My brain can’t even process this right now. Lin Yu Chun and William Shatner sing a duet of “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” Chun exploded on the scene with his better-than-Whitney-live performance of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.”

Check this out while I get back to letting my head explode:

Experimental indie staple Animal Collective premiered their new album ODDSAC at Sundance Festival this past summer. Yes – Sundance. It’s a visual album directed by Danny Perez. I saw it at a screening in Chicago a few weeks ago. I suggest you get your hands on it – especially if you liked that creepy-ass VHS from The Ring.

I’m not necessarily suggesting that this film is good, but rather just completely expected. Films of this caliber seem completely immune to genuine criticism. Instead, it’s more appropriate to simply say that this album/film was visually and audibly accurate. If it weren’t for the fact that Animal Collective wrote the film’s musical score, or what seems more like hyperbolic folly with traces of music, I wouldn’t even mention the sound at all.

With a film this experimental and visual, this audio track seemed to be par for the course. You know what I mean – when people walk through the forest, the noise that their feet make as they walk over dry leaves sounds much more like the sound of someone crushing elephant bones, not someone walking through a forest of dry leaves. Conveniently, Animal Collective’s music already sounds a little like someone crushing elephant bones.

Having said that, no matter how atrocious the music or film was or could have been, it’s refreshing – and hopefully an indication of what lies ahead for the music industry. As years go by, I find myself continually bitching about how the future that I had anticipated never seems to actually be happening. However, as I was sitting in the Chicago screening of ODDSAC, I was reminded that flying cars aren’t the only sign of the world slowly becoming a Philip K. Dick novel.

Animal Collective and Danny Perez took liberties with an increasingly tired industry (music albums), and made a beautiful project that should be appreciated as true art. I’m looking forward to more of these “visual albums” (specifically if Atom and His Package starts making music again).

Credit to Gawker, they found a gem in the round, chubby shape of a bowl-cut Lin Yu Chun — an awkward Chinese teen with pipes of pure gold. The show is Super Star Avenue, a clear American Idol knock-off. Check out the video below for a glimpse into why somebody in the 1600s thought castratos were a good idea.

I love it when I stumble upon music that was no where near my radar. Everyone has their channels: That friend who’s always sporting some serious cans on their head, a favorite blog, a movie, the radio. Ha, j/k, lol (although NPR as per usual brings their A-game for great new music) — no one listens to radio.

Back to the joy of stumbling into new sounds: There’s a lot of music out there. It’s so easy to miss someone/thing or fail to commit the time it takes to check out a band. I usually have a default “they’re probably not great” attitude, which is why I force myself to do some serious detective work every now and then to solve the crime of not having exciting new noises tickle my ears.

Moving on, I’m excited to share the Morning Benders. Check out the video below from the very great site YourTru.ly and enjoy the Morning Benders’ wonderful mix of old and new styles.

Yours Truly Presents: The Morning Benders “Excuses” from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Brilliant take on Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” with a smooth jazz makeover.

How to Make a Trumpet.

This video, for me, encompasses the very essence of comedy.

Even before the video begins, we are imbued with the impression of legitimacy.  As a collaboration between eHow.com and Expert Village, one might expect sage advice.

For two minutes and ten seconds, Annie calmly walks us step by step through the process of making a trumpet.  First, cut the two-liter.  Next, attach said two-liter to a length of hose-pipe via duct tape.  You may need to shorten the hose-pipe for ease of holding.  These all seem fairly clear cut.  After all, she’s an expert.

The pivotal moment comes as she prepares to play.  She puts the horn to her lips and blows extremely hard, and in a singular instant of raucous travesty, you finally realize that you just watched a woman tape garbage together.

Sheer unrivaled genius.

“Here’s a murder rap to keep you dancin’
with a crime record like Charles Manson”

-Ice Cube.

Ok Go has gone and done it again. Oh haha, la-dee-da. I’m so nonchalant about making reference to pop-culture, I don’t even know how it has come to pass. Oh dearie! *Stopping now.*

Intern Inc. needs someone who can build us a Rube Goldberg. If you can speak Dutch, all the better. Email us: internwhisperer@gmail.com or Tweeterize at us @internwhisperer. Why Dutch, you ask?

WHY NOT?!

Coachella Festival

The Coachella Festival lineup is finally out, and you’ll never guess who’s making their way over to Indio, California. This year’s headliners range from Jay-Z to Muse, with everyone in between. It doesn’t look like we’ll have any of the “classics” that come through such as last year’s headliner Paul McCartney, but I think if we see more people like this guy, we’ll get by just fine. Other big names you don’t want to miss are MGMT, Gorillaz, and Vampire Weekend which should debut their 2010 album Contra. YES!

A flood of the electronica/dance DJs have recently made their way through Denver and they have also made the Coachella lineup, so if you’re ready to roll face Benny Benassi, Bassnectar, Pretty Lights, and The Glitch Mob are featured throughout the three day spread. But with all of the art and trippy features, you won’t even need the drugs.
I’m sad to inform that my dream band, Kings of Leon, will not be performing, as I had been praying- literally. Who would you have liked to see? My musical inspiration, The Temper Trap, will be performing on Saturday, and for those of you who do not know them, let me drop the line “Sweet Disposition”. This song premiered in the indie film 500 Days of Summer and is featured in the commercial for ABC’s new series The Deep End. Some other bands to check out, if you haven’t already, would be Miike Snow- Animal and Passion Pit- Sleepyhead.

If you have nowhere to be April 16th- 18th I would say Coachella would be the perfect start to all of the summer festivals- so be there! To check out the full lineup go to www.coachella.com.

Henry Rollins.

Rollins Remix.

Admittedly, I’m not the biggest Henry Rollins fan.  It’s not that I don’t like what he does, because I do.  He feels very strongly about some things and is absolutely not afraid to voice his opinions.  I appreciate that he knows exactly where he stands, only sometimes I don’t quite agree.  And that’s fine too.  If Henry Rollins and I always saw eye to eye, we wouldn’t have much to talk about (assuming hypothetically that I would ever meet him, and also that he would want to talk to me).  But alas, mistress internet is not as forgiving.

It turns out, Henry Rollins hates techno (and probably most forms of electronic music, but he doesn’t go as far to specify each subgenre).  He hates the culture, the drugs, the people, and probably anything else even tangentially related.  It’s a funny bit, I guess, if you like Henry Rollins.  And in his scathing critique, he parodies the simplicity and mindlessness he sees in the process of creating this music.

The awesomeness of his rant comes full circle when it’s remixed.  Suddenly, the hack ultimately creating this musical abomination is Rollins himself.  The video is even features the Techno Viking, an internet meme which, in this context, becomes a bizarro simulacrum of Rollins, but from the pro-techno camp.