Indie bands have been mainstays of the late night talk show circuit for years now, but they're starting to infiltrate morning shows too. Case in point: Grizzly Bear just played Ellen this morning (5/24), which most certainly introduced their music to a new audience. (Yesterday, Michael Bolton was the musical guest.) You can watch them do Shields' track, "Yet Again," below (via P4k).

Continue reading "watch Grizzly Bear perform "Yet Again" on... Ellen?"

by Bill Pearis

Fred Armisen & friends / Stefon & Seth / Kanye & Ben on SNL

Even without Kanye's musical appearance, last night's Ben Afleck hosted Saturday Night Live season finale was especially eventful (and teary) as it was the final show for three long-running star players: Bill Hader, Fred Armisen and Jason Sudekis.

Fred got his farewell moment via a sketch featuring his punk character Ian Rubbish who performed song called "It's Gonna Be a Lovely Day." His band featured fellow departing castmembers Hader and Sudekis (and Taran Killam, sure to be a big player next season), and then he welcomed a cavalcade of musical talent onstage, including his Portlandia costar Carrie Brownstein, Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis, Aimee Mann, Michael Penn, and the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones. With a chorus of "It's been alright, I've had a lovely night," it was a nice little sendoff. Video of that is below.

Hader got his sendoff moment, as expected, as Weekend Update nightlife correstondent Stefon, where anchor -- and soon to be Late Night host -- Seth Meyers finally gives in to his advances. "Weekend Update" also featured a surprise appearance by former co-anchor Amy Poehler who came out for "REALLY??" and stuck around to read the news. Seth, who is also SNL's head writer, will leave midseason next year to take over for Jimmy Fallon who is moving up to The Tonight Show.

Hader, Armisen, Sudekis and Meyers' departure leaves a giant comedy hole for next season. It will be interesting to see how Lorne Michaels fills it.

Videos below...

Continue reading "Fred Armisen, Bill Hader & Jason Sudekis bid SNL farewell w/ help from J. Mascis, Carrie Brownstein, Amy Poehler + more"

The producers of extremely popular Masterpiece Theatre soap opera Downton Abbey told fans they were adding their first black character for the show's fourth season. If Diddy's tweet is to be believed, he'll be playing that role, a jazz musician Jack Ross. Apart from the promised "sneak preview," you're still going to have to wait a while, as Season Four won't premiere until season which will premiere January 5, 2014 when it will be back for eight episodes.

UPDATE: PBS denies Diddy's involvement in Downton Abbey! NY Mag says, "Diddy, meanwhile, is still retweeting various congratulation posts, as if this is really a thing. Maybe he just read The Secret?"

Diddy even posted a "sneak peak" picture to Instagram, ha. Maybe a Funny or Die video is on the way?

UPDATE: Yep, that's exactly what it is.

Seth Meyers

As Jimmy Fallon will take over The Tonight Show next year (and moving it back to NYC at rumored), the Late Night slot will go to current SNL "Weekend Update" anchor Seth Meyers, reports the New York Times:

In an interview before taking the stage on Saturday's edition of "SNL," Mr. Meyers said: "Working at 'SNL' requires 100 percent of your mental capacity -- on easy weeks. And so I had not really spent a lot of time thinking about what I was going to do next. Obviously I can't quit Lorne. So this seems like a pretty good deal that I have an opportunity to keep working with him."

Vampire Weekend were on this past weekend's SNL. This Saturday (5/18) is the season finale with host Ben Afleck and musical guest Kanye West.

Just gonna post this press release:

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees BLACK SABBATH (Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler) will make a rare television appearance when they perform a new song from their forthcoming 13 album in the season finale of "CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION," Wednesday, May 15 (10:00-11:00PM ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

The appearance will mark the world premiere of the song "End of the Beginning" from BLACK SABBATH's much-anticipated new album 13, due out June 11 on Vertigo/Republic. This marks the group's return to Vertigo, their original label, and BLACK SABBATH's first studio album since 1978's Never Say Die! They have sold more than 70 million albums together.

Click here to see a preview of the episode and some sound bites from BLACK SABBATH and the CSI cast.

Continue reading "Black Sabbath announced a tour & will "Debut New Track On The Season Finale Of 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'""

Miguel on 'SNL' / Daft Punk w/ Pharrell & Nile Rogers

Another new SNL, another new Daft Punk commercial. This one -- a slightly shorter version of the one shown to Coachella audiences -- gives us the first substantial taste of Random Access Memories' "Get Lucky," that's been teased in previous ads, and features both Pharrel Williams and and some chic guitarwork from Nile Rodgers, not to mention the men/robots themselves. This is, we assume, a snippet of the "Get Lucky" video? You can watch it below.

Meanwhile, Daft Punk have released the third in their "Collaborators" series of promotional videos with the folks who worked on Random Access Memories. This one is with Nile Rodgers who very humbly talks about his contribution to dance music over the years and you can watch that below too.

Meanwhile, on the actual show (4/13), Miguel performed his Grammy-winning hit "Adorn" and then a rocked-out version of "How Many Drinks," with that magnetism (that we saw at our BV CMJ day party last year) on full display. The next new SNL is May 4 with Of Monsters and Men performing, while Zach Galifianakis hosts. Miguel videos from last night are below.

Continue reading "Miguel played 'SNL,' which featured a new Daft Punk commercial (with Pharrell and Nile Rogers)"

The Grin & The Chin

After 40 years on the left coast, The Tonight Show is reportedly on its way back to NYC:

A plan is in the works to bring NBC's "Tonight" show back to New York.

While the network has yet to complete a deal, it has made a commitment to Jimmy Fallon, the current host of its "Late Night" program, to have him succeed Jay Leno as the next host of "Tonight,'' according to several senior television executives involved in the decision. The show would move from Burbank, Calif., back to New York, where it first started in 1954 with Steve Allen as host. -[NY Times]

It was probably the most-anticipated episode of Saturday Night Live of the season, with Justin Timberlake on double duty as host and musical guest. The writers love JT and they show usually pulls out all the stops for him. Last night (3/9) was no different. Jay-Z showed up for "Suit and Tie," giving us a preview of what to expect this summer (like at Yankee Stadium on 7/19). He also performed "Mirrors."

Jay-Z was only one of what was one of the most guest-star-filled episodes ever. This was JT's fifth time hosting which put him in the Five Timers Club, where Paul Simon, Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, Candice Bergen, and Chevy Chase were to greet him. (Dan Ackroyd tended bar and Martin Short was there too.) Ackroyd and Martin reprised their wild-and-crazy Festrunk Brothers characters for a dating gameshow sketch that also featured JT and Andy Samberg as the "Dick in a Box" roles. Timberlake also put back on the "bring it on to ____ville" costume, this time as a block of tofu for a vegan restaurant.

The next new SNL is April 6 with Melissa McCarthy hosting and Phoenix as musical guests. Clips from last night's SNL are below.

Continue reading "Justin Timberlake hosted, performed with Jay-Z on a guest-filled 'Saturday Night Live' (watch clips); Phoenix performing in April"

by Bill Pearis

The Hold Steady @ Beekman Beer Garden, Sept. 2011 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Last year, after The National recorded "The Rains of Castamere" for Season 2 of HBO's Game of Thrones, we wondered if Bon Iver might, Season 3, do "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" which is another popular song sung often in George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice & Fire novels. Turns out GoT producers have tapped The Hold Steady to record a version of that tavern favorite, that features music written by the show's composer, Ramin Djawadi.

Audio hasn't been released yet and they haven't announced when it will be used but, if I had to guess, it will be used in Season 3's penultimate episode which is being scripted by George R.R. Martin himself. The track, will, however, be released as a 7" single for Record Store Day. The third season of Game of Thrones (based on the first half of Martin's novel, A Storm of Swords, maybe the most action-packed of the books) premieres March 31 and the trailer can be watched below.

Continue reading "The Hold Steady to perform "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" for 'Game of Thrones' Season 3 (which returns this month)"

Morrissey cancelled his appearance on Kimmel last night, but apparently he still tuned in. Here's what he thought:

I was disappointed with last night's Jimmy Kimmel Show wherein our smiling host managed to ridicule depression (70% of Americans have experienced depression according to the National Institute of Mental Health). He then found time to ridicule healthy eating (the obesity epidemic in the U.S. costs $147 billion per year in medical expenditure), and he also ridiculed the notion that animals should be entitled to the possession of their own lives. Furthermore, he found time to jokingly promote gun-ownership - hugely amusing for the parents at Sandy Hook, no doubt. He also promoted his special guests Duck Dynasty - who kill beings for fun. None of the above issues are, of course, as important as Jimmy Kimmel himself, who has finally revealed his show to have an overwhelming loss of meaning. Tune in and relive the intellectual fog of the 1950s.

Morrissey