SNL is going to get loud on February 18th. As Pitchfork reports, Sleigh Bells will serve as the musical guests that night, appearing alongside host Maya Rudolph. For their part, Sleigh Bells will showcase two tracks off their upcoming sophomore album Reign of Terror: “Comeback Kid” and “End of the Line”.

As a result of the band’s appearance, their upcoming shows in Washington, DC and Toronto have been rescheduled for late May. Check out their updated tour schedule below.

Reign of Terror is out February 21st via Mom+Pop. Find “Comeback Kid” in music video form below, as well.

Sleigh Bells 2012 Tour Dates:
02/09 – Jacksonville, FL @ Freebird *^
02/10 – Orlando, FL @ Firestone *^
02/11 – Ft. Launderdale, FL @ Revolution *^
02/14 – Miami, FL @ Grand Central  *^
02/16 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
02/17 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 #
02/18 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix
02/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Music Box #
02/23 – San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom #
02/24 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market #
03/26 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix
03/27 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club

* = w/ Diplo
^ = w/ Liturgy
# = w/ Black Bananas

Justin Veron told SPIN earlier this week, ”Whenever we listen to ["Beth/Rest"], we feel this extra… ‘Yes. We’re going to do this, motherfuckers.’ It’s not irony.” The anthemic closer to last year’s magnificent Bon Iver, Bon Iver may sound like its tuned to the sentiment of early 90′s mainstream cinema (or maybe it’s just this video that’s been forever altered how I hear the song), but just take one listen to the solo piano version you’ll find that underneath Hornsby/Winwood schmaltz there’s quite a song there.

But on Saturday Night Live, Bon Iver played the hell out of the tear-jerker “Beth/Rest”, in addition to our number one song of 2011, “Holocene”. Check out the performances of both below (via The Audio Perv). Bonus points to Colin Stetson for wearing a Liturgy t-shirt.

“Holocene”:

“Beth/Rest”:

On a side note: SNL spoofed Lana Del Rey during Weekend Update and it was pretty great/puts everything in perspective.

While the whole world (including us) still rants and raves regarding Lana Del Rey’s less-than-stellar Saturday Night Live apperance, the folks at Matador Records have pointed us to a substantially more pleasing SNL performance by the incomparable Kate Bush from December 9th, 1978. Decked out in her finest gold jumpsuit, Bush regaled the crowd with “The Man with the Child in His Eyes”, the second single from her 1978 debut album, The Kick Inside. The whimsical performance saw Bush dancing on the piano, twirling and spinning with child-like abandonment before flapping her arms like a bird, as if she might take off at any moment. In addition to its entertainment value, the clip proves that just like SNL‘s comedic exploits, the music was always way better back in the day. Check out the full replay below.

Bush’s latest album, 50 Words for Snow, is out now via Fish People/EMI.

Lana Del Rey will make her U.S. television debut on the January 14th episode of Saturday Night Live, appearing alongside host Daniel Radcliffe.

As previously reported, Lana Del Rey’s debut LP, Born To Die, is out January 31st via Interscope. Below, you can watch her new video for the album’s title track.

America experienced a whole lot of pop goodness and spandex on last night’s Saturday Night Live, when Robyn dished out renditions of “Call Your Girlfriend” and “Dancing On My Own”. Watch replays of her performances below.

Also of note: Katy Perry, serving as host, did an impression of Florence and the Machine’s Florence Welch during a faux infomercial for the soundtrack to Doogie Duty, “the heart-warming tale of 12 puppies selected for jury duty.” We have that clip below as well (scroll to the 2:18 mark to see ‘Flo’.)

“Call Your Girlfriend”:

“Dancing On My Own”:

Doggie Duty:

America’s newest arena act, The Black Keys, were back on Saturday Night Live last night for the second time in a calendar year. Anyone who still watches the show on a regular basis knows that’s a rarity, but when your turnaround time between albums is 19 months, and both albums are full of crunchy, commercially-acceptable riffs, you earn such rights. This is the case for The Black Keys, who of course follow up last year’s smash LP, Brothers, this Tuesday with the release of the equally ferocious El Camino. Also serving as our first opportunity to hear the new tunes live, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney first showcased the single “Lonely Boy” before dishing out “Gold On The Ceiling”. Both songs sounded rather great on my television set and Twitter’s too . Watch the replays below (via The Audio Perv).

“Lonely Boy”:

“Gold On The Ceiling”:

El Camino is out Tuesday via Nonesuch. Pre-order your own copy on CD or vinyl. Also, see The Ke

Photo by Meghan Bronson

There’ll be a whole lot of pop goodness on the December 10th episode of Saturday Night Live. According to Rolling Stone, Katy Perry will host, while her former tour mate and fellow songstress Robyn will serve as the evening’s musical guest. Perry previously appeared on SNL as a musical guest, while Robyn will be making her Rockefeller Center debut.

Also, don’t forget that The Black Keys will perform on the December 3rd episode of SNL.

Photo by Bryan Derballa

Having survived that fall, Florence and the Machine made their way to Studio 8H of the GE Building last night for their second-ever appearance on Saturday Night Live. Supporting their recently released sophomore LP, Ceremonials, Flo and Co. dished out renditions of “Shake It Out” and “No Light, No Light”, with the red-headed songstress also making a cameo in an ‘infomercial ‘for New Jack Thanksgiving. Watch the videos below (via The Audio Perv).

“Shake It Out”:

“No Light, No Light”:

Sketch:

As we all know, The Black Keys will return with their new album, El Camino, on December 6th via Nonesuch. Four days earlier, however, we’ll get an early preview of their latest effort when the duo serves as the musical guest on the December 3rd episode of Saturday Night Live. According to Rolling Stone, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney will appear alongside host Steve Buscemi, marking the band’s second appearance on the show in 2011. If you recall, the Keys also played SNL last January; relive that performance via the video below.

And don’t forget: this week’s Saturday Night Live features musical guest Florence and the Machine. Check back here sometime in the early hours of Sunday morning for a video replay.

“Tighten Up” (Live on SNL):

Following appearances on Kimmel, Letterman, The Colbert Report, Today, Ellen, and Fallon, not to mention a worldwide webcast and festival appearances galore, Coldplay continued their support behind Mylo Xyloto with their fourth ever guest spot on Saturday Night Live. The band performed “Paradise” and “Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall”, with Chris Martin also making a cameo during Weekend Update. Via The Audio Perv, watch the video replays below.

“Paradise”:

“Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall”:

Chris Martin on Weekend Update:

Mylo Xyloto is out now.

In the first month of its 37th season, Saturday Night Live hosted Radiohead, Drake, and Foster the People (with the undeniably talented Kenny G.) The late-night TV mainstay continues to nab big-name musical acts with the announcement of November’s lineup. On November 12th, Emma Stone (aka Gwen Stacy from next summer’s Amazing Spider-Man) will appear alongside musical guest Coldplay. Then, on November 19th, The Muppets’ Jason Segel and Florence and the Machine will both make their way to Studio 8H. Stay tuned for video coverage following each show.

Your move, December.

Drake may want to exude the image that he’s a hardcore rapper, but lest we forget he used to be Jimmy Brooks in Degrassi: The Next Generation. As such, the guy can not only rap and sing, but he can act as well. Drizzy’s entire repertoire was on display when he hit up this week’s edition of Saturday Night Live.

First up on the schedule was a rock-heavy rendition of “Headlines”, a performance where the MC set the pace for the evening with an energetic and inspired outing backed by a full band. Not even Drake’s boss and idol, Lil Wayne, could handle jamming out like Drake did.

Rock star dreams met, Mr. OVO turned toward some comedy by appearing in a Digital Short with The Lonely Island’s Andy Samberg. The subsequent skit had Drake doing his best straight man in a number of increasingly awkward interview segments. With a Cosby sweater and a good attitude, Drake was the perfect anchor to Samberg’s annoying tendencies.

Next, showing that he can combine both music AND comedy, Drake, alongside SNL cast member Jay Pharoah, unveiled their Halloween plans whilst dressed as teen werewolves: bag jackin’. For the pure of heart in the audience, that’s stealing candy from kids who go trick or treating. We smell potential for a novelty Young Money Halloween release…

And speaking of YM, Drake’s last feat for the night was his best: tapping labelmate Nicki Minaj for “Make Me Proud”. Unlike “Headlines”, Drizzy was the perfect bragadocius rapper, exerting a low-key swag and sexual energy. And though Minaj showed up on top of her weirdo game (only thing more absurd than her dress was her awkward snarls), Drake maintained his control of the stage and ended his busy night on top.

Check out all four clips below. Oh, and Drake, if this whole rap domination thing doesn’t work out, perhaps SNL could be a great fallback plan.

“Headlines”:

“A Brief Interview With Drake” SNL Digital Short:

“Bag Jackin’ ” Skit:

“Make Me Proud” feat. Nicki Minaj:

Even when singing about some pretty serious topics (go ahead and actually read the lyrics to “Pumped Up Kicks”), Foster the People maintain a youthful, carefree energy in their synth-heavy indie pop tracks. And just one view of the band’s SNL teaser video confirmed that the Los Angeles trio can still be giddy despite their recent explosion. Said video also hinted to something slightly more surprising; a special guest appearance sometime during Saturday night’s performance.

Lead-singer Mark Foster seemed a bit nervous at the onset of a guest-free “Pumped Up Kicks”, but with the support of the expanded touring-outfit, he quickly found a spark and debuted a few dance moves to the live audience. As the band returned to perform “Houdini”, backup singers and a horn section filled up the stage, but still no recognizable guest was present. That was until the familiar curls of Kenny G took the stage during the track’s final horn section, thus confirming that a.) Eddie Murphy would not be making his long-awaited SNL return with a keytar solo and b.) Kenny G. should just become a part-time cast member at this point. Check out the video replays below.

“Pumped Up Kicks”:

“Houdini”:

And just in case you aren’t aware, Torches is out now.

Chew on this: Radiohead unveiled their eighth studio LP, The King of Limbs, on February 18, 2011. Seven months later, they’ve finally supported its release on American television. As Jeremy Larson recently discussed, internet time is a different beast, and seven months nowadays translates to about three or four years. But, it’s Radiohead, and it’s on Saturday Night Live, so “phenomenon” still applies. And that’s exactly what happened tonight, as the band sliced deep into Limbs-era tracks “Lotus Flower” and “Staircase”, which you can witness below, courtesy of The Audio Perv. Here’s one question to ponder: New York City, can you handle this week?

“Lotus Flower”:

“Staircase”:

Well, isn’t this something. Zap2it.com reports that Radiohead will serve as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live‘s season premiere. Set for September 24th, the episode will also feature the equally brilliant Alec Baldwin, who will be hosting for his record-setting 16th time.

Radiohead have appeared on SNL once before. Click here to watch them perform “The National Anthem” back in 2000.

People like to hate on the current incarnation of Saturday Night Live, but the late night sketch comedy show had a memorable season. In the musical realm alone, Kanye West, Eminem w/ Weezy, Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters, Macca, The Black Keys, and The Strokes all made Saturday nights a reason to stay in. But appropriately, it was SNL’s season finale that proved the most worthwhile episode of ‘em all. Justin Timberlake was host, Lady Gaga was the musical entrainment, and together, they made for 90 minutes of must-see TV.

Along with performances of “The Edge of Glory”, “Judas”, and “Born This Way”, all of which appear on the forthcoming Born This Way, Gaga appeared in three sketches with JT, including a Lonely Island featuring digitial short that is already an instant classic. If you’re one who enjoys stellar pop music and weird ass costumes (beer and wine bottles included), then check out the clips below. Oh, and Timberlake is the most talented dude on Earth. No joke.

Lady Gaga’s Born This Way arrives May 23rd via Interscope and pre-orders are now ongoing via Amazon.com. Justin… sooner rather than later man!

Lady Gaga – “The Edge of Glory” + “Judas”

Lady Gaga – “Born This Way”

The Lonely Island feat. Justin Timberlake & Lady Gaga – “3 Way”

Justin Timberlake & Lady Gaga sketch

Another Justin Timberlake & Lady Gaga sketch

The internet is such a double-edged sword. Sure, global connectivity allows us to know everything instantly, but it also means nothing is ever a surprise. Take Foo Fighters, for example. Their eighth LP, Wasting Light, won’t be on sale until Tuesday, but already we’ve heard it in full, not to mention have watched it been performed live, and some of us have even made our final judgements. But let’s say you’re not one who keeps up with the blogs, you weren’t in California or Austin recently, and you didn’t shell out $25 for a one-off movie screening. Imagine then tuning into Saturday Night Live last night and catching Dave Grohl and co. turn the SNL stage into their own personal garage with blistering performances of “Rope” and “Walk”. Plus, there’s that whole renewed sense of kicking ass they’ve got going on which has them playing with the vigor and passion of a band making their first SNL appearance and not their sixth. Elated by what you’ve just seen, you make a point to buy the album on Tuesday — and thus save the music industry. Ok, so maybe that last part is a stretch, but for the sake of this post’s all-too-idealistic theme, which was partially influenced by alcohol at press time, let’s just pretend that the videos below aren’t the same thing we’ve seen for months, but instead something new, cool, and exciting. (You can get back to that Panda Bear steam in nine minutes.)

“Rope”

“Walk”

Also, Dave Grohl made a funny:

Hat tip to The Audio Perv for video support.

Foo Fighters have had one hell of a publicity push behind their new album Wasting Light, from old school music videos and a Record Store Day covers album to L.A. residences and a semi-surprise show at South by Southwest. The band’s latest bit of hoopla is the release of a brand new documentary Foo Fighters: Back and Forth, which will screen in select movie theatres across the country on April 5th. Better yet, the James Moll-directed documentary will be followed by a live performance from the Foo Figthers where they’ll play Wasting Light in its entirety and in 3D.

The first batch of screening locations has been revealed and can be found below. If you missed it, the trailer is embedded above.

In other news, Foo Fighters are confirmed to appear as musical guests on the April 9th episode of Saturday Night Live, reports MTV. The six-time SNL vets will be appearing alongside Helen Mirren, who we doubt will rival Jim Carrey’s awesomeness.

Wasting Light hits stores April 12th via RCA.

The Strokes referred to their return to Saturday Night Live as “déjà vu,” which in many respects was an accurate description. Last night marked the third time that the NYC quintet performed on SNL, and for the third time, we watched in complete and utter jealousy as we were reminded how fucking cool they are. The band’s swagger remains as hardcore as it did when they busted out “Last Nite” in ’02, from that nonchalant rock star attitude to Julian Casablancas’ weird-as-fuck dress code. In fact, these dudes and Joe Strummer documentaries are the two reasons I wish someone had bestowed actual talent in my fingertips.

However, what is different about these Strokes vs. the 2002 or 2006 incarnations of them is what they’re playing. As Mike Roffman pointed out in CoS’ review of the band’s forthcoming Angles, The Strokes of today are essentially a 2.0 version of their former selves, with their fourth LP marking a new, more eclectic style. This reality was further exemplified on SNL appearance #3 when the band dropped the album’s rather deceptive lead single, “Under Cover of Darkness”, and then followed it up with their homage to The Police — “Life is Simple in the Moonlight”. The latter was decidedly more impressive than the former, especially since it marked the world premiere of the track, plus Casbalancas’ vocals cleared up/were mixed better. But of course since they’re rock stars and they do rock star things, the water cooler talk will probably center around why Casablancas looked like he just came off an all-night bender and his big ol’ “fuck it” to cap off “UCoD”. Another highlight: Miley’s cut-off Strokes tee.

For those who missed it, watch the clips in full below, via The Audio Perv. Angles arrives March 22nd via RCA, and you can pre-order your copy here.

“Under Cover of Darkness”

“Life is Simple in the Moonlight”

Most would agree the current incarnation of Saturday Night Live isn’t on par with years past. But Yeezy’s favorite show still has the potential to wow, whether the result of Foo Fighters and Jim Carrey collabos or the opportunity to see Bono swing around on a rope. We’re guessing the March 5th episode of SNL will prove pretty memorable as well, due to the mere fact that Miley Cyrus will host and The Strokes will serve as the musical guest, reports Hollywood.com, Something about that combo just says win.

The appearance will mark the third time that The Strokes have performed on SNL; they also appeared as musical guests in 2002 and 2006. Below, you can watch the band perform “You Only Live Once” during their 2006 spot.

Also, here’s hoping frontman Julian Casablancas will renew his collaboration with The Lonely Island. The first go-around still owns.

Ex-nu-metalworkers Linkin Park showed up on Saturday Night Live last night to play two songs off of our 45th best album of 2010, A Thousand Suns. The group kicked off their performance with “Waiting For The End, and later in the broadcast followed up with a unique rendition of “When They Come For Me” featuring multiple tom stations, fog, lights, and the unique ability to perform in black and white. Check out the performances below, via The Audio Perv, then party on!

“Waiting For The End”

“When They Come For Me”

The Black Keys appeared on Saturday Night Live last night and proceeded to kick musical ass with performances of “Howlin’ For You” and “Tighten Up” (AKA the third best song of 2010). In much more surprising news, Dan Auerbach shaved beforehand.

Thanks to The Audio Perv for video support.

“We’ve been considering a few things actually,” Cee-Lo Green told E! News, when asked about a collaboration between he and Paltrow. “It’s a little too early to commit to a statement and I won’t ruin the surprise because whatever we’re going to do is going to be extra cool.” Hey, Cee-lo? If it’s some altered, cleverly censored version of “Fuck You”, can we just skip to something else from your rather remarkable album The Lady Killer? Thanks!

Update: According to People (via Billboard), Green and Paltrow recorded a new version of “Fuck You”/”Forget You” this past weekend at MSR studios in New York City.

One week prior, the momentum barrels onward for The Black Keys, as they make their SNL debut with host Jim Carrey on January 8th. As always, check back here Sundays for clips of their performances.

I still can’t come up with a reason why Eminem and Lil Wayne appeared together on Saturday Night Live last night. Either man could have easily handled the role of musical guest by himself and it’s not like they have a Kanye and Jay-Z-like collaboration album coming. The only semi-decent explanation I could come up with was that it was a passing of the torch type of deal, where Eminem capped off the year he dominated by spitting with the man who will have a strangle hold over the next 12 months. Regardless of the reason, this was what happened: The duo kicked off with a joint performance of “No Love”, off Eminem’s most recent effort, Recovery, before each going solo — Em dropped a Pink-less “Won’t Back Down”, with Weezy then following with what was technically the debut performance of “6’7″. Eminem said they’d go “IN” and it’s hard to disagree with the end result. Watch for yourself below (via Mr. World Premiere).

“No Love”

“Won’t Back Down” + “6’7″

With the year’s 28th best album and 3rd best song, The Black Keys had a fairly successful 2010. That’s of course without mentioning some kickin’ festival performances. And that Grammy nomination, too. While it remains to be seen what 2011 holds for the duo, they will get off to a fast start when they serve as the musical guests for the January 8th episode of Saturday Night Live. Jim Carrey will be the evening’s host.

SNL has one more episode before a two-week hiatus for the holidays. It’s also a must-watch, as Lil Wayne and Eminem will perform. Tron: Legacy star Jeff Bridges will host.

It might not be on The Beatles @ Shea Stadium level, but Sir Paul McCartney still has the ability to make the world’s busiest city come to a screeching halt. Or at least take over its music scene. The recipe for this particular venture is some “Scrampled Eggs”, Sirius/XM Radio, and an appearance on Saturday Night Live, the latter of which took place last night. Macca played five songs — first tackling “Jet” and “Band on the Run”, off the recently reissued Band on the Run, then paying tribute to his fallen bandmate with a medley of the Lennon/McCartney track “A Day in the Life” and “Give Peace a Chance”, and finally closing out the show with Let It Be‘s “Get Back”. And even after all that, he still found time to play a tiny harmonica in the newest SNL digital short and then impersonate Camilla Parker-Bowles (Prince Charles’ wife) for Weekend Update. So perhaps Paul Rudd, the evening’s actual host, summed it up best at the episode’s conclusion when saying, “Well, this won’t be topped.” It really won’t.

For those who missed it (because they were at Rammstein or something), you can watch the “A Day in the Life” + “Give Peace a Chance” medley above and the rest of the aforementioned clips below.

“Jet”

“Band on the Run”

“Get Back”

Digital Short

Weekend Update

There was no destruction of innocent musical instruments like in 2007, but Win Butler put in his share of rock star posturing. Last night, during Arcade Fire‘s second appearance on Saturday Night Live, and specifically for “We Used to Wait”, Butler cozied his 6’4″ frame up to the camera a couple times, attempted to incite a clap-along, and took to the crowd at one point, which was captured awkwardly by the normally fixed SNL cameras.

And the band also had some company. As you watch the clip of “Sprawl II” below, amongst the sea of unique haircuts you will notice some trademarked New York hair in the back — yep, Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs joined Arcade Fire to play some synth. Not only that, but occasional accompanying violinist Owen Pallett was handy for both performances, although he hardly seemed necessary for these particular songs.

Cool anyway. But the best part of SNL last night, besides ScarJo looking fantastic as usual? How about half of Arcade Fire disrobing during a new digital short starring Andy Samberg? In the sketch, Samberg addresses the U.N. General Assembly with a song lamenting the most tragic events in world history. One of the most chuckle-worthy moments featured an on-screen headline reading “Arcade Fire hates evil.”

We’ve got all these clips for you below via the always trusty Audio Perv. By the way, head over to BrooklynVegan for a collection of humorous tweets by various Twitter’ers commenting on the performance, as well as some photos and tweets by ?uestlove, who popped in to watch, and reported Arcade Fire continued to play after the credits rolled.

“We Used to Wait”

“Sprawl II”

Digital short

Just this morning I was thinking of who Saturday Night Live might tap as their next musical guests. Now that Kanye and Kings of Leon have already played and Rihanna is about to, the late night jokesters have basically used the three biggest names releasing albums this fall/winter. Nicki Minaj, My Chemical Romance, and, um, Daft Punk were a few possibilities that came to mind, but as it turns out, SNL will first go with the indies. As revealed today, Arcade Fire is confirmed to play SNL on November 13th, while UK pop group Florence and the Machine will appear one week later on November 20th. Scarlett Johansson will serve as the host for the former and Anne Hathaway the latter.

Arcade Fire have played the show once before, as evident by the video you see above. Florence and the Machine, however, will be making their SNL debut.

No one, except for maybe the Kings of Leon, could have predicted the success that has come to Kings of Leon. Their first three records got decent play in dorm rooms and England, but it was their last record, Only by the Night, that put them on the map in mainstream consciousness. And while you can cite luck or chance, five albums in seven years shows an awful lot of dedication, and the band proved their still as catchy as ever on Saturday Night Live last night, with two tracks from the new record, Come Around Sundown. Check out the rocking first single, “Radioactive”, above and the mellower standout track, “Pyro”, below.

So the docket for the next couple of weeks reads as follows: this Saturday there’s no show, but SNL returns the following week with Kings of Leon on the 23rd and then Rihanna will round off the bill on the 30th (via Alternative Addiction). So, barring any more Glee parodies and “Gilly” appearances (wasn’t that just the worst?), looks like we have some decent reasons to tune in, I guess.