The world went crazy the other day over the release of Lady Gaga’s video for “Telephone.” It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it is insane. Everyone, haters and lovers alike, can agree that video is nuts. Bananas. Nuts and bananas.
I think that Gaga’s talent as a musician is often overshadowed by her costumes. And shoes. And wigs. And lit-cigarette sunglasses. It is hard sometimes to notice she actually sings. And writes. And plays instruments. Thankfully Buzzfeed found these 5 diverse and incredible versions of Gaga’s Telephone. They’re all different styles. The closest to the original, by the band Alphabeat, who are opening up for Gaga in Europe, is my favorite. I think it bests Gaga’s. The other five are all worth checking out too.
Traverse Temporal Gyrus at The Guggenheim. Photo credit: Celia Quinnette
Upon entering the psychedelic bat cave that was Traverse Temporal Gyrus (the latest installation at The Guggenheim from Animal Collective and film artist Danny Perez), you were immediately bathed in a surreal environment of swirling sound and floating images. The museum was abuzz last night as fans crowded in for this special one-day collaborative exhibit. Selling out almost instantly, The Guggenheim had to add an earlier show to accommodate the spiked interest.
Try explaining climate change to young people in terms of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, or the dangers of toxic wastes by focusing on water sheds… chances are they’ll be checking their phones, if not dozing off, in a matter of minutes. Now imagine these same concepts being addressed by rappers from the neighborhoods these kids come from… you’ll likely see more enthusiasm for the topics.
Ricky Gervais has been popping up more than usual as of late to promote his new and funny HBO animated series. I wish all the talk shows he appears on would also air this certain clip from a music video. It shows Ricky from the 1980’s as a front man doing his best androgynous Bowie impersonation for new wave band Seona Dancing.
To celebrate the upcoming screenings of R.E.M’s amazing concert film, THIS IS NOT A SHOW on Sundance Channel (airing March 1st at 6 p.m. and March 7th at 6:35 p.m.), Sundance Channel will be giving away copies of R.E.M’s double live album, R.E.M. Live At The Olympia, to 20 lucky viewers. Be one of the first 10 viewers to login and comment on this very blog post on sundancechannel.com, following either the March 1st 6 p.m. EST (eastern standard time) screening or the March 7th PST (pacific standard time) screening on Sundance Channel and you can win this amazing two-CD set, produced by Jacknife Lee.
In Brooklyn’s independent music scene it seems like all you need to make something happen is a small group of friends working together in earnest. That’s what it took for Brooklyn-based duo Soft Spot, anyhow, when Bryan Keller and Sarah Kinlaw, who are as sweet and charming as they are talented, teamed up with art director Molly Gottschalk and director Ryan Dickie to produce the music video for their new single “Half a House.” Like any independent effort, the video was funded entirely by Keller and Kinlaw, who lugged lights and equipment and asked a lot of favors, like borrowing an amazing wardrobe from Malin Landaeus’ Vintage Archive in Williamsburg.
It seems Lady GaGa’s not had enough of gay pop star collaborations. A mere weeks after her dueling piano duet with Elton John at the Grammys GaGa showed up at the BRIT awards, the UK equivalent to the Grammys, and performed with the night’s honorees, The Pet Shop Boys. GaGa filled in for Dusty Springfield on the classic “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” and sang back-up with Brandon Flowers from The Killers on “West End Girls.”
The Pet Shop Boys have long had affiliations with gay icons: Dusty, Liza, Madonna, and now, GaGa. Here’s hoping they work together in the studio and not just on stage.
Billie Ray Martin should be a household name. Her voice is epic. It recalls Aretha and soul singers of another era. Ms. Martin is German. And white. And loves the Pet Shop Boys and electronic music. And disco. She’s always been a bit before her time. And those are the reasons why she’s not a bigger star. She may be too talented.
Michel Gondry recently directed this neat music video for LA musician Mia Doi Todd’s soulful “Open Your Heart” that features some massively color-coordinated people. It could practically be a commercial for Pantone.
The Knife, that freaky electro-duo from Sweden consisting of brother and sister Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer, has just released the soundtrack to their opera written about Darwin Tomorrow, in a Year. A Swedish electronic opera about evolution may seem strange to some, but for these guys it seems pretty natural. Their music has always embraced weirdness and oddities. This just seems a natural, um, evolution.
I am in Costa Rica this week traveling with a group of 13 gays. While this could sound like a recipe for disaster (13 queens fighting over one iPod dock!) we’ve been having a relaxing, and fun, week. There was a moment on Saturday that got me combing the internet this morning. As we traveled the 3 hours it takes to get from Costa Rica’s capital San Jose to the gayish beach town of Manuel Antonio we listened to local radio. At one point Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer came on the radio and the bus went nuts. We sang at the tops of our lungs.
When the song ended we traded stories of how much we loved that video, which you can watch above. It was groundbreaking.
Traverse Temporal Gyrus at The Guggenheim. Photo credit: Celia Quinnette
Still from R.E.M: THIS IS NOT A SHOW
