Crushable » Music News

Video: Taiwanese Animation House NMA.tv Tackles The Lana Del Rey Phenomenon

Jamie Peck — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:03:25 +0000

As the Lana Del Rey hype cycle (hopefully) draws to a close with the release of her underwhelming album Born To Die, it’s time for her cautionary tale to written in its entirety. And who better to tell her story than Taiwanese animation house NMA.tv?

NMA is known for their blunt and accurate, if slightly bizarre, animated shorts based on American pop culture, and they do the LDR story proud. The short shows Ms. Del Rey being pushed around by Brian Williams and Juliette Lewis, receiving a giant bag of money from her dad, and even (my favorite) having her record bludgeoned with baseball bats by representatives of Spin, Billboard and Pitchfork.

Lukewarm reviews are hardly akin to assault with a blunt object, and the best among them try to understand where Lana is coming from; I found The New York Times, The Village Voice and Pitchfork‘s reviews to be especially fair and well argued. Nevertheless, the video gives a good enough minute-long summary of the LDR phenomenon that you can show it to your mom what she asks what all this Llama Del Faye business is about.

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Video: ‘You’re A Creep, Charlie Brown’ Is The Perfect Peanuts Theme Song

Jamie Peck — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:11:00 +0000

I’ve always thought Peanuts was on the verge of being too sad to be watched by children, and this adds to my pile of proof. As it turns out, the kids’ cartoon syncs up perfectly with Radiohead‘s anthem to alienation, “Creep.”

In this video, which was cut together by Rob Yulfo, we see the much put upon Charlie Brown going through the motions of his sad, lonely, incompetent life as the depressing lyrics to “Creep” are sung by a chorus of his peers. He sleeps at the bus stop, gets teased mercilessly, seeks questionable psychiatric help, and yes, fails once again to kick the football. But all is not lost! The clips holds a hopeful ending for Charlie Brown, as if to say, “things are not always as bad as you think they are.” Only most of the time.

(Via Laughing Squid)

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Video: Happy 11/11/11 From These Eleven Disembodied Heads

Jamie Peck — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 23:02:40 +0000

Happy 11/11/11, everyone! Are you having as exciting a time as I am with these crazypants numbers? Why, in the past eleven hours of this numerologically significant day alone, I’ve blown my nose eleven times, eaten (more than) eleven bites of food, and even, at exactly 11:11 a.m. 11/11/11 on the dot, thought eleven times about putting on something other than full-body reindeer pajamas, then thought eleven times better of it (times eleven). True story!

Anyway, in honor of this very important non-holiday, some weirdos called The Koren Ensemble decided to make up an operatic anthem for 11/11/11 and film (what else?) eleven angry-looking disembodied heads singing it, just for you. Enjoy?

(Via Buzzfeed)

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Did Andy Samberg Steal Beats From A Saint Louis Production Duo?

Jamie Peck — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:31:46 +0000

Andy Samberg might look like a nice Jewish boy, but he’s actually been up to some rather shady activities lately, at least according to one St. Louis production duo. In a lawsuit filed last week against NBC Universal, Samberg, The Lonely Island and Universal Republic Records, Aleric “Rick tha Rular” Banks and Monique “Foxx StarStrukk” Hines are claiming The Lonely Island perpetrated “willful copyright infringement and unjust enrichment” upon them via hits “Shy Ronnie” and “Like A Boss.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Banks and Hines had a mutual connection with Samberg and submitted some tracks as the comedian prepared to release his first album as a member of the band The Lonely Island. Samberg’s band recorded the tracks, allegedly taking the plaintiffs’ copyrighted master recordings ‘verbatim,’ and added lyrics.”

The meaning of the word “verbatim” aside, the main issue at hand seems to be whether Banks and Hines are entitled to 50% of the copyright (as they claim), or 25%, as Universal Music Group claims. Furthermore, Banks says he has yet to receive any royalties at all from the songs.

I’m going to go ahead and guess Andy Samberg was not the mastermind behind this, because look at that face. He can do no evil! Then again, he’s pretty convincing as an insane, drug-addled, rapey, suicidal boss, so I guess you never know.

(Via MTV News)

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Video Decoder: Aqua, ‘Playmate To Jesus’

Jamie Peck — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:20:43 +0000

The world of popular music is vast and confusing. In this column, I seek to elucidate the hidden messages contained in recently released music videos, one meaning-laden still at a time.

Did you know that Aqua is still a band? 14 years after their sole breakthrough hit Barbie Girl, the group is still out there, playing festivals and being super Scandinavian. Their latest video, Playmate To Jesus, holds many dark and Goth-y secrets. Let’s examine them.

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Glee Report Card: Nothing Unusual Here

Louis Peitzman — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 15:14:10 +0000

Hey, that show we love and sometimes love to hate and sometimes just hate is back! Glee returned Tuesday night with a season premiere that mostly reminded viewers why they tuned into this show before it got terrible. I’m willing to give Glee’s third season a chance, because hey, tabula rasa. And I’ll be grading the episodes’ musical numbers each week. Join me in my judgment, won’t you?

“We Got the Beat”

Performed by The Glee Club

Originally performed by The Go-Go’s

They do, you guys. They do got the beat. The first musical number of the season premiere took long enough to arrive, but it was basically worth the wait. While, I’m not sure how a ridiculous cafeteria performance was supposed to attract new members to Glee club, I enjoyed the song well enough. It showcased the strongest performers, namely Rachel and Santana. Still not as great as High School Musical’s “Stick to the Status Quo,” of course, but then, what is?

Grade: B

“Big Spender”

Performed by Sugar

From the musical Sweet Charity

Ugh, who is Sugar, and why are we adding new characters to an already overloaded series? The joke here is that Sugar can’t sing, which made her rendition of “Big Spender” hilariously awful. Except it wasn’t all that hilarious to me. When was the last time you actually laughed at intentionally bad singing? At this point in the episode, I was looking for some good performances, not this unnecessary diversion. That having been said, kudos for turning Asperger’s into a punchline. No, really!

Grade: D

“Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead”

Performed by Rachel and Kurt

From the musical The Wizard of Oz

As much as Rachel gets on my nerves, I’m fine with a bunch of Rachel-centric performances, because Lea Michele is still the most talented singer on this show. (Sorry, haters!) I thought the witch hats and broomsticks were a little schlocky—and not really on point, because hello, the witch is dead. Um, that aside, it was well sung, if not the best showcase for the two. Maybe it’s my personal bias, but I think Rachel and Kurt need to be more Broadway, less jazz.

Grade: B

“It’s Not Unusual”

Performed by Blaine

Originally performed by Tom Jones

So OK, Blaine’s outfit was a bit much. (Red pants, yellow sunglasses, bowtie.) But I must be under Darren Criss’ thrall, because I totally dug it. In real life, he’d look absurd, but in Glee’s candy-colored universe, it worked. Oh, and he’s still charming as shit. The song was a lot of fun—for some reason, I don’t mind when Blaine hams it up. (See above re: thrall.) Like, yeah, I’m trying to be objective, but he’s so charming it’s actually gross. Almost makes up for the fact that Blaine and Kurt still really only hug.

Grade: A-

“Anything Goes”/“Anything You Can Do”

Performed by Harmony and the NYADA kids

From the musicals Anything Goes and Annie Get Your Gun

Here’s the thing—I didn’t really care for Lindsay on The Glee Project. (Loathed her.) But she’s a great singer and a fairly natural actor, and honestly, I was excited to see what she’d do with her two-episode role on Glee. (I say two-episode because that’s what’s planned, but Ryan Murphy would be wise to keep her around longer.) And screw it, she’s great. The medley was great. The dancing was great. The horrified looks on Rachel’s and Kurt’s faces were great. I don’t care if Lindsay is really evil incarnate: I adore Harmony.

Grade: A

“You Can’t Stop the Beat”

Performed by The Glee Club

From the musical Hairspray

Let’s get the most important thing out of the way first—did everyone catch Brittany’s cross-eyed close-up at the end of the song? Weird, right? Anyway, this is the perfect number for Glee, and I’m shocked they hadn’t featured it earlier. Again, my bias is showing, but I love how showtune-happy this episode was. I fell in love with Glee when I thought it was going to be all Broadway, not Top 40. Plus, Rachel got her solo while still giving Mercedes a chance to shine. It was all very Glee—but in the good way!

Grade: B+

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Video: Jack White Teams Up With ICP To Cover Mozart

Jamie Peck — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:46:50 +0000

Do not adjust your monitors. Jack White, serious musician, has teamed up with Insane Clown Posse to create a cover version of, wait for it…Mozart’s Lech Mich Im Arsch. Idiomatically translated to “kiss my ass,” the song is thought to be a piece Mozart composed for his friends to sing at parties when they were feeling saucy. But that didn’t stop ICP from making it even dirtier with lyrics about literal ass-licking, like “call it a fetish/call him a freak/call him a man in need of a tongue on his butt cheek.” The arrangement is further enhanced by the sweet riffs of adorable garage-metal duo Jeff The Brotherhood. Witness the song’s promo video:

And now, for the full verson in all its glory:

Insane Clown Posse – Leck Mich Im Arsch by Third Man Records

I hope Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope found the experience educational.

What strangely legitimate place will the rapping clowns pop up next? NPR? The MOMA? The Metropolitan Museum of Art??? I blame The Village Voice for all of it.

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Maroon 5′s Adam Levine Is A Huge Hypocrite

Jamie Peck — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 20:42:57 +0000

The lyrically brilliant artiste who brought us “Moves Like Jagger” and appears on edgy, non-commercial public access television program The Voice has drawn a line in the sand with regards to MTV’s Video Music Awards. This past Saturday, he posted a well-reasoned statement of objection via that most intellectual of avenues, his twitter account:

In which sand is he drawing that line? Is it located near the Hollywood Hills mansion he purchased in 2005 for three million of the many dollars he’s made off of being a famous musician people watch on MTV?

The station responded just a few minutes later with this pithy tweet:

Snaps! And yet, he persisted with these cutting retorts:

So raw and honest, that Adam Levine. Which important cause will he take on next? Celebrities who think they can flout the law just because they’re celebrities? The excessive pompadourification of our nation’s youth? Or perhaps America’s over-consumption of oil? He always keeps us guessing, that one.

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Listen To Alice Cooper’s New Duet With Ke$ha, ‘What Baby Wants’

Jamie Peck — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 19:17:28 +0000

Given her interest in the flamboyant sounds and style of the eighties, it was only a matter of time before walking Internet meme Ke$ha recorded a duet with original shock rocker Alice Cooper. It isn’t finished yet, but a short snippet is already on the web, and it’s a match made in ridiculous person heaven.

Taken from Cooper’s forthcoming Welcome 2 My Nightmare LP, “What Baby Wants” is about none other than Cooper’s favorite old pal, the Devil. And what better person to sing the part of the Devil than the most reviled pop brat of this year of our lord 2011? Ke$ha is nothing if not conscious of her own image, and you know she relishes the chance to play the first hater-baiter in human mythology.

The music itself is your standard glam rock riff (strangely reminiscent of Michael Jackson’s Beat It), over which Ke$ha sings fun lines like “I’m gonna drain your veins and bathe in your blood.” Alice responds with a twisted nursery rhyme about how “it’s her aphrodesiac when she stabs you in the back.” You just know those two had fun with this one. Will there be an insane music video to go with it? I sincerely hope so. Here is the snippet in all its cheesy glory:

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Andy Warhol’s Landlord Asked Him Not To Throw Parties At The Factory

Jamie Peck — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 17:46:56 +0000

Today, excellent historical blog Letters Of Note features a letter from Andy Warhol‘s landlord at his infamous Factory loft at 231 E 47 St. In it, he reminds Warhol that “such use and occupancy” is not in the terms of his lease and he needs to stop it with all the “large parties” that he’d been holding “after usual office hours.” Additionally, he was pissed that Andy’s guests left “litter and debris” lying around the hallways “which you have never bothered to clean.” (Edie Sedgwick simply did not care where she threw her Oreo wrappers.) Okay, that last part was a dick move, Andy Warhol. All in all, though, it sounds like someone was upset he wasn’t invited. The full text reads as follows:

ELK REALTY, INC.
1107 BROADWAY
NEW YORK, N. Y. 10010
AREA CODE 212
WATKINS 4-3560

November 15, 1965

Mr. Andy Warhol
231 East 47 Street
New York, New York

Dear Mr. Warhol:

We have been advised that you have been giving parties in the fourth floor space occupied by you. We understand that they are generally large parties and are held after usual office hours. We have found that your guests have left debris and litter in the public areas which you have never bothered to clean. Further, we feel that a congregation of the number of people such as you have had may be contrary to various applicable governmental rules and regulations and also might present a serious problem with the Fire Department regulations.

Your lease, of course, does not permit such use and occupancy and you hereby directed not to have any such parties in this building.

Very truly yours,

ELK REALTY, INC., Agents

(Signed)

Alfred R. Goldstein
President

ARG:sd

Next time your friends start complaining about how the New York City of today makes it terrifically hard to do anything cool, please direct them to this post. Rents might be higher now, but landlords have always been jerks about noise, even when that noise was coming from the Velvet fucking Underground. I wonder if this particular jerk knew that his bummer of a letter would someday be preserved for all posterity in a coffee table book called The Velvet Underground: New York Art? Anyway, it makes me feel better about my own landlord issues. Party on, people of New York. Party on.

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