“Weird Al” Yankovic visited The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson last night, where he and his band of merrymen performed the celebrating-skewing “TMZ”, from last year’s Alpocalypse. After all, nothing says outrage over society’s obsession with overindulgent pseudo-celebrities like a funky accordion beat. Watch the replay below.

Much like Trans-Siberian Orchestra, the fall-scheduled Alpocalypse 2011 tour is a true show for all ages; “Weird Al”, Stephen Jay, Jim Kimo West, Rubén Valtierra, and Jon Bermuda Schwartz are all rounding over the hill, yet continuously aim to please a vast gamut of folks in all walks of life. From loyal, much older fans, to Duke alumni rocking definitive “White & Nerdy” pullovers, to those who dressed for church to see a wild-haired parodist with a Hawaiian shirt impersonate Oingo Boingo, Michael Jackson, and Nirvana, none were left wanting.

It even ended shortly after 9:00 p.m. on a Sunday night. Those of you in Raleigh who missed it, you have no excuses.

Most of “Weird Al”‘s current live set caters between the new Alpocalypse material and the man’s back catalogue, facilitating numerous costume changes, which include the “Fat” suit, red-and-black, zebra-striped tux during “Wanna B Ur Lovr”, and some Amish digs for his acclaimed and notorious Coolio parody. Throw in a hefty medley of the old, some extravagant displays of the new, his current polka routine, and a peacock suit during his Lady Gaga effort “Perform This Way”, the star of such classics as “Eat It” absolutely cannot lose; all of this is enhanced by streamers and bubbles, video clips giving a retrospective of Yankovic’s effect on pop culture, segments from Al TV, the works.

Oh, and dancing Storm Troopers. “The Saga Begins” and “Yoda” never had such a lasting impact, and weeks before Halloween, no less. The common saying goes that time will fly by whilst we’re having fun–in two hours of goofing off, “Weird Al” Yankovic and his ever-present bandmates made time jump out of an 80-story window to its cartoonish demise. I think it’s safe to say that laughter is truly the best medicine, and during the season of sniffling noses and Snuggies by the truckload, Durham Performing Arts Center in North Carolina was proof positive, 100%.

Alfred, you are indeed a weird one. Aren’t we all?

Setlist:
Polka Face
TMZ
You Make Me
Smells Like Nirvana
Skipper Dan
Party In The CIA
CNR
Canadian Idiot
Wanna B Ur Lovr
Medley: Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies/Whatever You Like/Another Tattoo/eBay/I Want A New Duck/Theme From Rocky XIII/Spam/My Bologna/Ode To A Superhero/Lasagna/Eat It
Amish Paradise
Craigslist
Perform This Way
White & Nerdy
Fat
Encore:
The Saga Begins
Yoda

If we told you that “Weird Al” Yankovic’s music video for the uber enjoyable “Polka Face” was odd, would it catch anybody off-guard? Are any amount of drum-playing Yetis, talking lederhosen, baby-fied Justin Biebers, or wacky cartoons with a decidedly surreal/adult lean truly going to shock the world? No, in the end, probably not. That doesn’t mean, however, that you won’t LOL when you check the clip out below (via ComedyCentral.com). How’s that spoofing taste, Beebs?!

“Weird Al” Yankovic’s latest album, Alpocalypse, is out now.

Alpocalypse is Weird Al’s 13th record, his first full-length release since 2006′s Straight Outta Lynwood. Five years is the longest gap between albums ever in Yankovic’s career, but in the interim he tried out something new, and released a five track digital EP called, Internet Leaks. Release of Internet Leaks‘ tracks began in 2008 with the extremely timely parody of T.I.’s “Whatever You Like” (by the same name) about spoiling your fly honey amidst the nation’s damaged economy. The track was recorded and released in two weeks and made it to iTunes while T.I.’s original was still number one in the charts. It was a bold move and a great way to keep up with the times. Despite having been announced around the same time as “Whatever You Like”, the EP’s additional four tracks, all original work, appeared nearly a year later. Oddly enough, fast forward to 2011, all five of the EP’s tracks appear on Alpocalypse.

Al’s a big fan of patterns, and not just the brightly colored ones on his shirts. His albums have developed a formula over the years: 12 tracks, five parodies, one polka mega-mix of hit songs, six originals most often “style parodies” of other artists. Within those tracks there are also a number of subjects that he returns to: food, television, ironic romance, and he frequently illustrates the core concept of a song with lists of anecdotes or items. By the numbers Alpocalypse is all there: 10 fingers, 10 toes, one accordion, 12 tracks. But though it was great to have Internet Leaks as something to chew on in between full-lengths, it’s a true disappointment to see nearly half of the new album occupied by old tracks.

That said, as a unified album, Alpocalypse stands alongside Yankovic’s 21st century offerings in equal standing. It’s a tough thing to judge. After all, what can you compare a Weird Al album to but his previous work? There’s also a matter of nostalgia to combat against. Yankovic recently tweeted “common review for Alpocalypse: ‘It’s really good, but not nearly as great as (whichever Weird Al record I listened to when I was 12)’” And this is a sentiment that’s sure to be shared by the vast majority of adult listeners. The fact is, there is no perfect Weird Al album. Each of his records act as a cross section of culture. They become time capsules. Yankovic takes strides to give his topical tracks some serious staying power; just look at the longevity of 1999′s “It’s All About the Pentiums”. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Often times the humor of his parody lyrics outlive the notoriety of the tracks he parodies. Ultimately, the best way to judge a Weird Al album is on a song-by-song basis.

Alpocalypse opens with “Perform This Way”, a Lady Gaga parody that garnered a lot of press drama in recent months when Gaga’s manager declined the parody without even letting her know it existed. Yankovic stated in his open letter regarding the incident that a Gaga parody was more or less expected of him and that based on those expectations, he was hesitant. But in the end, Alpocalypse needed a super-current parody to complete the album and a new Gaga single was too good an opportunity to pass on. This is the track that will bring the kids in and make a ton of new Weird Al fans. It was a smart business decision. Unfortunately it’s an all around weak song that expresses Al’s initial concerns with doing the parody in the first place: it’s too easy. Lady Gaga is a wild performer and has a lot of outrageous outfits. End of story. It falls short of all of Yankovic’s other leading parody singles. It’s not “Smells Like Nirvana”, it’s not “Amish Paradise”, it’s not “White and Nerdy”, it’s not “Fat”. It ain’t nothin’.

The real star of the album is “Party in the CIA”, a parody of Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA”. It’s brilliant. As an adult man I have next to zero association with the original song. I may have heard it in passing a couple times, tops. However, connection with the original means nothing; it’s all about what’s new. “Party in the CIA” is Weird Al at his finest. His lyrics take an unbearable bubblegum pop song and stealthily snaps its neck, planting in its place a brutal tale of special operative hijinks. It’s as though “Party in the USA” was written only so Weird Al could parody it. Its very existence has now been validated in spades. The humor is great, the premise is executed with brutal efficiency. “Stagin’ a coup like yeah, brainwashin’ moles like yeah.” “Party in the CIA” is a straight up amazing track that pays for the album by itself.

Other parodies include “TMZ”, a parody of Taylor Swift’s “You Belong to Me”, “Another Tattoo”, a parody of B.o.B.’s “Nothin’ on You”, and the aforementioned “Whatever You Like” – all of them solid offerings. “TMZ” takes Swift’s bittersweet tune and skillfully reapplies it to the plight of celebrities coping with the constant mockery an over analyzation at the hands of paparazzi and a certain nefarious website. “They’ll be there with you when you’re going to jail, first on the scene for every wardrobe fail.” “Another Tattoo” takes on the topic of tattoo addiction and the massive surge in dermal art over the past decade. Absurd tattoo descriptions are aplenty in this track and hipsterdom’s love for ironic ink is well represented: “check out this rad Boba Fett, he’s playing clarinet”.

Any Weird Al fan will tell you, the real action is most often in the album’s original tracks. Al’s original’s are frequently written to be style parodies of other musicians and come from a diverse range of sources. Fist up on the tracklist is “CNR”, a tribute to late actor Charles Nelson Reilly in the style of The White Stripes. The track lifts the relatively obscure actor to legendary status with Chuck Norris-style tall tales of his greatness. The lyrics are hilarious and replication of The Stripe’s sound is not only spot on but perfect for the track. The one great flaw of “CNR” is CNR himself. When first listening to the track years ago on Internet Leaks I kept wondering who this guy was, if I should know him from something, if I was missing a critical part of the joke. Years later I’ve gotten over it, but as the catalyst for this song, Charles Nelson Reilly wasn’t the ideal choice.

“Skipper Dan” goes out to anyone who’s ever worked on Disney’s Jungle Cruise ride (or Universal’s Jaws for that matter). It recounts the plight of just about everyone who’s gotten stuck in a demoralizing job while trying to make their break into Hollywood. Musically, the song is a subtle tribute to Weezer, but that aspect is understated by the focus on the brilliantly recounted sad-but-true story. “Craigslist” is an incredible and unmistakable style parody of The Doors. So complete is the recreation of their sound that original Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek was brought in to record the organs. Al’s track is not the first to be dedicated to everyone’s favorite classifieds site, but it is without a doubt the best. With moments such as an open letter to a snotty barista in the style of Jim Morrison’s monolog from “The End”, the fusion of concepts is surreal and inspired. The album’s obligatory polka medley, “Polka Face” is brilliant, as Al’s polka medley’s often are. It really seals the deal when covering Ke$ha the lyrics shift to, “tick tock on the clock, but the polka don’t stop. Yodel-odelay-he-hoo!”

Mixed among the great successes are some significant duds. Another track from Internet Leaks, “Ringtone”, is an homage to the stylings of Queen on the topic of annoying cellphone rings. The topic was already over-explored in 2009 when it was first released. It was a clunker then and it’s even more of one now. “If That Isn’t Love” exhibits one of the few reoccurring Weird Al tropes on the album, the ironic romance song. Many of these tracks have been great in the past but the gag is wearing thin. “If That Isn’t Love” is a series of anecdotes from the perspective of a mediocre boyfriend rationalizing his indifferent behavior as romance. It’s some of Yankovic’s dullest work in ages. The final track, “Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me” is a style parody of famed composer, Jim Steinman on the subject of people who constantly forward banal e-mail chains to everyone they know. The track has its moments, but isn’t particularly remarkable.

Overall, Alpocalypse is acceptable. It’s when Al’s work veers away from current events and his own reoccurring tropes that his song writing is strongest. That’s what makes “Party in the CIA” such a show-stopper of a song. When it comes to original tracks, all the most successful ones came from Internet Leaks, and those tracks are two years old now. Most Weird Al fans had already bought these songs and have now bought them again. One would hope that the Internet Age would give Weird Al more creative freedom, but with the album’s release having hinged on an obligatory Lady Gaga parody it seems like he’s still constrained within the mainstream music industries trappings. Granted, he’s a creative force with his fingers in a lot of different pies, all of them with confidentiality agreements baked in, so we can never know exactly what he’s up to. Over the years his brilliance has not waned. We can only hope that there’s more new music in the near future and not another five years between albums.

Yankovic’s 13th LP dropped this week, and for the occasion Consequence of Sound and Nerdy Show‘s own resident “ALcoholic” Cap Blackard had a chance to speak with the man, the legend. They touch on Al’s legacy in modern pop culture, his influence on a whole generation of young parody artists, and the creative teams behind Al’s album’s worth of brand-new videos. So, grab a Twinkie-wiener sandwich, dim the lights, and snuggle up for an intimate conversation with “Weird Al” Yankovic.

From the 80’s to our current generation of pop music, there’s been a wide shift in styles, and you’ve been neck deep in all of them. In working with the past three decades of music, what’s been the biggest challenge for you as a parody artist?

Well, it’s so easy for me to transform and morph into whatever style is popular at any given moment. I think my biggest challenge is always just trying to be fresh, and not repeat myself too much, and not rely on the same gag, and just try to always be different, and surprising.  It’s tough to be around as long as I have and still surprise people.

Has your method of writing parody music changed over the years?

I think I more or less have the same kind of comedic sensibility. I think I have gotten better at what I do over the years, in terms of writing and performing. But, I think it’s hard to say…The writing process is similar. Again, I’m always trying new things, so it’s probably expanding, and getting more complicated as time goes on.

In the age of the Internet, amazing parodies appear days, even hours after the original content’s release. What has this dramatic shift in the world of parody music been like for you?

I think it’s a great opportunity for people. The kids growing up in the YouTube age have the opportunity to have millions of people hear their work if it’s quality work, which is great for them. The downside of it, for me, is that I will never again be the first person, and certainly not the only person to ever parody a hit song. It doesn’t really change what I do, but I find that I have to put blinders on, cause I don’t even want to know what else is out there. I just have to keep doing my job the way I’ve been doing it, and try not to be upset that I am probably the 10,000th person to do a Miley Cyrus parody.

With web sites like The Funny Music Project (aka “The FuMP”), where a number of artists from the Dementia scene, all of them inspired by you in some way, do you need to steer clear of that sort of thing for the betterment of your own work?

I don’t mean I am insulating myself from other artists. I mean, I appreciate them, and I heard their “I Wanna Be Weird Al” song, which I contributed to, and I’m really grateful and flattered by that. I just mean in general…When I decided I wanted to do a Lady Gaga parody, I didn’t go out and Google “Lady Gaga parodies”, because I’m sure there are tons of them. I just try to do what I do, but I certainly appreciate other comedic artists, and other people doing parody, and people that do it well. I just try not to expose myself too much to that, because I don’t want to cloud my own personal vision.

This new album, Alpocalypse, has been a long time coming. I know I’ve been waiting for a new full-length ever since your EP, Internet Leaks, was announced in 2008, and that didn’t really get realized until mid 2009.  Then, in 2010 you announced you were working on a film, and later that year it was announced that it was canceled.  Then you went on tour, the Lady Gaga mix-up happened…It just seems that the last few years have been really stressful for you. What’s it been like?

Yeah, I’ve gotten a few gray hairs in the past five years. It’s just a lot of stuff going on. I don’t know if it has been more stressful than normal, but there are a lot of things going on. The movie thing was on Cartoon Network. That was a disappointment, obviously. There were other projects that came and went without ever being publicized. It feels like there has been a long time between albums, and it has, but I certainly haven’t been slacking. It feels like I have been working pretty hard the whole time. I wish I could be releasing more albums in a more timely fashion, but there are a number of reasons for that, the primary one being that I have to be inspired, and feel like the time is right. Some of my albums in the ‘80’s I may have put out too quickly, because I was just feeling more pressured to get anything out there, and now, every album I put out, I like to feel like it’s an event, and I feel I have the luxury to take my time until it’s something that I am very proud of.

I’m a big fan of you as a director. I always love the opportunity to see a new music video, and unfortunately, based on a lot of circumstantial things, Weird Al-directed videos have been in short supply over the last couple of albums. Are we going to see more than one Al directed video this time around?

On my album? Unfortunately not. “Perform This Way” is the only one on this particular [record], because most of my music videos are animated, which I do because: number one, I’m a big fan of animation, and number two, they’re cost-effective. I couldn’t afford to do a live action video for every song on the album with the level of quality I would want for that. I do direct live action videos, but, obviously, for the animated ones, I just defer to the actual animators, because they would be much better at that than I would.

The deluxe version of Alpocalypse comes with a video for every single track, except the polka medley, “Polka Face”, and each of the videos is done by a different animator or production house. You did this on your previous album, Straight Outta Lynwood, and I was excited to see you were doing it again. Aside from the videos that were associated with your online release of Internet Leaks, and the video animated by Bill Plympton for the track “TMZ”, I couldn’t find any info on who’s doing the other videos.

There are 10 videos on the deluxe version of the album. So, that’s everything except “Perform This Way”, which is not done yet, obviously, and the polka, “Polka Face”, which is going to have a video as well, but we just started working that, so that will be out sometime later this year. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. Let’s just go down the track list.

Okay.  “Party in the CIA”?

That was directed by Roque Ballesteros. He works at Ghost Bot. That’s the same company that worked on stuff like Happy Tree Friends, and they’ve done some very cool stylistic commercials. Happy Tree Friends are these cute, little animal characters that have extremely violent adventures, and since this video is supposed to be sort of an ultra-violent version of a fluff pop song, I thought it would be a good pairing.

“Another Tattoo”?

That’s by Augenblick Studios.

Oh, cool.  That’s awesome.

So, you’re familiar with them, Super Jail, and all the stuff they’ve been doing.

Super Jail is amazing. How about “If That Isn’t Love”?

“If That Isn’t Love” is directed by Brian Frisk. I just found him online. He’s got an animated series called Candy Hole. He does some very interesting animation, and I thought it would be kind of cool to work with him.

And “Whatever You Like”, I don’t believe that had a video originally, did it?

Well, it didn’t really. We had Cris Shapan do the animation that we used when we did the song live in concert. He did a one and a half minute stretch just for the live show. When we decided that we were going to do video for everything, I went back to Chris, and said, “Hey, we would love for you to do the whole thing.” He went back and finished the rest of the video, and he did a really amazing piece.  If you don’t know Chris, he had worked for Tim and Eric in the past, and had done really cool animation for their show.

You know, I’ve always wondered, how did you fall in with Tim and Eric?

Originally, I was a fan of their show, Tom Goes to the Mayor, and I knew that Bob Odenkirk was sort of their mentor, and I knew Bob. So, I e-mailed him, and said, “Hey, I love Tom Goes to the Mayor, so if those guys want me on their show, I’d jump at the chance.”  That got to Tim and Eric, and they said, “Tom Goes to the Mayor is just wrapping up and we got this new show called Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, and we would want you to be this character Uncle Muscles.” I said, “Whatever that is, sure!”

The last video is “Stop Forwarding that Crap to Me”.

I wanted to do that in kinetic typography, which is basically a lyrics video presented in a cool, stylistic way. I’m sure you’ve seen it around. Cee Lo Green’s “Eff You” video, the original, was sort of that kind of thing. It’s basically lyrics that come at the viewer in a very artistic way. I went online, and I looked at a lot of different examples of that art form, and my favorite artist for kinetic typography was Koos Dekker. He ended up being from the Netherlands, and he agreed to do it. So, we sent him the song, and he made this cool video.

As I mentioned prior, in 2010 you announced that you were going to make your return to film making.  But, it didn’t work out, and you decided that you shouldn’t talk about forthcoming projects anymore. As a long time fan of UHF, and your other video projects, how much of a glimmer of hope should I have for some Al-directed material in the future.

It’s something I’m really interested in doing. Another feature film would be something I would be really interested in doing, and I’ve been saying that since UHF came out. Currently, there is nothing in the works. I’ve just been signed to a new agency, William Morris Endeavor, and maybe that’s gonna stir things up a little, but I’m not sure. I continue to keep my fingers crossed, and hope that something presents itself as an opportunity to me.

You recently appeared alongside the Scooby Doo crew in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which I thought was amazing.  It was pop-culture madness. You’ve appeared in many shows in the past, Tim and Eric, The Brak Show, and so on. Are there any other guest appearances in the works?

If there are, I’m probably not allowed to talk about them. There’s none that I can think of. But, I am about to go do a promotional whirlwind. So, there are probably a few things coming up in the near future that would be kind of cool. The Batman thing was neat. The narration from Bat-Mite was actually done by Pee Wee Herman [Paul Reubens]. So, that’s another level of pop culture added on to it. That was a lot of fun.

Your ability to dissect musical styles, and rework them from the ground up is uncanny, and you have written a number of works in the past. I have always wondered if you have ever pursued an album of all original works, maybe under a different moniker or something?

Yeah, I released several albums under the name “Kenny G”. Mostly my saxophone work… No, I don’t really have any desire to do that. I get enough gratification from doing the 50-50 work with the originals and parodies. I love doing the parodies as well as doing the originals. If people want to have their own all-original album, they can certainly rip and burn their own. The simple fact is, if I did an all-original album, that would not make my record company happy. I would assume it wouldn’t sell as well as something with a few parodies. I understand that. It’s simple economics. Like you said, the fact that I get to do both on my album keeps me happy, and it seems to work for everyone else.

There’s a new Weird Al tribute album that dropped recently, called Twenty-Six and a Half, and a portion of proceeds they gain are going to the “Weird Al Star Fund”, which is a fundraiser to get your name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I was wondering if you’re aware of this project?

I am. In fact, my drummer, Bermuda, sent me a copy of the album. I’ve been listening to it, and I think it’s really fantastic work. It’s actually quite amazing. The quality and production of it is mind-boggling.

The album features one of your unreleased parodies, “Pac-Man”, which is a parody of The Beatles’ “Tax Man”. During your live shows, you perform songs that you don’t have the license or agreements to put on albums. I was wondering: Which of these non-album tracks is your favorite?

I think we are going to retire it shortly after the Alpocalypse tour, but “You’re Pitiful” has been a lot of fun to do live.  We’ve been doing that every night, and we’ve been getting a huge reaction from the crowd. That’s a fun one to sing. We might bring it back sometime in the future, but I think it’s time to move on.

Were there any declined parodies from this album, aside from almost the Lady Gaga one?

With the exception of Lady Gaga (laughs), no.

That’s good. The Alpocalypse tour, I’ve noticed there’s a scattershot of dates in 2011, so far. How big is this tour going to be?

We’re doing one week in July, which is going to build up to a TV taping in Toronto. Then we’re not going to be on the road until… The first date is September 10^th in Las Vegas. We are just trying to figure out how long that’s going to go. It may just go until the end of October, or it may go a couple of weeks into November. But that will probably be the tour for the year.

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Want to hear the actual interview? Head on over to Nerdy Show!

When “Weird” Al Yankovic gets his hands on a celebrity, it’s hard to tell how it’s going to turn out. But for the video for the Lady Gaga-parodying “Perform This Way”, the King of Weird takes it beyond fat suits and the Amish by imposing his head on Queen Monster body double. The ensuing three minutes sees Lady Yankovic (as we’ve dubbed the mutant hybrid) dance around in a number of famous Gaga outfits, including one’s she may have never worn (unless that bologna suit is just for lounging about in motel rooms.) Check out the video above and marvel at the creepiness of it all/Yankovic’s bangin’ body.

“Weird” Al’s latest LP, Alpocalypse, hits stores June 21st via Jive.

Update: In an equally awesome news, “Weird” Al will sit in with The Roots during tonight’s episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. During soundcheck, they jammed on an instrumental cover of Madvillain’s “Accordion”, which you can hear a recording of at ?uestlove’s Swift.fm account (via Cover Me).

Every few years, “Weird Al” Yanokvic graces us with another of his parody-laden albums, tweaking songs we’ve all become familiar with over the radio into things only his goofy little mind could come up with. And each one of those records he puts out contains a polka medley that tosses together a collection of big, random tracks from recent memory.

With Alpocalypse dropping June 21st, we get a new polka medley in “Polka Face”, this one also apparently inspired in-part by the Muse that is Lady Gaga. Though he’s been perfecting it live for a few months, thanks to Stereogum, you can check out the album version below, along with a breakdown of each included song. Behold, the power of a mighty polka.

Alpocalypse hits stores June 21st via Jive.

“Polka Face” Song List:
(“Liechtensteiner Polka” by Will Glahé)
“Poker Face” by Lady Gaga
“Womanizer” by Britney Spears
“Right Round” by Flo Rida
“Day ‘n’ Nite” by Kid Cudi
“Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum
“Baby” by Justin Bieber
“So What” by Pink
“I Kissed A Girl” by Katy Perry
“Fireflies” by Owl City
“Blame It” by Jamie Foxx
“Replay” by Iyaz
“Down” by Jay Sean
“Break Your Heart” by Taio Cruz
(“The Tick Tock Polka” by Frankie Yankovic)
“Tik Tok” by Ke$ha
(“Poker Face (Reprise)” by Lady Gaga)
(“Whatever’s Left Over Polka” by “Weird Al” Yankovic)

In his 30-plus-year career, “Weird” Al Yankovic has done a lot of weird things, almost too many to count here. But now the man who made the Amish dope and dropped songs about food and depressing horoscopes is taking a seemingly random turn toward the dramatic (kinda) with his upcoming album, Alpocalypse. Check out the video above and witness the majesty of Mr. Yankovic ascending a steed to ride as one of the Four Horsemen (that would make him the Horsemen of Bad Fros, right?). Beyond some of the most Al-inspiring (see what we did there) artwork, info on the LP is limited, save for a release date of June 21st (via Jive Records) and a track that fought its way to existence like a mighty Viking.

In a blog entry, Yankovic wrote that he came up with the idea to parody Gaga’s “Born This Way” with a track called “Perform This Way”. After being told by Gaga’s management to send a completed song prior to approval, Yankovic pounded it out before being promptly denied by her people. While his new plan then became putting the song out for free and on YouTube, Yankovic was informed later that day that Gaga had now actually heard the song (as opposed to her veto-happy manager pulling the trigger prematurely) and was free to drop it as the lead single of Alpocalypse.

Check out “Perform This Way” below; all proceeds from the song, including those of an “awesome” upcoming music video, will go to the Human Rights Campaign.

English, Baby! takes a pretty interesting approach to teaching English to foreign language speakers. By using popular culture like movies, sports, and music as an attention grabber, they seek to not only introduce language learners to various aspects of American culture, but actually teach them about common English slang, idioms, phrases, and the like.

Some of their most recent lessons feature the aforementioned artists in brief interviews in which they discuss and define certain phrases as they relate to their own lives. For example, E-40 explains what revenue retrieving, day shift, and night shift mean. But why this man for those phrases? His last double disc was called Revenue Retrieving: Day Shift/Revenue Retrieving: Night Shift. Makes a bit of sense now, doesn’t it? Tech N9ne details the idiom “far out” in such a way that actually exemplifies the definition (“Far Out” was a track title on his last release).

The site also has clips of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony members Layzie Bone and Flesh-n-Bone explaining what “Crossroads” are, “Weird Al” Yankovic talking about the various meanings of “grow up” while pushing his new children’s book, When I Grow Up, and Bad Religion’s Greg Graffin discussing “against the grain,” amongst many other celebrities and phrases. The clips are all worth watching beyond their semantical value, as they delve into the artists’ connection to the language they discuss.

Engish, Baby! is just as interested in making viewers laugh as it is teaching them a thing or two, so the question remains: do these videos actually work as lessons? Incidentally, my days are spent standing in classrooms filled with Brazilians, Japanese, Turks, Saudis, and even a few Africans: I am an honest-to-Gosh ESL teacher. While I’ve only just learned of the site and thus never used it, I can certainly see the value here.

Will I use this stuff in my classroom? Maybe, if the class topic fits the site’s lessons. I’ll be sure to let you all here at CoS know how that goes if/when it happens. Until then, go learn something, and watch how “far out” Tech N9ne is below.

From the sci-fi-tastic opening theme to the incidental, segue-ing instrumental spatters, it was clear that music was key to the Ghost Planet. That theme and those licks, written by avant-jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock (with Lance Carter on drums, Alfrieda Gerald providing vocals, and Eddie Horst on bass), provided a constant off-beat presence to the already off-beat show. Another big part of that key would have to be Zorak and the Original Way-Outs. The cartoon house band didn’t much move, but they kind of rocked (thanks to Sharrock and co.). Late seasons included an outro by space rockers Man or Astro-Man?

But the real musical memories were made by the guests. Musically inclined Season One guests included The Bee Gees, Schooly D, and Weird Al, but The Ramones’ turn on the show is one of the highlights. After introducing the band as Zorak’s favorite (because giant mantises make natural punks), hilarity ensues. C.J. Ramone calls their music “snappy,” Marky Ramone improvs a tune of “way way way” to the Ghost’s delight, a tune that Joey Ramone calls subliminal. Then everyone eats birthday cake, even though Space Ghost says the Ramones can’t come because “punks don’t go to parties.”

Space Ghost generally didn’t understand musicians… or much of anything. So, when Alice Cooper came on the show, it was a surprise he wasn’t a girl (“I was actually born with eye make-up on,” he offers). R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe argues that Monster is a concept album about “a layman’s….dissertation…on the black hole phenomenon” and that he hates the song “Shiny Happy People”. In one of the weirder and simultaneously best interviews of the series, David Byrne explains that he would like “to be cute and blonde” before laughing maniacally and fast-forwarding himself. An awkward interview with G’nR guitarist Slash leads to the new nickname “Citizen Longhair.”

In back to back episodes of season three, Jonathan Richman played “Hey There Little Insect” in “the key of X” and Thurston Moore plays the role of Fred Cracklin, speaking exactly five words in an episode dedicated to the then-recently passed Sonny Sharrock, which featured uncut takes of the jazz group’s soundtracking. Later, Kirk Hammet and James Hetfield of Metallica threaten to stomp Tansit, the show’s announcer, and Dave Grohl explains what happens to mucus in space. In season four, Beck explains his life philosophy: “I like to plug things in, and then I like to unplug them, and then I go to sleep.”

Pavement even got in on the action, jamming out over Goldie Hawn. Other, less rock-oriented guests included George Clinton, Ice-T, and Chuck D. In the seventh season, Space Ghost marries Bjork, and Zorak teaches Tenacious D a thing or two.

Tad Ghostal, Zorak, Brak, Moltar and the rest of the Space Ghost crew made their own music as well, releasing Space Ghost’s Musical Bar-B-Que, Space Ghost’s Surf and Turf, and a self-titled soundtrack. Check out the beatbox and awkwardness cover of “Can’t Touch This” sung by Brak below for a taste of that.

Audio Archaeology is a presentation of Media Potluck and Consequence of Sound.

There are obvious references to pinpoint, bands such as Rush or Pink Floyd, and though they do make appearances here, my list today comes courtesy of a much wider variety. I tried my best not to place the majority of this list in any substantial order around significance, because I hold every selection and honorable mention in the highest regard. That being said, I avoided some of the more given song choices and brought you a collective that really shows what it takes to make a song longer than 10 minutes truly stick with you.

From blues to prog, from protest to parody, here are some of my personal favorite songs at over 10 minutes in length. Feel free to add your own in the comments section below at your own risk. As a noted aside, some of these entries are dedicated to those who have inspired my eclecticism over the years.

The whole of this project is dedicated respectfully to my great grandparents — you’ve lived long and fruitful lives, and this one’s for you. Thanks for the model car when I was a little boy, it’s been well taken care of. I promise, one of these days, I’ll drive a nice yellow ’64 Thunderbird, I’ll crank up the Johnny Cash, and think of you both all the way down I-40 in search of my own dreams.

Opeth – “To Bid You Farewell” (10:56)

When it comes to long songs, we have our pick of Opeth‘s repertoire; this Swedish metal band has enough on Deliverance and Morningrise alone to comprise a list by themselves. That being said, it was simply favoritism and a roll of the dice that brought me “To Bid You Farewell”, a brooding track suited for any funeral procession you can fathom.

Similar in musical style to the majority of a later release, Damnation, “To Bid You Farewell” is an absolutely beautiful song through and through with no bad traits at all. If for no other reasons, I included it as a nod to a spectacular band and a reminder that dark romanticism is not dead by a long shot, at least in the musical sense.

Dedicated to Crystal Stewart, who still shares a special place in our mixes for “Hope Leaves”.

Temple Of The Dog – “Reach Down” (11:13)

Temple of the Dog is a unique specimen in terms of supergroups. Back in the days of early grunge, there was a band called Mother Love Bone led by front man Andrew Wood; this band, which included future members of the alternative awesomeness called Pearl Jam, released one full-length LP and broke up due to Wood’s untimely demise. Wood’s former college roommate, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Audioslave fame, decided the best approach would apparently be a band tribute — a one-off shotgun blast of depth, a labor of love and loss.

Loaded with some of the best rock songs ever written during that time period, a collaboration with Eddie Vedder, and a profoundly bleak yet powerfully moving catalog of lyrics, Cornell and Mother Love Bone crafted Temple Of The Dog’s solitary eponymous release. It includes the famous-in-its-simplicity single “Hunger Strike”, the fast-paced “Pushin’ Forward Back”, the haunting “Wooden Jesus”, and the anthem-like ballad “Say Hello 2 Heaven”. In the midst of it all, there is “Reach Down”, an unlikely contender for its position and a sign that even the best of us need to just let it all out.

Also, a fun fact: Pearl Jam did a cover of this particular song on one of their Ten Club Christmas Singles – thought you should know, it’s that good.

Dedicated to Shannon Hoon, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Andrew Wood, Layne Staley, and Bradley Nowell.

Neil Young – “Cowgirl In The Sand” (10:03)

Neil Young is considered a godfather of grunge rock due to his vocal style among other things. While not a terribly big sensation with today’s youth, Young has consistently proven himself a viable artist on many fronts, and “Cowgirl In The Sand” is sustainable evidence of his blues roots, as well as his ever-present relevance in modern rock music.

While not necessarily an “epic” song, “Cowgirl In The Sand” is chosen for both its (albeit narrow) time prerequisite of just over 10 minutes, along with its stability as a tightly-written song on the whole. I am positive that, as our lovely readership, you can think of a hundred other reasons why Young snagged his spot here: the lovingly dated feel of the song itself, the imagery it invokes, along and along we go. “Cowgirl In The Sand” is a relatively peaceful stop here,  so take a moment and ingest it, will you? We still have lots to do, but lots of time to do it, and yes, The Doors are here too.

I put this song ahead of “Reach Down” as a clear statement to Young’s influence on Cornell and Vedder, as if it wasn’t already a clue.

To Coleen, the sand is ours.

Rush – “Cygnus X-1″ Duology (10:25/18:04)

In multiple circles, Rush fans dub “2112″ the band’s magnum opus. Here, today, I say unto you: read the storyline for these two pieces from Cygnus X-1 (courtesy of Wikipedia), both of which run over 10+ minutes each, and tell me that is not a bad-ass science fiction short story waiting to happen.

While “2112″ is a significant work in the Rush catalog on even concept alone, the Cygnus Duology, linked between A Farewell To Kings and Hemispheres, is a definitive pair of pieces in terms of scale, style, and depth of subject matter. Thank you to Neil Peart for bringing that kind of fantasy mentality to Rush, otherwise we would still be sitting on the Canadian Zeppelin sound of Rush ’74 (though “Working Man” still kicks ass).

To The Bellamys, for everything and anything, my friends for life.

Fantomas – “Delìrium Còrdia” (74:14)

If you have read my Icons Of Rock article on Mike Patton, or if you happen to keep up with his work regardless, then you have most likely heard of Fantomas. Explaining Fantomas to a newcomer is, to say the least, equivalent to breaking down physics and Dillinger Escape Plan album art for a fifth grader (now who’s smarter, Foxworthy?); in the vein of Patton’s experimental nature, Fantomas is a strange beast with a fixation on obscure foreign cinema (see: Suspended Animation, the eponymous debut, and Director’s Cut).

As for “Delìrium Còrdia”, at over 74 minutes, it is a song that literally makes up the entirety of its namesake album. Subtitled with the phrase “Surgical Sound Specimens From The Museum of Skin”, the album’s proper name is strictly Delìrium Còrdia and it is…Vitalogy‘s packaging with Pearl Jam replaced by Vincent Price and Beaker’s pistachio-headed friend from The Muppet Show after a Lost Highway screening. And it starts off quiet, too quiet.

I have no more appropriate adjectives.

“Weird Al” Yankovic – “Albuquerque” (11:25)

Despite the popularity of Bad Hair Day three years prior to this song, “Weird Al” Yankovic was something of a guilty pleasure for people in my age group up until 1999′s Running With Scissors. “The Saga Begins” (a parody of Don McLean’s “American Pie”, written to the storyline of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace) and “It’s All About The Pentiums” (a parody of Puff Daddy & The Family’s “It’s All About The Benjamins [Shot-Caller Rock Remix]“) suddenly made “Weird Al” cool again pre-”Couch Potato” with pop culture enthusiasts who had just kissed the ’90s goodbye while rocking fitted, red Yankees hats. Was my high school experience awesome or what?

I give you “Albuquerque” because I feel “Weird Al”‘s work has been snubbed far too many times by the Walk Of Fame committee. Satire and parody, while today are systematically palmed to YouTube for “meme”-ing purposes, is a natural extension of creativity in musical comedy. “Albuquerque”, a style parody of The Rugburns (otherwise remembered for “Suburbia” from Bio-Dome, a movie named in this song)  is Al’s longest studio recording; alongside “White & Nerdy” and “One More Minute”, here is proof that “Weird Al” cannot only sing and rap (Chamillionaire said so, and look who outlasted who), but can do some wicked improv. It was once thought by some that you were nobody big if you hadn’t been parodied by “Weird Al”, so Mr. Yankovic — this one’s for you.

To its discredit, though, I happen to like sauerkraut, at least with my bratwursts.

Entry dedicated to Rebecca Maraijko for loaning me his live VHS; to her mother Ann for being like another mother to me.

Arlo Guthrie – “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” (18:34)

We have to love hippies, yes? Hippies gave us counter-culture that actually once represented more than passive awareness, a great nostalgic ideal to milk for profit (i.e. “flares” or bell-bottoms), and the prop comic known as Gallagher, but aside from destroyed watermelons, we give you Arlo Guthrie.

Guthrie is a hippie to the bone, and if there were ever solid proof of that, it is here at “Alice’s Restaurant”. Clocking in at over 18 minutes, this full-side of an LP tells the story of draft dodging, mole hills turned mountains, generosity, and disproportionate law enforcement prioritization in a humorous-but-important light. Though focused in the era of Vietnam, this piece shows little wear and tear in the dating process and is a healthy reminder that free speech, when used responsibly, can truly take on a most interesting persona.

To further show this selection’s importance, it is still played yearly over terrestrial radio in its entirety. We could not make this up if we tried. Also, the title is not a mistake, its official spelling includes “massacree”.

Dedicated to Sue & Matt Fandl – the torch-bearers of free thought that they are.

Allman Bros. – “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed (Live)” (13:04)

Anyone who knows me is aware of my fascination with the Allman Brothers. While most of my love for this band lies in its singles, “Whipping Post” is, to date, one of my favorite songs of all time. This band landed on my controversial Top 10 Stoner Albums list back in 2009 and most certainly comes ’round the bend again with “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed (Live)”.

This particular version of the recording is a landmark piece and can be found on the Allman Brothers’ live album At Fillmore East. What makes the song unique, besides its sound in general, is that the live version specifically was added to with improvisation, which then signified it as a practically altogether new piece. “Elizabeth Reed”, in studio form, barely crosses the six-minute mark, and here we are onto 13 with no slack and no throwaway bits.

People who love jam bands and prog rock will tell you it takes a significant amount of skill to craft songs of this length or greater without coming off stagnant halfway or obnoxiously artsy entirely. The Allman Brothers succeed at turning one simple jam session into a real experience live — one to be relived over and over again.

Dedicated to my mother, Pamela Buchanan, whose Tennessee upbringing contributes greatly to my love of southern rock and wholesome country.

The Doors – “When The Music’s Over” (11:06)

Strange Days, the album from which this song hails, is considered a sophomore slump by some and an eclectic masterwork by others, depending upon who you ask. While The Doors‘ eponymous debut and their third release, Waiting For The Sun, did better overall on sales, Strange Days comes complete with at least three of The Doors’ best known singles: “Love Me Two Times”, “People Are Strange” (later covered by Echo & The Bunnymen for The Lost Boys soundtrack), and our list-maker, “When The Music’s Over”.

“When The Music’s Over” stakes its claim here for at least three reasons: adding “The End” was way too predictable, The Doors are a landmark band with a very iconic musical style that I cannot overlook, and this song’s title is significant given its run time of nearly 11 minutes. “When The Music’s Over” has elements that reference The Doors’ first release, such as a piano riff akin to “Soul Kitchen” and a lyric delivery in parts similar to “End Of The Night”. While “The End” showcases more of Morrison’s true soul as the archetypal free verse poet of the hippie movement, “When The Music’s Over” brings everything The Doors have to the table.

Jim Morrison was not originally present for the recording session of this multi-faceted jazz and soul number. After Manazarek laid his vocals, Mr Mojo Risin came in to rerecord, and here you have it.

To Kathy Martin – for whom the music is never over.

Pink Floyd – “Dogs” (17:08)

It was difficult for me to select a single piece from the Floyd. “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, the Syd Barrett tribute from Wish You Were Here, demonstrates powerful orchestration in an elaborate suite of imagery and sound; “Echoes” is a good 23+ minutes of pure Floyd psychedelia; “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast”, from Atom Heart Mother, is an amalgam of those traits in early Floyd work.

“Dogs” comes from the five-song concept recording, Animals. The album’s overall premise is starkly simple, unlike more layered psychological fare, such as The Wall or Dark Side: humans paralleled as dogs (the lower class and the poor), sheep (general middle-class consumers scrambling up our ladder), and pigs (social elite) are in a manner loosely indicative of George Orwell’s Animal Farm; book-ending the album are two short parts of a love song written by Roger Waters for his wife at the time.

The lyrics are some of the best I’ve ever heard, inspiring a good deal of my creative writing projects. Use of vox effects, such as morphing the sung word “stone” into the mimicry of a barking dog, make this Peter Frampton’s personal albatross. Unlike most of Pink Floyd’s longer arrangements, “Dogs” bears a solidarity that, upon hearing it in context or otherwise, makes you forget the clock altogether. It is a 17+ minute epic, a maniacal and very superbly sculpted poem about a dog-eat-dog reality, and my favorite Floyd song, period.

Honorable Mentions

Green Day’s “Jesus Of Suburbia” – At just under 10 minutes, this remarkable one cuts it dramatically close and still feels much longer than the time would have you believe; excellent example of how far pop-punk has come.

Metallica’s “Mercyful Fate” – A medley of Mercyful Fate covers, this song from Garage, Inc. yields the most fun I’ve ever had on Guitar Hero: Metallica, and also happens to be Metallica’s longest studio recording to date. It misses the list by being strictly a cover, though a very well-executed one at that.

Psychostick’s “323 Thank Yous” – Taking a few tracks from their 1st album, replacing lyrics with names of people who purchased that album and joined the fan club, then releasing it on the 2nd full-length. Fan service to the Nth degree, at over 14 minutes long (and my name is in it).

Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” – Really? Forget this song? Surely, you jest.

The Doors’ “The End” – “Father? Yes, son? I want to kill you.” Seriously, I had to mention this somewhere.

KoRn’s “Daddy” – Slightly more disturbing than Fantomas’ list inclusion, missing the mark by virtue of the fact that, only by adding some silence at the end, this song barely cracked the 10 line. Seems like cheating, but this isn’t a competition, and I have to make mention.

Led Zeppelin’s “Achilles Last Stand”– If there were two #1 spots to give out, this would be my alternative choice. I place this in honorable mentions as an undying symbol of what true legends like Zeppelin can really accomplish.

King Crimson’s “Lizard”, Pink Floyd’s “Atom Heart Mother”, Limp Bizkit’s “Everything”, Mountains’ “Etching”, Spin Doctors’ “Shinbone Alley/Hard To Exist”, Beastie Boys’ “B-Boy Bouillabaisse”, The Mars Volta’s “L’Via L’Viaquez”, Mogwai’s “Mogwai Fear Satan”, Metallica’s “Suicide & Redemption”, Queensryche’s “Suite Sister Mary”, Rare Earth’s “(I Know) I’m Losing You”, Type O Negative’s “Black No.1 (Little Miss Scare-All)”, and more.

Honorable Mentions dedicated to my father, Chadwick Buchanan, who forever continues shooting to thrill, and my brother Tristan Buchanan for coming home safely and sharing in Follow The Leader with me when we were teenagers.

According to TwentyFourBit, March 30th will mark the release of a collaborative album from Dresden Dolls’ frontwoman Palmer and friend Jason Wembley. The twist? They are performing as conjoined twins. Titled Evelyn Evelyn, the duo already has a European tour scheduled with a full tour of the U.S. expected to follow. If you are wondering just what might this sideshow-inspired act look like, YouTube has answers.

As for Frances Bean Cobain, she will sing backup along with an all-star (kind of) cast that includes badass writer Neil Gaiman, funny man (kind of) “Weird Al” Yankovic, funny man Andrew WK, and, um, My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way. Tegan and Sara are also on-board the track, titled “My Space”, as is ex-Hold Steady member Franz Nicolay, Margaret Cho, and Eugene Mirman. That sounds like the best top 8 ever!

Only time will tell what Cobain actually sounds like (or if we will be able to hear her over the choir of randoms), but here’s to hoping she takes after Pops. Enjoy a track from Evelyn Evelyn, titled “Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn?”, below!

Check Out:
“Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn?”

Evelyn Evelyn 2010 Tour Dates:
04/12 – Boston, MA @ ART Theater
04/17 – Glasgow, UK @ Oran Mor
04/19 – Dublin, IE @ The Academy
04/22 – London, UK @ Koko
04/23 – London, UK @ Bush Hall
04/24 – London, UK @ Bush Hall
04/25 – London, UK @ Bush Hall
04/27 – Paris, FR @ L’Européen
04/28 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkwag
04/29 – Hamburg, DE @ Kampnagel
05/01 – Berlin, DE @ Babylon
05/03 – Cologne, DE @ Gloria
05/04 – Antwerp, BE @ Arenbergschouwburg

Christmas music is everywhere this time of year. Since the beginning of November, the air has been littered not with the cheerful dust of snowflakes, but a mess of mediocre audio. Certainly classic recordings have their charms, but the classics are over played and mainstream holiday songs are mostly of flimsy facades of holiday cheer over less than inventive songwriting. As a genre, Christmas music is very limited. It takes a lot of creativity to create a truly stand-out holiday song. Throughout the years, many brave and artful souls have undertaken the challenge, either to render the cliches warm and heartfelt again, or simply to turn the whole concept on its head.

Last year, Media Potluck, the source behind Audio Archaeology, put together an album-length collection of worthy holiday tunes to make the festivities more merry, bright, and palatable. Now we proudly gift this compilation to you, dear CoS reader, complete with track-by-track commentary sharing all the fun factoids that you’ve come to expect from Audio Archeology. These tracks are the very best of holiday music- from blatantly Christmas-related, to commentary on the hectic gift-giving season, or simple celebrations of wintertime.  Some tracks are more common than others, some are quite eclectic, all of them guaranteed to give you a break from dross of the shopping mall sound system.

Enjoy Media Potluck’s Holiday Feast Volume 1 now in podcast format here and get ready — the 2009 edition is on its way.

Media Potluck’s Holiday Feast Volume 1 (2008)

1. Shirley Walker - “Winter Reveries [Excerpt from Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1]”

A beautiful and mysterious-sounding wintery bit of classical music from the Barry Levinson film, Toys. The film deserves a Media Potluck article all on its own (check back later this month). It’s an incredible holiday film that’s watchable any time of the year. This song appears in the opening scene of the film and leads into the following track, “The Closing of the Year.” Shirley Walker, who serves as conductor on this track, was a frequent collaborator with Danny Elfman and is perhaps most notable as the composer of the entire score for Batman the Animated Series and its spin-offs.

2. The Musical Cast of Toys Featuring Wendy & Lisa - “The Closing of the Year”
Along with John Williams’ “Somewhere in My Memory” from Home Alone, “Closing of the Year” is a Christmas song so smartly composed that it gained an existence past the film that spawned it. Though lesser known than the aforementioned track, “Closing of the Year” has since been recorded by opera-types as a holiday tune and occasionally gets airplay on holiday stations. It was written by mega-producer Trevor Horn and score composer Hans Zimmer who jointly crafted Toys’ wonderful score and soundtrack. Wendy & Lisa are the musical duo once a part of Prince’s Revolution. Since the late 80s they’ve released their own albums (their fifth came out a year ago) and have written a number of television scores. This version of the song comes from the Toys soundtrack album and blends in from the first track. The extended single is longer and features vocals by Seal. Check out the video of that version here.

3. The Smashing Pumpkins - “Christmastime”
The Smashing Pumpkins are an unlikely source for a heart-warming Christmas hit, but they delivered one. This track was released in 1997 for the third installment of the A Very Special Christmas compilation series. Whereas major artists such as Paul McCartney and Elton John made new holiday hits of the cheery party variety, the savage, alt. rocking Pumpkins did just the opposite. The low key, harmonic styling of “Christmastime” was a direct product of the era the band was heading towards with their electronica-influenced 1998 album, Adore.

4. Jethro Tull - “A Winter Snowscape”
In 2003 prog rockers Jethro Tull released a full-blown Christmas album. Though this may seem odd to the casual eye, Tull released a Christmas song as early as 1969 and other Christmas songs, or winter-themed tunes ever since. The album features new recordings of these tracks as well as new songs. This track is an instrumental composed by Tull guitarist Martin Barre.

5. David Bowie & Bing Crosby – “Peace on Earth/ Little Drummer Boy”
In 1977 David Bowie appeared in Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas, a television special, and sang a duet with the acgingcrooner. Often referred to as one of the weirder moments in television history, it’s something that has to be seen/ heard to be fully understood. The “Peace on Earth” portion of the duet was written especially for Bowie who in actuality was none too fond of “Little Drummer Boy”. This song is among several Christmas tunes parodied by the cast of Adult Swim’s Venture Bros. and released online. Check those out here.

6. Mark Mothersbaugh - “Snowflake Music [From Bottle Rocket]”
A short instrumental track used in the Wes Anderson film Rushmore. The original version of this track appeared in Bottle Rocket, Anderson’s first full-length film, and his first collaboration with Mark Mothersbaugh.

7. The Darkness - “Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)”
A comedic rock track from modern Brit glam rock outfit The Darkness. The comedy aspect of the song may fall on deaf ears without a little morsel of information, so allow me to educate: “bell end” is slang for the head of the human penis.

8. Chris Squire & Alan White - “Run With the Fox”
Chris Squire and Alan White are two members of Yes. Following the 1980 breakup of the band, these two continued working together and attempted to form a supergroup with Jimmy Page called XYZ (Ex-Yes and Zeppelin). The project never panned out and in very short time Yes reformed. Between those two events the duo released one track – “Run With the Fox” an unusual, but spirited holiday tune that can’t help but conjure up visions of various animated films about quadrupedal woodland animals.

9. Crash Test Dummies - “Jingle Bells”
In 1992 folk rockers the Crash Test Dummies released a Christmas single of their rendition of “The First Noel”. The version was traditional but made distinctive by lead singer Brad Roberts’ very deep voice. Years later this spawned a whole album of traditional Christmas song re-renderings, including this track. If you ever wondered what “Jingle Bells” would sound like if sung by pagan tribes or demons, well, now you do. The album is amazing, pick it up here.

10. mc chris - “Evergreen”
Adult Swim personality and rapper, mc chris, renders a charming portrait of the dead-beat drug-addled
youths who work part-time at Christmas tree tents. If you like your holidays full of laughs and cuss words, this is the song for you.

11. Bob & Doug McKenzie - “The Twelve Days of Christmas”
Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas’ legendary comedy duo, The McKenzie Brothers perform their stumbling and confused rendition of a holiday classic. Hoser accessories such as beer, back bacon, and toques replace the original song’s golden rings, French hens, etc. Endless fun. Last year, a full animated video was made for the song in preparation for the long-awaited Bob & Doug animated series which premiered this year.

12. Grand Buffet - “Stocking Stuffer”
Grand Buffet are a Pittsburg-based rap duo specializing in synthcore beats and head-scratching, mirth-making rhymes. This tale of one young man’s encounter with Saint Nick is sure to warm your heart.

13. Tom Tom Club - “Il Est Né”
The funky, dancey husband-wife team of Talking Heads members Chris Franz and Tina Weymouth present a chill rendition of a traditional French Christmas carol. In 2002, “Il Est Né” and another track, “Christmas in the Club”, were made available for download on Tom Tom Club’s website. The tracks were taken down after the holidays passed and didn’t return again until 2007, when they released a single called Misletunes. The single features both tracks and the CD version features two additional mixes of “Christmas in the Club”.

14. Kate Bush - “December Will Be Magic Again”
A magical Christmas song from the likewise enchanted Kate Bush. It appeared on a single in 1980 and has appeared on finer Christmas compilations ever since. There are two versions. The version featured on the Holiday Feast favors a caroler sound, while the other rendition has a more minimal production and starts with chanting. The latter was featured on the 1979 BBC television event, The Kate Bush Christmas Special, you can watch that clip here. The TV special has recently been rebroadcast on the BBC, but a commercially available version has yet to surface.

15. Loreena McKennitt - “Snow”
McKennitt spins the words of Canadian poet Archibald Lampman into a Celtic ballad of wintertime beauty. What better expression of Christmas’ roots than a pagan-esque worship of nature and perhaps the winter solstice?

16. Spinal Tap - “Christmas With the Devil”
From their second (real) album, 1992′s Break Like the Wind, Spinal Tap explores how Satan celebrates the yuletide spirit. Here’s a hint: it involves BDSM.

17. “Weird Al” Yankovic - “Christmas at Ground Zero”
Continuing comedic variations on the holidays, we move to the master of musical comedy: Weird Al. His “Christmas at Ground Zero” aptly plays upon the 1980s’ paranoia of impending nuclear holocaust and attempts to dress up the scorched black remnants of humanity with tinsel and Christmas cheer. Truly there’s a bright side to everything.

18. Run-D.M.C. - “Christmas Is”
The lesser-known of Run-D.M.C.’s two Christmas singles. The first was “Christmas in Hollis” (1987). “Christmas Is” was released in 1992 and is a fantastic product of its time, discussing the consumerism of the holidays. A choice example is the kid’s Christmas list at the end: “yeah, that’s right — give up the dough. I want my Ninja Turtles, I want my bike, I want my Sega Genesis, I want my Nintendo, and turn my mommy lights back on!”

19. Phantom Planet - “Carol of the Bells”
A compelling synth-rock version of the most famous Christmas instrumental of all-time from the band best known for having had Jason Schwartzman as their drummer and writing the theme song to The O.C.

20. Ben Folds - “Bizarre Christmas Incident”
Piano-rocker Ben Folds details a none-too-pretty encounter with the corpse of Santa Claus on Christmas morning. Allegedly the song was composed for the Grinch film, but was turned down. Too explicit? Perhaps. This song first appeared on Maybe This Christmas, a counter-culture Christmas compilation that lasted three albums between 2002-2004.

21. Shogo Sakai - Snowman
Every installment in Shigesato Itoi’s video game series, Mother (called Earthbound in the US), has featured the “Snowman” theme composed by Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka. It’s been reworked several times in the past. This version appears on the soundtrack to the final installment of the series, Mother 3, and was arranged by that game’s composer, Shogo Sakai.

22. The Band - “Christmas Must Be Tonight”
From The Band’s 1977 album, Islands. “Christmas Must Be Tonight” is a soulful retelling of the birth of Christ. No gaudy evangelicalism, just beautiful music and a tale for the ages.

23. My Morning Jacket - “Xmas Time is Here Again”
And so ends the album with an easy-going meditation of harmonies and jingle bells from Southern rockers My Morning Jacket. This song if off their Christmas EP, My Morning Jacket Does Xmas Fiasco Style, released early in their career, between their first and second albums.

Happy holidays, Internet. From the Media Potluck and CoS families.

Garbed in the flowing white shirt and tight white pants of the Lizard King, Yankovic croons through a Morrison-inspired tirade on Internet culture.  The video is a charming hodgepodge of psychedelia and American Southwest stock footage, working the Doors angle, rather than Craigslist.  A smart play, because there is much Doorsy-goodness to be milked from this song.  Notes of “Light My Fire” and “When the Music’s Over”, not to mention a “The End”-esque speech, mesh into an entirely new, and more intentionally funny Doors experience.  Yankovic renders his unmistakable brand of comedy perfectly into Morrison’s poetic meter:

We shared a quick glance, Saturday at the mall. I never took a chance, never approached you at all. You were a blonde half-Asian with a bad case of gas, I was wearing red Speedos and a hockey mask — come on let’s find that love connection that we missed — ON CRAIGSLIST!

What’s Weird Al’s secret to pinning The Door’s sound so spot on?  Well, he had a little help: Ray Manzarek, original co-founder and keyboardist of the Doors:

Just as Yankovic occasionally updates his pop culture roster with songs listing television shows, “Craigslist” is a part of his growing collection of computer-related songs. So far there’s been one every album for the last three albums: “It’s All About the Pentiums” (a parody of P. Diddy’s “It’s All About the Benjamins”), “eBay” (a parody of Backstreet Boys’ “I Want it That Way”), and “Virus Alert” (a style parody of Sparks).  Along with “Whatever You Like”, and the just-released “Skipper Dan“, “Craigslist” is a part of the five track Internet EP entitled “Internet Leaks“.  The tracks of the EP are all being independantly released, with the final two tracks set to drop on the 4th and 25th of next month.  “Internet Leaks” will act as a lead-in to a brand new album dropping sometime next year.