Can there be a button you press somewhere on the Internet that lets advertisers and musicians know that if you see that one ad -- with that one song -- one more time, you are going to hate the song, the ad, and the product ... forever?
Judging by their quickly hatched hater-base, the members of Pomplamoose would have appreciated this by late November of last year. And now I beg for such a warning system on behalf of M83, whose "Midnight City" might just make this straight male loathe the thought of busty Victoria's Secret models prancing across his television screen in angel's wings.
You're a wild type. A rebel. The kind of person who likes life a little spicier. The kind of person who wants a flash of Tabasco™ lighting up your shot of Southern Comfort™. Like a fling between liquor and pepper sauce, you're a radical -- you probably even listen to that dubstep music.
Er, sorry, fans of bowel-shuddering wobble, but your favorite sound has just become a hipness signifier for the desperately uncool. Showing up in songs by Britney Spears and Maroon 5 probably told us dubstep was on its way here (along with brostep's ubiquity and Skrillex on the cover of SPIN, among many other signposts). But at least Skrillex looks a little scary, and -- real talk -- "Hold It Against Me" isn't so bad. Much worse, at least if you're dismayed by the distance dubstep has come from its gritty south London roots, is the gutbomb of subterranean rumble now bringing a Southern Comfort TV spot to its climax. Witness:
The world-at-large is bound to associate a few things with Beavis and Butt-Head: the '90s, a ballsier MTV, low-grade animation, juvenile delinquency, crude sex talk, and two idiots who loved fire, cappuccinos, and causing mayhem. Another major B&B element that should be on that list is the duo's interest in music videos. In between their misadventures, the horny, oafish deadbeats sat on a couch, flipped between channels, and voiced opinions on whatever clips came their way. Their soft spots were metal and hard rock (Beavis almost always wore a Metallica shirt, and Butt-Head an AC/DC one), but over the show's eight seasons, they took on hundreds of artists from all sorts of genres. Subjects included Led Zeppelin, Madonna, Beck, Dr. Dre, George Michael, Danzig, Letters to Cleo, Scatman John, Oingo Boingo, Biohazard, Nine Inch Nails, Men Without Hats, Reverend Horton Heat, Ween, Peter Gabriel, Alice Cooper, and Jawbox.
Tonight, Beavis and Butt-Head return to MTV with new episodes for the first time in 14 years. (The show starts at 7 pm PST.) They will "analyze" (I use the word very loosely) music videos again, along with clips from reality shows such as Jersey Shore.
As the pair spent their time chortling and making dumb sex jokes in front of the TV, they occasionally dispensed nuggets of insipid brilliance -- things that were so funny that they deserved to be taken as truth, or were at least worthy of repeating. In honor of their grand comeback, let's revisit six of Beavis & Butt-Head's finest pieces of music video insight.
1. Pantera was often reprimanded as a child
In a sterling example of their never-ending stupidity, Beavis and Butt-Head watched the above video for "This Love" and became convinced that Pantera's aggression stems from his being pushed around as a kid by his father. Here, "Pantera" refers to vocalist Phil Anselmo (for some reason, B&B figured that was his name), but the clip's even funnier if you imagine they discussed the entire band as being, another other things, "Daddy's little girl":
Beavis: "Does this Pantera guy ever relax?"
Butt-Head: "I don't think so. This guy's dad must have kicked his ass when he was a kid."
Beavis: "Yeah, really. He was like, 'Dammit, Pantera! This beer is warm! Get me another one.'"
Butt-Head: "Yeah, he was like, 'You treat your stepmother with respect, Pantera, or you'll be sleeping in the street!'"
Musical performances on late-night shows are always a crapshoot, but San Francisco's Girls sounded great in their TV debut on Tuesday's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The band played two songs from its new (out this week!) album, Father, Son, Holy Ghost -- "Honey Bunny" for the main broadcast, and "My Ma" as a web exclusive.
Apparently, NBC producers wouldn't let Girls' bassist/producer J.R. White drape a rainbow flag over his bass amp in a show of gay pride solidarity (sigh). But they did let the band have three backup singers, which was kinda cool. We loved watching the middle singer smile and touch her long locks as she sang the line, "they don't like my dirty hair," from "Honey Bunny."
Overall, it was a successful debut for this S.F. band, whose sophomore album seems to rack up more praise every day. (Even NPR liked it!) Check out video of the performances after the jump.
So this was pretty cool: Not only did the Oakland experimental pop outfit tUnE-yArDs make its TV debut last night on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show, but it did it so with the show's house band, which just so happens to be the Roots. With ?uestlove on drums and Black Thought on the rhyming breakdown, the haunting, funky tUnE-yArDs track "Gangsta" got a slight reworking fit for a live studio audience and a nation of people who've never seen anything like this before. In case you couldn't stay up until 1:30 a.m. on a school night, you can check out the video here ...
Not every TV appearance warrants a note, but this one sure does: tUnE-yArDs, the Oakland-based art-pop project of one supremely talented lady by the name of Merrill Garbus, will make its late-night TV debut tonight. This is but the latest in a breakthrough year for Garbus and tUnE-yArDs, following the release of stunning sophomore album w h o k i l l in April. We're so proud we're going to stay up late and watch her play. Are you?
So last night was the grand finale of NBC's The Voice -- the first vaguely credible vocal talent show to find itself on American television. The night before, on Tuesday, the last four contestants each performed a duet with their coaches, as well as a song that had been written specifically for them (most of which were bland -- especially poor Javier Colon's piece of ultra-safe balladry), in a final bid to win $100,000 and a record deal with Universal Republic.
The post-punk/shoegaze band Weekend graduated last year from local phenom to national thing with the Slumberland release of its debut album, Sports. Now the band is becoming even more of a thing: Its soaring single, "End Times," soundtracks a new teaser for the sixth season of the Showtime series Dexter. Which, bring on the champagne! But really, we just wanted a chance to remind you how good this song is. Watch the tease after the jump, and grab an MP3 of "End Times," too.
While we wait for someone to upload a higher-quality video than the below (it ain't no fun when Viacom ain't having none), be advised of the following Lil B-related news: last night at the mtvU Woodie Awards, held in Austin -- because God forbid we should try to post about anything other than Lil B and SXSW -- Based God was beat out for a Left Field Woodie, along with Das Racist and Die Antwoord and Yelawolf, by an obscure midwestern rapper named Kanye West. Oh, well, Lil B! Can't win 'em all! Guess you'll just have to brush yourself off and tr -- wait, what?
Well, it was terrible, of course; the question is really whether yesterday's Super Bowl Halftime show was inappropriately awful or expectedly so. To help you sort through it, we've divided up the goings-on based on whether they met or exceeded our minimal expectations for crumminess. Feel free to disagree, but please do so humorously and in the comments section below.
Appropriately Bad
The sound: The vocalists all started about 10 times louder or quieter than their backing tracks, but what can you expect when you're putting on a concert in half-an-hour in the middle of a working football field?
Write Comment
Email to Friend
