Video below...

Continue reading "Where The Wild Things Are trailer w/ Arcade Fire"

"I'm a fan of [Arcade Fire] on one level, but on another level I get really tired of their pompousness," says [Wayne] Coyne [of the Flaming Lips]. "We've played some shows with them and they really treat people like shit. Whenever I've been around them, I've found that they not only treated their crew like shit, they treated the audience like shit. They treated everybody in their vicinity like shit. I thought, 'Who do they think they are?' I don't know why people put up with it. I wouldn't put up with it. I don't care if it's Arcade Fire or Brian Eno. If either of them walked into a room and treated people like shit I'd be like, 'Fuck you, get outta here.'

He continues, "People treat Arcade Fire like they're the greatest thing ever and they get away with it. Those sort of opinions change my view of their music. They have good tunes, but they're pricks, so fuck 'em. Who does Arcade Fire think they are? I've been around groups. I've been around the Edge from U2 and he's the fucking sweetest guy ever. I was around Justin Timberlake when he was young and he was just a normal, nice, kind person. Anyone can be polite and kind and people who have the privilege and money and attention should understand that. If they don't, then fuck 'em." [Rolling Stone]

Flaming Lips, New Years Eve setlist (Dec 31, 2008) (by Ruharvey)

Wayne Coyne was born on January 13, 1961 in Pittsburgh, the fifth of six children of Thomas and Dolores Coyne. Relatively uninterested in school, Coyne preferred music, painting, and football to his assignments. His brothers and other friends played in a backyard football team named the "Fearless Freaks." He continued making art for many years, and designed many of the early graphics for The Flaming Lips himself (in recent times, he has also provided the artwork for both Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and At War with the Mystics).

Coyne worked as a fry cook at a Long John Silver's restaurant for 11 years, and was awarded a special badge to honor his service. Although he had been toying with an acoustic guitar since he was fourteen, it was this job which enabled him to purchase an electric guitar, a Les Paul, which he did after eight months of employment. Wayne was a senior in high school at the time. [Wikipedia]

Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips was born today in 1961.

VBS.TV chatted with Wayne.

Flaming Lips are curating and playing ATP NY 2009.

The Wrens are playing SXSW.

Some albums came out today.

AC Newman plays "Like a Hitman, Like a Dancer" in the DUMBO Session video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

Continue reading "holiday greetings from Wayne Coyne, Oklahoma New Years"

Wayne Coyne, director of Christmas on Mars and visionary frontman of rock band the Flaming Lips, will join fans and friends for Cinema Purgatorio's screenings of Christmas on Mars: A Fantastical Film Freakout Featuring the Flaming Lips, on Wednesday, November 5, 7pm and 9:30pm, at the KGB / Kraine Theater.

Below you will find the CoM trailer(s)/ads, AND some (other?) Halloween-related Flaming Lips videos...

Continue reading "Wayne Coyne to appear at NY Christmas on Mars screenings"

Love it or hate it, licensing songs seems to be the new reality for "indie" bands (or any bands) looking to make money and gain exposure. As an avid music fan and Senior Director of Advertising & Video Games at Primary Wave Music Publishing, Ryan Barkan makes sure to stay on top of news related to artists getting their songs in ads, on TV, in movies, in video games and just about anywhere else a band would get paid to put a song. As someone who never pays attention to any of that, I thought the site could use a weekly column to identify who sold out this week help fill in what I'm missing (think M.I.A. in the Pineapple Express commercial, Nick & Norah, Santogold shilling Bud Light, Chairlift & CSS for Apple, etc..). For that...please welcome Ryan (who also goes by the blog and photographer name "Fresh Bread")....

---

by Ryan Barkan

Microsoft's Halo 3 video game commercial was so amazing that it won the Grand Prix (i.e. best of show) at this past year's Cannes Advertising Awards, in June, in the "Film" ad category. The spot, titled "Believe", was created by San Francisco advertising agency T.A.G. and featured the dramatically delicate "Raindrop Prelude No 15" by Chopin against a violent and disturbing war scene.

Another huge 2008 release for Microsoft is the upcoming sequel to the game Gears of War, creatively called....wait for it...Gears Of War 2 (available November 7th exclusively on Xbox360). What works once should work again right? T.A.G. thought so and took the same approach with the music as they did with the "Believe" spot, juxtaposing the hard war visuals against a beautiful song, but this time with a more contemporary artist, Devotchka. The beautiful song they used by the Colorado band is called "How It Ends" and the trailer will debut on network television this Sunday, November 2, during NFL Sunday Night Football. You can also watch it right now. The video for that, and of the full version of "Believe", are below.

----------

Other Notable Licensing News:

The Walmart-exclusive AC/DC edition of Rock Band is out November 2nd and now MTV/Harmonix have announced a Beatles video game that will be based on the "Rock Band" engine, but not branded "Rock Band". "The Best Of The Who" edition of Rock Band was released in July as DLC (downloadable content).

Hypebeast has the info on a new line of Miles Davis-inspired T-shirts by urban boutique and shoe company, Supreme.

Flaming Lips, the B-52's, BB King and others were commissioned by NBC to create their own interpretation of the network's classic "Chime In"...

You may not know that the notes to NBC's famous chimes are G, E, and C, but chances are you'd recognize the Peacock jingle in an instant. With that in mind, executives at the network decided to have some fun with their famous chimes and launched a national campaign calling for a 21st century reinvention of the 75-year-old television staple. [Hollywood Insider]

What do Friendly Fires, The Duke Spirit, The Submarines, The Black Keys, Black Kids, The Virgins, and Robyn have in common? They've all had songs featured in an episode of Gossip Girl this month.

What about Lykke Li, Passion Pit and The Kooks? Well, as you may have read earlier, they'll all be appearing in future episodes of Gossip Girl/OC-creator Josh Schwartz's new "music-themed scripted web series" Rockville, CA.

I really dig the new spot for the Google Android Phone. The commercial features a song by The Black Angels called "Black Grease" - not sure if it'll convince me to switch from the iPhone but it's a nice placement nonetheless. Video below...

Continue reading "It's Not Selling Out Anymore -- This Week in Music Licensing"

photos by Ailecia Ruscin

The Flaming Lips are hitting at least 17 music festivals this summer. Of that 17, four have already happened. There was Summer Camp, Jam on the River and Sasquatch. And then there was last weekend at Wakarusa in Lawrence, Kansas (home of Williams S Burroughs from 1981-1997). Like Jam on the River, Wakarusa was heavy on the jam bands. STS9, Lotus, Galactic, Tea Leaf Green, and Keller Williams were all on the bill. So were Mates of State, Dr. Dog, Cake, Tilly and the Wall, Bettye Lavette, Old 97's, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Arrested Development, Built to Spill and many more. And like a lot of summer festivals, Wakarusa was forced to deal with rain delays and related artist cancellations. And there was camping....

People of all ages find elaborate ways to set up their campsites, entertain themselves, sleep comfortably, at least as well as you can in 85 degrees, and grill up some grub. Since it's equal parts music and camping at Wakarusa, having the right supplies improves the experience. T.J. Baker, 23, Lawrence, said sleeping comfortably is key. Hammocks are the best, he said.

"I'm envious I don't have one with me, especially for napping," he said, looking at a yellow hammock his friend was sound alseep in. Eric Blakie, 22, and Jake Via, 23, both from Buffalo, N.Y., made the 16-hour road trip for the festival, so there was no going back for that forgotten toothbrush or towel... [Lawrence Journal]

As you know by now, Flaming Lips have integrated nudity into their already-over-the-top stage show. That stayed true at Wakarusa and one of the girls even seemed to be sending NYC a message. We read you loud and clear...

Continue reading "Wakarusa 2008 pics, sticks, Flaming Lips, more nude women"

photos by Chris Graham

Michael Showalter & the gorge, Sasquatch 2008

Michael Showalter was at Sasquatch last year too. More pictures from Monday (day three of Sasquatch) below....

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2008 - day 3 in pictures (Monday May 26)"