The video for “Open Happiness,” the Coca-Cola-sponsored collaboration between Cee-Lo, Janelle Monae, Fall Out Boy lead singer Patrick Stump, Panic! At The Disco frontman Brendon Urie, and Gym Class Heroes’ Travis McCoy, debuted this morning, and it presents us with a fantastical world in which Urie is reporting the news, Stump is piloting a fishy helicopter, and Monae is teaching the kids of the world how to be more like her (a fine development, if you ask me). There’s also a sly shout-out to Teletubbies, whose super-saturated landscape is very reminiscent of all the colorful joy ping-ponging around the screen here. Clip after the jump. More »
Last night in Oakland, Tori Amos covered Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time,” prefacing her version of the gigantic pop hit with an explanation that a fairy had told her to take on the track during that night’s show. (Perhaps the fairy was really excited by the news that Spears was in the studio with “…Baby” scribe Max Martin earlier this week?) Amos is just one of many musicians who’ve been compelled to put their own spin on “…Baby” in the decade since its release, probably because the one-two-three punch of the song’s minor-key pathos, Spears’ trapped-canary narrative, and the track’s pop perfection is too much to resist. Amos’ cover, the original, and a few other versions considered after the jump. More »
Spencer Smith has posted a snippet of a new song by him and his Panic! At The Disco bandmate Brendon Urie on the band’s official site; it’s called “Oh Glory” and it’s upbeat and dancey, and would seem to bear out Pete Wentz’s claims that this album would feel like more of a natural progression from their first full-length A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out. More »
Just in case you were wondering: Orianthi Panagaris, the Australian guitarist/singer who was a member of Michael Jackson’s backing band for his ill-fated run of shows at London’s O2 Arena, will not be replacing recently departed Panic At The Disco guitarist Ryan Ross, despite claims that apparently started on Wikipedia yesterday. More »
In the wake of yesterday’s news that half of Panic At The Disco would be leaving the band, Pete Wentz posted a cryptic note to his blog—one that implied, at the very least, that the long-abandoned exclamation point in the band’s name would be restored, at least in spirit. Linked from a picture of a big “!” was Panic lead singer Brendon Urie’s cover of Bob Marley & the Wailers’ “3 Little Birds”—you know, the song that reminds everyone that “every little thing’s going to be all right.” YouTube embed of the track after the jump. More »
Oh no! Half of the Las Vegas rock band Panic at the Disco–guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker–has decided to split from the group, saying in a statement on the band’s official site that they’ve “creatively evolved in different directions which has compromised what each of us want to personally achieve.” The band is supposed to embark on tour with blink-182 at select dates beginning next month, and those dates–and the band’s third album–are still apparently a go, although who will fill the guitar and bass roles is currently up in the air. The full statement after the jump. More »
Our pals at Absolute Punk have a listing of the dates for blink-182’s summer tour, with a handy code telling you which supporting acts–of the array encompassing Fall Out Boy, Weezer, the All-American Rejects, Asher Roth, Chester French, Taking Back Sunday, and Panic At The Disco–will be on which dates. [AbsolutePunk] More »
I generally enjoy Fall Out Boy. I liked the band’s most recent album, Folie A Deux, and the current single “America’s Suitethearts” (just as long as I manage to erase the video from my memory). But somehow the performance of that song on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno last night became a battle of unnecessary vibrato, as Panic At The Disco‘s Brendon Urie joined the band for some sort of “who can avoid the actual notes more” duel. I’m sure there’s some aspect of performing live outdoors that can be blamed (not to mention people who will say the band always sounds like this), but, man, there are some seriously cringeworthy moments here. The clip, as well as a truly painful interview with John “Formerly Known As Stuttering John” Melendez, below the cut.
There are two reasons that I’m glad I kept putting off my treatise on the very unfortunate Bob Dylan vs. will.i.am smackdown in honor of Pepsi: First, MTV News’ James Montgomery pretty much summed up my thoughts on the overall “the present is kinda crappy, let’s just OD on sugar” feel of the ad; and second, I found out that the Coca-Cola-sponsored collaboration between Cee-Lo, Patrick Stump, Janelle Monae, Brendon Urie, Travis McCoy, and Butch Walker had debuted online today. Guess which one is about 50 million times more pleasurable to these ears? I’ll give you a hint: It’s the one without Shrek in its attached video. Embeds of both tracks after the jump.
