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I’ve wanted to post this video for a while now and keep forgetting. It’s a near perfect rock video, because it combines such beautiful imagery together–gii-tar, hott roller babes, super bouncy balls and dirty pillow fights.

Why can’t some industrious network come up with a show that involves all of these things? I’m sure the Japanese have, but couldn’t Spike or G4 or CBS come up with something similar.

Someone get Mark Burnett on the phone, because this shit is ratings gold I tell ya… ratings gold.

According to our favorite local music know-it-all:

Headlining: Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, Raconteurs, Wilco, Kanye.

Others: Gnarls, Black Keys, Broken Social Scene, G. Love/Special Sauce, Blues Traveler, Mates of State, Bloc Party, Cat Power, Stephen Malkmus, Girl Talk, Kid Sister, Office, Cool Kids, Battles, Go! Team, Jamie Lidell, Grizzly Bear.

As of right now, I’m still planning on not going. But what will my kids say when they find out I didn’t see Radiohead when they performed at Lollapalooza? Even if I tell them I saw them five times before that — in WAY better (smaller) venues — I’m afraid they still might scoff.

Eff.

And it’s pretty hilarious.

The performance isn’t too shabby either, but I have to say, Accelerate is taking a bit longer than usual for a new R.E.M. release to grow on me. Maybe it’s the lack of mandolin…

We don’t post this kind of stuff often enough, so I dare speak on behalf of the rest of RTP when I promise we will try to do so more often. After all, some people (person?) actually come here for guidance on what’s new and hot, so it only makes sense that we oblige them and justify their online journey to this destination of all things rock and transfer. And protocol.

Plus, now when someone asks me what I’m listening to these days, I can just send them a link to this post instead of engaging in actual human conversation. So, the following records have been exhausting all my earnergy the past couple months, and all are HIGHLY recommended by me. Some may not be available yet, so just be patient and start saving your nickels and dimes, or torrent time.

Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours

Duffy - Rockferry

Evangelicals - The Evening Descends

The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead

Hot Chip - Made in the Dark

Portishead - Third

Throw Me The Statue - Moonbeams

I remember Nine Inch Nails doing something like this about a year ago, and it was really cool. Radiohead is offering four separate instrument tracks, or “stems” (bass, drum, guitar, string, voice), along with their “Nude” single for sale via iTunes for about $6. The challenge? Remix the tracks and upload them for consideration, judgment and ridicule. Allegedly Radiohead will actually listen to the best ones.

The best part, at least for me, is that if you purchase all five ’stems’ from iTunes during the first week they’re available, you’ll be sent an access code to a GarageBand file ready to open in either GarageBand or Logic on April 11th. That Apple software isn’t required to submit a remix, though.

Nude Re/Mix homepage here.
More info here.

RTP Radio:
The Black Keys - Attack and Release

Two of my favorite electronic bands (and yours?), Daft Punk and Hot Chip, are featured in the new iPhone commercial. Here’s to hoping “Aerodynamic” becomes the new “1234” …

Oh Ben, how silly you are.

Visit AbsolutMachines.com for more time-wasting music-making fun. The Absolut Choir is pretty cool too.

Rev Dave and I attended the Throw Me The Statue show at Schuba’s this past Friday night, and for the most part it was pretty enjoyable. Aside from some not-so-funny-at-all and cliche-ridden Chicago-themed jokes that ended up taking up time that could have been used to play one more song or two, the Seattle-based band was spot on and the performance was more than satisfactory. Offering slightly less electronic and slightly more live sounding versions of standouts from their initial offering, Moonbeams, including “Lolita,” “Young Sensualists,” and “About to Walk,” which was the show’s closer, the band showed that they were not just another over-produced indie outfit. And that’s always one of my concerns when seeing a new hot band like TMTS, especially one whose first record I’ve been obsessing over for months before actually seeing them live.

I would have liked to stay for Ruby Suns and Bodies of Water, but that just wasn’t in the cards that night. I also would have liked to hear “This Is How We Kiss,” but I can only assume that was one of the songs the TMTS guys had to drop due to their banter — they seemed surprised at the end of their set when the sound guy said they only had time for one more song. I’m glad they chose “About to Walk,” though, as it’s definitely one of my favorites on the record. I hope we see a lot more from these guys in the future.

I’ve been working on a big exhibition of Andy Warhol silkscreens, paintings and prints for the past three months, so I’ve been surrounded by images of Campbell’s Soup cans and Marilyn Monroe’s and Chairman Mao’s.

But how to tie this back to the rock, and more importantly Guitar Friday. The obvious idea would be to run a clip of the Dandy Warhols, but eff those douchbags. Then I remembered that Warhol and Lou Reed were tight, and Reed did a tribute to Warhol with John Cale. They’re not all rockin’ and giitarin’, but this one, titled “Work,” is pretty funky.