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Happy Birthday, Les Claypool: Wake-Up Video

Posted 9/29/09 10:15 am EST by in Wake-Up Video


In yesterday's Wake-Up Video, we celebrated the birth of a cool, sexy blond girl who emerged from the Disney universe to conquer both the screen and the airwaves. Today, we bring out a cake for the person who might just be her cosmic opposite. It's Les Claypool's birthday, and the man turns 46 years old today.

Who is Les Claypool? He's best known as the frontman and spiritual leader of Primus, an unconventional California power trio based around Claypool's stunning bass guitar style, which brings together funk and metal in bizarre, unconventional ways. The band scored a bit of success in the '90s alt-rock boom, mostly because that was a time when super weird music got on the radio. Their blips of fame have been odd but consistent: They turned in a memorable, mud-covered performance at Woodstock '94, scored a video hit with the hypercolor clip for their single "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver" and the group happened to be available when "South Park" producers Trey Parker and Matt Stone needed a theme song.

Primus went on an indefinite hiatus in 2000 but reformed in 2003 and have gotten back together for brief tours ever since. In the meantime, Claypool kept himself busy with side projects like the jammy Oysterhead (a collaboration with Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio and Police drummer Stewart Copeland) and the jazzy Frog Brigade, as well as film and video game work. Claypool put out his second solo album this year (it's called Of Fungi and Foe) and recently wrapped a tour with Matisyahu. He's always had a stunning visual sense, made clear by the video for "Mr. Krinkle," which is a single-shot masterpiece that captures all the dark humor that permeated the band's 1993 album Pork Soda.

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Conan O'Brien Gets A Head Injury But Still Welcomes Paramore To 'The Tonight Show'

Posted 9/29/09 9:00 am EST by in Music, Television


The day is finally here! Today marks the release of Paramore's new album Brand New Eyes, which is fast becoming one of the most popular records passed around the MTV Newsroom. The band also launches their tour tonight, but last night they got a tune-up performance on the set of "The Tonight Show." Host Conan O'Brien recovered from his head injury well enough to welcome the band to the stage, where they played through their jittery, hook-heavy new single "Ignorance." Singer Hayley Williams sported platinum blond locks, which must be pretty new because she was still a redhead when MTV News visited her and hung out with the band in their hometown last week.

"I think we may have rocked!" Williams wrote on her Twitter page of the performance on "The Tonight Show." She also noted that she wore yet another pair of interesting socks last night, further reinforcing the idea that it's perhaps the part of her wardrobe she concentrates on the most. "I showed him my socks," Williams wrote, referring to host O'Brien. "I wore them for him cuz he's foxy."

These were the socks in question.

Click below for video of O'Brien's explanation of his head injury (he got a concussion racing Teri Hatcher in a triathlon) and scroll down a little bit more for Paramore's performance of "Ignorance" on last night's show (skip to the last segment of the program). And obviously stay tuned to MTV News for more on Paramore, their tour and the unleashing of Brand New Eyes.
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RapRadar's Elliott Wilson On Hottest MCs: 'A Toast To Rae'

Posted 9/28/09 5:16 pm EST by in Music


By Elliott Wilson, Founder and CEO of RapRadar.com

I'm pleasantly surprised that Raekwon made the list of MTV's Hottest MCs. At times, it can be hard for me to objectively judge Rae given that in many ways, I feel like we came up in this game together. I was in the studio with him when he recorded his verse for Mobb Deep's "Eye for an Eye," and that "article in Rap Pages" he refers to in "Incarcerated Scarfaces" bears my John Hancock.

I had the first Cuban Linx on an advance cassette before it was packaged as a purple tape. Back in '95, I immediately recognized what a classic it was because I literally couldn't stop playing it. After the failures of its follow-ups (Immobilarity and The Lex Diamond Story), I was strongly against the idea of Rae making an album called Linx II. How could he ever top an album of that magnitude? Even though I feel the end result falls short of classic status, it is unquestionably one of the year's strongest albums. "10 Bricks" bangs like a boomin' system. I fiend for a second verse on "Pyrex Vision." "Ason Jones" is so sincere. "Kiss the Ring" serves as the perfect majestic ending. Here's a toast to Rae for reclaiming his legacy and for MTV and the crew at 1515 Broadway for recognizing it.

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Tokio Hotel Guitarist Has More Sex ... In His Voice: The MTV Quote Of The Day

Posted 9/28/09 4:46 pm EST by in Music


"I have more sex in my voice. Actually, the decision [for Bill to be the lead singer] was because of the securities. The securities asked us for it, because if I sing, there would be an escalation at each show. To calm things down, we went with Bill."

-Tokio Hotel guitarist Tom Kaulitz, discussing the fundamental differences between his voice and that of his brother's, singer Bill Kaulitz. Though he cheekily brags about his own vocal prowess, Tom acknowledges that his brother has an extremely difficult job — and Bill completely agrees. "They have to do this super complicated thing: change the session ... from German to English," Bill explained. "Yes, constant switches. I believe no other singer has to remember so many different lyrics like I do. It's only the third album, and I already have 10,000 songs." Tokio Hotel's new album Humanoid hits stores next Tuesday, October 6. The video for "Automatic" has already built a significant buzz for the band,

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Kevin Smith: Funny, Raunchy And Cool

Posted 9/28/09 4:16 pm EST by in Behind The Scenes


By Matt Thompson

I had no idea what to expect when Kevin Smith wandered into the Newsroom today to promote his new book "Shootin' the S--- with Kevin Smith," but when I walked out I was nothing less than impressed. Smith is one funny dude. His interview was profanity-laced, but somehow he made every word that came out of his mouth charismatic and captivating. His insight on an array of subjects such as films, comics and music were inspirational, outlandish and passionate all at the same time. Most celebrities walk into interviews with agendas, but he took the rule book and tore it up.

Kevin referred to sex life often during the nearly 60 minutes he was grilled by Splash Page editor Rick Marshall, and one of these outside-the-box moments came when he was discussing his new book. His wife had never been particularly impressed by much of the work he did in the past, but when it came to his new book, she was head over heels willing to just about do "anything" for him. He was even gracious enough to demonstrate some of the lovely things she did for him.

The most insightful moments of the interview came when Smith discussed the notion of "selling out." In today's climate, many directors and producers cash mult-million dollar checks to make bloated movies and then forget that they were ever hungry in the first place. He feels as though he is also losing that perspective, as he now has a hard time making movies for less than $15 million when he produced the cult-hit "Clerks" for a mere $27,000 in 1994. Based on his comments, I took away the idea that a writer's first movie is often his most passionate.

Kevin truly shoots the s---, and I'd happily sit in on another hour of his thoughts any day of the week.

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Boyz II Men Join Mariah Carey In Power Ballad Cover Trend

Posted 9/28/09 3:13 pm EST by in Music


Boyz II Men originally made their bones rocking a sound that married classic Motown with modern R&B sounds on tunes like "Motownphilly" and "End of the Road." But for their new album Love, which hits stores on November 17, they are turning to other people's songs. The album, produced by the group with a hand from "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson, is their third album of covers, following 2004's Throwback, Vol. 1 and 2007's Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA. Love will be made up entirely of (surprise, surprise) love songs, and the first single is an epic: A cover of Journey's "Open Arms." (Perhaps not coincidentally, producer Jackson was also a member of Journey.)

This comes only a few weeks after the debut of Mariah Carey's new single from Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, which is a cover of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is." (Carey also covered "Open Arms" on her Daydream album.) So what is the deal with R&B masters and their embrace of AM rock schlock? With voices like that, why do they want to all be white power balladeers?

Only time will tell whether or not this becomes a full-blown trend, but here's a whole batch of problematic ideas that hopefully nobody will actually embrace.

» TLC covering Styx's "Come Sail Away"

» Blackstreet taking on REO Speedwagon's "Keep on Loving You"
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Hayley Williams Packs For Paramore Tour

Posted 9/28/09 1:36 pm EST by in Music


Tomorrow not only marks the release of Paramore's stunning new album Brand New Eyes, but the band will also launch their huge tour tomorrow night in Pomona, California. (They'll get a high-profile warm-up this evening when they visit with Conan O'Brien on "The Tonight Show.") The band will travel across the country over the next month or so, wrapping up with a homecoming show in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium. From there, they'll take a few weeks off before jetting off to Europe for another six weeks' worth of concerts.

Of course, all this travel requires the group to be away from home for weeks at a time, which means that they'll have to pack up a good portion of their lives to hit the road. Frontwoman Hayley Williams took care of her packing over the weekend, and she even included a subset of items you wouldn't normally consider must-haves for life on the open road.

Yep, Williams packed herself several pairs of Halloween-themed socks. In fact, if her Twitter feed is to be believed, these particular socks are her foot coverings of choice. "I'm only packing Halloween socks for this tour," she wrote in the same post that contained the above photo.

So if you've got tickets to check out Paramore any time in the next few weeks, pay attention to Williams' ankles and see if you can play a game of "spot the skull" while she and her band rip through the killer new tunes from Brand New Eyes. (Desperate to hear some of those tunes right away? Check out their acoustic performance for "MTV Unplugged.") And be sure to stay tuned to MTV News for ongoing coverage of Paramore, their new album and their tour, including the rest of correspondent James Montgomery's extended visit to the group's hometown.

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Justin Bieber Is Not From Around Here

Posted 9/28/09 1:11 pm EST by in Music


Fifteen-year-old singer Justin Bieber has already scored himself a Canadian Platinum single, has a hit video (with a second on the way) and legions of fans. The attention has driven him from his hometown of Stratford, Ontario, to Atlanta, so that he can be closer to his mentor Usher and better focus on making his debut album My World. The transition has been dramatic for Bieber, who went from a small town with a population of under 30,000 to a city of millions.

Everybody knows about Atlanta, a city full of hot hip-hop (Jermaine Dupri, Outkast, Ludacris and Lil Jon all count the A-T-L as home), workmanlike baseball and Coca-Cola. But what about Stratford, Ontario?

Bieber's hometown was originally named for Stratford-upon-Avon, the town in England that William Shakespeare called home. Not surprisingly, the biggest annual event in town is the Shakespeare festival, which actually attracts top-shelf acting talent (Alec Guinness, Judy Dench and, uh, William Shatner have all performed at the festival). Though it's a small burg, Stratford has still produced a handful of other musical talents. In addition to Bieber, Stratford served as the hometown for world music singer Loreena McKennit and Richard Manuel, the late multi-instrumentalist for the Band. And it wouldn't be a town in Canada unless it had a hockey arena, and the William Allman Memorial Arena is actually one of the oldest in the province and currently serves as the home of the Stratford Cullitons. (What's a Culliton? Though their mascot is a Native American warrior, the team is actually named after a local construction company. Capitalism!)

Bieber is a long way from home (both physically and metaphorically), but he relishes the fact that he has a sudden worldliness to him. "I didn't get to travel a lot before I did this," he told MTV News recently. "So that's a bonus."

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Marilyn Manson's Swine Flu A Hoax?

Posted 9/28/09 12:27 pm EST by in Music


By Cara Alwill

The dreaded swine flu remains an affliction that shouldn't be taken lightly. That's why when Marilyn Manson announced on both is Facebook and MySpace pages that he had been diagnosed with the illness, everybody took it seriously (although the singer seemed to be in pretty good spirits about the whole thing, joking that he "didn't f--- a pig" to catch it). Although he might have contracted a potentially fatal sickness, he teased in his posts, "So I have officially been diagnosed, by a real doctor, with the swine flu. Unfortunately, I am going to survive."

But on Friday, the Gillett Entertainment Group and Live Nation sent out a release denying that Manson had contracted the illness and confirming that he would play his two remaining Canadian tour dates. After his stops in Canada, Manson has a string of performances lined up through December, where he'll take the stage in Australia, Russia, Germany and various other European countries.

Manson is hardly the first musician taken down by this particular infection disease. Melissa Auf Der Maur came down with swine flu over the summer, as did the members of Kasabian and Swedish singer Jens Lekman.

Could Manson just be pulling everyone's leg — or tail — in this case? He continued in his post, "The doctor said, my past choices in women have in no way contributed to me acquiring this mysterious sickness." It's possible that Manson is truly ill, and we will probably never know either way (though both of the posts that Manson put up have since been deleted from both Facebook and MySpace). But he has certainly done what he does best: Freak us out.

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Fat Joe, DJ Cassidy Celebrate Hip-Hop Photographer Johnny Nunez Biopic

Posted 9/28/09 11:01 am EST by in Music


By Cara Alwill

Hip-hop's brightest stars shined on Friday night (September 25) in New York, as they turned out at the AMC Loews Theater on 34th Street to attend the premiere of "Shooting Stars," a documentary on the life and career of legendary celebrity photographer Johnny Nunez, whose client roster includes Russell Simmons, Diddy, Spike Lee, Kimora Lee Simmons, Kelis and many more.

Though celebrity photographers typically have a negative connotation, Nunez is unique, often credited with refusing to print unflattering shots of celebrities. Ask anyone in the hip-hop community about him and they will likely identify Johnny not only as their photographer, but also their friend.

The idea for the film was sparked by producers Daniel Frei and Axel Ebermann, who read a two page spread on Nunez in the New York Times two years ago.

The film, which was shown as a part of BET's Urban Film Festival, was introduced by DJ Cassidy and Fat Joe. Joe recalled early memories of Nunez as being the guy who was at every event, who would "jump over cars and slip in the snow" just to get the perfect shot. I got a chance to catch up with Daniel Frei, one of the filmmakers, who spent one solid year shadowing Nunez, hobnobbing with hip-hop's elite and getting access to VIP events. He told me that this has been one of his favorite projects, given the unique perspective on hip hop culture. "This is the first movie about someone so big that is behind the scenes in the black entertainment industry. This film may be a turning point for that," he said.

Nunez's mantra is, "There are three types of people in this world: Those who wonder what will happen, those who wait to see what will happen, and those who make things happen." It's evident which one of those people he is.

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