WONGIE INDIE SONG OF THE WEEK: arcade fire - everything now

arcade fire - everything now
what is happening? with it's dancing queen grooves and a frigging pan flute hook, arcade fire have unleashed one of the poppiest songs of their career! but strip away the glean of the track and you have one of the more biting commentaries of society excess around. and you can still dad dance to the track! kind of genius!

WEEKEND CATCH UP: arcade fire - we exist

arcade fire - we exist
since premiering, this david wilson video about a young person's struggle with gender identity has been discussed quite intensely within the LGBT community (some feel that casting an a-lister like andrew garfield takes away from telling it from the real perspective of a trans youth). but the fact that there is a dialogue at all, plus getting into the news is a good thing don't you think? the end result is still a triumphant dance accepted by millions in the version of themselves they believe to be. kind of awesome!

WACKY AWARDS SHOW: YouTube Music Awards 2013 (with live videos by eminem, arcade fire, m.i.a., avicii and lady gaga)

webcast creative director spike jonze says that there was no script or plan to the awards, plus live music videos were created by lady gaga, eminem, arcade fire and avicii, adding to the chaos. if you didn't see it live, it sure was wackadoodle! here are the highlights of the evening below:

eminem - rap god (youtube awards 2013)


m.i.a. - come walk with me (youtube awards 2013)

avicii - hey brother / you make me / wake me up (a live short film by lena dunham) (youtube awards 2013)

arcade fire - afterlife (youtube awards 2013)

lady gaga - dope (youtube awards 2013)

want more? click below to see the rest of the performances and some of the award itself:

WONGIE INDIE SONG OF THE WEEK: arcade fire - reflektor

arcade fire - reflektor
whoa! this is a brilliantly different sound for the arcade fire! i'm totally digging this james murphy produced track (disco rock with a bit of world music thrown in yo!) plus if you listen carefully, you can hear david bowie in the background vocals! if you want to see a cooler video for this wonderful song, check out an interactive experience over at justareflektor.com.

WONGIE VIDEO OF THE MONTH: arcade fire - the suburbs

arcade fire - the suburbs
[hopefully this spike jonze video is just a teaser of a full length short film, cause it's friggin awesome! i don't want to give anything away, just watch it and be compelled for more.]

NEW ARCADE FIRE!: arcade fire - the suburbs

arcade fire - the suburbs
[rejoice! the first official video from the arcade fire is actually footage from the 1979 classic teen flick 'over the edge']

MAKE YOUR OWN VIDEO: arcade fire - we used to wait (the wilderness downtown project)

arcade fire - we used to wait (wongie's childhood home video)
[want your music videos to be more interactive? well arcade fire and director chris milk have come up with a genius interactive page in which you can leave a message to a younger you at your childhood home. tapping into my obvious sentimentality, i got a bit emotional playing with this! hopefully you will have fun with it too. check out my version of the music video on the link above. and if you want to make your own version based on your childhood street, go to the wilderness downtown and go crazy! have fun!]

LIVE WONGIE: arcade fire - 3 songs (live @ madison square garden unstaged)

arcade fire - behind the scenes concert pre show
[nothing like watching terry gilliam (director of brazil, 12 monkeys) giggle his way through the 10 mins doc and seeing how he interacts with the whole arcade fire collective. plus watch the pre-show sketch featuring actor andrew garfield (social network, never let me go and the next spider man) and some robots!]


arcade fire - ready to start
[the arcade fire just performed 2 sold out gigs at madison square garden and collaborated with film director terry gilliam to shoot their live webcast in collaboration with VEVO and American Express. the 1st in a new series of live concerts called 'unstaged', you can now watch highlights of the concert, here!]


arcade fire - rococo


arcade fire feat owen pallett - empty
rooms
[occasional collaborator owen pallett also managed to perform with the band for these 2 massive performances!]

live wongie: beirut @ bowery ballroom

beirut - gulag orkestar (live @ bowery ballroom)
[oh the mayhem and utter joy these guys create during their concerts! on sundays show members of arcade fire, final fantasy and every trumpet player in the tri-state area got on stage to perform the massive finale to beirut's sold out concert. awesome indeed! thanks to pitchfork for the vid]

videoland: james morrison, the fratellis, jamelia, avril lavigne, ne yo, little man tate, arcade fire, arctic monkeys, bonde do role, calvin harris

james morrison - undiscovered
[gosh, has it been single #4 already? call me a cheese ball, but i just really love the tone of james' voice and it helps that his songs are so darn catchy.]


the fratellis - baby fratelli
[i'm slowly beginning to LOVE this band with every listen of their debut album costello music. the fact that the hilarious film hot fuzz (starring my unofficial boyfriend simon pegg) has used this song as their theme makes me love the guys even more!]


jamelia - no more
[even though this samples the stranglers (imagine the money it cost!) the song still emotes a nice honest sound that i haven't heard from jamelia in awhile]


avril lavigne - girlfriend
[this 80's girl punk meets 60's girl group sound really works for me. too bad avril is such a cow in real life.]


ne yo - because of you
[love this r&b singer/songwriter, but can he stop trying to
a)dance
b)pretend to be a sex symbol
it's just kind of gross really.]


little man tate - this must be love
[what a pub band. the lead singer is kind of cute in that normal kind of way.]


arcade fire - keep the car running (live on snl)
[i know that neon bible is already old news for loads of people, but i have to be honest and say that i have yet to really sit down and listen to the album from beginning to end. that doesn't mean i don't enjoy this band, i'm just lazy...]


arctic monkeys - brianstorm
[so it's really called brian-storm. ok. the weirder fact is that they have made a video with booty crazy dancers. what has the world come to?]


bonde do role - solta o frango
[a wongie favorite a few months back, i'm just psyched that i'm checking out this band at the end of this month (with producer diplo on dj decks to boot!)]


calvin harris - acceptable in the 80's
[is this guy really as amazing as the hype around him? i'm not so sure, but the retro love in this song makes me tolerate him for now.]