Clearly inspired by Kill Bill, “Telephone” is an over the top music video with an epic ending. GaGa might be called a lot of things, but who would have known she would try to bring back 9 minute + videos like that of “Thriller”. Music videos were supposed to be dead, but GaGa doesn’t think so.

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Can’t wait to hear Congratulations? MGMT has announced a bizarre contest on their site that allows 6 lucky winners of each location to ride in a van outfitted for a listening party.

Contest Site

Details below:

You have won a chance to be part of an extraordinary MGMT event. The MGMTmobile
will be visiting 6 cities, and we are challenging YOU to come find it

We will reveal clues to the location 1 hour prior to arrival. The first 6 people to this
location will be part of a very special MGMT experience. Be sure to stay tuned as we
reveal each city below.

*We will give clues to the secret location and a password on this page.

*Once you figure out where the location is – GO THERE – you have 1 hour, first come first serve.

*You will see a person holding an MGMT flag – go up to them and tell them the password.

*If you are one of the first people to arrive – your journey starts then. You will need to be free for the next 2 hours.

What happens next?
You will have to wait and see……

YOU MUST:
BE 18 YEARS OR OLDER
HAVE VALID PHOTO ID WITH YOU
READ FULL RULES HERE

Can’t wait a couple more days? Gorillaz have teamed up with MTV to release an album sampler that has about 20-40 second samples of each song mixed into each other. You can offiicially download it here. Or you can directly download it here: LINK

One thing that can’t be denied, the band has done a great job keeping fans excited for this album. While waiting for an album to be released is usually excruciating, Gorillaz have kept this fun.

Gorillaz debuted “Superfast Jellyfish” today on Radio 1. Simultaneously they posted it officially on their youtube account. You can listen to it here. Plastic Beach comes out March 9th (US) and March 3rd (Japan). Getting close!

Listen: Gorillaz – “Superfast Jellyfish”

Tim Wienand photography © 2010 All Rights Reserved

The Wild Complete is an ambitious act from Flagstaff, Arizona that grew from bedrooms in Southern California. Their debut self titled record, which is available now and was written and recorded in the bedrooms and houses of founding members Ryan Burian, Michael Miser, and Kate Hinojosa. In result came a seven track EP mixing folk and indie rock sounds accompanied by string and woodwind arrangements throughout. With recent additions to the band Andrew Paffrath and Aaron Mortemore, The Wild Complete is set to support the album with a summer 2010 tour across the United States, look for them coming through your city in the near future.

Purchase The Wild Complete EP on Bandcamp
The Wild Complete Myspace

1. Love Enters
2. The Wild Complete
3. Childhood
4. Listening to the World
5. Gifts and Talents
6. Happyness
7. Ribbons

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Albarn and Co. are really going all out to promote their upcoming album Plastic Beach. From the hilarious Pirate Radio broadcasts with Murdoc, to the various videos they have been releasing this past month, the band is doing a great job promoting the album. Here is the latest trailer which features an Orchestra score. Might possibly be the Orchestra intro from the album?

Chances are you fall into one of the following three categories: A. The Grammys have been irrelevant for so many years that you no longer bother to watch or care as you’ve come to accept it’s awful. B. You are addicted to pop culture, and can’t look away from a train wreck, Or C. You actually like the Grammys and think they do a good job. I fall somewhere between A and B, so I’ve taken the time to outline the three reasons Swift won a major award from an awards show that many view as out of touch and irrelevant.

I. Tapped into the teen market.

Let’s face it, Swift is a parent’s wet dream. Finally a pop star that caters to teens who isn’t singing about sex or dressing like she’s ready to work the corner. Swift has the perfect clean image that gives Disney an erection and kids a wholesome role model. Her music is literally a teenage girl’s diary translated to song. So it’s not hard to see the appeal. Because the teenage demographic is one of the largest consumer groups in the world – someone has struck gold.

II. She is a cash cow.

Swift has made more money than the majority of the artists in the industry. Her album Fearless dominated the sales charts, and her stadium shows sold out universally. In an industry that is failing, Swift was a guaranteed money maker. In some ways I would like to compare her to Avatar. Recently Avatar won a Golden Globe from the Hollywood Foreign Press – I can’t help but think for similar reasons. The industry giving a nod to one of their top money makers. Of course, Avatar hasn’t won at the Academy Award yet – so there might still be hope for the film industry.

III. Kanye West.

It would be unfair to suggest he is solely responsible for her win, but I believe he had a huge impact on her being nominated, and ultimately being given the award. The Grammys love to sell a “story.” To give an award to an under-dog, because they know they can make money and sell it to the public. They have been working this angle all year with Swift, and the Kanye incident at the VMAs (almost seems staged looking back) was the perfect situation to boost this angle: “Young girl trying to break into the big bad industry, and ultimately triumphing.” In this metaphor, Kanye represents the evil of the industry, crushing the poor girl’s dreams as she was publicly accepting one of her first awards (forget the fact she had already made millions of dollars, and fans world wide) – sympathy was oozing from the media. But since that moment, the lines were drawn in the sand. I (along with many people) predicted the day after this incident she would be winning Album Of The Year. Nice to know they went the “Dixie Chicks” route this year.

In closing, the Grammys prove yet again to be out of touch and irrelevant. I have nothing against Swift. I think it’s great that she is a positive role model for the youth, and that for once, a pop star isn’t popular based on sex appeal. But the fact still stands: she is a mediocre singer and writer at best. That’s being generous. Anyone seriously comparing her to the talents of Lady Ga Ga or even Beyonce Knowles are out of their mind. While I personally wouldn’t have picked them for album of the year – those were the given contenders. And if a teen who can barely hit her notes and writes like she is still in middle-school can win over two pop divas with powerful voices and a catalog of catchy tunes – then pretty much anyone can win at the Grammys. Just give them a good enough story to sell – and you might have a shot. In this case, it was the sympathy vote. Swift did forget to thank Kanye by the way.