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By Joel Hanek

I know that many of you reading this blog are thinking, "Hey, I'm in a critically-acclaimed indie rock band that released a pretty good album earlier this year, but now I've got a new single and I need a music video. What am I to do?" Well look no further, my friends, because we've got your answer: Puppets.

This month, Yeasayer and MGMT both released music videos featuring melancholic puppet/human misadventures with themes of love and loss (think "Mac & Me," but with more death). Yeasayer released "Madder Red," a more subdued track from the psychedelic-splashed Odd Blood as their third single from the record, while MGMT released the acoustic "Congratulations," their latest LP's title track and probably the most conventionally structured song on the unexpected sounding album. These two down-tempo tracks respectively provide the score to two tear-jerking tragedies that (spoiler alert!) ultimately end in puppet demise.

So taking a page from the experts, here's the breakdown of what you need to release your very own puppet-centric music video this year.

Choosing Your Puppet
This may seem simple, but really there's a different puppet for every job. Both Yeasayer and MGMT's videos feature creature companions that are slightly macabre and grisly at first glance but actually pretty adorable (even if they are sans fur). Yeasayer chose an amorphous mass of viscera as their puppet protagonist, while MGMT chose a vaguely human, vaguely avian quadruped. When it comes to choosing your puppet, be creative! Remember: The best puppets are always the ones that can be anthropomorphized into great sidekicks or best friends.

Casting Your Human
At the center of every tragedy there's the universal idea that everybody experiences loss. The vessel to carry this to your audience is your human. Read more...

Tags MGMT, Yeasayer

Am I the only one who thinks the photos of Justin Beiber and Kim Kardashian in Elle aren't that creepy?

It's fantasy, folks. Elle is playing into the notion that the Biebs has the hots for a female pinup. The pictures unfold like a PG-rated soft-focus dream sequence you might see in a teen comedy like "Ladybugs." (I can practically hear the Everly Brothers echoing.) It's not billed as, "On The Beach With Hollywood's Hottest Couple."

If anything, the "Graduate"-inspired photo shoot could have been much ickier. When I was 16 years old and thinking about older female celebrities (Heather Graham, call me!), I wasn't dreaming about frolicking on the beach. Trust me.

So I don't really get why Bill O’Reilly devoted a segment of his show to label these pics inappropriate. (Well, I guess I do get why he spent time talking about Justin Bieber, since I'm now talking about Bill O'Reilly talking about Justin Bieber. Way to go viral, Billy!) The Fox News pundit doesn't understand why a 16-year-old would have a crush on a 29-year-old sex tape star. "[When I was 16] I had a baseball glove, a bat and ice skates. That's what I was doing." (Wait, so he was playing ice baseball? That sounds all sorts of amazing.)

Granted, O'Reilly does have one point I can (sort of) understand. He pointed out that if the gender roles were reversed, the male celeb would be in "big trouble" for a similarly-themed photo shoot. (Although, technically, the actor wouldn't be in actual trouble unless the photo shoot involved, you know, actual sex.)

I guess I'm just old-fashioned, you guys. In order for me to get creeped out buy a pop star in a magazine, a family member needs to be in the pics with them, a la Miley Cyrus' Vanity Fair pics with Billy Ray or Britney's Rolling Stone shots with her older brother.

What do you think? Is Bill O'Reilly overreacting? Do you like the Bieber/Kardashian pics? Leave a comment below! And for more pop culture ramblings, follow me on Twitter @jambajim.

Tags Justin Bieber, kim kardashian, video

A year ago, the only people who knew who Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi was were her friends and family. But now that "Jersey Shore" has become a massive hit and the show's cast have made themselves into true stars. In Snooki's case, she now has an official drink named after her at the Beachcomber Bar & Grill (the same tavern in Seaside Heights, New Jersey where Snooki got punched in the face during the show's first season). According to bar owner Michael Carbone, Snooki always ordered the same drink, a concoction of coconut rum, creme de bananes, melon liqueur, pineapple juice and whipped cream called a "Scooby Snack."

That sounds awfully sweet and slightly too boozy, but it fits perfectly with Snooki's vibe: Unassuming, but with a kick. (And, ultimately, probably bad for you.) But why does Snooki get all the alcohol-inspired glory? We decided to pitch signature cocktails for each of the other members of the "Jersey Shore" house. Remember to drink responsibly (which means you probably shouldn't consume any of the suggestions below).

J-Woww
Drink: The Gravity Defier
Ingredients: Rum, orange juice, silicon, splash of tonic water
Combine rum, orange juice, silicon and tonic water in cocktail shaker, shake violently. No matter how hard you try, mixture will not move. Serve in low-cut glass with shaved ice.

Ronnie
Drink: The Muscle Buster
Ingredients: Jameson, elderflower liqueur, egg whites, Red Bull and stanozolol
Yeah, we know there's already a concoction called "Ron Ron Juice" (which consists of watermelon, cherries, cranberry juice, vodka and ice) on at least one bar menu in Miami, but that fruity drink doesn't reflect Ronnie's personality as well. Rather, he requires a harder-edged alcohol (whiskey), a bit of bittersweetness, some protein, a jolt of energy and some steroids for good measure (if that's what you're in the mood for). Best if served neat in a lowball glass or injected into the buttocks.

Angelina
Drink: The Mind Eraser
Ingredients: Vodka, Kahlua, tonic water
Pour vodka, Kahlua and tonic water into a rocks or old-fashioned glass. Serve with a straw. Like the name implies, after a few of these, you won't be able to remember anything that happened, which is sort of a nice way of summing up Angelina's contributions to the show.

The Situation
Drink: The Washboard Pyramid
Ingredients: His own brand of protein-infused vodka, beef broth, V8 juice, Greek yogurt
Really, the Situation shouldn't be drinking at all, as booze will only make it more difficult for him to keep his signature stomach muscles in tact. Read more...

Tags Booze, Jersey Shore, Sammi Sweetheart, Snooki, The Situation

Are you in the Chicago area today? If you happen to hear a bunch of party horns or see a guy walking around with Mylar balloons, it's probably Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, who turns 43 years old today. The venerable Tweedy has survived a number of personal and professional setbacks (drug addiction, chronic migraines, band break-ups, the death of former collaborator Jay Bennett) and has become one of the indie rock world's most inventive minds and enduring icons.

Tweedy first broke into the music world with Uncle Tupelo, a group formed by friends Tweedy, Jay Farrar and Mike Heidorn. Though the genre didn't really exist yet, Uncle Tupelo helped form the backbone of alt-country, which introduced classic Nashville sounds and songwriting tropes into traditional jangle-and-mumble indie rock. The band released four albums (including the watershed 1993 release Anodyne) but disbanded shortly after the release of their final album because of rising tensions between Farrar and Tweedy. Farrar ended up forming Son Volt, while Tweedy and several of the remnants of Uncle Tupelo ended up starting a band called Wilco.

Over the course of several studio albums (plus the epic live release Kicking Television), Wilco have morphed from their alt-country roots into an experimental unit that has brought in elements of prog rock, funk, jam music and electronic moodiness that is always attached to killer songs. They have often been referred to as "the American Radiohead," and that's actually a pretty good descriptor, as they are seemingly impossible to classify but still inspire a great amount of passion in its followers.

In recent years, Tweedy has settled into his role as a sort of indie rock elder statesman, putting on his own festival, encouraging the rock dreams of his son and dropping in on any number of fellow Chicago musicians (most recently, he sat in with Mavis Staples during her set at Lollapalooza a few weeks ago). But the Wilco songs have really stood the test of time — especially the early work, like the raucous, jubilant "Outtaside (Outta Mind)," from 1996's Being There.

Tags Jeff Tweedy, Uncle Tupelo, Wilco

On this day in 2001, the music world lost one of its true visionaries when Aaliyah, who was only 22 years old at the time, died in a plane crash along with eight other passengers after filming a music video in the Bahamas. Her tragic passing came just as she was releasing her finest album Aaliyah, which had come out only a month prior to hear death. Though she was only 22, she had still managed to become an industry veteran, as she appeared on "Star Search" at the age of nine and signed her first record deal at 12. She recorded her first album Age Ain't Nothing But a Number when she was only 14, and she had two Gold singles and a platinum album before her 16th birthday.

Because she was so young, the early part of Aaliyah's career was devoted to being something of a cipher, first for R. Kelly (who produced her debut album and also married her well before she was of age) and then for Timbaland (who, along with Missy Elliott, produced much of Aaliyah's second album One in a Million). But it's hard to argue with the results, as Aaliyah's extensive list of hits — including "Back & Forth," "We Need a Resolution," "Are You That Somebody?" and "Try Again" — reflects an incredible ear for envelope-pushing sounds and funky, radio-friendly grooves.

Though Timbaland's presence still loomed large (he co-wrote a handful of tracks and informs much of the album's sound), Aaliyah was the album that appeared to represent the singer truly coming into her own. She was exploring new directions in the form of rhythmic tricks like "Loose Rap" and punchy anthems like "More Than a Woman." Ironically, she passed away after making a video for "Rock the Boat," one of the better and stranger tracks on the album and a possible indication of things to come.

Aaliyah's passing was tragic, and her absence still stings in the modern hip-hop and R&B community. But her songs live on, including the beyond-catchy "Try Again."

Tags Aaliyah, video

If there is one thing that makes professional wrestlers bristle, it's when people use the "F" word. (No, not that one.) Call pro wrestling matches staged or pre-determined, but don't call them "fake." While the rivalries, moves and winners are all determined by writers crafting scripts for television, the falls are real, the injuries sometimes severe and the dangers always prevalent. And even though it's staged, there are always some guys who get a little too into it and end up throwing real punches and kicks. In wrestling parlance, this is known as "working stiff."

Mick Foley has been around the block, and as a key member of most every major wrestling organization of the past 20 years, he has worked with some of the biggest names in the business. So which one of those legends stiffed him the most?

"I could say Vader, though a lot of people don't remember Vader," Foley told MTV News when he stopped by to chat about his appearance on "Warren the Ape" and his upcoming book "Countdown to Lockdown: A Hardcore Journal." "There were some things where he was hitting me so hard, and you wanted to say 'Did you not get the memo?' It was just ridiculously hard."

But Foley said that there was one guy who was especially aggressive. "Stone Cold [Steve Austin] in his prime was no day at the park when he was firing up for his big comeback," Foley said of the star of "The Expendables" and, like Foley, a former multi-time WWE Champion. "The crowd would be so enthusiastic and he would feed off that enthusiasm. Everyone would benefit except me. But the truth is, among all the wrestling opponents that Steve had, we'd all commiserate and say 'But we can't say anything — he's Stone Cold!'"

Foley can be seen fending off over-enthusiastic grapplers every Thursday night on "TNA Impact!" on Spike, and you can read all about his ascent in the Total Nonstop Action organization in "Countdown to Lockdown: A Hardcore Journal," which will be available in book stores in October.

Tags "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Mick Foley, video

Has there ever been an artist with a career arc even remotely like Lauryn Hill's? She began as an iconic member of one of the most important and influential hip-hop groups of all time, broke out on her own with an absolutely stellar solo album that was one of the finest pieces of music released in the 1990s, then essentially took herself off the grid only to make an unusual comeback 10 years later. Hill's recent performances on the Rock the Bells tour have been gone over with a fine-toothed comb and talked about with giddy anticipation. That sort of excitement and analysis wouldn't happen if she wasn't responsible for the jaw-dropping The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which was released on this day in 1998.

Hot on the heels of the Fugees' chart-topping, multi-platinum, Grammy-winning, hit-making masterpiece The Score and coming just behind fellow Fugee Wyclef Jean's first solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was met with open minds and arms. While Wyclef's solo album The Carnival had a mostly festive vibe to it (that song with the Bee Gees sample set the general tone), Hill's solo debut was meant to be raw, thoughtful and hard-hitting. The lyrics were clear-eyed and on point, the music was simultaneously hard and soulful and Hill's voice worked wonders both as a vessel for rapping and a conduit for her singing. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill essentially gave birth to the genre now know as neo soul, which means you can trace the lineage of Alicia Keys, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott and dozens of others back to Hill's masterpiece.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is top-loaded with stellar instant-classics like the chart-topping single "Doo Wop (That Thing)," the scathing "Lost Ones" and the sweet "To Zion." But hiding at the end of the album is the brilliant, dazzling "Everything is Everything," which brings together all the elements of Hill's sound and distills them through one killer hook.

Tags Lauryn-Hill, The Fugees, video

The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards are fast approaching, which means that in only a few weeks you'll be treated to an excellent night of performances and appearances by the likes of Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Drake, Florence and the Machine, B.o.B and Deadmau5 (who will serve as the house DJ at the show). While people tend to remember the classic performances and the unhinged moments, the coveted Moonman is the reason why people show up and tune in. This year, there are 16 categories wherein some of the biggest music stars in the universe will compete for the coolest trophy in awards shows. Today, we take a look at the nominees in the Best Cinematography category.

Though the main event of the music video tends to be the song, most should be able to work even if the sound is put on mute. That's where cinematography comes into play. How does the clip look? Does it match the tone of the song? Does it fit the narrative being told? The MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography incorporates visual style, lighting, color composition and all the other visual cues that help tell the story. Past winners in this category include Bill Pope (who won for Sting's "We'll Be Together" and later shot "The Matrix" trilogy as well as the recent "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World"), Harris Savides (who scored for both Madonna's "Rain" and R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" and also worked on a trio of Gus Van Sant films as well as a pair of movies for fellow VMA winner David Fincher) and Lance Acord (whose collaborations with Spike Jonze include the video for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice" and the features "Being John Malkovich" and "Where the Wild Things Are").

This year, there are five worthy nominees in Chris Probst (Eminem's "Not Afraid"), Adam Frisch (Florence and the Machine's "Dog Days Are Over"), John Perez (Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind"), Thomas Kloss (Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance") and Ben Magahy (Mumford and Sons' "Little Lion Man"). Each of them has a great deal of experience in them music video game, but this one seems like Kloss' to lose. The striking visuals of "Bad Romance" are crisp, and the camera moves extremely well. However, don't be surprised if dark horse John Perez and his gorgeous black-and-white images for "Empire State of Mind" come out on top. Either way, a truly visually striking clip will take home this particular Moonman, so everybody will come out a winner.

The 27th annual MTV Video Music Awards will be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET.

Tags Better Know a Category, Eminem, Florence and the Machine, Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Mumford and Sons, video-music-awards, VMAs

With news that producers on the British version of "X Factor" used Auto-Tune software to help sweeten the voices of a few contestants, I can't say I'm that surprised. Like "American Idol," Simon Cowell's "X Factor" aims to find the music industry's next big superstar. If the singers on "X Factor" and "Idol" are going to have to compete with contemporary pop acts — many of whom barely do an interview without a little audio sweetening in post-production — can you blame producers for a little tweaking here and there to polish their product?

In fact, I wonder if Cowell's old show might have gained a bit of shine from some tuning enhancements in the past. Here's my pick for five "American Idol" contestants who would have benefited from some minor pitch-correction.

Nikki McKibbin
If the stripy-haired single mom rocker had a little pitch help during the show's inaugural season, then her outlasting Tamyra Gray wouldn't have been so hard to swallow.

Sanjaya Malakar
Thanks to zany hairstyles and a strange ability to make pre-pubescent girls weep on command, Sanjaya was a pop culture force to be reckoned with during season six. While his less-than-stellar vocals helped make him fodder for late night talk show hosts, it would have been killer TV if he had been hooked up with ProTools the week he was eliminated. Manufactured drama is apparently what "X Factor" producers are after, so what would have been no better send-off than letting Sanjaya have the last laugh? (Even if said laugh was digitally enhanced?)

Danny Gokey
Don’t get me wrong: The season eight third-placer very rarely had pitch problems. But how badass would his "Scream On" moment have been if it was T-Pained out?
Read more...

Tags American Idol, Auto-Tune, video

The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards are only a few weeks away. The biggest party of the year features nominated clips by Lady Gaga, Eminem, Jay-Z, Ke$ha and Katy Perry and will feature performances by Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Drake, B.o.B and Florence and the Machine (with many more to be announced). In order to properly prepare yourself for what's to come, every day the MTV Newsroom Blog will deliver a classic moment in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards. Today's installment: Madonna sets the first VMAs on fire.

On September 14, 1984, the worlds of music, television and awards shows changed forever when hosts Dan Aykroyd and Bette Midler kicked off the very first MTV Video Music Awards. Obviously, the first VMAs looks pretty odd from this vantage point, but the twist is they actually seemed pretty odd back when they actually happened. Midler was certainly a bizarre choice to co-host, and the list of winners that year included some early MTV visionaries (David Bowie, the Cars, Cyndi Lauper) but also some unusual choices (ZZ Top and Herbie Hancock, who took home a total of five Moonmen that night).

But the first VMAs will be best remembered as the forum that allowed Madonna to don a wedding dress and writhe around on stage during "Like a Virgin." It was sexy, shocking and memorable, and it successfully set the tone for future VMA performances.

The 27th annual MTV Video Music Awards will be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET.

Tags Madonna, video-music-awards, VMAs