BuzzSugar

Link Time! 7/23

BuzzSugar — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:30:18 -0700

Is the "post-Seinfeld slump" finally ending? - TV.com
Atlas Shrugged getting a screen adaptation: shrug? - Popwatch
An interview with Mad Men's Harry Crane (Rich Sommer). - Televisionary
Are this year's movie characters - or at least their names - unusually unmemorable? - Cinematical
Here's a new Of Montreal video. - Stereogum
Five reality TV mashups worth creating. - Vulture
What episodes are the Emmy nominees submitting? - Gold Derby
A new Flight of the Conchords album? Party! - Pitchfork

What to Download: New Music on iTunes

BuzzSugar — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:30:39 -0700

Tuesdays are big in entertainmentville: Not only do all the new DVD releases hit Netflix, but new music also pours into stores, including iTunes. So I take a spin through each week's iTunes music releases and pick out some albums and tracks worthy of a download. Here's what's on my list this week:

When the album cover looks as good as the band sounds: Rolling Stone called Of Montreal's new album Skeletal Lamping, "A soulful romp through psychedelic melodies and sprawling noise-scapes" which sounds very cool to me. Already I can tell that this is a big album (15 songs) with long tracks full of intricate details, and it probably deserves a good listen-through on a Sunday afternoon. That's my plan, but if you're looking for a taste before you buy the whole thing, check out the luscious "Touched Something's Hollow," and the extremely fun "Beware Our Nubile Miscreants."

Moody tunes: Ever since releasing a full album back in February, The Raveonettes keep on trucking along and have been releasing a series of four EPs. Today the third installment, Beauty Dies, caught my attention. There are four tracks including "Black/White" (recorded for GAP's "Sound of Color" project) and a song that I'm really enjoying called "The Thief."

One more after the jump, so read more.

Hope songs: Aw, we could all use a little uplifting music these days, couldn't we? Young folk artist Brett Dennen has released a pretty album full of the kind of songs that Dave Matthews and/or Jack Johnson fans might enjoy: Hope for the Hopeless. For obvious reasons I'm excited about his song "San Francisco," and both "Make You Crazy" and "Ain't Gonna Lose You" are plenty heartwarming and worth checking out.

Link Time! 1/31

BuzzSugar — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:31:07 -0800

Cinematical compares the two new Leatherheads posters: romance or sports?
Popwatch proudly talks about applauding along with the rest of the audience at the end of Rambo.
SFist has a photo of Sean Penn as Harvey Milk and other photos from the set.
TV Squad ranks TV judges - think Wapner and Judy, not Simon and Paula - through the ages.
Stereogum has a video of KT Tunstall covering The Bangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian."
United Hollywood has a story of a fifth-grader launching a readathon to support the strike.
This Slate reviewer calls Meet the Spartans a "massive consumer fraud" for charging $10.50 for a movie that's barely one hour long.
TV Filter wonders if anyone else hated the Pop Up Video-style Lost rerun.
YouAintNoPicasso is hosting a large collection of Of Montreal covering everyone from Blondie to The Shins to Gnarls Barkley.
Bridezilla hilariously suggests some great ideas for having a sob-free Valentine's Day as a single gal, including more Romy and Michelle, less Meg Ryan.

Source and source

Indie Rock for Kids

BuzzSugar — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:46:14 -0800

I don't usually have children's music on my radar, seeing as how I don't have kids. But with LilSugar launching this week, I just had to share my recent discovery of a kids' CD that's so awesome, I might buy it and stash it away until I've got little ones of my own.

Released by the cutting-edge Nettwerk Records label, For the Kids III is the third in a series of compilation CDs featuring indie-rock bands singing songs for their tiniest fans. Of Montreal turns its psychedelic pop into cuteness, O.A.R. covers "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," and Over the Rhine does a hilarious little ditty called "The Poopsmith Song," which you can listen to here.

It sure as hell beats Barney, and I could definitely see picking some of these up for my friends with kids. How about you? If you have kids, would you buy them kiddie indie-rock?

Song of the Day: Of Montreal Covers Neil Young's "Harvest Moon"

BuzzSugar — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 09:30:00 -0700

At first glance, Of Montreal doesn't look like the kind of band that would cover Neil Young. (As Exhibit A, I present the above photo of Kevin Barnes and company performing at the 2007 Pitchfork Music Festival.) But I've just found a recording of the psychedelic pop-rockers performing "Harvest Moon," off of Young's album of the same name, and it's really quite lovely.

Of Montreal's Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? remains one of my favorite albums of 2007, and though the music is a bit wacky on the surface, it's pretty dark when you really get down to it. (This one, for instance, is built around the plea, "I'm in a crisis / I need help / Come on mood shift, shift back to good again.") Here, Barnes' delicate, childlike vocals add an emotional gravitas to Young's classic. To listen head over to Aquarium Drunkard and then let me know what you think.

Source

Music Video: Paul Rudd and David Wain Do Karaoke

BuzzSugar — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:00:13 -0700

I've been crushing on Paul Rudd ever since Clueless. I mean, he's cute, he's funny, he can act, and - as I learned today - he can also rock some serious karaoke. On Friday night, Of Montreal played a show at Studio B in Brooklyn, and the band took a break for a bit of hipster karaoke. Rudd was there, and he and David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer, "The State") treated the crowd to a rollicking rendition of Boston's "More Than a Feeling."

Idolator graciously posted a video of the performance, which is pretty hilarious and also not half bad. I highly recommend you check it out, so read more

Source

Rewind: This Week's Buzz

BuzzSugar — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 07:00:55 -0700

The Cure's Robert Smith collaborating with Ashlee Simpson? Weird.
Do you like "Dog the Bounty Hunter"? If so, tell me why, and while you're at it, vote for your favorite FX show.
If you love good movies, go see The Hoax or Grindhouse this weekend. If you crave crappy editing and boredom, go see The Reaping.
Do you have the sass to recast "Designing Women" with modern-day actors?
Plush bears, Norwegian soldiers, and great music come together - finally! - in Of Montreal's music video.
TV networks are spring cleaning some lame shows (like "Wedding Bells") and have declared their love for certain others (like "30 Rock"!) by giving them more seasons.
Is Jessica Alba becoming a legitimate actress? Perhaps there is more than meets The Eye.
"The Hills" are alive with the sound of another season of spoiled, pretentious rich kids.

Music Video: Of Montreal, "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 07:08:26 -0700

In the flurry of new album releases this year, I really haven't had ample time to express my love for Of Montreal's latest, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? It came out back in January, but the Athens, GA, psych-pop outfit is holding steady atop my list of 2007's best albums.

Don't let the bizarre album title or the even weirder song titles scare you: Hissing Fauna is first and foremost a pop album. At once hyper-actively upbeat and unexpectedly dark, the songs span a technicolor spectrum of styles and moods that keep you guessing even on repeated listens. And the totally bizarre music video for "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse" only makes me love Of Montreal more. As best I can tell, it features a grown man dancing around in a white unitard - quite earnestly, I might add - alongside plush bears and Norwegian soldiers and ... is that a squid? If you're intrigued, read more

Song of the Day: Of Montreal Do the Shins' "Know Your Onion"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 09:16:37 -0800

Last week was a big week for indie rock, ushering in two highly anticipated new releases: the Shins' Wincing the Night Away and Of Montreal's Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? How fitting, then, to discover that Of Montreal have actually covered the Shins, and the result is this more psychedelic version of the neat little pop song "Know Your Onion," off the Shins' 2001 album Oh, Inverted World. To listen to the track, read more

Early Listen: Of Montreal's New Album

BuzzSugar — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 14:28:08 -0800

Of Montreal may not be a household name, but the versatile band has been writing great psychedelic pop songs since 1997. Better yet, Of Montreal's music just gets catchier and more cohesive with each new release. Its upcoming album, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, follows in the frenzied footsteps of 2004's stellar Satanic Panic in the Attic, and although the album doesn't go on sale until Jan. 23, the band's label, Polyvinyl, is offering a streaming version on its web site. Fans of Beck and Apples in Stereo will love this funky, fun record; you can also preorder the album now.