OK Go–the treadmill people for those of you who haven’t been a fan since before their first real album and don’t have a personal check from the band’s merch guy that you never cashed because you thought it might be worth something some day, the way your uncle’s Beatles talcum powder is–has put out a new video.

You’ve probably heard about this video already, even if you what you heard wasn’t exactly about this video. Instead, you’ve probably read the argument that the label shouldn’t allow the video to be embedded because band would make more money if you watched the video on instead of here, and the counter-argument that people would only want to watch the video on YouTube if it became an embeddable, viral sensation in the first place.

That’s all old news, though, so let’s forget about it. Instead, let’s just watch the video. Because it is AMAZING. Even if you don’t accept the face-value whimsy, it’s fun to dissect it and figure out where there might be hidden cuts. I’m of the opinion that it doesn’t matter if there’s some video trickery, it’s still endlessly entertaining. The song is good, too.

Personally, I have no use for Lady Gaga. She doesn’t do my kind of music, and I find her costumes/productions to be nightmarish in a Guillermo del Toro horror movie way.  (You know, the kind with fantastic creatures.) But she’s been inspiring a lot of good stuff out there in TV land, so let’s take a look.

First, a performance of hers from her turn on SNL. This convinced me that, fine, there might actually be something under those weird bubble dresses. The good stuff kicks in around the two-minute mark.

Since it’s music video week, how’s about posting the video for Cobra Starship’s new song, “Good Girls Go Bad,” which features vocals by Leighton Meester. Sure, why not?

Okay, now I don’t watch Gossip Girl OR listen to Cobra Starship, so the analysis is all up to you. Is this fun and self-aware, or are they tools and poseurs?

Things to consider:

*The white (lensless?) glasses.
*All of Mr. Starship’s incessant pointing.
*Ms. Starship’s bionic silver eye.
*Ms. Meester’s vocal chops that don’t seem to be auto-tuned…until the end.
*The melody’s resemblance to Sean Kingston’s “” at the chorus.
*The fact that Kara DioGuardi had to help make a song that sounds like a Sean Kingston song.
*Rap breakdown.

Verdict?

Time to close out the week, and what better way to do that than with a terrifying music video made by Swedish hipsters.

This is a video for a band called Fever Ray, which is spearheaded by The Knife’s Karin Dreijer Andersson. The song is called “If I Had a Heart” and it is creepy as all get out. Making matters worse is the video by a guy named Andreas Nilsson which features a scene seemingly pulled from the aftermath of a zombie movie. It’s very artsy European avant-guard, with bizarre and haunting imagery to compliment the ominous music.

Not sure why I’m sharing this on the day before what is supposed to be a beautiful weekend — but there you have it.

I’m no Mac nerd, but this is pretty cool.

These British lasses (called The Mentalists) learned to cover Kids by MGMT only using apps for the iPhone and iPod touch.

For Conan’s final show on Late Night, he managed to get the White Stripes to come in and do an odd version of “We’re Going to Be Friends.” This time around, Meg isn’t .  Now she’s playing the guitar and providing surprisingly assured backing vocals.

Since today is Clip Day, I thought I’d share with you those Grammy performances I thought were awesome.

First, MIA performing with a bunch of dudes. Man, getting someone who is nine-plus-months-pregnant to jump around on stage like that is more suspenseful than an episode of 24.

Next, Radiohead. Radiohead is pretty much always awesome, but having a marching band doesn’t hurt.

Awful name, I know.

But Casiotone’s new single for “White Corrolla” (which I only know about because John posted it on his Facebook the other day) is a fun and breezy bit of electronic twee. I don’t really understand how the band operates — usually it’s just this one guy named Owen — but this song has a female singer.

Whatevs.  Let’s try not to overthink it, just enjoy it and watch the trippy animation.

We’re only one month into 2009 and I’ve already found two bands that I think deserved a spot on my year-end music list (that I posted on my much-neglected other blog). The first is Frightened Rabbit, which I wrote about the other day, and the other is a band with a name that is both glorious and damned to be embarrassing in a devastatingly short amount of time: Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head.

NPSH is basically a young party band that infuses their electronic dance rock with silly lyrics and an aggressively goofy attitude. Aggressively goofy?  Yes, aggressively goofy. See their video below for Sophisticated Side Ponytail.

There’s something I like about the fact that NPSH’s music, like their name, seem to be a kitschy, contemporary joke.  It probably won’t age well, but that’s not important.  The fact that they have enough balls to make music that probably won’t stand the test of time is something that I admire.

But, who knows? Maybe they’ll be the Dee-Lite of the late 2000s.

from on .

There’s something disheartening about falling in love with a band and then finding out — after the fact — that they were already on Grey’s Anatomy.

Last season.

But I really shouldn’t let that psych me out. After all, a good song is a good song and the fact that Grey’s Anatomy is a ridiculous show doesn’t negate the fact that the people who do the song licensing get it spot-on much of the time (that is, when they’re not spinning their wheels with piano-based teen songstresses).

Frightened Rabbit is a wonderful Scottish band that I’ve grown to love, literally, over the past four hours. Fronted by two brothers named Hutchison, the songs on their second album (The Midnight Organ Fight, released early last year) are lilting break-up anthems. Sample lyrics: “I am armed with the past, and the will, and a brick/ I might not want you back, but I want to kill him.”

The lyrics aren’t shy on four-letter words, but they’re clearly borne of frustration. Plus, it’s hard to get offended when you hear Scott Hutchison’s charming brogue. Maybe it’s just me, but I am completely helpless against a Scottish accent.

Here’s the video for one of the best (if not the very best) songs on the album, Heads Roll Off. It features adorable wee Scottish schoolchildren.

PS – This band sort of reminds me of Counting Crows, which makes me feel uncomfortable.  Like Adam Duritz and his cheeks and his white guy dreads are just masquerading as Scottish folk-rocksters. So now I’ve put that in your head so you can feel uncomfortable too. You’re welcome.