Mos Def, “Casa Bey”

An astute friend of mine took me to task for liking the Ceelo Green video I posted this morning, saying that the video was basically crap. So I feel the need to clarify that it was the song that I found great, not the video. That video is your typical, run-of-the-mill motion graphic, circa 2008. It appears that no thought was put into the creation of that video, other than to think “We want the words “FUCK YOU!” to be huge!”

Then that same astute friend shared the above video for the song “Casa Bey,” by Mos Def, most famous for his appearance in Stuff White People Like. Now this is a video I can get behind. Directed by Coodie & Chike.

Ceelo Green (from Gnarls Barkley), “F*$K YOU!” (NSFW — duh.)

I saw this a few days ago, and loved it then. But I quickly moved on. Now that it’s making a 2nd turn through my RSS reader, I’m giving it another listen. Released just last Friday, I’m betting on this song to be the anthem from 2010. Mark my words.

SO GOOD!

The Siouxsie Sioux resurgence continues with this somewhat disturbing video from Brighton’s Esben and the Witch. Directed by Peter King and David Procter at The Agenda Collective, we’re presented with the 3 members of the band, lip-syncing directly into the camera, as some unknown off-camera source slowly pummels them to oblivion.

/via MBV

The Swell Season covers Neutral Milk Hotel for the Onion’s A.V. Club.

They do a good job with “Two-Headed Boy.” No one can do the song justice, but I feel it’s probably quite difficult to screw up covering this song, too. “King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 2” at the end of the video should have been avoided.

What’s more interesting to me is that out of the 25 songs available, “Two-Headed Boy” didn’t get picked until song #22? Why wouldn’t this song have been one of the first ones picked?

Sorry for all the Budweiser crap surrounding the video. Unavoidable.

/via Large Hearted Boy

Jónsi, “Go”

As the lead singer of Iceland’s Sigur Rós, Jónsi has a masterful grasp of how to combine ever-so-quiet lows with impossibly-high crescendos.

His solo album is more high than low, and he’s singing in English more than ever. This video is for the song Go: a fun, excitable, toddler-bouncing-off-the-walls ditty.

/via KEXP

Eef Barzelay from Clem Snide totally nails a cover of Journey’s Faithfully. This song never sounded so good.

/via luckyshirt

Yes, it’s new Menomena! Give a listen to “Five Little Rooms,” from their upcoming fourth full-length, Mines.

Today is a good day. And July 27 will be an even better day, for I will have Mines in my hot little hands.

I have a feeling in a couple months I’m going to absolutely hate this song, due to it being overplayed by KEXP. And it will most certainly end up in a commercial, perhaps for cell phones, or maybe for cotton. But that’s tomorrow. Today, “Home,” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, is the perfect song.

Another video from Beck’s Record Club cover of Kick. SO good, with St. Vincent (Annie Clark) on lead vocals.

HOLY crap. Jeff Mangum, recorded last night, singing “Oh, Comely.” I really wish I could put my finger on why this album resonates so much better to my ears than any other album ever (no joke). Seeing Jeff perform live is definitely something I hope to do at some point. But I don’t live in NY, and it’s not as if he’s out touring or recording any new material. So this will have to do. /via MBV

Update: Matt LeMay at MBV captures that indefinable feeling pretty well. There’s also a good review of this show over at Radio Exile And, lastly, I have to say that I am so unbelievably jealous of this tweet.