5 Videos To Help You Coast Your Way Through Your Friday Afternoon

Friday afternoon got me like.

Let’s be real, you have no interest in doing any real work on Friday afternoon. If you’re like me it’s a fun challenge to see just how little work you can do but still look like you’re being productive.

If you’re at a loss of worthwhile distractions, fear not. I’ve got just the distract-a-thon for you!

‘Black Mirror pop’ artist Big Data released this 10-ish minute trailer for his latest single, “Monster” and it’s as delightfully dystopian as one could expect from our AI obsessed friend.

My latest obsession in life is the YouTube series Two Minutes To Late Night, which is a metal late night talk show featuring backing band Mutoid Man and is hosted by fictional character Gwarsenio Hall (played by Jordan Olds). I happened to sporadically attend one of their tapings at legendary metal club Saint Vitus and have been hooked on the show ever since. Anyway, like all late night talk shows the episodes feature pre-recorded sketches and the second installment of their Poseur Cops sketch will have you laughing until you’re crying. The nice thing about 2M2LN is you don’t really have to be a huge metal fan to feel like you’re in on the jokes, so music fans of all genres can appreciate their brand of humor.

If you enjoyed the techo-making robots created by artist Moritz Simon Geist and want to see an in-depth look at his cute little music making machines, this behind the scenes video is super informative.

Casual fans of Gorillaz will appreciate this super detailed recap of the Gorillaz universe from their early beginnings to present day. This dude is so thorough with the band’s timeline that while I feel a little guilty that I haven’t spent more time immersing myself in the band’s carefully crafted world, I do have a much stronger appreciation with how just much effort goes into the project.

Y’all know I try to encourage people to love Beck as much as I do as often as possible so I’m rounding out my reccos for today with a close examination of one of Beck’s wackier videos (and we know he’s good for the weird stuff) for his single, “Sexx Laws”, off his 1999 album, Midnite Vultures. I always knew that Beck went super deep with his weirdness, but the painfully obscure inspiration he references in “Sexx Laws” based on what this guy pulled up just further prove that he is my weird cool dad and I hope that maybe one day I might be even half as awesome as him.

[Download] Pillowfight (Dan The Automator x Emily Wells) - "In The Afternoon"

Deltron Event II isn't the only big project from super producer Dan The Automator this year. Automator has hooked up with singer/songwriter Emily Wells for a new collaborative project called Pillowfight which also features long time Automator collaborator Kid Koala on turntables. According to Wells' website, the group came together when Kid Koala and Wells met at the Calgary Folk Fest. Koala, a friend of Dan's knew he'd been working on a "passion project" and was hoping to find a female lyricist/vocalist.  Emily went to San Francisco to write and record for three days and the rest is history. 

The two spent the next several months writing and recording and have finished their first full length album, which is set to release some time this year. Those that are familiar with Automator's projects such as the first Gorillaz album, Lovage and Handsome Boy Modeling School will feel right at home with Pillowfight. The group recently previewed the upcoming debut album at this year's SXSW festival, which you can probably find decent quality videos on YouTube.

For those of you, who do not wish to go digging through YouTube just to hear the act, fear not! You can hear the group's first single "In The Afternoon" below which is available to download on the Ioda's SXSW 2012 Sampler (FREE on Amazon/$1.99 on iTunes). Can't wait to hear more from this upcoming project, as well as Deltron Event II. Automator can we haz your project with Mike Patton, Crudo, too?

[Watch] Gorillaz x Andre 3000 x James Murphy - "DoYaThing" (Official Video)

After unleashing the ridiculously fresh sounding "DoYaThing" last week we now get the official visuals for the collaboration track between Gorillaz, Andre 3000 and James Murphy. The video sees some very nice looking CGI like Gorillaz members going about their business in their house. Murdoch looks particularly rough as he uses a chair lift to go down the stairs! Andre also appears to be having his sweat collected by staff and  some other weird and wonderful little details. To be honest it's every bit as awesome as you'd expect for the track so stop reading and start watching. Peep it at the top via Converse.

[Listen] Gorillaz feat. André 3000 and James Murphy – “DoYaThing”

"DoYaThing," the collaborative track for Converse featuring the talents of Gorillaz mastermind Damon Albarn, LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy and OutKast's André 3000, premiered this afternoon on BBC Radio 1, and below, courtesy of Listen Before You Buy, you can stream the song in its entirety.

Starting tomorrow, the song, which is the latest installment in Converse's "Three Artists. One Song." project, will be available to download via the official Converse website, and a forthcoming music video for the song is in the works, with Gorillaz's Jamie Hewlett at the helm.

[News] Gorillaz Team Up With Andre 3000 and James Murphy For New Track

At the start of the month Murdoch of Gorillaz released a statement talking of a new track for Converse's 'Three Artists, One Song' series and that the group would release something that'd "knock everything else Gorillaz have done out of the park." It also mentioned that the track would have two mystery guests but until now it's been all speculation. The band has just announced that the track will feature Andre 3000 and James Murphy! It was revealed this morning, through a tweet from Murdoc Niccals' Twitter page that read: "Oh is that?….YES! It is..It’s… Andre ‘Outkast’ 3000 and James Murphy. Mr. LCD Soundsystem. Alongside Gorillaz! Wow! What a line-up!" It's looking like the track will be available on the 23rd of Feb over on www.Converse.com. Excited?

UPDATE: We've thrown in Murdoc's annoncement earlier. Enjoy!

[News] Gorillaz Announce Plans for a Collaborative Song for Converse

At the end of the month, Gorillaz will be releasing a brand new track for Converse, and, while we don't have any audio of the track, the band's virtual bassist and drummer Murdoc recorded a six minute statement about the song. The statement sees Murdoc discussing how amazing the track will be, and how it "is going to knock everything else Gorillaz have done out of the park.”

Along with the announcement of the track is the included artwork, which shows that there will be two mystery guests on the track. With very little hints as to who the guest artists will be, we can only speculate. What do y'all think?

[News] Gorillaz Team Up With Converse, Recording New Track For 2012 Release

I remember being a young lad and getting hold of the first Gorrilaz album and wanting to watch the music video on the crappy old desktop computer my family had at the time. Time flies huh, that was nearly 10 years ago and I still remember it so, so vividly. That PC might have been thrown in the trash but the love for Gorillaz is as strong as ever, even if it's hard to keep up with all of Damon Albarn's projects for many Gorillaz will remain number 1! So, with that in mind Gorillaz have teamed up with Converse to firstly design some shoes and first up is the legendary Chuck Taylors designed by Gorillaz’ creator Jamie Hewlett (peep them at the top). The camo effect was inspired by the bands debut. 

Not just that though as you may remember earlier in the year we witnesses a gruesome video that featured one hell of a zombie party involving Andrew WK, Soulja Boy and Matt& Kim for a track titled "I'm a Goner". That weird combination of artists came together via Converse and their project, 'Three Artists: One Song.' It aims to bring three diverse artists together to release a track together. Gorillaz will be taking part in the project and as we know, they're no strangers to collaborations. Who haven't they worked with. No word on who else will feature on the track as of yet but rest assured as soon as more details come we got your backs.

[Listen] Young the Giant - "Empire Ants" (Unplugged Gorillaz Cover)

Young the Giant put in one hell of a decent cover of the Gorillaz track "Empire Ants" recently during an MTV Unplugged session. The California band start off with a pretty sedated cover of the track before introducing multiple percussionists (always cool in my eyes), along with a string section to turn what was an already great track into a bit of a different animal. Check it out below via Pigeons & Planes.

Empire Ants (Gorillaz Cover Live from MTV Unplugged) by youngthegiant