Posted today, a video showing the making of the new MGMT video (pronounced M-G-M-T) for their single “Electric Feel”. Check it out if you’re a fan. These guys are playing along with Beck in September at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. Get your tickets fast, two shows are already sold out. I’ll be there.

Happy belated birthday Sir Paul McCartney. Born June 18, 1942, Paul is now 66 years old and still rockin’. McCartney and Ringo Star are the only half of the ultimate group still alive. George Harrison passed away back in 2001. Both Ringo and Paul still tour and release their own music. McCartney’s latest album, Memory Almost Full, was released last year. It was nominated for 3 Grammys and has gone platinum. If you’ve never really looked into his solo stuff, definitely check it out. It’s actually really good.

My favorite Beatles song at the moment: “Im Down”. The song was a B-side on the single “Help!” in 1965. Many critics have called it “the groups grittiest song in the whole catalogue” - some saying it is a rewrite of Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally”. You be the judge. There’s some great video footage here from tours in the 60’s.

Beatles are it. Do you hear that organ?

“The Ting Tings kiss Steve Jobs’ feet”. The fate has fallen upon so many recent artists to be featured in Apple’s iPod commercials. The ads are normally no longer than 30 second spots, showcasing the usual silhouetted people dancing happily in a world of colors. Fiest’s “1 2 3 4″, Yael Naim’s “New Soul”, Paul McCartney’s “Dance Tonight”, CSS “Music is my Hot, Hot Sex”, and most recently The Ting Tings and Coldplay join the list.

The Ting Tings are English duo pop band formed back 2006 with a debut album that dropped last week on Sony called ‘We Started Nothing’. The track featured in the iPod commercial is “Shut Up and Let Me Go”. Although some other quality mentions definitely include “Great DJ” and “That’s Not My Name” (all singles). The track used in the iPod commercial is more than catchy. It avoids sounding like something along the lines of The Cardigans, late-1990’s pop, by throwing in the vocal breaks and repetitive chants.

Calvin Harris did a rockin remix of Great DJ, his most recent remix. Music, videos and remixes below:

The Ting Tings - Shut Up and Let Me Go
The Ting Tings - Great DJ (Calvin Harris Remix)
‘Great DJ’ music video (I guess Sony disabled embedding)

Been listening to a lot of music over break and I’ve narrowed it down to five bands to watch out for this year. I’m aware it’s already the end of March, but come fall I think these artists will be big(ger).

1. Santogold

Singer, songwriter, producer and solo artist Santogold was recently recommended to me a couple weeks back. From Brooklyn, her first single ‘L.E.S. Artistes‘ was released this month (March) and her self-titled full length debut drops next month. The single sounds a lot like The Gossip or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs if it were done by MIA. But I could be miscalculating that description, just check it out for yourself. There’s been a lot of remixes showing up of her upcoming release.

Listen: L.E.S. Artistes
Video:

2. Poney Poney

‘By The Numbers‘ made the rounds last year on the blogs, probably more because the single was produced by Justice, rather than because of the group. It was one of my favorite songs last year. A couple weeks ago the French trio dropped their newest single ‘Cross the Fader‘ and ever since I’ve been obsessed with it. Welcome back rock music with energy. It still blows my mind the group isn’t properly signed. Soon though, very soon, Poney Poney will explode. (I hope).

Highly Highly Recommended: Cross the Fader
Highly Recommended: By the Numbers

3. Frankpollis

Also from Brooklyn, Frankpollis just released an EP a few days ago. I’ve been listening to it on Myspace and I’ve been really digging it. Frankpollis is a young band made up of brothers James and Jackson Pollis, John Paul Frank, and Malcolm Perkins. The group’s original claim to fame was having popular NYC club kid, Jackson Pollis as their dummer, but Frankpollis is no longer that. Making positive headlines in Spin, QRO Magazine, and blogs across the net, the group has grown to be respected for the large portion of “rock nostalgia” being served up. Check out the entire EP on their myspace, 1 listen through.

Read: SPIN.com Article, “Anton Newcombe Crashes NYC Band’s Club Gig”
Listen: FRANKPOLLIS MYSPACE

4. DVAS

Hailing from Canada’s club scene, Dvas is the best true club music I’ve heard in a long time - yea, better than Justice. Dietzche V. and the Abominable Snowman (aka DVAS), released Macho 2003-2007 late last year but it’s been getting a lot of buzz recently. ‘Forever’ has become a favorite of mine, but the duo’s newest remix of Faunts has been bloggin all over. Watch for these guys to become even bigger this year. The US iTunes store has their album, check it out.

Myspace Here
Highly Highly Highly Recommended: Forever
Highly Highly Recommended: Ambient Room

5. MGMT

Probably the band on this list you might have already heard of, MGMT (Management) made waves late last year with their electronic-rock goodness. The group’s debut album ‘Oracular Spectacular‘ dropped in October last year with positive reviews. Their single ‘Time To Pretend‘ gives the listener an instant idea of Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden’s sound. Rolling Stone named MGMT an artist to watch in 2008 and the group took 9th in the BBC’s ‘Sound of ‘08′ poll. Listening to MGMT can possibly take you to higher places. MGMT is ALSO from Brooklyn. The group is signed with Columbia records.

This is our decision to live fast and die young.
/We’ve got the vision, now let’s have some fun.
/Yeah it’s overwhelming, but what else can we do?
/Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute?

Official Site
Myspace Here
Listen now: Time To Pretend (Video Below)
Listen now: Kids
Watch: “Time to Pretend” (Sorry they disabled embedding).

The Australian music scene is maxxed out with electronica. With Cut Copy’s sophomore release imminent, Midnight Juggernauts planning their debut for later this year, and now Van She publicizing ‘Cat & the Eye‘, get ready for Australia to beat France in this blogowar. ‘Cat & the Eye’ was posted on Van She’s website last year, but it’s finally out in physical form now. No information on a US release, but I am sure it will either be on iTunes or easily found on the internet.

Imo, Van She produced one of the best songs of the past couple years, ‘Kelly‘ back in 2005. I still listen to it a couple times a week. If your ready for the coolest thing ever, check below.

Be sure to listen to their new single too, although I don’t think they’ll ever top Kelly.

Van She - Cat And The Eye
Van She - Kelly

This video is awesome - official Kelly video:

After the craziness of ‘1234′ Feist plans to rock the airwaves again with her new single ‘I Feel It All’. The video for ‘1234′ caught alot of attention for its unique colors, choreography, and its simplistic one-take approach. Apple also helped launch the success of ‘1234′ with their commercial for the release of the new ipod nano.

Now Feist just released the video for ‘I Feel It All’ with a similar feel and one-take approach, working with the same director Patrick Daughters.

Check it out.
(When is YoutTube going to upgrade their quality?)