Guster Has a New Album Out TODAY!

Quite exciting news, and testament to Guster's penchant for inventively embracing 21st century novelties of the WWW like piracy, they've compiled the best fan-created videos for their new album, Easy Wonderful, into a website at guster.com/easywonderful. One of our favs? Chad Carlberg's rendition for "Do You Love Me?" in which Ryan Miller dances just like Hermey the misfit elf from the 1964 claymation version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Adam Gardner does stop motion calisthenics in matching onesies covered in splatter paint.


Do You Love Me from Guster on Vimeo.
"Do you feel it?
Do you feel it now?
'Cos we want it,
but we don't know how."

Some New Kids on the Block Blow Up in Technicolor: Chiddy Bang

From the "wild thing" creeping in the background to the kids street-dancing and balling, we think Chiddy Bang's "Truth" video is like an awesomely cool-kids version of "Empire State of Mind," without the glitz, without the "see me now" elements...except of course for the "I'm gettin' shows booked" proclamation. But, what would young rap be without the I'm-blowin'-up, angsty moments like Chiddy "Proto" Anamege's facial expression when he proclaims himself a "ladies' man?" If Jay is the new Sinatra, Proto is the new Bowie. Inner city kids never made Passion Pit's "Better Things" look so fun.



"Periodically, I'm in my element. Phosphorus."

Look for new album out 8/24.

Videos to Pore Over: Jeff Scher

Filmmaker, animator and painter Jeff Scher recently released his newest video 'Summer Hours,' an effervescent and discursive music video evocative of summer memories and daydreams. He tells BRM how it all began: "I used to love the montage scenes in movies when people stopped talking and you had to communicate a certain arc of visuals in the story." At these moments, you don't need to define what is meant because as Scher says, "you feel what it means." This particular montage, 'Summer Hours,' stems out of Scher's view of past summers. He tells us:

"Vacations are the whole idea of getting away from it all, and what happens when you get away from it all is that you see it with perspective. Vacations and perspective are really interlocked. That’s why so many people get so drunk on vacation, I think."

photo courtesy of Jeff Scher

Scher shares with us his perspective on style:

"Style is that thing that attracts the mate. Style in a bluejay is really blue feathers and a loud voice, and it’s the same thing with people."

Scher's work is featured in the MoMA's permanent collection and screened at film festivals around the world. He recently created Bob Dylan's 'Little Drummer Boy' video, and Vook just released his "Best of Times," which you can access here. View 'Summer Hours' and read more from Scher about the film here. And, here is a look at one of his previous dazy, summer films, 'L'eau Life':

Major thanks to Mr. Scher for sharing his exclusive thoughts and art with Back Row Mafia.

A Taste of Kele Okereke Album Out Tomorrow: Promising

A sexy, monochromatic play of light on muscle and rain, we love "Tenderoni" from Kele Okereke's solo album The Boxer to be released tomorrow. Bloc Party frontman Okereke single-handedly delivers something the group never could. As for the futuristic, Balmain-meets-Vader dancers? Well, this is what we meant when we said Gaga lingers among us. Regardless, we think it rocks, and the boxing leitmotif infuses the video with enough panache and mystery to make us hit the play button again.



"Everytime we kiss, / It seems you're holding back. / Don't be so quick to pull away."

Music Video Heartbeat

The xx's video "Basic Space" is like watching traffic lights cross wet pavement while the translucent faces of passing drivers stretch across dashboard glass.  The video, from their debut album xx, will vibrate through your bloodstream with its Morse-code-esque tapping beat. The video works like a poem in that each buzzing abstraction is just lyrical and evocative enough to drag us out for a drive on a rainy night.

"I think I'm losing where you end and I begin."

Perfectly Simple: Kings of Convenience's "Mrs. Cold"

Aside from our longtime crushes on Kings of Convenience duo Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe, this video strikes a chord, literally and figuratively, for a number of reasons. The beautiful lyrics, of course, are just one of many. We're happy to be impressed by their newest album Declaration of Dependance after all these years, during which the pair has produced great music while remaining true to their style. Both artists experiment with their musical interests by participating in additional bands, Øye in The Whitest Boy Alive and Bøe in Kommode.

Don't forget to note the lovely simplicity of the painters' airy tees and unadorned jeans. The outfits feel like an homage to the coed who occasionally gets lost in feathers and drapes. The Mafia Materialist also loves that Øye has made a trademark for himself with those square-rimmed, plastic frames, which also appear on one of the girls.


Courtesy of françois nemeta

"Hey baby / What is love?"

A Song You Want Stuck in Your Head: La Roux's "I'm Not Your Toy"

Everything about this video is sweet from the tribal-esque backup dancers' sequin hot pants and dance moves to the sideways glances of every bearded man, watermelonface, and bug-eyed little boy to lead singer Eleanor Jackson's awesomely androgynous look. And, then there's the tune and lyrics...

"You don't want me / You just like the attention."