Bears And Bullets Songs Of The Year (#25-#1)

And here it is, the final piece in the all-too-lovable list week: Bears And Bullets Top 50 Songs Of The Year, numbers 25 through one.

Wednesday Bears: New Gorillaz video - DoYaThing (ft. James Murphy and Andre 3000)

That was quick. Nearly a week after the premiere of both versions of "DoYaThing," the Converse-promoted single from the Gorillaz, James Murphy, and Andre 3000. Like most of what the Gorillaz have converted to music video, "DoYaThing" is pretty top-notch and memorable, filled with Plastic Beach easter eggs and very well-crafted artwork. Watch below.

Friday Bears: The 13 minute extended version of "DoYaThing"

At this point, you've probably at least heard of Converse's promoted Gorillaz/James Murphy/Andre 3000 single "DoYaThing," but do yourself and everyone you know a huge favor and listen to this monster 13 minute version below. Stop wasting time, listen!

Tuesday Bears: Bears and Bullets Top 25 Songs of 2010 (Pt. II)

We'll continue our top 25 countdown with songs #20 through #16.

#20: On Melancholy Hill - Gorillaz
Damon Albarn's return to the studio as cartoon band frontman for Gorillaz yielded "Melancholy Hill" on an album that, more often than not, showcased the talents of others: Bobby Womack, Mos Def, Snoop Dogg, etc. The song stands alone on Plastic Beach as Albarn's highest achievement because it's only him. Aside from the plush synth drives, Albarn showcases what so many Blur fans remember from the 90s; a solemn and lonely voice that drives toward subtle beauty.

Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill



#19: Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - Arcade Fire
"Sprawl II" is, in a way, the furthest departure Arcade Fire have ever taken from their coined sound. Regine leads the bass-heavy and synth-driven charge of an Earth catapulting spring that invokes her to scream "sometimes I wonder if the world's so small." It should be taken with a grain of salt, because there have been few times that Arcade Fire have sounded bigger

#18: I Think Ur a Contra - Vampire Weekend
Contra, as Vampire Weekend's second studio effort, came off to some fans as a bit more bumpy and rushed as its self-titled preprocessor - but that argument always seems to follow any band that explodes off a debut (Strokes, anyone?). However, "I Think Ur a Contra," and it is spelled that way, is, for a moment, cold and sad. There have been very few, if any moments in Ezra Koenig's short career that he has sounded so warm that even his minuscule heartbreak seems distant from "Contra's" wintry beauty.

#17: Rill Rill - Sleigh Bells
Oddly enough, Sleigh Bells softest moment from their ear-bashing (in a good way) debut Treats proved to be the record's most endearing track. The jagged guitar, borrowed a bit from Funkadelic, turns away from the group's typically bombasting approach, to turn on sly, jubilant and - most important here - catchy rhythm that escalates into a drifty high school daydream.

#16: Yulia - Wolf Parade
Wolf Parade, the now either defunct or on indefinite hiatus band, hasn't gotten their fair share of compliments since their 2005 debut Apologies to the Queen Mary. With what may have been the band's last work, Expo 86, the group produced "Yulia," a harrowing and true song about Soviet cosmonauts from the 50s that were lost in space to drift along through eternity. But focusing on the bleakness, and in a way, Wolf Parade's departure, takes away from the stark love song that "Yulia" turns into. Indeed, its face front value is something completely different, but here it can't stop from sounding so engrossing and tearful.

Wolf Parade - Yulia



Stay tuned, we'll return tomorrow for songs #15 - 11.

Thursday Bears: New Gorillaz video - Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach (ft. Snoop Dogg)

Head on over to the Gorillaz home page to get a peek at their December advent calender, which included today's present - a new video. It's the third video from last March's Plastic Beach, which may be getting a bit snubbed for some of the year end awards and lists and crap.

The video for "Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach" features Snoop Dogg, and, well, no body else.

Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach - Gorillaz (ft. Snoop Dogg)

Thursday Bears: 2010-11 Grammy Nominees

Replace Clapton with Jeff Beck this year

Last night, the official list of the 2010-11 (I never get the time-frame right for this) Grammys was released. Now, I have no long-winded rant set in place, but lets see where this goes. You can download the entire pdf of nominees here.

Eminem topped all everyone this year with 10 nominations for Recovery, including Album of the Year, and Record and Song of the Year for "Love the Way You Lied (ft. Rihanna). Among the notables for Record and Song of the year, which are still two different categories for essentially the same thing, is Cee-Lo's (not Gwyneth Paltrow's) "Fuck You." We have a darkhorse.

Among the artists I perpetuate the idea of caring about, or legitimately do care about, Arcade Fire had a few significant nominations of their own for The Suburbs, including (gasp) Album of the Year. They stand a pretty long shot to actually win the award, but it's good to see that they at least got recognition for it. They were also nominated for two other awards, including Best Alternative Music Album, alongside Band of Horses, The Black Keys, Broken Bells, and Vampire Weekend. Surprisingly not nominated amongst them, Gorilliaz, for Plastic Beach. I'm not gonna get too worked up over the Grammys not nominating the right people every year though.

The Best New Artist Category, which sometimes sees a litany of indie acts (like MGMT last year), is a little flat this time around - something Bielebers will contest to. Aside from the Biebs, Drake, Florence & The Machine, Mumford & Sons, and ... Esperanza Spalding were nominated. Because I don't know who Spalding is, or care not to know who she is (i.e. Zach Brown band last year), she'll likely win. Oh, I checked her out, the first photos on Google came up with her next to a jazz bass. This is done.

I won't share the butt-fuckin'-ton of details, but I will declare this: In the Best Rock Performance By a Duo with Group or Vocals category, Jeff Beck's and Joss Stone's cover of "I Put a Spell on You" is nominated alongside songs from Arcade Fire, Muse, Kings of Leon, and The Black Keys. I'm guaranteeing a win for Beck and Stone. Guarantee.

It's just the way it is, and I've reluctantly accepted that the Grammys, despite being labeled as the most prestigious of music awards (if there is such a thing), will do less and less accurate justice as time goes by. I could be wrong, and see what I like (or hope) wins, but I know I won't be.

Tuesday Bears: New Gorillaz Video - On Melancholy Hill

In the newest video from Damon Albarn's ongoing Plastic Beach version of the Gorillaz saga, the crew (both in 2 and 3D) are witness to the greatest underwater, celebrity collaboration race the world has ever seen. And while Bruce Willis didn't make the cut this time around, well, there's enough in here to compensate.

Expect part three (or four) in the near future. Plastic Beach is out now via Virgin Records.

Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill

Tuesday Bears: New Gorillaz Video - Stylo

A day after Gorillaz streamed their brand new album Plastic Beach on NPR, Damon Albarn & Co. premiered the video for their first single, "Stylo," featuring the voices of Mos Def and Bobby Womack.

The video features digital 2D, Noodles and Murdoc Niccals (Gorillaz members, if you forgot) racing through the desert in their ... Stylo, while the police and a renegade Bruce Willis come to meet them. Call it a virtual Death Proof, if you will.

See video here.

Monday Bears: Listen to Plastic Beach

I'm not going to lie and tell you I listen to NPR everyday, or ever, for that matter, but every once in a while they offer a gem of an album to listen to in their entirety. Earlier today, NPR gave online listeners a chance to hear Gorillaz' very, very anticipated album Plastic Beach for the first time, outside of singles "Stylo" and "Superfast Jellyfish."

Very quickly, Plastic Beach, thanks to a lot of help from other artists like Snoop Dogg and Bobby Womack, is becoming 2010's first must-listen to album. Expect to hear more from the "group" in the near future, as well as coverage of their should-be awe inspiring performance at Coachella in April.

Listen to the whole album here.

Plastic Beach is scheduled for release March 9 in the U.S. via Virgin Records.

Tuesday Bears: Return of the Bear .... Coachella Lineup Announced

Sorry for the overwhelming delay - with the computer going to Hell and moving around, I had to delay Bears and Bullets for the numbing two weeks. Thankfully, everything has been put back an order and I'm ready to return to the daily routine.

Indio, California's annual Coachella festival lineup has been announced, with with top-heavy oft-rumored acts Jay-Z, Pavement, Muse, Thom Yorke (solo), and Gorillaz headlining among others. The new poster (seen above) lists Yorke next to "????," which would incline to be special guests? A new backing band? We'll see.

Full Lineup:

FRIDAY APRIL 16: Jay-Z, LCD Soundsystem, Them Crooked Vultures, Vampire Weekend, Deadmau5, Public Image Limited, The Specials, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Echo and the Bunnymen, Benny Benassi, Fever Ray, Grace Jones, She & Him, Erol Alkan, The Avett Brothers, Calle 13, The Whitest Boy Alive, The Cribs, La Roux, Yeasayer, Lucero, DJ Lance Rock, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Proxy, Ra Ra Riot, Deer Tick, Wolfgang Gartner, Aeroplane, Iglu & Hartly, Sleigh Bells, P.O.S., Baroness, Hockey, Little Dragon, White Rabbits, Wale, Kate Miller-Heidke, As Tall as Lions, Jets Overhead, Alana Grace, Pablo Hassan.

SATURDAY, APRIL 17: Muse, Faith No More, Tiësto, MGMT, David Guetta, The Dead Weather, Hot Chip, Devo, Coheed and Cambria, Kaskade, 2Many DJ's, Major Lazer, Dirty Projectors, Gossip, Z-Trip, The xx, John Waters, Les Claypool, The Raveonettes, Mew, Sia, Camera Obscura, Tokyo Police Club, Porcupine Tree, Old Crow Medicine Show, Aterciopalados, Bassnectar, Frightened Rabbit, Dirty South, Flying Lotus, Corinne Bailey Rae, Pretty Lights, Shooter Jennings, RX Bandits, The Almighty Defenders, Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros, Craze & Klever, Zoe, The Temper Trap, Portugal. The Man, Band of Skulls, Girls, Beach House, Steel Train, Frank Turner.

SUNDAY, APRIL 18: Gorillaz, Pavement, Thom Yorke????, Phoenix, Orbital, Spoon, Sly and the Family Stone, De La Soul, Julian Casablancas, Plastikman, Gary Numan, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sunny Day Real Estate, Yo La Tengo, MUTEMATH, Deerhunter, Infected Mushroom, Club 75, Matt & Kim, The Big Pink, Gil Scott-Heron, King Khan and the Shrines, Florence and the Machine, Yann Tiersen, Little Boots, Miike Snow, Talvin Singh, Ceu, B.o.B., Babasonicos, Owen Pallett, The Glitch Mob, Mayer Hawthorne, Local Natives, Rusko, The Middle East, Hadouken!, The Soft Pack, Kevin Devine, Paparazzi, Delphic, One EskimO.

Ticket's for the April 16-18 event officially go on sale Friday, January 22. For more details, head over to the Coachella Website.

Monday; Phoenix, Dark Was the Night, Gorillaz, and more.

Phoenix made good on the recent release of their criminally intriguing album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (don't let the poor title fool you) by performing their singles "1901" and "Lisztomania" on Saturday Night Live last weekend with host Seth Rogen, making Phoenix the least known band to ever make an SNL appearance, narrowly edging out Fleet Foxes.

Phoenix - Lisztomania


Phoenix - 1901


I've spoken several times about the charity album Dark Was the Night - created by the National's Aaron and Bryce Dessner - before. Pop Tarts Suck Toasted (which is working again) has a video of the founders performing "So Far Around the Bend" with a little insight to the album itself. All of which somehow mysteriously alluded me until now.

The National - So Far Around the Bend


Pitchfork has led me to a Gorillaz documentary directed by Ceri Levy entitled Bananaz, and this crazy cool trailer. The documentary can be seen on Babelgum April 20. For those whose interests include comics, monkeys, Blur, fast-editing, light shows, and schizoid jubilation, watch the trailer here.

Sorry, but my computer might implode if I put too much on here today, so I'll just round out what's left. Here's the Bumbershoot line-up and some downloads. Enjoy.