Having not gotten into Peep Show properly yet I wouldn’t call myself a fan of Robert Webb. In fact he’s one of those people that I have a mild dislike of for no apparent reason. Here though he channels his inner Dr. Frank-N-Furter for Comic Relief’s dance program and it’s hard not to laugh. Good work from Comic Relief for hijacking the celebs dancing format to great effect.
Unfortunately the video, or rather the exhibition they’re visiting, isn’t as interesting as you might hope.
The episode of kids TV show Yo Gabba Gabba featuring Chromeo that I mentioned back in July finally aired. This is the video for their track called Lather Up. In unrelated Chromeo news, they are also appearing on the Playboy website for their Rock the Rabbit series of interviews, and there’s an exclusive Chromeo and Playboy t-shirt you can buy there too, pictured below.
Chromeo Playboy T-Shirt
I quite like this new single from the Pet Shop Boys but the video is a bit of a let down. The graphics used in it appeared briefly in their Brit Awards performance and, for me at least, were a real weak point of what was such an arresting visual performance. Unfortunately in the context of a whole a video I don’t think they work any better. Here’s a link to Being Boring instead. 
Everything, Everything by Underworld is one of my favourite DVD’s of all time. Painstakingly put together over the course of a year, sliced together from lots of different performances around the world, the band constructed what they thought was the best possible re-creation of one of their live gigs for home watching and listening. They did an amazing job too. (I’m seriously considering renting out a cinema some night just to have a playback party with some friends – maybe Denzille Cinema?)
Anyway, nearly 10 years later, technology has moved on to the point where one man and his camera can capture a full gig in HD, and upload it to YouTube for the whole world to see. While I’m really happy to be able to watch this concert, it feels like a new chapter is opening up in the whole royalties / free downloads / copyright infringement issues debate.
For a lot of bands right now, live performance is the only thing bringing in any real cash. To put a web content spin on it, the unique content of a concert is worth money to people, and they have to buy a ticket to see it. A lot of bands, Underworld included, also sell CDs of their concerts, and getting that extra tenner from a percentage of the crowd can make a big difference to the profitability of a show.
While I don’t agree with the heavy handed tactics of Prince and the like trying to remove all footage of their concerts from YouTube, is posting a whole concert going to far? Does it make a difference if the band isn’t selling a recording of that gig?
The Pet Shop Boys do their greatest hits in 10 minutes at the Brit Awards 2009, along with Lady Gaga and Brandon Flowers!
[Update 22/02/09] Apparently this medley was produced by Stuart Price aka Jacques Lu Cont, but I need to verify that somewhere. You will get the audio of this a bonus track if you pre-order their new album Yes on iTunes.
[Update 25/03/09] Oh, the joy of Twitter. I asked the Pet Shop Boys if Stuart had helped produce the Brit medley. They answered, “Yes”, although that could just have been a plug for the new album!
I know this has been mentioned everywhere today but just in case you live under a rock, this is Fever Ray’s new song When I Grow Up. Fever Ray is Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson, vocalist from the Knife (as if you couldn’t tell!).
[Via OhhCrapp]
Warning: Strobe Lighting Effects In Use!!!
What SMD did next. I prefer the video to the music personally, but hurrah for the English spelling of Synthesise.
[Via SundTrak]
Will D.A.N.C.E. ever die? I can’t even begin to imagine how much money they’re getting for this… Where next for Justice?
[Via PersonaSauna]
A nice little find thanks to the people at Waves At Night. The New Wine performing the Fred Falke remix of A Golden Cage by The Whitest Boy Alive, and Erlend Øye just happens to be on hand to do the vocal.