A video from the great Northwest, a meeting of big heads, and one seriously long lick.

We loved The Hurt Locker, and felt it deserved all the Oscars it raked in. It was edgy, it was tough, it was accomplished, it was indie: bravo, Hurt Locker, and bravo, Kathryn Bigelow! However, while The Hurt Locker did make Bigelow the first woman to take home a directing Academy Award, it’s not her greatest cinematic work. No, that would have to go to her late-’80s music video for New Order’s “Touched By The Hand Of God”!

The XX have been omnipresent since the release of their debut album in 2009, topping year end lists for the haunting, unique sounds on their instant-classic, self-titled debut LP. But the profile of the U.K. indie trio has been skyrocketing, and in the most unexpected places.
First, Apolo Ohno’s recent AT&T Olympic commercial used the XX’s [...]

Radio 1 super personality Zane Lowe has declared Tinie Tempah’s new single “Pass Out” as the hottest record right now in the world. It’s a certified banger! The track compiles various Brit sounds including grime, dub, and drum & bass – all wrapped up in an explosive pop tune.

As announced on Anthem magazine’s website last week, Vampire Weekend dropped a new single and video from the album Contra, “Giving Up the Gun.” While the band has been steadily crossing over (#1 on the charts), the band still hangs on to their more alternative roots. In the video, helmed by The Malloys (N.E.R.D., White Stripes, Silversun Pickups, etc.)…

LCD Soundsystem releasing a new album is kinda like, I don’t know, the second coming? And it seems like it’s actually gonna happen, due to these videos tidbits LCD’s leader, James Murphy, has started releasing. The first preview clip is a little mini-documentary, providing a peek into their recording environment.

Gil Scott-Heron’s video for “Me And The Devil”, out Feb 22. Taken from his forthcoming album “I’m New Here” which takes this music legend into new territory sonically (and here visually), a post-apocalyptic landscape filled with dark grimy beats. It’s a refreshing yet honest take on the blues classic, as the revolution seems at hand and Heron is the MC.

Watching a young version of the Beastie Boys perform grunge rock is kind of like watching Dan Marino throw darts. While they definitely appear and sound unpolished, you know they have the mechanics to get the job done, thus the potential to go on to bigger and better things. But this video, from New York’s public access program The Scott and Gary Show, was shot in 1984; Hip-Hop wasn’t lucrative yet.

The city of Baltimore has declared today Frank Zappa Day in honor of the iconoclastic rock musician and composer, born there on Dec. 21, 1940. He would have been 69 years old, and probably doing what he always did best — shredding convention and exploding the notion of what you can and can’t do with the same old tools of production. Just check out what he did on the Steve Allan show in 1963, where he plays a bicycle…

Bell is making local LA waves playing his own unique brand of hip-hop that blends indie-rock with electronica. This year he dropped the “Good News: The Mix-Tape,” which features remixes of songs by artists as wide-ranging as Pink Floyd, Lily Allen, Gang Gang Dance, Jose Gonzalez, Peter, Bjorn & John, Duran Duran, and Neil Diamond. Yes, Neil Diamond. Catch him here in a recent performance, a new song featuring Acey Alone.

One day, sports will evolve to this caliber. Mix blood-sport table tennis with a healthy appetite for destruction and you would have this. What an epic match.

An amazing concept paired with amazing animation. Everything goes from being slightly connected to combined and overwhelmed in a matter of minutes.

Have you ever felt like you were living in a movie? Keith Schofield explores a part of that idea most people don’t think about. This is one of those videos that works so perfectly with the song, you would think they wrote it for the music video.

Another bizarre video from the demented mind of Eric Wareheim, brought to life by Fatalfarm, following his work with Major Lazer. This song could break even further into the pop charts than the past singles from Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do. This video will certainly help it make some rounds.

N.A.S.A.’s video for Spacious Thoughts off their debut album, Spirit of Apollo, featuring Kool Keith and Tom Waits. The video was made by Fluorescent Hill, a small artist collective out of Montreal.

Q3D Entertainment has released a few clips on to YouTube to promote the release of The Carter Documentary, a deep and comprehensive look into the life of Lil’ Wayne. The first is a 10 minute clip the documentary begins with, and the second is a clip taken from a studio session.

What is the definition of flavor? Well, who cares when Bill McMullen and Colby Parker Jr. are involved. Bill McMullen – aka Billions McMillions – is, like, the dopest artist/graphic designer in the world: you know that Beastie Boys album cover you put up on your bedroom wall? He designed it, yo… As for Parker Jr. – no relation to another flavor unit, Ray Parker Jr. – he’s one of the universe’s top film editors. Now they have joined forces in that most 2009 of thangs, the podcast, and it is predictably unpredictable and excellent.

Slow motion hipsters playing with super soakers in the woods set to a hot dubstep track. Tim Brown (Colonel Blimp) & Christopher Hewitt (Knucklehead) team up for the the new release from Hecq Vs Exillion. Titled “Spheres Of Fury”

This is the brand new video for ‘Armand Van Helden & A-TRAK Present Duck Sauce – aNYway’, released on Data Records 26th October 2009. We blew this track up when it first hit the web, and this video makes it even more special.

The Dø live and unplugged at Store Studio on Norwegian television NRK.