serge

"Mr. Iceberg"
Serge Gainsbourg
1979

I now have permission to not wear socks until the fall.

song of the week: one life stand

"One Life Stand"
Hot Chip
directed by Roel Wouters

The shoulder seesaw dance is the new Chicken Noodle Soup with the soda on the side.

song of the week: night by night

"Night by Night"
Chromeo
directed by Jeremie Rozan/Surface 2 Air

Midday dance party in an abandoned warehouse with multiple partners? YES, PLEASE!

song of the week: "heaven can wait"

"Heaven Can Wait"
Charlotte Gainsbourg feat. Beck
directed by Keith Schofield

More reason to love French women and Beck.

the next big thing?

"Sea Within A Sea"
The Horrors
directed by Douglas Hart

I don't want to like this band, but it's so hard to resist. Damn them and their shoegazing and Joy Division appropriation. However, maybe my damnation should be aimed at Yves Saint Laurent for continuing the streak awesome music choices. I just hope they don't end up like The Libertines. Yeah, remember them?

"femme fatale"

Beck and the Record Club
"Femme Fatale" (Velvet Underground Cover)

Nico, who?

the band

Roxy Music
"Do the Strand"
1973

I was an hour late to a "Lost" viewing party because of the damned MTA, but I was treated to a DVD collection of live performances by Roxy Music to sooth my weary soul. Aside from the amazing performance and the incredible song, look at the clothes. It's as if everyone in the band decided to sartorially one up each other. Chest length double breasted lapels! Exposed chest hair! Sequins! Weird bulbous/spotted pants! Essentially, it all works and it's amazing. It's almost enough to make me forget how much the MTA sucks. Almost.

song of the week: heart rate rapid

"Heart Rate Rapid"
Metronomy
Directed by Dandilion Wind Opaine

Doesn't this look like the kind video Martin Margiela would make if he did music videos? It's a bit of a stretch, but you get it, right?

ci-aaaaaaaruhhh!

"Love Sex Magic"
Ciara feat. Justin Timberlake
directed by Diane Martel

Dear Ciara,
After watching this video, you can now call me a believer in love, sex, and magic.

W.

empty salons. corridors. salons. doors.

"Last Year at Marienbad"
directed by Alain Resnais
1962
The package design for the Crtierion release of Alain Resnais'"Last Year at Marienbad" is so simple, one might expect the same from the film. A dizzying wave of choppy editing, poetic dialogue, and neatly controlled imagery, "Last Year at Marienbad" is far from simple. It's a movie that takes a while to simmer to a point of engagement, but once you become a part of its rhythm, it's hard to resist its daring and poignant beauty. To celebrate the DVD release I give you this:

Blur
"To The End"
directed by David Mould

top of the pops: the best music of 2008

Song of the Year: Estelle feat. Kanye West, "American Boy"
The perfect pop/soul song. This should have been the song of the summer.

Album Cover of the Year: Sebastien Tellier, "Sexuality"
Do I really have to explain?

yo hips, yo thighs

Beyonce
"Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)"
Directed by Jake Nava

Video of the year? Pay close attention to what happens at fifty-two seconds in. Yeah, uh huh.

black and gold

Sam Sparro
"Black and Gold"
Directed by Alex & Liane

Where have I heard this?

nsfw

Speaking of Mr. West, I will be the first and surely not the last to say I hate his new sound. I appreciate when artist wants to make a clear statement, and am so willing to believe in statements that might be ahead of their time, but what Kanye has so exceptionally done so far in his career is appropriate the genre conventions, aesthetics, and sounds of a non-hip-hop universe and make them his own that somehow still appeal to the contemporary hip-hop audience with the exception of the space he's venturing into for his latest album, "808s and Heartbreaks." "The Graduate" was the perfect balance between Kanye's interest in electro-house music and hip-hop street cred, a bold move for a hip-hop pop artist. His decision to record his new album entirely using Auto-Tune and singing, instead of rapping, on every track is a terrible one that shows his limitations as a vocalist, not something entirely required for the success of a rapper, but definitely for a balladeer. For an album that is supposed to be his emotional opus (his recent break-up album and the death of his mother have surely had an effect on him), it makes no sense that he chooses a device that makes a person sound like a robot, instead of emphasizing the emotions of disappointment, frustration, and loss through his actual voice. On top of that, his album listening party consisted of forty naked women in afro wigs courtesy of artist Vanessa Beecroft, a stunt and a misfire for his appreciation of mind-expanding contemporary art. Is it just me or is that the most poured on thick schlock of this artist's near asexuality? There usually seems to be a wink in his eye with his obsessive posting of hot girls on his blog, but this seems a bit extreme for a gathering of people like Michael Rappaport and Audrina Patridge. Let's not forget his latest video was an homage to "American Psycho." If he's truly channeling Patrick Bateman, then perhaps this will all be a nasty dream we'll soon forget.

must listen: beck, "modern guilt"

"Gamma Rays"
Dear Beck,
Why did I doubt you on the brilliance that is your new album, "Modern Guilt"? I think it's awesome that you're one of the few pop culture relics from the 90's still persisting and remaining relevant in the new century. Your last tour was a mind-altering experience with all of the puppetry and utensil playing during "Clap Hands." The moody sixties vibe on this new album sounds so lush and melancholic, and yet hypnotic and fun. Upon finally listening to it from start to finish today, I must say it's one of your finer works and one of the best albums of the year. I'll never waver again. Promise.

Fan for life,
W.

no film required

Behind the Scenes of Radiohead's latest video
"House of Cards"

nose candy

"Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing in the Line for the Bathroom)"
N.E.R.D.
directed by Diane Martel

Great, a music video that looks like The Cobrasnake.

let's hope it's not rihanna again

MGMT
"Electric Feel"

Where, oh where is our song of the summer?

coverage pt. 2

Kate Bush
"Running Up That Hill"

vs.

Chromatics
"Running Up That Hill"

I give Kate Bush extra points for the interpretive dance, but I'm still wooed by the sparse groove of the Chromatics cover.

that's the very last time we saw each other

For his album listening party last summer, Kanye West and editor Derrick Lee made a series of mash-up videos, with each song taking on a new context with its cinematic counterpart. The rhythm of West's lyrics in this video becomes akin to the the lushly romantic and melancholic world of Wong Kar Wai's sci-fi dreamscape "2046." His fan-like love for Asian popular culture, nostalgic idea of the future, and eye-popping visuals are more concrete and passionate here than in some of his other videos. For more, click here.

p.s., What happened with "My Blueberry Nights"? It's unfortunate that the few international auteurs with current releases (Michael Haneke, Susanne Bier, Olivier Assayas) have yet to connect to an American audience. Fernando Meirelles, perhaps you can make things better.