Credit: Michele Civetta
British synth-pop group Ladytron has always fostered a distinct visual aesthetic to complement its chilly sound. Over a decade-plus career, it was easy to envision the stylish quartet running from whichever concert they had just finished straight to a Fashion Week party. We've got the video premiere of the band's latest track "White Elephant," proving that 12 years on, the band hasn't lost its musical or visual edge.
The video, directed by filmmaker and multi-media artist Michele Civetta (Lou Reed, Sparklehorse, Yoko Ono) is how we envision David Lynch's remake of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Employing a Fitzgeraldian 1920s motif, the group enacts what we imagined every Hollywood party looked like as a child; its period realism offset by a hallucinogenic, surreal layer and band member Reuben Wu's anachronistic fashion sense. (So, um, he's from the future, maybe?)
As the video progresses, static shots turn to action, with bodies in various states of undress ornamenting the hallways and conjuring orgiastic scenes. Picture a G-rated version of Caligula and you're almost there.
"White Elephant" is the lead single off the band's fifth album Gravity the Seducer, out September 13 on Nettwerk.
+ Watch Ladytron's "White Elephant" video.
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The tributes have been pouring in from celebrities and fans alike after the news of Amy Winehouse's sudden death broke Sunday, July 24. M.I.A. released a demo of her song "27" and dedicated it to "all of her friends" that, like Amy, died at 27. U2 also dedicated a performance of their song "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of" to Amy during a recent show, stating, "Tonight... we play [this] for Amy Winehouse."
While many musicians are honoring Amy via song, Kelly Osbourne chose to remember her good friend in a way we bet Winehouse would appreciate: with a beehive. Although not quite as grand as the one that Amy was known for (no one's will ever be!), Kelly's homage beehive hairdo she wore to Amy's funeral service was subtle and sincere.
Besides supplying us with some of the best new soul music we'd heard in recent years, let us not forget that Amy Winehouse was also a fashion icon. Her hair wasn't just big; it was enormous. And she didn't just wear eyeliner; she wore EYELINER. Amy Winehouse's spirit, talent and true originality will be greatly missed.
Watch MTV's Amy Winehouse tribute special, Weds., July 27 at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.
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OMG GUYS! We found this hilarious photo of Nick Lachey, Jessica Simpson and (a very denim-ed out) Beyoncé on the set of "TRL" (R.I.P.) with Damien Fahey from way back in 2003, and we HAD to share. My, how times have changed! Nothing in this photo is the same today! Like sand through the hourglass, y'all.
First, we must state the obvious: Nick and Jessica are no longer a thing. After divorcing in 2006, Nick just recently married Vanessa Minnillo, and Jessica's currently planning her own wedding to fiancé Eric Johnson. Second, we don't think these days Beyoncé would be caught dead choosing an outfit quite so... coordinated. I don't know if you guys are up to par with where the former Destiny's Child singer can be found nowadays (running the world), but girlfriend is usually jet-setting around the globe with her rapper/bajillionaire/husband (and Gwyneth Paltrow's BFF) Jay-Z. To think, she was just a normal girl in a Canadian tuxedo a mere eight years ago... #UPGRADE
So, the moral of the story is: Don't ever get photographed. Kidding! The moral of the story is: It Gets Better! Celebrities and non-celebrities alike all experience ups and downs, marriages and divorces, and matching denim outfits. JK again! The real moral is: This pic is hilarious.
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Credit: Glamour
Rihanna's probably the only girl in the world who can rock sequined pants without even blinking an eye, (Sick of the "Only Girl" reference yet? Not us!) But seriously, guys. Sequined pants? Good luck to everyone else attempting this feat.
Her signature red hair is on FIYAH here, and Rihanna knew just the right pose to strike to make those seemingly troublesome trousers actually work for Glamour's September issue. With minimal makeup, the Barbados beauty let her natural glow shine through. BRB, stocking up on coconut water.
But Glamour's isn't the only lens Rihanna's been behind recently. Yesterday, the 2011 MTV VMA nominee tweeted the cover art for "Cheers," otherwise known as her toast-loving, weekend-appreciating, adult beverage-guzzling sixth single off her latest album, Loud.
A new single and a major magazine cover in the same week? A massive "Cheers" to that, Ri. (We're so good at jokes!)
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I've interviewed a generous roster of artists over the years here at Camp Buzzworthy. Some have shown me their tats (Mike from Every Avenue, what UP?) Courtney Love accused me of throwing shade at her. (For the record, if a record for that sort of thing even exists, I was not.) But never have I had an artist sit through an entire interview with his eyes closed, only to reveal that one of his favorite things to do is eat Wheat Thins and watch "Law & Order: SVU" in the dark. That is until I met Wallpaper's Ricky Reed.
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Depending on how much you've been following The A.V. Club's "Undercover" series, The Get Up Kids' cover of Blur's Britpop classic "Girls and Boys" is either a huge shock or the series' next logical step. The program, which allows bands to cover a preselected list of songs, has already seen Ted Leo & the Pharmacists cover Tears For Fears, The Walkmen cover R.E.M. and Ben Folds cover Elliott Smith. Now the Kansas City, Missouri, emo quintet has taken on Blur's poppy, bouncy 1994 classic.
The band didn't need to practice too much, as the song has long been a staple during the group's sound checks. "We were playing around with the first verse of it; just sort of goofing around at sound check all the time," bassist Rob Pope says before admitting the band's love of the British rockers. Singer Jim Suptic adopts his best British affectation on the track, while the band, eying each other for cues, gamely turn the synthy track into a guitar-driven rocker. Well, rockier, we suppose.
There Are Rules, the group's fifth album, was released earlier this year on Quality Hill Records.
+ Watch The Get Up Kids cover Blur's "Girls and Boys."
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Well, this is unexpected. In what looks like a video clip from a voice lesson, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo delivers a rousing rendition of the Broadway classic "Tonight" from the famed musical West Side Story. Be still, my musical theater heart.
I personally love it when musicians take on a genre that they're not typically known for. For instance, Chris Brown is rapping now, and it seriously doesn't suck. But for the frontman of one of the coolest rock bands around (a frontman who has collaboroated with rappers like B.o.B.) to tackle a Broadway standard? Kind of sounds like it might be pushing it.
But alas, I'm happy to report that Rivers can seriously deliver on the Broadway front. Who knew that hidden beneath layer upon layer of well-produced studio rock albums was a lovely Broadway-esque vibrato just waiting to come out? All he needs now is a fire escape and his own "Maria" (cough, we're available).
But the real question remains: Is Rivers Cuomo a Jet or a Shark?
+ Watch Rivers Cuomo Cover "Tonight" from West Side Story.
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Since giving birth to twins with hubby Nick Cannon, Mariah Carey's clearly been way busy. But not so busy that she didn't have time to jump back into businesswoman territory with her Sunday night appearance on HSN. During her two-hour stint on the show, Mariah promoted everything from her self-designed sequined drawstring bags ('cause every girl needs one of those!), to her line of jewelry, to of course, her celebrity fragrance. But her sales pitch seemed a bit, how shall we say, off-kilter.
Before we delve into the specifics of her appearance, I'm gonna urge everyone to let Mariah slide here. I mean, girlfriend was harboring TWO living things in her abdominal region for, like 46 weeks! Maybe she's going au naturel and refusing to hire nannies? So maybe she's sleep deprived? (Actually, no effing way. Mariah's super rich and probably has a slew of nannies.) So maybe she was just super excited about her product line and let her enthusiasm get the best of her? Yeah. That's it.
You have to hand it to her, though: Mariah really tries to sell her wares. She reminds potential consumers that her perfume was perfect for a "fragrant moment," and that if you needed to satisfy a "camouflagian moment" she has just the item for you. And in between lamenting how hard it was to carry twins (her feet got MAD swollen, guys), Mariah began to dictate the appropriate camera angles to the professional camera men. Ruh roh.
Maybe Mariah Carey wasn't HSN's easiest or most laid-back host. But on the bright side, look how much free press she's giving the network! There's always a silver lining when it comes to Mariah. A silver butterfly rainbow lining.
+ Watch Mariah Carey on HSN.
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Buzzworthy writer Jason Newman was among the lucky few to be on hand for Amy Winehouse's first U.S. show. In his piece below, Jason recalls that show, the big impression the tiny singer left on him and the permanent influence Amy Winehouse had on the pop music landscape.
The first thing you noticed was the hair; that ostentatious beehive perched atop a delicate, diminutive frame. Then the mouth. "Anyone here from Universal, get me more gigs," Amy Winehouse yelled to no one in particular during her U.S. debut at New York's Joe's Pub in 2007. "Just wheel me on stage."
Her breakthrough album, Back to Black, and the tabloid circus that would follow, was still two months away from its U.S. release. No one was using the now-clichéd "train wreck" to describe Winehouse. If anything, her buzzed appearance at Joe's made her more likable. "Mr. Bartender, can I get another amaretto sour?" she would ask in a coquettish lilt from the stage. Everything about those early Winehouse performances is encapsulated in that sentence: The brazen request for booze to calm her nerves, the politeness of the plea and the temerity of not caring what a show is "supposed to be," but rather, what she feels like doing at the moment.
+ Read more from Jason after the jump and tune in to MTV's Amy Winehouse tribute special, airing tomorrow on MTV at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT.
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Fans have been waiting to hear from former Bad Boy rapper Black Rob, who's been a little quiet since 2005'sThe Black Rob Report. The man behind "Whoa," one of 2000's most ubiquitous hits, left Bad Boy last year to sign with veteran independent hip-hop label Duck Down, and we've got the video premiere for "Celebration," the lead single off Rob's new album Game Tested, Streets Approved.
The 2011 equivalent of DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince's "Summertime," "Celebration" recalls classic summer barbecues featuring a bounty of hamburgers, water guns, football tosses and bikinis. And guys doing push-ups. Lots of push ups. The video, shot earlier this month in Harlem's Thomas Jefferson Park, hits all the check marks for a summer jam.
As he told hip-hop site SOHH.com earlier this month, the rapper received the The A3-produced beat while in prison and recorded the track immediately after his release last year. "[The video's] a celebration," Duck Down co-CEO Dru Ha said in a behind-the-scenes video. "Black Rob came with the treatment and the concept. He wanted to do a regular barbecue and we stopped traffic on the FDR [highway]. We didn't reinvent the wheel, but we spun the wheel real good."
Game Tested, Streets Approved, the rapper's third album, is out today via Duck Down Music.
+ Watch Black Rob's "Celebration" video below.
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