The Video Omelette

Good friend to the site and kick-ass photographer, Mark C. Austin, has been pimping his new pet project, the Ford Fiesta Movement, in which he procured one of 20 brand-spanking-new Ford Fiesta's to let people here in Houston test out. Always bringing a touch of music into anything he does, Austin and counterpart Amber Roussel have started to invite different local bands into the backseat of the Fiesta for a series they are calling BackSeat Jukebox. The first of hopefully many videos to come features local Houston act, and BOT-favorite, Buxton working their way through the unreleased track "Boy Of 9" with the help of a few non-traditional instruments. Despite being jammed into the back seat, they still pull of a flawless version of the new tune.

We recently caught Buxton performing several of their new tracks, and you can rest assured that they were all brilliant. We will have a full review of that show soon.

About a month ago, Damon Albarn's pet-project-turned-international-phenomenon Gorillaz released the first single from their highly anticipated 3rd LP, Plastic Beach. The track, "Stylo," features the vocal stylings of classic soul singer Bobby Womack, and a understated flow from Mos Def towards the end. I was immediately hooked, and quickly added PB to my list of 2010's must have albums. With less than a week until the full album's release, Gorillaz have posted the official music video for "Stylo" through their official YouTube page. The video finds artist Jamie Hewlett, best know for his imagining of Tank Girl many years back, bringing his characters Noodle, 2D and Murdoc into the real world for a high speed chase through the desert. Obviously on the run, the cartoons speed past a doughnut-induced officer before meeting their match in a 45-toting 327 El Camino driving Bruce Willis. Great song, even better video – check it out on the Gorillaz' official YouTube page.

For those who can't wait a week until they pick up their fresh copies of Plastic Beach, you can head over to NPR right now and stream the album in its entirety. I'm about half way through, and am already in love. Excellent contributions from Lou Reed, Snoop Dogg, De La Soul, Mos Def and Bobby Womack are only the cherry on top of this masterful piece of work. I can't wait to hear the second half!

If there was one thing that excited me leading into the new year, it was the thought that Hot Chip were set to release a new LP in the first quarter. I've only had the chance to see the British electro-wierdo's once before, and I had the best time of my life getting down to their set. Their last LP, Made In The Dark, is my go-to album for inciting a dance party, and has been one of my most spun discs since its release in 2008. Just yesterday, the fine folks at EMI sent me an advanced copy of Hot Chip's upcoming release, One Life Stand, set for a February 1st shelving. After first listen, I'm already stuck, and can see this one winding up as one of my top album's of 2010. With the album, they also sent over a link to the latest video for their first single, "One Life Stand." The music is great, but I can't get enough of video, and its cheesy 80's feel. It finds them jamming out in a green striped room centered with a spinning 360° camera and surrounded by a bunch of spirals added in for a heightened cheese factor. I want to hang out with these guys some day – on psychedelic drugs.

Hot Chip have only announced a handful of dates in the U.S. so far, but one of those is a highly coveted slot at the 2010 edition of Coachella. Hopefully, if the stars align, I'll be able to traverse the southwest all the way to the California desert to take in that set, along with a whole bunch more stellar offerings over the course of the three day event. If not, they better freaking come to Houston!

Two nights ago, when everyone was getting their fill of Ivy League rock by the Vampire Weekenders on Letterman, I was more interested in the later musical offering. The good-timing Colorado boys known as Yonder Mountain String Band made their way to LA for their national late night television debut on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson. Performing "Out Of The Blue" from their 2009 release, The Show, the quartet rips through the churning song, each member taking a stab at a shortened-for-television version of their signature solos that have carried these guys through the jam circuit for the past decade. I will always love YMSB, and the fact that they're finally getting some well deserved national public attention makes me, as a huge fan, a very happy person. Check out the video:

Yonder Mountain String Band begin their "Cabin Fever Tour" at the end of this month at George's Majestic in Fayetteville, AR, and will wrap their way across the south and midwest, finally ending about a month later at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa (a slut backwards), OK. Go catch them live!

I came across this video yesterday as I was making my daily read of Houston Press' Rocks Off Blog, and was immediately impressed with how the videographer (W. Ross Wells from Zenfilm, the same guy who directed the SugarHill video in our last post) made our fair city look so nice. It features local up-and-comers The Tontons on stage at the House of Blues, but also shuffles through a variety of clips showcasing some of Houston's hottest spots. If you are from Houston, this video is well worth the watch; if you're not, check it out, and fall in love with our city. It really is a great place to be!

Gotta love that cheesy graphic at the end!

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to be invited to Houston's famed recording studios, SugarHill, to take part in their twelfth episode of the internationally webcast radio program, Live From SugarHill. My job was to be the "Audience of One," which basically meant I got to sit in a comfy chair in the studio and enjoy sets from Austin's Tody Castillo and Houston's Winter Wallace. Not too difficult if you ask me! It was such a great experience, and was a completely different way to take in a live performance. The staff at SugarHill were quite welcoming and hospitable, and made me feel incredibly comfortable through the whole event. I have great memories from that evening, and the fact that it was completely documented on film will make those memories last so much longer. W. Ross Wells and his viral media company Zenfilm put together a nice hour and a quarter video from the session, which you can view below.

Thanks so much to Gina Miller, Dan Workman and the rest of the SugarHill staff for inviting me to be the "Audience of One" during their year-anniversary twelfth episode of Live From SugarHill. It was an experience unlike any other!

From its announcement months back, we've been following the development of the BlakRoc project pretty closely. The hip-hop group featuring Akron, OH's garage rock duo The Black Keys immediately stood out to me, and rightfully so. The Black Keys supported by today's best MC's, including Mos Def, Q-Tip, Raekwon, RZA and Pharoahe Monch? Sign me up! The new album never gets cheesy like so many of it's rap/rock predecessors before it, and even with the slew of different rappers, each song flows into one another quite nicely. One of the standout tracks from Blakroc, "Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)," features Mos Def singing harmony while Jim Jones takes over the flows. The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach also gets a chance to lay down his signature vocals, but is used as more of a back-up singer with a host of "La La La"'s. Recently, the group made their live television debut on The Late Show With David Letterman for a performance of said track, and it came out sounding as good, if not better than the studio version. Check it out:

In other Mos Def news, apparently he'll be joining artists like Snoop Dogg, Lou Reed, Barry Gibb and Bobby Womack as a guest on the new Gorillaz album. 2010 should be a great year for music, but this LP might just be my most anticipated.

One of my biggest musical regrets this past summer was arriving too late to Wakarusa to catch a Langhorne Slim set that eggs and Mrs. Bacon both deemed the best of the festival. Then the bastard had to go and release the best album he's made and one of the best of the year, Be Set Free - further enhancing my feeling that I missed out on something damn special on that mountain in Ozark. Join me in making up for your own missed chances to see Langhorne by checking out the video below of him and the War Eagles playing one of the best cuts off Be Set Free, "Say Yes," as part of indieATL's music series. If you're lucky enough to be anywhere near the shows that he's playing with The Avett Brothers to ring in the new year (Asheville, NC on 12/31 and Atlanta, GA on 1/1), FIND A WAY IN, enjoy, and report back to BOT.

I've been trying to give Jimmy Fallon a chance since he landed his own late night show, replacing Conan O'Brien as the host that takes care of all of us night owl's. Since his tenure on Saturday Night Live, Fallon has become the awkward actor that is best known for the moments of breaking out of character rather than his comedic skill in the thespian world. His talents as a late night host are still being tweaked with each nightly show, but his ability to pull in talent is uncanny, and has quickly made his show the number one spot for live musical exhibition. The fact that Fallon's house band is the legendary Roots Crew from Philadelphia adds to his indie street cred, but the collaboration with Questlove, Black Thought and crew with all of the guesting acts makes his show immediately worth a watch.

Recently, MC/actor extraordinaire Mos Def teamed up with his partner in crime Talib Kweli for a reunion of their highly acclaimed side project, BlackStar, during a one-off performance backed by both The Roots and the indie-queen tandem of Amber Coffman and Haley Dekle of the growing harmonious indie-weird Brooklyn group, The Dirty Projectors. Being a big fan of BlackStar, The Roots and The Dirty Projectors, this collaboration quickly stood out as a one-of-a-kind performance. While Kweli is featured as more of a back-up vocalist during a run-through of Mos Def's "History" from his most recent LP, The Ecstatic, it still stands out as one of our better Video Omelette's of the year. Give the video a watch:

Hopefully, one day soon, BlackStar will decide to do a nice full length tour that happens to stop somewhere close to me. I will be there with bells on.

What more on this Earth could Wayne Coyne and The Flaming Lips do to shock people? The answer: get a huge group of naked people on bikes in the forest, bring along that huge inflatable ball Coyne always makes his entrance in during live shows, have those people push and carry him around said forest in the ball, then deflate the ball and strip Coyne completely nude before carrying him off and inserting him into a big round vaginal object. Sounds like some kind of crazy dream (which is probably what it originally was), but really it's their newest music video for the track "Watching The Planets." It's definitely an interesting video, and fits right in with what The Flaming Lips are, but prepared to see a phallus or twenty. I recommend our younger readers and those at the office to steer clear of this video, unless your parents and bosses, respectively, don't mind 6 minutes of full-on nudity.

If the video doesn't work, you can watch it here.

I could've gone without seeing Wayne Coyne's cock-and-balls.