Awesome Music Video Wednesday

This week I decided to do something a little different and choose a music video and a band that's a little lesser known.

Masked behind colorful tribal like make-up, Venetian masks and dark, infectious electronic music, The Knife is an oddity of the music world.

Karin Dreijer Andersson and her brother, Olof Dreijer make up the Swedish electronic duo and have been playing music together since the late 90s.

They almost never show their faces, hiding behind bizarre camoflauge.

"People should listen to our music instead of concentrating on what we look like!" Dreijer Andersson mentioned in an interview with contactmusic.com, "We like to get across the emotion and the feeling. The face paint is just a way of expressing our music, we never intended to make characters of ourselves - it's just a lot of fun!"

Their 2003 breakthrough album Deep Cuts is a savage mix of electro-pop and new wave featuring vibrant synthesizers and steel drums, all composed by Olof. Each song is different from the next, each telling a whimsical sometimes dark story all written by Karin.

The duo make a mysterious yet brilliant team and have made international success in Europe and are now making their way to America.

Their 2006 album, Silent Shout won six Grammis in 2007, the Swedish version of a Grammy and were awarded "Best New Music" and top album of 2006 by the online magazine Pitchfork Media the same year.

Today's song is "Pass This On", a single from 2003's Deep Cuts about a woman's lustful confession of being in love with one's brother. Almost every song is incredible in this album but there is something deep and captivating about this single. Karin provides the vocals, "I'm in love with your brother, what's his name?" over a mix of hot electro synthesizers and cool Caribbean steel drums. As many times as I"ve played this album out, this song remains my favorite.

The video features Rickard Engfors, a famous female impersonator from Sweden as Karin. At the very end of the video, Karin is the only one still sitting at the table. Olof is the young man dancing with Engfors.

Watch more The Knife videos on Youtube.com and prepared to become entranced!
Check out a listener favorite Heartbeats
Buy The Knife albums on Amazon.com

Anit-Obesity nut attacks American Idol, soon to be the world.

Meet MeMe Roth, founder of the National Action Against Obesity and just one more reason why little girls younger and younger are shoving their faces into the toilet.

Roth was recently on Fox News with Neil Cavuto before the American Idol finale ranting about Jordin Sparks and why she shouldn't win because she is obese and a bad influence on the youth of America.

“When I look at her I see diabetes, I see heart disease, I see high cholesterol-she is a vision of un-health”, she says about the 17-year-old idol winner. "The last thing we need is an overweight American idol."

I'm sure the 8 million people in the United States who suffer from eating disorders will appreciate other quotes by Ms. Roth featured on her blog including, “Dump your friends who plan to grow fatter every year. Surround yourself with those who aspire to greater things."

Maybe the last thing we need is a bitter woman obsessed with body image trying to get her 15 minutes when she probably has dealt or is dealing with an eating disorder herself.

This was not the first time Roth has caused a stir.

Earlier this year, The New York Times ran an article basically telling Roth to lighten up after her obsession intruded on the Girl Scouts of the USA to boycott their cookies.

Roth also tried to boycott the women's magazine Redbook for a cover story called "We Love Your Body From Size 2 to 20."

Roth was also almost arrested for trying to confiscate treats from a vending machine from a YMCA in Penn., because she felt the people at the gym were too fat.

She's even been called "a militant slim person" by Bill O' Reilly, also adding, "If I were your kid I would be running away." Want to watch a Bill O' Reilly interview where you might actually forget that he IS Bill O' Reilly?

Roth's message has gone so far as to coin the term "Second Hand Obesity": obesity handed down from one generation to the next, as well as from citizen to citizen. So obesity is contagious?

This fear and obsession has swallowed Roth's waspy little mind, a familiar fear most suffering from eating disorders face as well. Statements like, "The last thing we need is an overweight American idol.", are demeaning, damaging and hurtful. True, Hollywood is ruthless when it comes to body image and Sparks will probably be told to loose a few pounds, but comments like Roth's are those that create eating disorders in young women.

As they named Sparks the 2007 American Idol last week the first words to come out of my mouth were, "God I hope she doesn't lose weight". To see a beautiful, curvy and talented young lady become so famous over night made me feel relieved.

Not enough curvy or full figured women grace the media anymore and when they do the fact that they are full figured is always brought up.

Remember when Hollywood starlets like Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie first became famous? They had some more body on them, until they were noted and have now shriveled down to teenie lollipop heads. Did someone tell them they were fat? Lohan has admitted to bulimia and Richie is rumored to be in rehab for anorexia.

What made this Ann Coultier-esque madam of madness take her obsession with weight so far?

"Back in the 80s when I was Van Halen’s “number one fan,” I did get the chance to meet the band. Eddie Van Halen made me promise I’d never get fat. He said I looked like something out of Playboy. Talk about making a girl swoon... I kept my part of the bargain"

Remember, the #1 wish of girls 11-18 is to be thinner.

It's very true that the U.S. has a major obesity problem, but damaging remarks and eliminating all fatty foods will not end the problem. If anything needs to be called to attention, it's the constant obsession with body image and the terrible message that being overweight is wrong.

Learn more about eating disorders at the National Eating Disorder Association.

Reggae festival brings a bit of the Caribbean to downtown Reno

Summer-like heat didn't stop the cool Caribbean sounds of reggae from carrying through downtown Reno streets along the Truckee River on Saturday.

The River Roots Reggae festival 2007 brought folks of all ages down to the river to honor the late reggae legend Bob Marley.

It is the third year of the event, also called "The Biggest Little Babylon Celebration." The festival is hosted by Sydney Sukuta and his Reno African art store, Bantu Spirit, located along the river.

The festival was organized by Tracy "Too Dread" Moore, a Reno native and disc jockey on KTHX FM 100.1 in Reno. "Too Dread" hosts "The Reggae show" on KTHX from

8 to 10 p.m. on Sundays.

"We're trying to bring a little more culture in the community," Moore said. "Sydney sought us out. We linked this together, and it worked out well."

The festival featured live performances and cuisine courtesy of B and Jay's African and Caribbean Fusion Catering of Reno.

"I'm really excited about the turn out," Moore added. "It's a good vibe, a lot of culture and a nice way to spend a Saturday."

An acoustic reggae rock band, the Mark Sexton Trio of Reno, opened the show with original songs and a few covers from the Long Beach, Calif., 1990s band, Sublime.

Moore is the founder and original member of Jahzilla, a multicultural, homegrown Reno Reggae band that's been performing for about four years. The band was Saturday's featured players.

The band is ever-changing and now features two former Black Panthers from Oakland, Calif. Also accompanying the band on stage in Reno was Stan Rankin T, a reggae veteran disc jockey dating back to the late 1970s who now is featured on KUNV FM in Las Vegas.

Moore describes an expanding cultural scene in Reno.

"It's going to be good for the future," he said. "This celebration is to bring together all ages and different cultures in the community. And it's something that everyone can enjoy. Reggae is internationally known."

"I love it here," Moore said of Reno. "So many different things are always going on. It's a wonderful community full of different people and opportunities. Reno is one of the coolest places to be. This (region) rules."

DETAILS

Check out the Tracy "Too Dread" radio show from 8 to 10 p.m. Sunday nights on KTWX 100.1.

Bantu Spirit is located at 17 S. Virginia St., next to Dreamers Coffee House.

Photo: AMY BECK/RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

Reed High School sophomore Damian Hirai, 16, plays the tenor saxophone in the Mark Sexton Band during the River Roots Reggae festival 2007 on Saturday afternoon. The concert drew a steady audience of about 200 people.

Awesome Music Video Wednesday...a day late

I know I'm a day late, but forgive me and enjoy one of the hottest performances you will see PERIOD.

Not only did Cindy Herron, Maxine Jones, Dawn Robinson, and Terry Ellis all have strong, earth-shaking voices and model-esc good looks, they had the star quality and provocative talent that created one of the biggest girl groups of all time, En Vogue.

Formed in 1990, producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy conceived the group in hopes to resurrect the classic R&B image of "the girl group" with the elements of hip-hop for the new jack swing era. With a mix of red-hot sex appeal, sophistication, beauty and pop star success, En Vogue became a multi-platinum, Grammy nominated powerhouse that won more MTV Video Music Awards than any other female group ever.

The group went on to record many popular singles featured on their second album,"Funky Divas" including
"My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" and "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" (an Aretha Franklin cover).
Both songs were originally written by Curtis Mayfield. The songs went number one on the R&B charts. They even sang the chorus for "Whatta Man", by another hot girl group of the 90s, Salt-n-Pepa, for the hip-hop trio's 1993 album "Very Necessary".

In 1997, Dawn Robinson left the group for a solo career. The remaining members of En Vogue went on to record three more albums and gained a new member, Amanda Cole. Maxine Jones then left the group to spend time with her daughter and the quartet was a trio once more.

In 2005, the four original members of En Vogue and the ladies of Salt-N-Pepa were celebrated on VH1's "Hip-Hop Honors" and performed their conjoined hit "Whatta Man".

I decided to post a video of En Vogue's performance on Saturday Night Live in 1992 rather than post the music video of their 1992 single, "Free Your Mind". All you have to do is watch it to understand why. These women will rip you apart with their fierce and sexual attitudes. You can hear the audience react with hoots and hollers as the girls swing their hips and kick their long, luscious legs while they hit every note perfectly. The performance has gone down as one of the best on SNL ever.

Buy "The Best of En Vogue" on Amazon.com

Elijah Wood to play Iggy Pop!?!?

It seems as if hell has finally collided into the earth as Variety.com has released an article confirming that Elijah Wood (a.k.a Frodo Baggins) is set to play Iggy Pop in a biopic entitled "The Passenger".

Now just think about that for a minute, I apologize if you've spit up your morning coffee all over the computer screen. I know, it sounds like somebody has definitely lost their mind.

Elijah Wood, the baby faced sweety pie who tried to convince a town that Maculuky Culkin was the spawn of Satan.

Wood, with a constant look of fear in his face and delicate stature, is the kind of guy who looks like that one boyfriend you were too scared to break up with because you didn't want to make him cry so you stuck it out another grueling six months and dealt with the uncomfortableness of guilt.

Don't get me wrong he's a terrific actor and he was pretty terrifying in Sin City, a role that I'm sure made a lot of people poop their pants.

But...

Iggy Pop is a 'street walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm'!

The man is a vicious, self-mutilating beast of rock, better known as the "godfather of punk". With his lean, leathery body and wild stage antics he's been famous for since the late 1960s, Iggy Pop looks like he could take on a 4,000 pound mack truck.

Although Pop, 60, has made little commercial success in the five decades that he's been making music, his ballsy lyrics and monstrous stage presence is like a rabid wild cat oozing with sexual deviance.

Without Iggy, bands like The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers and so many more would never exist.
They couldn't, Iggy created the image of the blood thirsty punk.

Thus imagining Elijah Wood as Iggy Pop is increasingly hard to swallow, but then again that is the job of an actor. If Wood can mold himself into the head Stooge than give that man an Oscar! We shall see, and I wish Mr. Wood good luck!

The film is set to hit theaters in 2008 and directed by Nick Gomez (Drowning Mona).
"The Passenger" is about Pop's early years and his days with the Stooges. According to the article Pop has given the film "his blessing" but will not appear in it.


Go to Amazon.com and buy an Iggy Pop album for goodness sake's!

Getting "Knocked Up" isn't always pretty..

Have you ever wanted to know what your baby will look like? Well now you can find out-but you might want to throw up afterwards.

To promote the new Judd Apatow film (director of the 40-year-old Virgin), Knocked Up, the film's website has created the Knocked Up Babymaker. First upload your picture, than upload one of your significant other/co-worker/celebrity crush and SHAZAM! you have a bona-fide baby.

Although it might look like it was thrown from a burning building, it's your baby and you should treasure the creation made by you and your better half. Try it for yourself!

Here is my little "Pookie"-a vomit induced combination of my boyfriend Matt and myself.
Looks aren't everything, she may grow up to be a famous writer!

Knocked up hits theaters June 1st.

KNOCKEDUPBABYMAKER.COM...because making babies is fun.

Awesome Music Video Wednesday!

It's that time again. The reason to get up on this hump day- it's the middle of the week and you're half way done!! Unless you work weekends and in that case, sorry to piss you off.

Anyway, what a turnout for reader comments last week! Thanks guys, you had lots of great ideas that I'll make sure to post in the upcoming weeks.

This week, I'm going to have to go with anonymous reader number two's request for a video by the imaginative film director Michel Gondry.

Gondry has been in the filming business for a few years directing unforgettable and surreal videos for some of the biggest names in music including Björk, The Vines, Kylie Minogue, The Rolling Stones, Massive Attack, Foo Fighters and The White Stripes which remain some of his most memorable.

I first heard The White Stripes years ago while watching Gondry's music video for 'Fell in love with a girl', in which the candy cane colored duo rock out in lego-mation. I've been in love with their music and their videos ever since.

It's hard to say which White Stripe song/video is my favorite. Their signature goth twin appeal and twisted brother/sister ex-lover story line is provoking, yet it would be a terrible insult to call their guitar and drum combination simple.

The White Stripes bring the gritty sweat and spit that reek of classic American blues and rock-wild for two pale white kids from Detroit.

I finally decided on 'The Hardest Button to Button" from their 2003 album Elephant. In the video, Jack and Meg White play their instruments all around New York City, literally. Gondry filmed the video in pixilation animation, in which the object and scenes are filmed in stop motion frame by frame. It's apparent that the video probably took a lot of time and patience to make (since later in the video the sun goes down), but that's the type of effort and dedication real artists like Gondry endure.

This was also around the time when Jack White was starting his transformation from a sexy Tim Burton caricature to a whimsical mad-genius like reincarnation of Salvador Dali. (Just watch the video and you'll notice the little freakish mustache).




Watch for Beck at the very end!!!

Also for your viewing pleasure, The Simpson's hysterical take on the video, have fun!







Enjoy More of Michel Gondry's videos at Ifilms.com
And check out with visually stimulating and heart felt flicks: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dave Chappelle's Block Party, and The Science of Sleep.

Hip-Hop for troubled teens

It's been a rough few months for Hip-Hop.

Between all the misogyny and racial slurs, Cam'ron claiming he wouldn't "snitch" on a serial killer on Anderson Cooper Live, Akon in bad raps for simulating sex with at 14-year-old girl on stage in Trinidad, and the Jay-Z death rumors, the world of Hip-Hop is sinking.

Rap record sales are taking a plunge and its reputation is becoming more and more despised by the media each day. According to Foxnews.com, "A recent study by the Black Youth Project showed a majority of youth think rap has too many violent images".

Enter The Hip Hop Project, an original new program set in New York City to help troubled teens turn their lives around with the use of hip-hop.

A documentary with the same name opened in selected theaters on May 11, depicting the life of a group of teens struggling to improve their turbulent lives with the help of their love of hip-hop.

The program was created by Chris "Kazi" Rolle, a former homeless rapper who bounced back with the help of a caring teacher he once had. Rolle used those same elements to help kids in the same situation he was once in.

"The whole curriculum was based on the arts," Rolle says in a recent article in The Houston Chronicle. "So if you were studying American history, you did it through playwriting. ... We created a play, but to create the play we had to get the information. So we didn't even realize we were learning American history because we were focused on doing this thing that we actually liked."

The film mostly centers on Rolle's life and his reunion with his mother who abandoned him as a child in their homeland of the Bahamas.

The film also features Russell Simmons, who is a benefactor of the project as well as Queen Latifah and Bruce Willis, among those involved.

The project has released a soundtrack featuring songs from the film and Rolle is putting together a concert tour this summer featuring kids from the project.

With the recent negative media that the hip-hop world is receiving, The Hip-Hop Project is not only an opportunity to bring back a positive view to a popular culture but teach younger generations about the power of education and the true passion of this musical poetry.

Awesome music video Wednesday

Now that I’ve discovered ifilm.com’s music videos after my Bjork blog, I’ve decided to create a new segment for your viewing and listening pleasure. Prepare yourselves for Awesome music video Wednesday!

Every Wednesday I’ll post a music video that deserves lots of attention and appreciation. Only the best of the best-but knowing me I’ll throw in a few freaks just for laughs.

But these videos won’t be just my personal favorites, if you have a favorite video you’d love to see and wish to express your undying love for-let me know!! Write a little something about it and I’ll post it on the blog. Come on fools, do it, you know you’re dying to express your lust for Journey, The White Stripes, or even pre-wacko Jacko. Leave a comment after Wednesday’s posts or shoot me email at agray@rgj.com


This week, I couldn’t help myself. Although I was only two when this video came out, the images have been imprinted in my head since I first started watching TV as a toddler. There is nothing like Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer; an array of avant-garde claymation and stop-motion animation featuring flying fruit, walking appliances, smiling bumper cars and of course, raw dancing chickens to create this musical masterpiece.

Almost 21 years since its release, nothing can compare to this video. Not even, Shock the Monkey-although it’s pretty close!



Stay tuned next Wednesday and don’t forget to request a video, fools!

New Video: Bjork, Earth Intruders

The phrase, 'It's about time!' couldn't be any more perfect.

Björk, the Icelandic pixie with a thunderous voice that could move a mountain has returned with her much anticipated album, Volta.


The album features collaborations with many artists from previous albums, but throws in a few surprises into the mix including R&B producer Timbaland, Antony Hegarty from Antony and the Johnsons and a ten-piece all female Icelandic brass section to create a spectacular upbeat, jubilant album.

The video above is her first single, Earth Intruders, which she opened with at Coachella last weekend, also featuring the all female brass section. The performance kicked off her world tour.

The video is typical Björk: weird, visually breath taking, brilliant. Co-produced by Timbaland, the tribal beat is addictive, vibrant and a bit industrial. Her message is a concern over for planet: We are the Earth Intruders/We are the sharp shooters.

Björk has expressed her love for mother earth in previous videos depicting gorgeous landscapes of Iceland in Joga and Who Is It, glorious forests in Human Behaviour and Isobel, and the depths of the ocean in Oceania.

Volta is released May 7.
Also check out Bjork's greatest hits: 1993-2003 DVD.

Famous faces in their golden years...

Most of us can wait for our days as senior citizens, but have you ever wondered what you may look like as an elder?

A small peek may be possible with expert Dr. D'Lynn Waldron, a scholar, author and artist who specializes in the art of "age-processing". She specializes in adding years onto one's photo to see what they may look like in their later years due to their genetics, health and lifestyle.

The New York Daily News posted an article about Waldron's amazing photos and the celebrities she used with for her ageing process. She takes famous faces like Donald Trump, Hilary Clinton, and Paris Hilton and adds years onto them-a process that can take at least 40 hours on each face, two weeks for Hilary's photo!

In the article, Waldron explains what she keeps in mind while she is working...

"I begin with the bone structure and then build the muscles over it ... in much the same way I would build up volume with clay in sculpting. I try to show the personality, and perhaps just a bit of the soul, in the eyes and the set of the mouth. My portraits do not predict the future, but only show what it might be in certain circumstances."

So after looking at some of these photos, you may not want to see your own. But then again remember, it's not 100% correct, just an educated guess. You also may want to rethink the way you take care of yourself so the years can treat you right. Everyone gets old (if you're lucky enough) but don't fear the future-enjoy the now!

Take a look at the rest of Waldron's photo's at The New York Daily News Gallery.
Go to Waldorn's age processing website.

PHOTO:
Old Lady Hilton, one of Waldron's images,
"She reminds me of the privileged elderly women with pink hair who attended benefits and charity galas 40 years ago," Waldron says.(DAILY NEWS)