sonic slang

A Festive Announcement from We Are Scientists

SS rarely gives any love to Brooklyn's We are Scientists, but we've actually been looking forward to the band's sophomore disc (at one time tentatively-titled Do Smoke Detectors Detect The Smell Of Smoke?) for quite some time.  No word on when that drops just yet, but they did take time to record a pretty funny Christmas message to the fans, because hey, it is the second best time of year behind "early bikini season."

Move Over Elmo - Ghostface is the Perfect F**kin' Holiday Gift

Couldn't score your kid a Wie?  Well we've got the "baddest, illest muther***in' piece of holiday hardware" ever, to make sho' your little shorty don't cry this Christmas.  8 Diagrams might have been a bit of a letdown, but the one-and-only, limited-edition Ghostface doll is here to remind us all that Wu-Tang still ain't nothing to...well you know.

"Don't be stupid - Pick up the God damn phone today."

Kermit the Frog - "Once in a Lifetime"

Pitchfork posted this today, and though both of us seem to be late to party on this one, we simply couldn't resist.  Geez, Kermit the Frog and Knight Rider in the same day.  Hopefully our server can handle the traffic boost...

Dewey Cox - "Let's Duet"

Despite our love for all things Apatow, we've been on the fence about Walk Hard since day one.  (John C. Reilly's presence not withstanding, spoofs are crap 98.3% of the time.)  But this clip is actually kinda funny.  Plus, the soundtrack is getting a lot of love too. 

We'll keep our fingers crossed, you watch the legendary Dewey Cox performing "Let's Duet."

Richard Hawley Gets "Serious"

Richard Hawley is becoming our go-to guy for hilarious homespun videos, as the latest clip from Lady's Bridge, "Serious," puts him at 2/2 this year.  Plus, the tune is another slice of the warm retro pop we've come to love.  Don't dare call Hawley out of touch with the kids though - He recently landed in the virtual world of Second Life to play some tunes, answer questions from fans, and most amusingly, flout recent smoking bans. 

Turkey for Me, Turkey for You

...Let's eat turkey in a big brown shoe."  You know, SS was feeling a bit like a Thanksgiving Grinch after only giving you guys one tune to get you through Turkey Day.  So now we've put together a little musical cornucopia that, with enough wine and stuffing, should satisfy.  Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkey Tunes:

Jeff Tweedy - "Is That the Thanks I Get?"
The Shins - "Young Pilgrims"
World Party - "Thank You World"
"Turkey Wrap"
DMB - "Too Much"

Turkey Tube:

"It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!"
Evil Great Pumpkin!
Weird Al - "Fat"

Live Turkey:

Jive Turkey The Band!

Ryan Adams - "I Like You (You Rock)"

When Ryan Adams first rolled out like eight albums worth of demos on his official site, we chalked up most, if not all of it to a drunken lark and an excuse to empty his vaults of some non-"serious" compositions.  Some of it was catchy, but most tracks were little more than rough sketches with tossed-off lyrics that gave Adams the chance to once again dabble in genres like electronica or grindcore punk.  Who would have thought that the rhyme-dropping DJ Reggie would still be around after Easy Tiger landed our boy in Billboard's top 10?

Check out the clip for "I Like You (You Rock)" after the jump.

Ted Leo - "Colleen"

Ted Leo's new clip for "Colleen" imagines him as an underground arm-wrestling champion.  A cameo by Robert Loggia would have been sweet, but even still its good fun.

Wonderbra vs. Cadbury Gorilla

None of us really thought it was possible to improve on the brilliantly absurd, Phil Collins-lovin' Cadbury Gorilla. But this is definitely a little better.  OK a lot better, and a nice start to a gloomy Monday morning - enjoy after the jump.

Happy Birthday to Weird Al!

Happy belated b-day to one Alfred Matthew Yankovic (thanks to Idolator for the heads up.) who turned 48 yesterday.  Honestly, who would have thought that an accordion-playing goofball fond of polkas and juvenile song parodies would be pushing 50 and still cracking the top 10 on Billboard?  After the jump, check out the song that won back our hearts in 2006.

And That Once Again Proves Our Theory: Canadians Love Weird Al Yankovic

He may have gotten snubbed by the Hall again this year, but at least there's plenty of Weird Al love still out there from Canadian indie supergroups:

"We Caught you a Delicious Bass"

Spinner's "Celebrity Doppleganger" picks are often a bit of a stretch, but today's post was so money, we had to give a plug.  Check out James Blunt and Jon Heder:

Eerie huh?  But what we love is that of the two, it's Napoleon Dynamite that actually looks more normal. 

The Naked Cowboy is One Rich Bastard

If the blogosphere taught us one thing today, it's that record contract or not, being in the business of making music is always better than being in the business of talking about it.  Somebody get our acoustic guitar and a pair of tighty whiteys...

via Gothamist:

Obviously The Naked Cowboy is an example of how much one person can make by entertaining the passerby and tourists -- he pulls in just under $400K a year ($1000 in ten hours)! Some other "better known" street musicians makes from $75/hour to $200/day -- though it's unclear how many hours are in their day.

Have any of you guys ever heard that guy who sits by the 2/3 and sounds just like Hootie?  Betcha he made a killing in the late 90s!  Tell us about your favorite streetcorner rockstars with a thoughtful comment.

Pissed Jeans - "I've Still Got You (Ice Cream)"

OK - Pissed Jeans is getting coverage on SS today because a)umm, they're called Pissed Jeans, and b)this video for "I've Still Got You (Ice Cream)" is freakin' awesome.  Unfortunately, the song is, ahem, well let's just say we aren't feelin' it.  "America's Greatest Current Rock Band" Idolator?  Sounds more like a Rollins Band b-side to us.  Hmm....

But if that's your thing, "People Person" is pretty bad-ass.  Funny, they look pretty happy in their press photo.  I guess pissing your jeans is pretty annoying...

Cadbury Gorilla Covers Phil Collins

The dude who uploaded this clip to Youtube called it "The best advert ever in the entire history of television, probably."  You know, he just might be right. But if nothing else it's a helluva lot cooler way to mashup Phil Collins and gorillas than the Tarzan soundtrack.

Mona Said, "I Wanna Leave Bennigans."

Admit it - You've sang this song at the top of your lungs a millions times, and you still have no idea what the hell you're saying.  It seems Eddie doesn't either, since he changes them up on a whim, but we suggest THIS version for the liner notes on a future Pearl Jam boxed set.  Funny stuff.