My friend Topher sent this vid to me yesterday and I’ve watched it at least 5 times since. Looks like it’s from the weirdest show on television Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!.

John C. Reilly is a funny man.

“tastes like fruit!”

Upon checking out Frankmusik’s new video for “Better off as two”, I thought two things immediately: this song is super catchy and I feel like I just became a little gay. Not gay for Frankmusik, but I might just dress a little different next time I reach Clubland. Something about “the new age Elton John” that you may not know is that he has posed nude for a gay magazine, but still insists that he’s not gay. Also, he’s been repping his abrupt fade haircut for a couple of year now and he’s British. Enjoy responsibly.

Every once in awhile songs come out that are just plain better than everything else out there. Usually, they are created by artists that are not well known or just starting out. This is what I love about art and music (and to a lesser extent life). People are always pushing things forward and making completely new and original things. I can still remember when the first Justice track got posted on the internet and lit the blog world on fire. They were horrible quality but everyone knew there was something special about those two Frenchmen. Well, a success story like that will happen again, so why not pay attention?

This is why if you look hard enough, the future is now. There are bands all over just starting to put out music that you might not hear about for a few weeks, months, maybe even years. Not everyone has MTV exposure or gets a write up in GQ or something. That is why we are here.

Here are a few special tracks from a few special artists that you might want to start paying more attention to:

I’ll start with Marina & The Diamonds. This is the first song I’ve heard by this group but it blew me away the first time I heard it. Just gorgeous. Watch out Lykke Li, this girl has the talent without your awkward performances and pompous attitude.

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Marina & The Diamonds – Obsessions

Now onto Miike Snow. Someone I’m willing to put big money on that they become successful and produce something you hear of over the next year. They came out of nowhere a couple months ago and got a lot of the blog world buzzin’. I posted their remix of Vampire Weekend yesterday so I’ll post the Crookers remix of Animal to keep it fresh.

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Miike Snow – Animal (Crookers Remix)

Next we will move to Phoenix. This french rock group has been making quality music for a few years now but they still haven’t gotten the recognition they deserve. This is extremely radio friendly pop rock that combines Kings of Leon with The Killers. With their latest album ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix’ dropping soon they are on the cusp of success. Listen to ’1901′ off their new album and then be the first kid in your town to pump what probably everyone will be listening to this summer (yes I’m being bold with a lot of these statements but I truly believe that if just more people were lucky enough to hear this they would support bands like this instead of crap. I just don’t want to live in a world where Jamie Foxx has the number 6 album in the nation).

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Phoenix – 1901

Now onto my more club/electronic oriented songs:

I’ll start with PILOTPRIEST. PILOTPRIEST is amazing. Please just listen to this song and tell all your friends about this guy. I wrote a lot more about this song over at Rollin’ & Scratchin’ so just click the link if you want to hear more about why this guy dominates.

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Lioness – You’re My Heart (Pilotpriest Remix)

And finally there is TMDP signed to YYZ records. You may have caught them on MySpace over the weekend where they were one of the featured artists to look out for but for those who didn’t, here is your chance to learn what a lot of people already know (ie. these guys are legit and set to explode). Also, their first album dropped a couple days ago and is now available on iTunes so you have no excuse to not get schooled. Here is a Barletta remix of a TMDP track for your minds.

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TMDP – Running (DJ Barletta Glitch Fix)

Adidas Originals is celebrating their 60th anniversary this year and they know how to do it up. Snippets of their House Party video have leaked over the last few weeks and now you can check the full video. This looks like the most fun that ever went down. Get a glimpse of the good times among the athletes, celebrities and musicians.

(Ed. You must apologize for our Canadian writers who probably haven’t had to watch this commercial 400 times a day for the last month. I also disagree. This looks like the worst party ever filled with huge egos with nothing to talk about.)

Last night K’naan played a show at The Mod Club in Toronto to celebrate the launch of his new album “Troubadour”, which dropped yesterday. K’naan was born in Somalia and grew up in their civil war before getting the opportunity to move to New York City for a short period and then heading to Toronto where his family currently lives.

K’naan put up a formidable set, playing largely from his new album “Troubadour” as well as throwing in some of his songs from his first album “The Dusty Foot Philosopher”. K’naan walked onto the stage casually without a trace of arrogance. His show was glamour-less as he even experienced technical sound issues and decided to perform a few of his songs acoustic as well as a capella. K’naan explained the meaning of some of his songs and told stories of his home country between songs, which heightened the show experience. He has the ability to drop new songs that were instantly appreciated with little remorse for the older tracks left behind. Loyal fans sang along to songs that are fresh on the scene, which K’naan did not leave without appreciating.

Kings of Kush opened for K’naan which is fronted by the poetry-inspired Boonaa Muhammad who consciously rapped about political struggles in Ethiopia, passing on grass and how he likes his girls black like Darth Vader. They’re young, exceptional talent that we’d be happy to see them excel in the scene.

“Troubadour” is now available so check it on iTunes. The album which was recorded in Bob Marley’s house in Kingston, Jamaica features a few standout collaborations like Damian Marley, Adam Levine, Kirk Hammett from Metallica, and Mos Def.  Here’s a few of the standout tracks to give you an idea of what K’naan is up to these days.

Wavin’ Flag

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Somalia

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Fatima

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I love Miike Snow. Yes I’m willing to say that even though they haven’t officially released any material. How can I say that then? Well, I’ve been able to stream their original material on RCRD LBL and their MySpace and download all of the amazing remixes of their songs (by Crookers, DJ Mehdi, and Treasure Fingers… add a Les Rhymes Digitales remix and you have the EXACT people I would get to do remixes if I released a song).

Oh also, his myspace and logo are badass and being a graphic design major I really appreciate an artist that creates a bit of a mythology to their work.

Well lucky for you RCRD LBL has released a Vampire Weekend song and allowed Miike Snow to get their hands on it and touch it up. This is a genius move to introduce Miike Snow to a wider audience and they deserve it.

Get this song and be happy.

Vampire Weekend Vs. Miike Snow – The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance (download from RCRD LBL)

Bonus: Check out the Treasure Fingers remix of Miike Snow from an old post HERE.

The Cool Kids released the original video to “Pennies” about a month ago. Director Yoram Benz has remixed the visuals of the video, adding in live footage and cartoonish edits to create “2K Pennies”. The video is pretty wild and The Cool Kids continue to be excessively good.

I was recently reading an article written by Tony Parsons entitled “Man and Time” which featured some enlightening perspectives on our fleeting youth from David Bowie. It got me thinking that Bowie may be the coolest 62 year old on the planet. Here’s 3 awesome aspects of David Bowie:

1. The Parson’s interview:

Here’s some of Bowie’s perspective on life.

“Look, mate, one year is now just two percent of my life. But when I was 20, a year was five percent of my life. And when I was only ten years old, a year was ten percent of my life. So when I was a child, a year seemed to last a lifetime, because in relative terms, it did last a lifetime. One year was a very big chunk of time I had spent on earth. And now it’s just not. When you are pushing 50, a year is over in the blink of an eye.”

*See January 2009 British GQ for the rest of the article.

2. He performed with Arcade Fire simply because he liked them.

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Arcade Fire feat. David Bowie – Wake Up (Live at Radio City Music Hall)

3. Flight of the Conchords wrote a song about him.

Living in Toronto, I often think of how I can dress warmer (besides my permanent long-underwear) without wearing things that make me look like a crazy. Whenever I see people wearing ski masks, I think two things to myself, you’re evidently a criminal and you must be really warm. Naturally, I was pretty happy to see this new American Apparel piece that features a playful mustache on this traditionally criminal fashion accessory. Now you can be warm and non-threatening at the same time or the most alluring bank-robber of our generation.

There seems to be a general trend of exclusive retailers taking their catalogues online as seen recently by stores such as Uncle Otis, Opening Ceremony and Odin. All Saints has also taken their UK brand online, which is appreciated by many shoppers living a world away. Check out the All Saints Online Store, admire their new arrivals and take advantage of their 70% off sale.