BuzzSugar

Music Video: Radiohead Joins with MTV to Fight Global Trafficking

BuzzSugar — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:35:22 PDT

The last thing you may be looking for from your pop culture intake is a big old message about global trafficking - or as MTV's EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) project puts it, modern-day slavery. However, I think it is precisely this blending together of real-world message with pop culture that Radiohead is attempting to do in a new video for their song "All I Need." They succeed beautifully by showing us two young boys in different parts of the world going about their everyday lives and how different their respective experiences are.

Of working with MTV and the importance of this issue, frontman Thom Yorke told the Hollywood Reporter:

All power to MTV for taking this on because its obviously going to be difficult for them in terms of the advertisers. With the ("All I Need") video, their lawyers had to beg to make sure there wasn't a single white trainer with a logo on it because the implication would be a little too close. But the implication is still there.

For those who don't know, a "trainer" is an athletic shoe, like one made by, say, Nike.

Nothing like a poignant video tackling a somewhat taboo topic in the West to suck all the snark right out of the blogosophere. Stereogum called the video "deeply inspiring" and said that the final shot is "one of the more emotionally charged moments in a music video that we can remember." I couldn't agree more and think everyone should pause today and take a look.

You can watch the video for yourself and check out Radiohead's recent brilliant performance on the Conan O'Brien show if you

Radiohead's Thom Yorke Is a Freak

GiggleSugar — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:00:00 PDT

And I love him for it. This spectacularly talented and weird front man for Radiohead appeared on a game show in England and asked the panel a question about the band's most recent release, In Rainbows. He wanted to know what was special about it? You, Thom, you!

How Much Did You Pay for the Radiohead Album?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:30:12 PDT

Happy Radiohead Day! If you're a fan of the UK band, then today - the day the band's In Rainbows officially became available for download - kind of feels like Christmas and your birthday all in one. Radiohead made news with its decision to let fans pay whatever they wanted for the album, so I'm wondering: How much did you (or will you) shell out? In the comments, be sure to tell me what you think of the album if you've already given it a listen!

New Radiohead Album Costs Whatever You Want It To

BuzzSugar — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:27:33 PDT

First, the news that will have Radiohead fans everywhere squealing with joy: The band's first full-length album since 2003 will be released Oct. 10. The news came straight from the mouth - or rather the typing fingers - of guitarist Jonny Greenwood on the band's blog.

Next, the part that will have record industry executives everywhere sobbing with frustration: Radiohead has chosen to forego record labels and release the album themselves, through their Web site, for whatever price you choose to pay.

As of now, you can pre-order the digital download of the album from the Web site. When you add it to your cart, it pops up with a blank field to enter your price (in British pounds); if you click the question mark, the words "It's up to you" pop up. Click the question mark again, and the site insists: "No, really. It's up to you."

The band is also releasing a deluxe version of In Rainbows, which includes the album on vinyl, a CD version with more songs than the download, and booklets with artwork and lyrics. That version costs 40 pounds, or about $82. A regular ol' CD is also in the works, to be released in 2008.

So, what do you make of this crazy move? Which version do you want? And, most of all, how excited are you for more Radiohead?

Source

How to Throw a Midnight in Paris-Themed Oscar Party

Shannon Vestal — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:30:00 PST

If you're planning on throwing an Oscar viewing party for Hollywood's big night on Feb. 26, then I suggest that you go big this year and give your event a theme. Take a cue from the nominees and let best picture nominee Midnight in Paris give you inspiration. It has plenty of elements that translate into an opulent party: Paris, the 1920s, and many of its own scenes of revelry. Here's how to use the Woody Allen film as your party muse, and don't forget to fill out a ballot with your Oscar picks for a chance to win an iPad.

How to decorate: Scatter vintage books by the authors featured in the film, like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and T.S. Eliot, and decorate with mini French flags and twinkle lights. Stand a cardboard cutout of the Eiffel Tower near the entrance of the party.
How to dress: The dress code can be either 1920s French (think flapper and drop-waist dresses), or you can just wear your regular clothes like Owen Wilson's character Gil, but you have to continually act surprised and impressed by your surroundings.
What to serve: A rainbow of French macarons, a cheese plate, baguettes, and fancy crepes. Serve champagne in '20s-style glasses like the ones used in the film (though these are disposable).

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

A Little Love Goes a Long Way: Basic French Macarons

Sara Yoo — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:00:30 PST

Perhaps it's the rainbow of cheerful hues, the adorable two-bite size, or - most likely - the perfect crisp-chewy texture, but I just can't get enough of French macarons. Even when I'm stuffed to the gills, I can always make room for these tiny, delicate pastries.

True, macarons can be temperamental (meringue is the capricious culprit), but they do respond wonderfully to patience, encouragement, and a loving touch. So before you dismiss the idea of making these little lovelies at home, we've found a basic recipe that breaks down the uncooperative veneer of the elusive macaron.

Although part of the same happy pastry family, the French macaron should not be confused with the coconut macaroon. They are similar in concept, but differ greatly in execution: while both entail adding dry ingredients to a delicate egg white meringue, the one "o" macaron uses finely ground almonds as its base and requires much more gentle handling.

Much like a first date, there's a good chance that your first batch could end awkwardly. As in love, you simply pick yourself up and try again. Once you begin to understand the macaron's nature - its singular texture, its response to your oven, its personality in your climate - suddenly it's like the realization that you both enjoy the same rom-com movies and takeout Chinese: everything just works.

Ready for the challenge? Read on for the recipe.

The Muppets' Music Man Bret McKenzie on His Oscar Nod and Taking a Silly Job Seriously

Lindsay Miller — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:50:41 PST

Bret McKenzie is up for an exceedingly rare honor this year, with his ballad "Man or Muppet" earning one of just two nominations in the Oscars' best song category. I caught up with The Muppets' musical supervisor today at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank to chat about the awards attention and the unique experience of penning music for Kermit and company. The New Zealand native talked about fighting the temptation to use the word "motherfrogger" in his songwriting and the roundabout way he came on board The Muppets project in the first place. Bret - who previously was best known as one half of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords - also shared his hopes of bringing FOC to the big screen. Check out our conversation below:

PopSugar: It's got to be an honor to be nominated for an Oscar, but also in a year when the Academy only bothered to nominate two songs.
Bret McKenzie: They barely nominated anyone! When I found out, it sounded like there'd been a mistake, and yeah, it's a huge honor. It's great and it's really exciting, and I'm not complaining that there's only two nominees the year I'm nominated. I mean, this is the best chance I'll have of winning an Oscar, ever. It couldn't have been better, unless there was just one nomination, and then it would be a very dull ceremony . . . There's a lot of legendary musicians - tunesmiths - in that list of possible nominations. So it's all very surreal to think that I got in ahead of Elton John.

PS: And Madonna. Those two had a little rivalry going on.
BM: I know. I got nervous about what Elton John's husband was going to say about me. It's crazy, and it's great for The Muppets film, because we're all really proud of the film and it wasn't ever really going to get a best actor. Hey, Jason's good, that's not what I mean, but Kermit, Miss Piggy - they can't win these awards - and comedies don't generally get recognized at these awards ceremonies, so it's kind of cool. It's almost like the film as a whole is being recognized with this category.

For more from our chat with Bret, including what he says about his plans for a Flight of the Conchords film, coaching Jason Segel, and the pressure he felt on the project, just

read more! PS: What was the biggest unexpected challenge for you writing music for the film? I know you talked about one draft of a song where you referred to a Muppet as a piece of felt and were told you couldn't do that. BM: Yeah. Little piece of felt, and you couldn't say things like motherfrogger, even though it's very tempting. There were lots of hard parts to it. The Muppets can't sing certain notes. They can't sing too high or the voice changes and doesn't sound like the right character. There were so many weird things. I spent hours recording penguins and rats, and what's weird is that it's such a silly job, but you have to take it very seriously. So I would be in the studio for days, maybe a whole day recording penguins, and then I'm like, "I'm not happy with how the penguins are sounding! Where's penguin four?" You know, getting demanding. "We lost penguin track four! I can't hear the penguin!" PS: I was watching the movie again last night and watching Jason Segel's performance of "Man or Muppet." Did you coach him on any of his rockstar moves? Because he pretty much nailed it. BM: He nailed it. That's my favorite moment in the film. When he buckles down in the rain, that was one of my favorite shots. I was so proud of what James [Bobin, the director] and those guys achieved, because I wasn't there on set, I just saw them syncing the video, and I was like, "Wow, guys. You nailed it." What we did do in the studio, as Jason and I had a technique where I would sing a line, and he'd watch me through the window, and then he'd sing it back. So we did this thing where, I was really into the drama of it. So, I was like, "Am I a Muppppettt?" [balling his hands into fists] And he'd be like, OK, record. "Am I a Muppppettt!" So we kind of worked together to get that style. PS: Did it shatter some of your childhood illusions to have the guy that does Miss Piggy's voice come work with you [in the recording studio]? BM: Yeah. Well, it wasn't Frank Oz. The guy Eric, who does it now, yeah. That was strange. And the day that we recorded Kermit the Frog doing "Rainbow Connection" - I was sort of pinching myself, because that was probably one of the real moments for me where I realized that my world had really changed. That I'd come from New Zealand, I'd grown up with Kermit the Frog, and now I was in Hollywood in a studio recording Kermit the Frog. It felt like worlds had collided. PS: Was there pressure knowing there was already this great catalog of Muppet songs? To try to add to that or top it in some way? BM: I knew I wouldn't top "Rainbow Connection," but I was very intimidated, but the way I worked on the job was it actually started with me just writing one song, so I didn't feel the pressure of writing the whole movie. I think it would have been different if I'd been hired from the outset to do all the music. So I wrote one, then another, and gradually wrote more and more, so that helped. PS: What song did you write first? BM: The opening song. That's the one they needed, that's the one James asked me to write first. The script was probably on a second draft, and they were in preproduction, so I came in quite late. And the way they were doing it was, they got 100s of demos submitted from all sorts of songwriters, and surprisingly - even though they got some really great people to do demos - people weren't quite hitting the right tone. The Muppet tone. I'd just come off the Conchords tour and I had some time, and James asked if I was interested in doing that opening song, because he had a kind of specific thing he needed from that song. He needed it to be really Muppet-y, that song, and he had a great idea for the whole town joining in, it starting off small and becoming a big musical number, and that came together really well. PS: Is this experience maybe something you want to bring to a Flight of the Conchords movie? BM: Yeah, exactly. Having done this movie now, we're in a much better place to do a Conchords film, because James is more experienced - well, we're all more experienced. Not specifically, but James Bobin - well, we're all very keen to do another studio musical, because I really enjoyed being able to do comedy musical numbers on such a grand scale, and I think next time, I really think it will just get better and better. Because it's such a fun genre, and we've done like 50 songs for TV now, and now The Muppets movie, and I feel like we've accidentally sort of become musical comedy experts. PS: What do you imagine Bret and Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords are up to these days, in their universe? BM: In the Lower East Side? That's a good question. I reckon they probably got a regular gig now. Like, at a Chinese restaurant. Photo courtesy Disney

Do You Think Women Over 30 Should Avoid Out-There Hair Color?

Jaime Richards — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:38:00 PST

In a recent appearance on her mother's show, The Talk, frequent hair-color-changer Kelly Osbourne had a few things to say about thirtysomethings and out-there hair color. "To me, I'm 27, I've got three years left, the way I look at it, to have fun with it," she explained, adding, "Because once you're 30, you look like a right idiot walking around with like rainbow, bright color hair." While it may be a big ouch to tricenarians, even 37-year-old cohost Sara Gilbert seemed to agree with Kelly.

And even though the majority of stars tend to have wild strands in their teens and 20s, some, such as Drew Barrymore, Juliette Lewis, and even Julia Roberts, have opted for colorful looks in their 30s and beyond. But what do you think? Do you tend to agree with Kelly on this issue, or should women express themselves however they want, regardless of age?

Take a Trip Down Memory Lane With Rainbow Drive-In

Susannah Chen — Mon, 23 May 2011 12:27:56 PDT

When it comes to dining in Honolulu, don't eat on the overpriced, underwhelming Waikiki strip. Instead, take a short drive (or a lengthy stroll) to Kapahulu Avenue, a nearby street dotted with some of Oahu's most memorable institutions, like Leonard's Bakery and Rainbow Drive-In.

The latter recalls a different time: an era when cars, chocolate ice cream floats, and chitchat happily convened in the same parking lot. Today, the takeout joint - open since 1961 and the last of its kind, now that drive-ins have passed their heyday - remains a favorite for locals and tourists alike. See why when you continue reading.

See What Temporary Tattoos For Your Lips Look Like

Miriam Lacey — Thu, 12 May 2011 03:15:00 PDT

Violent Lips ($15 for three) are a new brand of lip appliques designed to make your lips look like a rainbow, leopard print, and even polka dots. I can't resist a good avant-garde lipstick look (especially with Pride Week coming up). Plus, Violent Lips promise to last for hours, and you can even eat and drink while wearing them. So I tried the brand's Rainbow pattern applique. I think they look cute on, but I also have a few warnings, and some application tips, so be sure to check out the gallery to see how it's done.