As Jay-Z and Kanye West‘s Watch The Throne tour kicks off this week, there’s really not all that much else to talk about. Between set lists, leather outfits, copious bling and “OMG WILL PREGONCÉ OR FRANK OCEAN OR BOTH MAKE AN APPEARANCE?”, it’s a truly immersive experience, permeating all facets of daily life and conversation. So while we wait very impatiently for our turn to Watch The Throne, we’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite collaboration albums of all-time.
Nearly half a year since the band’s highly ambitious single-take “You Are A Tourist” (and four months since their appearance on Storytellers), Death Cab For Cutie are back with another single—Codes and Keys closer “Stay Young, Go Dancing.” When the band performed the song on Storytellers, frontman Ben Gibbard quipped, “I think as a relatively recently married [to Zooey Deschanel, no less] man, I’m allowed one love song.” The Claire Carre-directed, Rob Reiner-meets-Benjamin Button clip that premiered yesterday certainly fits the bill, as an older couple dances barefoot in the grass and reminisces on a life of love and dancing together.
As we parallel park into July and officially hit the curb of this year’s halfway point, it’s time to take a quick look back at what the past six months have taught us. Not conventional life lessons, however; we’re talking about stuff that’s a little bit less intense and also involves YOU! That’s right, in the first installment of our Top 100 Videos of 2011… So Far, we’re spilling the beans on the #100-51 most clicked-and-viewed videos on VH1.com. You’ll see that this piñata-like list of content contains tasty treats and slippery surprises alike! We’ve got brand-new videos that just recently launched, some VH1 Classic leaning clips (hey there, Megadeth), repeat offenders, and of course, effervescent, essential vids from the music video cannon. So take a look at the first fifty videos below and don’t forget to come back later this week as we continue on our quest to discover what artist snags the #1 spot!
100. Jack Johnson, “From The Clouds”
99. Chris Brown, “Deuces”
98. Ke$ha, “Tik Tok”
97. Bruno Mars, “The Other Side”
96. Beyoncé, “Video Phone (Extended Remix)”
95. Usher, “OMG”
94. B.o.B, “Airplanes”
93. Taylor Swift, “Mine”
92. Sara Bareilles, “King Of Anything”
91. John Legend & The Roots, “Wake Up Everybody”
Break In Notorious B.I.G. Murder Case: Confessed Accessory After the Fact Gives Testimony
Less than a month after an alleged confession by an accessory to the 1994 gun violence against Tupac Shakur, Clayton Hill, a former member of the Nation of Islam, has confessed to helping dispose of the handgun used to murder the Notorious B.I.G. in 1997. He implicates a member of the Nation of Islam whom he only knew by a pseudonym and could not positively identify when shown photographs of the prime suspect. Hill told HipHop DX that all of this information was revealed to federal investigators in October 2010 in exchange for a reduced sentence for his wife (so she could raise their daughter). He also notes that it will be included in his forthcoming e-book, Diary of an Ex-Terrorist. [HipHop DX]
A New Alleged Kelly Clarkson Demo Leaked!
The swiftness with which uploads are getting taken down suggests it might actually be a track slated to appear on her upcoming album. It’s called “Let Me Down.” Good luck finding a stream before the Web Sheriff does. [Popdust]
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“There are few things more demoralizing than groveling for a job that you don’t even want,” said Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard at last month’s VH1 Storytellers taping when he introduced and explained the inspiration behind “Employment Pages.” Been there, bro! It was a statement that’s bitter truth stuck to us until now, but since that song didn’t wind up making our on-air show, you’re not likely to hear it when the band’s Storytellers airs tonight at 11 p.m. Luckily for you, however, VH1.com has a Bing online exclusive of Death Cab performing that track, and we even snagged some footage of Ben and bassist Nick Harmer talking about one of the most demoralizing jobs that Ben first had in Seattle during the days they were fighting to make a splash in the music biz. Check out the interview below, and if you’re still hungry for DCFC, feast on already-released clips “You Are a Tourist,” “Title and Registration,” and, hot off the presses, “The New Year.”
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Death Cab For Cutie’s VH1 Storytellers is airing at 11 p.m. tonight on VH1, and since lead singer Ben Gibbard is now married to his indie beloved Zooey Deschanel, we got to thinking about music’s most powerful couples of the moment. Because these lists are often tricky to compile and put into an order that everyone can agree on, we took to the streets and polled over 5,000 people. JK! We actually did something smarter and more efficient, combining stats from Billboard charts, YouTube clicks, and social media followings, and mixed it with our interpretation of je ne sais quoi cool-factor buzz. Confident in our rankings, we hereby give you VH1’s list of the most powerful couples in music today.
Who did we miss? Care to offer up any suggestions of your own? Hit us up in the comments section below!
Storytellers: Death Cab for Cutie premieres this Friday at 11 p.m. ET/PT, but unfortunately this performance of “Title and Registration,” the third single from 2003′s Transatlanticism, won’t air during the performance. But we couldn’t leave such a good performance sit in the vault, so we shared it with Stereogum, and with you.
Although the band does invite string players to join them for some songs on Storytellers, they stick with their touring formula for this song, despite the difficulty of performing its multi-layered instrumentation as a quartet. Their commitment to performing as they did when they were carting their own gear is a story in itself.
PREVIOUSLY:
Storytellers Sneak Peek: Death Cab for Cutie “You Are a Tourist”
Death Cab for Cutie‘s new album Codes and Keys will be released a week from tomorrow, but you can hear the band perform three tracks from the album on VH1′s Storytellers: Death Cab for Cutie, this Friday night at 11 p.m. ET/PT. We’ve shared this performance of the album’s lead single with our friends at Rolling Stone (and, of course, with you). Tune into VH1 on Friday night to hear the band open up about Codes and Keys‘s title track and album closer “Stay Young, Go Dancing,” as well as tracks from four previous albums, reaching back to their 1998 debut Something About Airplanes. [click to continue…]
Here’s one for the “musicians are just like us” file: artists who followed last night’s news on Twitter!
Zeitgeisty: Hayley Williams of Paramore
After being together for almost fifteen years, indie rockers Death Cab For Cutie have seen their fair share of shows, festivals and venues. But until last night, frontman Ben Gibbard never felt it “appropriate” to talk about their songs’ inspiration, or more specifically, his intricate writing process. “I’m still figuring it out for myself,” admitted the lead singer, figuratively scratching his head as he explained the varied characters and scenarios that have occupied Death Cab’s lyrics over the years. However, in front of our VH1 Storytellers production crew and a slew of psyched-up fans in a Los Angeles studio last night, Ben opened up and finally shared the band’s story in his own way, painting pictures with words, allowing us all to be transported back in time to shake hands with his vision.
Hailing from Bellingham, Washington, we learned that Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben, Nick, Chris and (then-drummer) Nathan moved to Seattle early in their career, and were initially frustrated by the hungry artist lifestyle. According to the stories he shared with us, eating humble pie was a ongoing fixture in Ben’s creative process: Being laughed at by a car full of girls on the highway for driving his 1992 “couch on wheels” Buick Regal was part of Gibbard’s impetus for writing “Title and Registration,” and the modesty the band faced in the Seattle transition — what they then considered to be “the big city” — he found to be specifically trying. “There are few things more demoralizing than groveling for a job that you don’t even want,” Ben stated plainly when articulating the origins for “The Employment Pages,” a track off their second LP, We Have The Facts and We’re Voting Yes.
