Sin City actress Jamie King as LDR’s girlfriend. It also stars lots and lots of smoke-machine clouds and bodies falling through space. King’s husband Kyle Newman co-directs alongside Hesher director Spencer Susser.


Lana Del Rey- Summertime Sadness por f100000431406963

Pet Shop Boys – “Winner”

“Winner,” the new single from acid-tongued British synthpop lifers the Pet Shop Boys, is probably the first song that group has ever written that sounds like it was intended for some kind of sporting montage. But luckily, the video finds a truly fascinating context for the track. The video is an inspirational sports montage of sorts, but the inspiration doesn’t come from any athletic feats; it comes from the whole community-building side effect. It’s about a transgender woman and her initiation into roller derby, and it’s done with total affectionate sincerity.

Magic Trick – “Invisible At Midnight”

Directed by Mat Dara.

SSION – “Feelz Good Forever”

Kansas City glam freak SSION has been on an incredibly bizarre video tear lately, turning his videos into suburban weirdo operas. The latest, for “Feelz Good Forever,” is simultaneously his simplest and his most complicated, as it mostly consists of him in front of a green screen that seems to be under attack by feedback aliens. If you have epilepsy, you probably shouldn’t watch it. If you don’t, you should be aware that you will probably be receiving tons of subliminal messages.

Passion Pit - I'll Be Alright

Music video by Passion Pit performing I'll Be Alright (Genero.tv Competition Winner)

Spector - Never Fade Away

Music video by The Vaccines performing Teenage Icon.

Labrinth - Earthquake ft. Tinie Tempah

Music video by Labrinth feat.Tinie Tempah performing Earthquake.

Muscle Hawk - "Electric Light"

Muscle Hawk "Electric Light" (Dir. by Jonathan Martin)

Introducing Google Input Tools

http://google.com/inputtools

The power to communicate with friends or family in your language is now at your fingertips with Google Input Tools. Available for select Google services, Chrome, Android devices and Windows. Stay tuned for more languages on more platforms coming soon.

Hot Chip – “Look At Where We Are”

Hot Chip’s elegant synthpop elegy “Look At Where We Are” has a music video from Animal Collective visual collaborator Danny Perez. In the ambiguous, hallucinatory clip, a mad scientist experiments on a supermodel’s soul, or something. It’s not exactly the most linear narrative you’ll ever see.

Dirty Three – “Rising Below”

Australian instrumental trio Dirty Three released a new album in February, Toward The Low Sun, their first in seven years. This Emma Watson-directed clip for Low Sun‘s lovely, expansive “Rising Below” brings to life the colorful, dreamlike painting featured on the album’s cover, and discovers something truly strange, dramatic and beautiful. Watch below, and compare the video to the original artwork.

No Doubt – “Settle Down”

No Doubt are getting ready to come back with Push And Shove, their first new LP in 11 years. Last night, the band debuted the video, which they made with their old director comrade Sophie Muller. In the clip, the band’s four members play truck drivers on their way toward some sort of exoticized island party. Gwen Stefani, hearteningly, still looks exactly the same in the video as she did in 1996, right down to the Cali mall-ska wardrobe. I’m not even sure where you find skintight zipper-pants at this late date, but she evidently knows. Watch the video below.

James Iha – “To Who Knows Where”

We first heard James Iha’s “To Who Knows Where” a couple weeks ago, and now, the song — pulled from Iha’s long-time-coming sophomore album Look To The Sky — has a video to go with it. Directed by Adam Neustadter and filmed in Joshua Tree, CA, the clip has the feel of a ’70s sci-fi B-movie; perhaps not surprisingly, it was supposedly influenced by Blade Runner and The Man Who Fell To Earth. (I’m not sure the slightly disquieting visuals are a perfect match for Iha’s dreamy shoegaze-goth pop but it beats a lyric video any day.) Check it out.

We first heard James Iha’s “To Who Knows Where” a couple weeks ago, and now, the song — pulled from Iha’s long-time-coming sophomore album Look To The Sky — has a video to go with it. Directed by Adam Neustadter and filmed in Joshua Tree, CA, the clip has the feel of a ’70s sci-fi B-movie; perhaps not surprisingly, it was supposedly influenced by Blade Runner and The Man Who Fell To Earth. (I’m not sure the slightly disquieting visuals are a perfect match for Iha’s dreamy shoegaze-goth pop but it beats a lyric video any day.).

Meek Mill ft Drake - Amen (Official Music Video)

Meek Mill ft Drake - Amen (Official Music Video).  Directed by DRE Films.

Jack White - Freedom At 21

Last week, Hype Williams and Jack White posted up the trailer to “Freedom At 21″‘s video. As a general rule, video content that is just over two minutes shouldn’t be granted a trailer, but Hype and White are brands unto themselves, and if anything it was an indication that they were “going for it.” And fair enough, because they did it: Jack’s an outlaw on the run in a electric yellow hotrod, being chased down, cuffed, and incarcerated by unusually voluptuous police officers, and busting great guitar solos while wearing 10lbs of rings. As per Williams’s style, the camera ticks and editing are stylized and great, and the coloring is remarkable. Enjoy the Josh Homme cameo at the end.

OFF! - "Borrow and Bomb" / "I Got News For You" (OFFicial video)

After his years playing a lovably ineffectual authority figure on News Radio, it stands to reason that Dave Foley would be perfect as the clueless teacher rapping to teens about punk rock. And Foley is effective in this, understated and convincingly befuddled. But he’s not the best thing about it. Instead, I have to give it up for the way the video goes all-in on the early-’80s UHF-channel aesthetic, treating it like the trailers between movies in Grindhouse. And I would totally watch Lethal Justice if it was a real show.

Soko – “Destruction Of The Disgusting Ugly Hate”

Here's Soko's hallucinatory new video for "Destruction of the Disgusting Ugly Hate."

Ramona Falls – “Fingerhold”

Ramona Falls, a.k.a. former Menomena member Brent Knopf, released his Prophet album a couple of months ago. And in his new video for “Fingerhold,” a girl uses a mysterious scientific experiment to connect with a lost love from her past. For a low-budget indie-pop video, it’s surprisingly slick-looking and emotionally resonant. Directed by Thom Glunt.

Sleepies - Terra Firma

The “Terra Firma” video is a frantically animated clip featuring drawings by Preston Spurlock, who has done work for the Ariel Pink/R. Stevie Moore school; here he gives “Terra” a manic, appropriately bloodshot treatment.

Purity Ring – “Fineshrine”

Purity Ring’s stellar Shrines single “Fineshrine” pairs cloud rap production with gross anatomy lyrics, and video director Young Replicant does that as literally (and sumptuously) as possible in this winning clip: bodies are bruised, sliced, and stitched up; planes are rolling through crystalline and clear skies; eyes are blue, faces are long and pensive, and art direction is clean-lined and surrealist. Nice color correction. Nice physiques. Tight edit. Good job everybody.

The Shins – “It’s Only Life”

The new Shins video for “It’s Only Life” features an imaginative kid patrolling an abandoned town while James Mercer gets dragged off by shadowbeasts. Hiro Murai directs.

Justice - New Lands (Official Music Video)

Justice - New Lands. Directed by Canada.

Have you ever wondered what sports will be like in the future? Well, French electronic duo Justice knows, and they want to show you. In the new music video for “New Lands,” Justice’s electro power pop tune is accompanied by four minutes of future sport footage. The Canada-directed clip imagines the game as a fusion of football, baseball, rugby, hockey, motocross and video games but with some kind of magical future-ball.

Bloc Party - Octopus

The back-in-action Bloc Party are returning next month with their new album Four, and today they’ve given us the video for first single “Octopus.” The clip, directed by Nova Dando, mostly focuses on members of the band in their practice space, but it’s cut together so quickly that it should really come with an epilepsy warning. As for the song, it’s a pretty clear indicator that Bloc Party haven’t quite outgrown their dance-music phase yet.

Twin Shadow – “Patient”

Amid all the well-justified noise about Frank Ocean and the Dirty Projectors, it’s important to remember that Twin Shadow have another excellent album coming out today, the cocksure synthpop brood Confess. The album’s first video was the badass lyrical-biker odyssey “Five Seconds,” and now their video for the Confess song “Patient” picks up where that one left off. George Lewis, Jr. and his biker friend from the last video find themselves at a bar, where they feud over the same girl while fellow patrons show off their excellently absurd choreography. I’d just like to humbly request that Twin Shadow continue to make videos like this for every song from the album. Keith Musil once again directs.

Band Of Horses – “Knock Knock”

Open-hearted road-trip-music all-stars Band Of Horses have just announced that they’ll release album number four, entitled Mirage Rock, right around the time summer ends. And they’ve shared the video for the album’s opening track “Knock Knock,” a fizzily chugging jam with some seriously great handclaps toward the end. The video, directed by frequent collaborator Christopher Wilson, is a jittery trip through the woods.

The Walkmen - "The Love You Love" & "Heaven" Video

Here's the video for the Walkmen's "The Love You Love", from the Brooklyn indie lifers' latest LP, Heaven. The black-and-white clip was directed by Sean Pecknold and features creepy stairways, creepy cat figurines, and a sorta creepy kid. Watch the Pitchfork.tv-produced video for "Heaven" below, too.

 "Heaven":



Via: Pitchfork.com

Zola Jesus - "Seekir"

Zola Jesus has shared the new video for her Conatus track "Seekir", directed by Sacred Bones' in-house filmmaker, Jacqueline Castel, via Dazed Digital. Castel spoke to Dazed about the inspiration behind the video, which is a mix of old-school MTV pop choreography and minimal, otherworldly imagery.

Blur – “Under The Westway” Video

“Under The Westway” is one of two new studio songs that Britpop greats Blur shared with the world earlier this week. They’ve now released a video for the excellently regal video, and it’s a simple enough thing: Just an scene of the four band members, along with a few supplemental musicians, sitting in a circle and playing the song live-in-studio. It works because the song is great. Watch it below.

The 10 Sexiest Women in Indie Rock: 2012

It's not fair to be this good-looking and this talented.

by Alex Heigl

Sexiness comes in many different forms, and one of my favorites is a woman with a guitar. Sometimes, though, they have microphones or keyboards or drums or cellos or accordions instead, and those are all my favorites, too. I guess what I'm saying is that I have a real thing for awesome women indie rockers. By the time you get done with this list, you will too. Note that all of these women put out (or will be putting out) an album this year, so go buy them and listen as you gaze longingly at their respective visages.

 10. Malin Dahlström (Niki & The Dove)

Niki & The Dove are Swedish, and none of them are actually named Niki. But as you listen to their stuttering, glitchy music and Dahlström's seductive, pouty vocals, you'll find yourself less worried about the accuracy of their nom de guerre and more about how you're going to sell your possessions and travel across the world to follow the band like they're Phish or possibly the McRib. Those Swedes and their cheekbones.

 9. Megan James (Purity Ring)

Purity Ring is the sound of getting weirdly aroused in a haunted house. There's nothing overtly sexy about their music, except for maybe the coquetteish nature of James' vocals, but their dense, layered music is eerily seductive, like a half-remembered wet dream you're kind of scared might have turned into a nightmare if it had gone on longer. "Drill little holes in my eyelids that I might watch you sleep" from "Lofticries" is the perfect lyric to sum up their bewitching sound: devoted, romantic, and deeply unsettling.

 8. Haim

We caught up with Este Haim at SXSW this year, and she dropped the following piece of sex advice: "Word to the wise: if you want to get in the pants of the Haim girls, just buy us food." Since them, this trio of sisters (Alana and Danielle are the other two) have continued to catch eyes and ears alike with their mesmerizing blend of R&B-styled girl-group harmonies and expansive, hypnotic beats. You would well-advised to internalize that advice.

 7. Brittany Howard (Alabama Shakes)

I was at Alabama Shakes' CMJ show last year (their first time playing in New York), and like literally everyone else in the audience that night, I left nursing a crush on frontwoman Brittany Howard. Howard instantly owns any stage she sets foot on with a combination of some truly heroic pipes and some pretty fierce guitar playing to boot. She may not have thought she'd make it to twenty-two (as she sings in "Hold On"), but at only twenty-four, she's got the kind of lived-in sexiness of someone far beyond her years.

 6. Bethany Cosentino (Best Coast)

Best Coast's fuzzed-out garage rock is endearingly sunny, as the line "We were born with sun in our teeth and in our hair" from "The Only Place" might indicate, and Cosentino's playful vocals add miles of cheery sexiness to the group's joyful California vibe. The group's most recent album, The Only Place, creeps away from the distortion and reverb that kept Cosentino's voice so hidden on the group's early releases. Listening to it is like watching one of those high school movies where the shy, artsy girl turns out to be smokin'.

 5. Caroline Polachek (Chairlift)

Polachek is currently neck-and-neck (God, that's sexy) with Class Actress' Elizabeth Harper for the "Most Angelically Beautiful Frontwoman of an '80s-Obsessed Synthpop Band" award. But she's got her hands in all kinds of other fields of sexiness as well: she's collaborated on several projects with lingerie brand The Lake & Stars. Also, she performed live dressed like this at a live show in Tasmania. That is all.

 4. Alexis Krauss (Sleigh Bells)

There's something cartoonish about Sleigh Bells' over-the-top vision of noisey pop-metal. But cartoonish or not, seeing a studded-leather-jacket and cut-offs-clad Alexis Krauss power-strut out in front of a wall of Marshall amps, point to the crowd, and yell "Enemies, on your knees!" is not something you're likely to forget. Of course, whether it's more strongly imprinted on your brain or your loins depends on your own preferences for raven-haired, charismatic women. Actually, strike that: everyone loves raven-haired, charismatic women. Enemies, on your knees, indeed.

 3. Santi White (Santigold)

Santigold's most recent album, Master of My Make Believe, had an outsize scope to it that made it seem like White was hell-bent on making sure no one would ever confuse her with M.I.A. again. "People want my power" she crows on the album opener "GO!," and the rest of the album finds her presiding over a dizzying array of swooning electronic beats and textures like a very sexy, iron-fisted queen. Consider me cowed.

 2. Chan Marshall (Cat Power)

In September, Chan Marshall is putting out Sun, her first original music as Cat Power in six years. And that makes all very pants-excited — however erratic her personal life has been, her work has never suffered. Marshall has also dabbled in film and modeling: Karl Lagerfield claims to have seen her smoking outside New York's Mercer Hotel, and on the strength of that image, was moved to sign her as the new face of Chanel. If I were sassier, this is where'd I'd make a cat noise, but I just can't stop staring at her picture.

 1. Annie Clark (St. Vincent)

Do not stare directly into Annie Clark's eyes. They are deep limpid pools from which no mortal man or woman can escape. And just when you think she's an impossibly beautiful porcelain doll likely to shatter with the next abrupt temperature change, she'll melt your face with a guitar solo, because that's just how she rolls. If the sexiness of one's company reflects back on oneself, then Clark's reign will only continue: she's slated to release an album with another dashing oddball, David Byrne, in September.

Via: http://www.nerve.com/

The Darkness - Everybody Have A Good Time

Music video by The Darkness performing Everybody Have A Good Time.

T-ara 티아라 - "Day By Day" (Dir. Cha Eun Taek)

A girl-group that suits the words "Funky & Cute" the most! T-ara, with fans nationwide encompassing gender and age, is back in 9 months with their mini-album [DAY BY DAY].
Having risen to the mainstream of the Korean Wave with their concerts in Thailand and Japan, T-ara is ready to meet their fans in an upgraded fashion with their new members Dani, and Ahreum.

T-ara reveals a more mature side with the title song "Day By Day", co-composed by Cho Young-Soo and Kim Tae-Hyun and the lyrics written by Ahn Young-Min.
Moreover, Hwayoung's subtle rap in the beginning has somewhat wild but poetic lyrics in a boyish tone, claiming "the end of love is like a dark tunnel" and "the end of a crazy love at the brink of a cliff shaking continuously infected to a persistent love". During the recording process, Hwayoung openly shared ideas with the lyricist to find rhymes and melodic lines that suited her. The expression and voice of the members, maturing as time goes by, are starting to bring out T-ara's musical colors. A perfect "Day by Day" was rendered through the refreshing and new vocals of the new member Ahreum and the work of Jonte Moaning, who also choreographed Beyonce's "Single Ladies".

Pilot Evolution

Martin Allais‘s fun cel animation spot for Pilot pens has been out for a while, but somehow never made it onto the main feed. Enjoy!

Note: NSFW around 0:38 if a momentary cartoon wang is not going to fly at work.

Nieto for Cracker Barrel

Beautiful – and clever – piece by Nieto and Paranoid US for Cracker Barrel. Love the moments with the rolling egg and flipped pancake where the direction of up and down switches mid-air.

JEFF The Brotherhood – “Sixpack” Video (NSFW)

Exuberant Nashville fuzz-rock duo JEFF The Brotherhood’s video for their friendship ode “Sixpack” might as well be a blueprint for how to spend your holiday. It involves alcohol, weed, canoes, swimming holes, fireworks, campfires, and makeouts, and it looks like the band members and their friends had a whole hell of a lot of fun filming it. Elise Tyler and Michael Carter direct, and it’s NSFW for skinny-dipping-related reasons, though not the reasons you may be hoping for.

Florence + the Machine - "Breaking Down"

It's hard to write a catchy pop song about paranoia and loneliness but Florence + the Machine manage just that on "Breaking Down." The official video, something of a nostalgiac take on the tour diary format features a sentimental tone with a Super 8 feel, and is everybit as earnest and likable as you might expect from the talented Florence Welch.

The History Of Rock In 100 Riffs

Here’s a video of Chicago Music Exchange‘s Alex Chadwick performing 100 rock riffs in one continuous take, pretty much the rock and roll equivalent of the “Evolution Of Dance” video. Chris Weingarten beat me to this joke but apparently the history of rock ends with St. Vincent.


A full, detailed list of the source riffs is here.

Charli XCX - You're the One [Official Video]

Charli XCX’s sharp, stylish video for the synthpop banger “You’re The One” shows the young British singer, in a series of glammed-up outfits, dancing around a warehouse with her initial painted on the wall, often accompanied by a small mob of sinister-looking children. It’s a nice visual complement for the latest in a seriously strong string of singles. Dawn Shadforth directs

Sébastien Tellier - "Russian Attractions"

Watch Sébastien Tellier's new video for "Russian Attractions" off of 'My God is Blue,' produced by VICE with the help of Air (Drinkair.com).

We took the idea of falling in love with a stranger, and considered the fact that love itself is a stranger. There's a reason we use the word "fall" when referring to love. Because when its pull becomes too strong to resist, you lose your balance and what happens next is an unknown beyond our control. Although scary, the unknown is also undeniably attractive.

Director: Meredith Danluck Director of Photography: Jake Burghart Executive Producer: Thobey Campion Producer: David Laven Associate Producer: Chloe Campion Production Designer: James Maher Choreography: Mesha Kussman Gaffer: Greg LeFevre Dancers: The Aqualillies

La Casa Azul - La Polinesia Meridional

La Casa Azul's latest music video, from an abstract futuristic world to the skies of La Polinesia Meridional.

Santigold - "The Keepers"

Santigold delivers yet another banger single. "The Keepers" is a green tinted social critique set to a highly dancable beat. Video Directed by Santi White

David Guetta - I Can Only Imagine ft. Chris Brown, Lil Wayne

David Guetta feat Chris Brown & Lil Wayne- "I Can Only Imagine" (Dir: Colin Tilley)

London 2012 Olympic Games Title Sequence

The BBC has unveiled the title sequence and marketing campaign for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Evolution of the F1 Car

An animated timeline of all Formula 1 cars from 1950 to 2012.

Blur - "Under The Westway" & "The Puritan" (Live) (official lyric videos)

Blur - Under The Westway


Blur - Under The Westway (Live)


Blur -The Puritan


Blur - The Puritan (Live)

As promised, Blur are kicking off the week with a pair of new songs, debuting live via Twitter. It’s the band’s first new material since the 2010 Record Store Day single “Fool’s Day.”

The first song of the day is “Under The Westway,” a pared-down version of which has been kicking around the interwebs since February, when it was performed by Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon at a Brit Awards War Child benefit show in London. It’s an aching Bowie-esque ballad with a huge melody. Stream it atblur.co.uk/livestream RIGHT NOW.

After “Under The Westway,” stick around for a Twitter interview with the band. Then, Blur will perform “The Puritan” in just about an hour (at 2:15 EST). Both songs will be available for download on iTunes after the band’s performance. A limited edition double-A-side 7″ featuring both songs will be released on August 6; pre-order here.

UPDATE: The first time we heard “The Puritan” was in mid-June when it was performed by Damon Albarn at London’s Poetry Olympics. Even with just Damon and an acoustic guitar, the tune was pretty buoyant and upbeat, but as performed by Blur, it’s a totally rambunctious sing-along that brings back memories of the Britpop Trilogy.

Clearly — indisputably — the band is in fine form after nine goddamn years since their last album (and 13 years since their last album with Graham as a full-time member). Is it too much to hope for a new album? A U.S. tour? What if we beg?

Via: Stereogum.

Sigur Rós - Rembihnútur

Another week, another clip for a song from Sigur Rós' Valtari, as part of their "Valtari Mystery Film Experiment". The video for "Rembihnútur", directed by Arni & Kinski, features several quiet, somewhat melancholy portraits of people with their eyes closed. Hey, not every video can star a nude Shia LaBeouf.

Spiritualized – “Little Girl”

Thus far, Spiritualized’s excellent new Sweet Heart Sweet Light album has yielded two videos. Jason Pierce hasn’t appeared in either of them, and both of them follow the harrowing stories of outsider types trying to scrape by on the fringes of society. “Hey Jane” had a transgender stripper, and now “Little Girl” focuses on a girl who escapes a shitty life in the former East Germany by executing badass motorcycle stunts and hanging out with terrifying European biker types. Director Vincent Haycock filmed the clip on location near Germany’s Polish border, and it features a whole lot of stunt-riders. The video is awesome and sad.

Jessie Ware - Wildest Moments

The British singer Jessie Ware has been steadily building a seriously strong catalog with her spare, evocative electro-soul, and today she unveils the video for her very good “Wildest Moments” single. The video is about as minimal as it gets: Just Ware, against a blank background, slowly rotating while singing the song and making beatific facial expressions. Kate Moross directs.

Aesop Rock – “ZZZ Top”

It’s been five years since Aesop Rock’s last album, None Shall Pass, but his new release, Skelethon, is imminent, and now we’ve got the second video to be released in suport of that album. Compared to the relatively sedate “Zero Dark Thirty,” “ZZZ Top” is pure action. Aes has only a cameo in this clip; it stars Chinese martial arts legend Hao Zhihua (credited here as Patty Li) who fights off a group of thugs, scored by Aes’s cinematic beats, disjointed flow and nicotine-scarred voice.

Jesse Harris "I Won't Wait" (feat. Conor Oberst)

Jesse Harris is a longtime New York music-scene insider, and he’ll probably be rich forever just on the strength of writing Norah Jones’s “Don’t Know Why.” But Harris also has a career of his own, and his song “I Won’t Wait” features guest backing-howls from Conor Oberst and guitar work from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Nick Zinner. The smoky retro track has a smoky retro black-and-white video, shot on an iPhone, in which a model drapes herself all over Harris. Lyle Owerko directs.

Odd Future – “Sam (Is Dead)”

Tyler, The Creator is not done with his directing career! Tyler did the video for “Sam (Is Dead),” a Tyler/Domo Genesis track from The O.F. Tape Vol. 2, under his Wolf Haley alias, and it’s a trip through Deer Hunter-type war-movie iconography. The seven-minute clip has some extra film-score music from Tyler, and it has cameos from O.F. associates like Early Sweatshirt and Trash Talk frontman Lee Spielman, whose band recently signed to Odd Future Records. There’s not much in the way of story or anything, and Tyler might think those closing shots are more mind-blowing than they are, but this is still easily the best Tyler-directed video since “Yonkers.”