Three Videos Worth Sitting Through: Beth Ditto, Cut Copy & The Sound Of Arrows

Occasionally I get so bogged down with the busy task of watching old Beavis And Butt-Head episodes that time slips away and I completely forget to put up a few music videos that are actually catching my fancy at the moment. Here are some from the past week or so...

Of all the pop queens currently lifting from old-school Madonna—her melodies, her outfits, her brazen sexuality (yes, we're look at you, Eminem)—no one does it better than Beth Ditto in her "Justify My Love" homage clip for "I Wrote The Book." Hooking up with Simian Mobile Disco for her electro EP called, uh, EP (out March 8 on Deconstruction) is the best thing she's done so far.



I caught Robyn live on Friday night, and the next gig on my schedule is Cut Copy. I listened to the Aussie dance trio's last two albums when I wrote a script while between jobs two years ago (any producers looking to make a modestly-budgeted indie movie out there?), and their new one Zonoscope has soundtracked my past month or so. Here's "Need You Now," which kind of sounds to me like Echo & The Bunnymen's "Bring On The Dancing Horses."



I've been smitten with The Sound Of Arrows since I reviewed "Into The Clouds" back in 2009 over on the Pop Trash Addicts Pop Panel. Here in the States, the Swedish duo's Danger! EP is available on iTunes (though it doesn't contain anything nearly as good as "Into The Clouds"). And today PopJustice put up their video for new single "Nova," which is out in the UK on April 25.

It's Cut Copy's 'Zonoscope' Album Cover

Very excited about the release of Cut Copy's third album Zonoscope. It's out February 4, 2011 in Australia, February 7 (my birthday!) in the UK and February 8 here in the States. Their first two albums were literally the soundtrack to my 2008 and 2009.

"We certainly are using all sorts of electronic instruments, more synthesizers, computers, all of that, but contrasted with more organic sounds, more organic percussion," Cut Copy's Tim Hoey told the site.

Spin posted a short behind-the-scenes documentary on the band recording the album in Melbourne. There's also more info about the album cover art.