The worst song of all time?

In the wake of Michael Jackson's death, I found myself rewatching "We are the World," cheesy as I've always thought of it as being, and realizing that while not having the most profound of lyrics, and having a facile, borderline maddening chorus melody, it is pretty damn catchy. Which is the point. Other points: bringing together an absurd collection of musical genius: Stevie! MJ! Hall! Oates! and raising desperately needed money for desperate Ethiopians.
Then there's "Voices that Care." Somehow I avoided seeing this as a child, or did see it and then scrubbed it out of my memory with steel wool. I went my whole life blissfully unaware of its existence, until today. The assembly of early-90's soulless dorkery made me incredulous that I wasn't watching a Team America parody song. But that movie makes fun of clueless Hollywood lefties. This one's even more trite, clueless, and takes "caring" to mean our brilliantly successful first Gulf War. How could you, Will Smith?

The one below is brilliant in comparison, right?

Epic video trailer for new Julian Casablancas album

Somehow despite managing to fit the entire universe into 1:36, it leaves you wanting more. Like, maybe some singing. Really digging the visual aesthetics and the music sounds great; hoping the sound on the rest of this album is in this vein. Seems to be a real departure from the Strokes, who have not broken up but rather woken up from their hibernation and are working on a new album. Casablancas will tour solo in the U.S. later this year.

50 Cent on rooftop with annoying kid

I don't get it. Did 50 invite this kid to NYC to hang out with him after watching a video of the kid making fun of him? Or did the kid become disillusioned and dis him after the hang session?

Also: Is it a little racist for white people to intentionally pronounce it "Fitty"?

Also: This kid is kind of me at 15.

Michael Jackson, R.I.P.

Today the world says goodbye to a deeply disturbed man who produced some of the greatest pop music of all time.

I first heard the story indirectly on a Spanish language radio station, where the DJ presented it as like some weird morbid trivia teaser that they never gave the answer to: Guess which huge music star of the 80s had a cardiac arrest 15 min ago! then I switched to the hip-hop/R&B station where they said that TMZ had reported his death.

I was completely shocked, then they played Billie Jean, which I normally think of as just a perfect dance pop song, but given the context it just seemed unbearably sad. The fact that some reports say it was a suicide, on top of all MJ's other problems really does elevate it to the level of a seriously fucked-up Greek tragedy. When I got home I went on Facebook and literally every one of my friends' 20 newest status updates were tributes and/or expressions of shock. My eyes started welling up watching CNN this evening, which does not happen to me often. Maybe it's sad that this get to me more than what is happening in Iran or any number of world tragedies, but such is the unique force of nature/freak of nature that was Michael.

Patti Boyd neé Harrison

Patti, 21, with George, 22, in 1966.

Now the factors leading to this masterpiece of frustration become more understandable:

...Nah, Clapton's still a douchebag.

What if Kanye West is Retarded?

What does it say about music in the 2000s that I think Kanye West is one of the most brilliant artists of the decade and still think that this article from humor site Cracked.com is entirely plausible?

Babelfish Translation Hilarity

I wanted to read this interview with Phoenix's Thomas Mars on Fluokids, but of course it's in French. So I decided to utilize Yahoo's Babelfish service to translate it for me. I had never used the translator on such a big block of text, and the results make for some hilarious reading that defies comprehension. Read a paragraph or two for laffs. I doubt anyone will read down this far, but the highlight for me was their translation of the "pain" part of T-Pain's name, rendering him "T-Bread"! So...can anyone recommend a good online translator?

Then Saturday Night Live?

Already, I am hyper fan. One subdued the old sketch with Eddie Murphy or Bill Murray, in round, as you ace never time to really subdue a film…

But to play there, it was lunatic! One of my preferred moments. Because of makes when you cheeks into live the interest it is the fact that you can plant yourself. And there there is million guys, you know that if you plants, are finished to you in States. Inevitably you think of Ashlee Simpson when it is covered with sheet metal. I subdued full with performances which I found enough nazes. The trick is made in an odd way, you master keys three days of Thursday at Saturday to be repeated. At the end you, you can more about it arrive in a fright, are to you there “go ahead, complete, finished me the trick”. All is made so that you stress and that you say yourself “I go foirer”.

But at the same time, be bichonné to you as in Entourage. You requests a pizza pie, they you bring fifteen of them. They want to you saouler the mouth. The cameras pass to you to one centimetre of the mouth. And at the same time any walk miraculeusement because the guys who work are the best in all than they make. You ace impression to be in a kind of Rolls. You subdue Thirty Rock? It is a series on the back of the decoration of Saturday Night Live, that retranscribed well the trick. All around you, you ace these guys who are bloody iconic, the “pagers” which are out of suit and which have small NBC logos everywhere. And each guy you ace impression that it is right a dispach rider, but each guy is qualified like the caretaker of Ritz. They can have you what you want in the city, they have all the telephones of the White House, of the incredible tricks! It is the ultimate experiment ricaine.

Two hours before one plays, they said to us “good then, there is that Coldplay, U2 and Mc Cartney have which have required to play three songs like that”, that puts serious the pressure to you and in more they ask us to sing “Too Young” which one has not played for one year. What is sad it is when it is finished, you requests if you will remake it one day. And at the same time what is nutcase it is that the album did not leave yet and that one is perhaps more the small group whom they ever took over there.

And before did that, the United States, you feel it how?

It was felt that it occurred a trick. It was felt that the guys were excited because the rounds which one had made had passed well

[...]

But, there are nevertheless dissensions, you like all the same thing?

There was of it but not the large ones. It is when somebody likes a really extreme trick. Extreme for us it is not an elegant trick. For example in the last T-Bread, there is a lunatic trick, that me I adore, that all are liked, it is the piece “Can' T believe it” with Lil Wayne. The side autotuné rappor, foncedé, you feel that he plays just with the machine, there is a trick which corresponds to our worship of the first catch, of the things impossible and hyper-spontaneous that you do not reproduce afterwards. This piece contains moments nutcases so much. In the same way there is full with small groups which flirtent with the bad taste, but you find that which you need in it.

...

Fever Ray to tour America

Fever Ray Tour 2009 from Fever Ray on Vimeo.

Fuck yeah! October 5th at San Francisco's Grand Ballroom, a creepily great time will be had by all.

A pair of awesome Letterman performances

While Jay Leno books whatever crap is on the charts (lets hope Conan puts an end to this), David Letterman continues to give interesting, unusual musical acts their five minutes in the national spotlight, even if he does gently mock them sometimes. Here's Animal Collective doing "Summertime Clothes":


And Bat for Lashes with "Daniel." God this is a great song.