VIDEO DUMP: BEASTIE BOYS "BODY MOVIN' (FATBOY SLIM REMIX) (1998)

This video cracks me up, as it uses clips from the crappy 60s spy movie "Diabolique" juxtaposed with shots of the group. You might also remember this as the movie mocked in final episode of one of the greatest TV shows of all time, Mystery Science Theater 3000.

VIDEO DUMP: PORTISHEAD "MACHINE GUN" (2008)

I can't believe it's been over 10 years since Portishead released their eponymously titled second album. I have loved this band from first hearing "Sour Times" back in 1994. This is the first track I've heard from Third, and I'm simultaneously scared/in awe of it.



Portishead "Machine Gun" [non-embeddable]

One of a kind.

Portishead are Beth Gibbons, Adrian Utley and Geoff Barrow.
Third will be released April 29 in the US.



Official Portishead MySpace Site
Official Site

VIDEO DUMP: BAND AID "DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS?" (1984)

Presenting Music Dump's A Very Special Video Dump: the greatest Christmas song written in my lifetime. Leave it to the Brits to make a Christmas song that's also a great drinking song.

FEEEEEEEEEEEED THE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOORLD!!!



MERRY CHRISTMAS!

"Do They Know It's Christmas" Band Aid (1984) [YouTube]

THE CHRISTMASOCHIST: THIS HAD BETTER BE THE LAST CHRISTMAS

For some reason, the song "Last Christmas" by Wham! has been covered forty bazillion times it seems. Okay, at least it seems like that on XM radio, and Amazon's mp3 store has nearly 100 versions of it available (including karaoke); though I refuse to install iTunes on my laptop I would guess they have 5 times as many. If you thought you hated the original (I actually don't, since I think George Michael has a great pop voice), just wait until you hear some of these horrendous cover versions. It's Christmasochism!

Britt Nicole. I can't tell the difference between this and any of 546 chick singers who wish they were Avril Lavigne. (See also: Leigh Nash.)

Hawk Nelson. This Canadian Christian punk-pop quartet--okay, I think we can stop right there.

Christmas Angels. They couldn't even get the line right, instead singing, "Once bitten and twice as shy." I'm thinking this is a band from Finland or Israel with a very tenuous grasp on the English language, at best. (See also: Bth and Eurobeat 4 Christmas.)

Caramelle. Soulless soul from the "Last Christmas 2008" collection. I have looked into the future, and this still sucks a year from now. Not to be confused with Cadbury's Caramello, which are delicious.

The Tamlins. This one breaks the first rule of reggae: it doesn't have a reggae beat. As a bonus it has tone deaf back-up singers. Definitely harshes your buzz.

Scala & Kolachny Brothers. I only include this because this German choir does impossibly nightmarish versions of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "The Blower's Daughter" and "Creep". I'm having flashbacks to 8th grade concert chorus, when we were forced to do a stunningly bad Beatles medley.

From the dance club remix department, I couldn't decide who sucked more: Paul Active or Exone so you get both in your stocking. You click it, you buy it! No refunds or exchanges.

Collage. From "Planet Freestyle Volume 1", making me sincerely hope there isn't a volume 2. God, this fucking sucks. I hate Christmas now.

Christmas Hitters. This ponderous Muzak album has just a two word review: "Christmas Shitters". "They can't print that!"

Studio Group. Recorded at Studio. By Group. Released by Record Company.

Smokey. Ironic that he chose that name, since this guy's awful voice is pretty much the exact opposite of Smokey Robinson. This song is haunted by The Ghost of Falco Past!

Lars H.U.G. I guess they were going for "creepy European lounge lizard". Well played. Not sure what H.U.G. stands for, but this certainly does S.U.K.

Minuteman. Seriously, what the fuck is this? It faded out after 10 seconds, and should have damn well stayed silent.

Findlay Brown. From the album "The Best Kids Christmas Album In The World Ever Ever Ever!!!" Perfect if your kids are into folk music that makes you want to slit your wrists.

Peter J. Wheeler. The 2nd best master of the pan flute. (Enter dick joke here.) Once kicked Zamfir's ass in the bathroom of the Minneapolis Hooters.

Tony Evans and His Orchestra. Apparently Tony's "orchestra" is a cheap Casiotone keyboard. This "cha cha" version is guaranteed to induce seizures.

Roses Are Red. Finally--let's rock! Never mind, it's whiny emo rock garbage.

Valentin Movtosky. After all the other entries, this is actually starting to sound good to me. That's right, it's from "Golden Accordion, Vol. 1". Someone please help me.

Antonia de Lucena. From "Golden Guitars, Vol. 1"--what's with the golden instruments? Wouldn't they be too heavy and malleable to play? And why do we need the CD playing in the background of this, like one of those YouTube amateur guitarist videos?

Kidz Bop. These albums are incredibly awful. There are over 20 of them, and 9 of them have gone gold. This shit has to stop.

Elisa Mutto E Linda Cobelli Coro Dei Bambini. The Italian Kidz Bop.

No holiday would be complete without Crazy Frog, the fucking annoying ringtone that spawned five Top 20 singles in the UK. This is right up there with Kidz Bop, in that its very existence and subsequent popularity is completely inexplicable.

Peter Wheeler. From the illustrious "Christmas by Synthesizer", the album released before "Death by Synthesizer".

Band Orchestra Giuseppe Bovo & Majorettes Show. The only one that dares rock the glockenspiel!

Raunchy. Oh man, this sucks.

I'd like to apologize to little baby Jesus for this.

VIDEO DUMP: ANDREW BIRD "FAKE PALINDROMES" (2007)

Andrew Bird: singer, songwriter, violinist, guitarist, and one hell of a whistler.

Here's a video of him performing "Fake Palindromes" live at Coachella 2007.



He's appearing at the Beacon Theater on Friday, November 30.

THE SCARY CHILLING SOUNDS OF WOXY.COM

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! If you're not listening to WOXY internet radio right now, what are you waiting for? They've been doing a non-stop playlist of Halloween-y themed songs. Starting at around 9 AM, this is what they've played today:

Killing For Love - Jose Gonzalez
I Box Twenty - To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie
Wolf Like Me - TV On The Radio
Getting It Back - The Forms
Bloodletting - Concrete Blonde
Everyday Is Halloween - Ministry
Tight Black Rubber - Black Francis
Black Steel - Tricky
Vampire Racecourse - The Sleepy Jackson
Date With A Vampyre - The Screaming Tribesmen
To The Devil A Donut - King Of Woolworths
Monster Hospital - Metric
Ghost In The Sky - Sparklehorse
Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) - David Bowie
I Know I'll See You - A Place To Bury Strangers
Duplexes Of The Dead - The Fiery Furnaces
Black Celebration - Depeche Mode
Black Flowers - Yo La Tengo
Ghost Under Rocks - Ra Ra Riot
The Killing Moon - Echo & The Bunnymen
Aisha - Death In Vegas
They Are Night Zombies! - Sufjan Stevens
Death On The Stairs - The Libertines
Ghost Highway - Mazzy Star
Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
Attack Of The Ghost Riders - The Raveonettes
Blood - Editors
Devil's Haircut - Beck
Dead Souls - Joy Division
Ghost Town - The Specials
Ghost Train - Experimental Aircraft
Ghost Town Land - The Turnbull AC's
Is There A Ghost - Band Of Horses
The Devil - PJ Harvey
Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus
Creepin' Up The Backstairs - The Fratellis
Death At The Chapel - The Horrors
Grimly Fiendish - The Damned
Lucifer Sam - Pink Floyd
From The Devil Himself - Viva Voce
Hunting For Witches - Bloc Party
Love Like Blood - Killing Joke
666 Conducer - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
All The Arms Around You - Halloween, Alaska
No One Sees You Like I Do - + / -
Pumpkin - Starlight Mints
Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead - XTC
Black Math - The White Stripes
Nightmares - Violent Femmes
Dead Man - Self
Dead Kid Kicks - The Muggabears
Dead Fingers Talking - Working For A Nuclear Free City
Witchcraft - Wolfmother
Surfin Dead - The Cramps
Cross Bones Style - Cat Power
Halloween - Matt Pond PA
I Put A Spell On You - Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Dead Man's Party - Oingo Boingo
The Killing Jar - Siouxsie And The Banshees
There Goes The Fear - Doves
I Think I'll Be A Good Ghost - Say Hi (To Your Mom)
Good Day - Jukebox The Ghost
_______________

A Daisy Chain For Satan - My Life With Thrill Kill Kult
Sun Red Sky Blue - Kenna
Don't Talk To Strangers - Prinzhorn Dance School
The Line Between The Devil's Teeth - Peter Murphy
Devil In My Car - The B-52's
Gang Bang Suicide - Kevin Drew
Set Yourself On Fire - Charlotte Gainsbourg
Down In The Valley - The Broken West
Mansard Roof - Vampire Weekend
Revival - Soulsavers
Jack The Ripper - Morrissey


Okay, that last one is stretching the theme a little, but there are some great songs in there.

ROCKTOBER: NIRVANA "BREED" (1991)

What more can be said about Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, and Krist Novoselic? This is "Breed" from their 1991 Halloween concert (16 years ago today!) at the Paramount Theater in Seattle. That was the year they singlehandedly brought rock music back from the brink.



I hope you enjoyed ROCKTOBER. I know I did.

ROCKTOBER: THE BEATLES "LET IT BE" ROOFTOP CONCERT (1969)/LIVE AT SHEA STADIUM (1965)

ROCKTOBER could not be complete without The Beatles.

"Let It Be" is not currently in print, but these three clips from their famous rooftop concert in 1969 are the highlights (unless you prefer watching it in nine separate parts).

Part 1 ("Get Back"/"Don't Let Me Down")


Part 2. ("I've Got A Feeling"/"One After 909")


Part 3. ("Dig A Pony"/"Get Back")


Ah, screw it, here's one more clip, because it's ROCKTOBER and I fucking said so. Live from the (thankfully) soon-to-be-demolished Shea Stadium in 1965, named after Cuban guerilla leader Che Stadium. They just started cracking up during "I'm Down", because they knew no one could really hear them.

("Twist And Shout"/"Baby's In Black"/"I'm Down")


Some might disagree, but you can't name a more influential band in rock history. And they did it all in the span of about 7 years.

ROCKTOBER: QUEEN "BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY" (1982)

Quite simply, the greatest rock voice of all time: Freddie Mercury. Here's Queen performing "Bohemian Rhapsody" live at Milton Keynes Bowl, June 5, 1982.



I still have this 45 that I bought when I was 5 years old. Believe it or not.

ROCKTOBER: BUILT TO SPILL "STOP THE SHOW" (1999)

Doug Martsch is a guitar god. However, I didn't really appreciate him until seeing B2S (yeah, that's my cool shorthand) live in 2002. "Stop The Show" is from their essential Perfect From Now On album from 1997. This live video with mostly tight shots of the guitars is very interesting.

ROCKTOBER: SONIC YOUTH "TEEN AGE RIOT" (1988)

Great song from the Daydream Nation album. Great video, too: a short-attention span, 80s pop-sub-culture feast. See how many you can spot! Patti Smith! Pee Wee! Harvey Pekar on Late Night With David Letterman! I just wish it wasn't so grainy, it sucks even for YouTube.



Sonic Youth set the tone for every shaggy haired slacker indie band to come out of the 90s, for better or worse.

ROCKTOBER: STEVIE NICKS "EDGE OF SEVENTEEN" (1981)

I realized that women are horribly underrepresented here during ROCKTOBER, so what better female rock singer to choose than Stevie Nicks? In the 80s, every rock fan wanted to either be Stevie or be with her, or both. Here she is singing "Edge of Seventeen" on Dec 12, 1981, the last night of her first solo tour before returning to record with Fleetwood Mac.



(I love the comment, "Is something wrong with Stevie?" Yes, SHE'S HIGH! She's a rocker in the 80s, probably on a heroic amount of cocaine. Helloooo?)

There's a commentary version here that's very interesting. She wrote the song about John Lennon, which I never knew.

ROCKTOBER: SPOON "JONATHON FISK" (2002)

From the fantastic Kill The Moonlight album, here's the Austin, Texas band Spoon with "Jonathon Fisk".



"Religion don't mean a thing, it's just another way to be right wing."

ROCKTOBER: THE CULT "SHE SELLS SANCTUARY" (1985)

The Cult live at the Ritz in New York City singing their classic "She Sells Sanctuary", from the essential 1985 album Love.



These guys are back out there touring again with a new album, but this was the Cult in their prime before they convinced themselves they were rockstars.

ROCKTOBER: BLACK KEYS "YOUR TOUCH" (2006)

The Black Keys performing "Your Touch", live at Grimey's Records in Nashville, TN, 2006.



I can't get enough of these guys. There were about 145 videos I could have chosen, but this is one is just down home and dirty.

ROCKTOBER: U2 "OCTOBER/NEW YEARS DAY (LIVE AT RED ROCKS)" (1983)

Today's ROCKTOBER entry can be found over at Open Hockey blog: U2 "OCTOBER/NEW YEARS DAY (LIVE AT RED ROCKS)".

ROCKTOBER: FOO FIGHTERS "BEST OF YOU" (2005)

I would be remiss if I didn't include the Foo during ROCKTOBER. Dave Grohl is my rock hero. Here's the great video for 2005's "Best of You".



They just put out another album Echoes Silence Patience & Grace, and although it might not be their best, it predictably rocks. That's hard to come by on today's album charts.

There goes my hero, watch him as he goes.

ROCKTOBER: TENACIOUS D "KICKAPOO" (2006)

There was no way I could resist a Tenacious D video during ROCKTOBER. This clip kicks off the movie Pick of Destiny and includes a side of Meat Loaf, singing in his first movie since Rocky Horror Picture Show's "Hot Patootie". Here is "Kickapoo" featuring a hilarious young JB.



DIO!

ROCKTOBER: THE HIVES "TICK TICK BOOM" (2007)

These Swedish dudes sure are strange, but they are no stranger to the rock, no? Here's their interesting video for the first single off of their "Black and White Album" album, "Tick Tick Boom" (2007).



They built their own studio in Sweden called "Hive Manor". How zany. I bet it's furnished completely by IKEA.

ROCKTOBER: THE WHITE STRIPES "FELL IN LOVE WITH A GIRL" (2002)

From the album White Blood Cells, this is a good use for those old LEGOs you might have around the house. This "brickfilm" (didn't even know that was a term) was directed by Michel Gondry.