In the final weeks of one of the most high-intensity elections in the history of American democracy, both left and right were able to put their differences aside for three minutes and 56 seconds, thanks to a group of students at the Ron Clark Academy taking over YouTube, Good Morning America, and even the most hardened political observers’ hearts with their election-themed version of T.I.’s “Whatever You Like.”
It’s nearly impossible to forget Britney’s disastrous 2007 Video Music Award-opening performance of “Gimme More,” which coincided with one of our most overpublicized celebrity breakdowns. Soon after, Britney’s people took charge, kicking out the strays (Osama Lufti, anybody?), getting her medication straight, and attempting to get her weave back on point. The plan, calculated by Britney’s on-again manager Larry Rudolph and her father Jamie, was for Britney to redeem herself at the award show this year. She wouldn’t put on one of her legendary VMA acts, but she would get back into the public eye, look pretty, and win a few awards.
Remember all those shitty shows that you and your friends would hit up on the weekends as teenagers, usually held at a rec center or YMCA, where you’d pay three dollars to watch eleven local bands play horrible sets—except for one band? Sure, you knew the other bands and bought their merch of the tables for cred purposes, but you and everyone else in the room knew that there was only band there that would be playing shows post-prom. That band was the French Kicks.
Return to Cookie Mountain, the TV on the Radio album released before this year’s Dear Science, had jams of such epic proportions that most of the newer tracks didn’t really have a fighting chance. However, the standout “Golden Age” (Of Montreal mixed into George Michael with a sprig of Prince—am I wrong?) most accurately distills what’s enjoyable about TVOTR, with dance party-ready beats and lyrics that read as smart as they sound. In their by-now familiar fashion, TV on the Radio take new-yet-familiar sounds, smack them upside the face, then invite a couple beats over. Complete awesomeness ensues. The video is after the jump.
A few days ago, we sent Molly McAleer to the Wiltern in Los Angeles to see what happens when Zooey Deschanel’s No. 1 fan sees her live–in this case, during a concert put on by her collaboration with M. Ward, She & Him. Does he explode? Does time stop? Does he just need a cigarette? Find out after the jump.
A lot of you out there have probably heard about the sweaty, dayglo, incessantly referential shows put on by the apocalypse-anticipating laptop-slinger who goes by the stage name Girl Talk. You might be wondering, “Are these shows for me? Would I have a good time? Where would I keep my wallet and keys during the parts of the show where everyone in the audience takes their clothes off?” We sent Molly McAleer to two Girl Talk shows in Los Angeles this weekend in hopes of bringing our readers a field guide of sorts to their shows. After the jump, the fruits of her labor.
