Soundtrack to Success

Until recently, simply being familiar with a track before it was featured in an Apple commercial signified astute musical knowledge. Now, the days when that precious indie cred was determined by your familiarity with soundtracks to PC alternatives are long gone. Instead, your favorite-band-that-no-one-has-heard-of is taking on a national ad campaign for a product that doesn't include a glowing macintosh. Here are just a few recent examples...

Foals join the Entourage

Foals released Total Life Forever in May, and it wasn't long before HBO attached the album's first single "Spanish Sahara" to its Entourage previews. The eerie, melancholy track is strikingly similar to The Antler's "Wake." It gets a slow, somber start before surging toward a powerful bridge. Set against the hazy Los Angeles skyline, the boys brood as the song progresses. I'm no Entourage fan, but perhaps Adrian Grenier has a more ominous season ahead of him?

Check out the full track: Foals - "Spanish Sahara"

"Home" is wherever Edward Sharpe is playing

Alex Ebert's latest project, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, is a drastic departure from Ima Robot. This carefree group of psychedelic folk rockers is reminiscent of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters--if you transported them to the 2000s and gave them all iPhones. "Home," the break-out track from their 2009 release Up from Below, is a feel-good single that could've debuted at the Monterey Pop Festival. You know, back in the late 1960s when your parents were free spirits damning the man. The carefree whistling, up-beat drums and whimsically romantic lyrics make this song irresistible. No wonder it's been ubiquitous to recent commercials...

The Ill-fated Microsoft Kin...

The Cyrus Preview...

and....The latest edition of the Palm ....

You can bet Steve Jobs is kicking himself for missing the opportunity to use "Home" in the commercial for the iPad OS4.

Check out the full track: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes - "Home"

Purple Rain

Summer is officially here (for those of you a bit shaky on 4th grade science, June 21st is the Summer Solstice), and there's no better time to add some color to your life. For a quick color fix, try a fun, flirty lavender nail polish. Flattering for every skin tone, this hue is perfect for those sunny summer days.

Try:

OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender, $8.o0

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

The United States plays its second game in the FIFA World Cup tomorrow against Slovenia. The game should be a walk in the park, considering the team's showing against its more formidable and football-crazed first opponent: England. Though Slovenia is roughly the size and population of Yankee Stadium during a World Series Game, the US needs to stay focused. After all, Clint "Patrick" Dempsey can't rely on another goalie's fumbling faux pas to tie the game.

The game starts at 4:00 p.m. in South Africa (aka 10:00 a.m. EST). So, be sure to wake up bright and early, don your best red, white and blue outfit and blast K'Naan's "Wavin' Flag."

Portions for Foxes

Jake Gyllenhaal sporting a Jenny Lewis hoodie? Best photo of the week!

Source via ONTD

Got 9 Minutes to Kill?

Lady Gaga's video for "Alejandro" debuted today, and it seems as though we've been transported back to "Like a Prayer" era Madonna.

I remember the days when music video premieres were a HUGE deal. Back when TRL monopolized my (and my middle school peers') afternoons. Back when Carson Daly was on air at 3:30 in the afternoon... those were simpler days. Days when Backstreet, Britney or whoever was the pop flavor-of-the-week would shut down Times Square for the Wade Robinson choreographed video to their latest single. But things have changed.

When music shifted to the digital sphere, it seemed like the mp3 killed the music video star. TRL counted its last vote over a year ago and MTV and VH1 play approximately 45 seconds of music each day (combined). But thanks to YouTube, the music video lives! And Lady Gaga uses it as a tool to build her hype machine.

"Alejandro" is your typical summer Top 40 fare. It's catchy. It tells a tale of unrequited love. It's perfect for any nightclub. As an avid follower of the club scene, Gaga knows how to craft a pop single. The song is reminiscent of the dance floor sensations of yesteryear, like Ace of Base or Abba (Is it coincidence that Gaga "[doesn't] want to kiss, [doesn't] want to touch Fernando?").

The video for the single, however, is a different story.

I love Gaga as much as the next pop music fan, but this video didn't live up to the hype. After pushing back the release multiple times, it sounded like the second coming of "Thriller." Instead, the video depicts Gaga's attempt to transform into a man that will please the titular Alejandro (Fernando or Roberto). This is all thrown together against some haphazard Christian symbols. Yes, "Alejandro" will raise a few eyebrows from the holy rollers, but visual blasphemy is so 1989. Lady Gaga is at her best playing a homicidal fashionista on parole, with Beyonce as her partner-in-crime (à la "Telephone").