Off Beat: Ukrainians love Katy Perry

Welcome to the world premiere of our Off Beat series, which focuses on absurd, bizarre, and downright funny music-related videos.

To kick things off, enjoy the Ukrainian band Los Colorados as the play Katy Perry the way her music was meant to be played: by a band consisting of an accordion, acoustic guitar, string bass, bass drum/tambourine combo, and four young men who have no clue what the heck they're singing about.

My Video of the Week: Mike$ha

Sherwood's keyboardist parodies Ke$ha=majestic

Im not even gonna try to explain this video, frankly I am still in shock from it. Just sit back, and enjoy

Top 25 Albums of the 2000's

In honor of the end of a decade, here's a look at my Top 25 Albums of the 2000's. My scope is limited primarily to pop, punk, rock and the spaces between. Click play to begin!

Update: Relient K confirms tour with Paramore this spring

Paramore takes on spring tour with Relient K and Fun by their side

With Relientk.com set as my homepage, they have finally confirmed that they will be joining Paramore for a spring tour. Tickets for this event are running a bit more expensive than your average Relient K concert, but probably a bit less for your average Paramore concert. They are going for around $30 dollars it seems like, which considering the show, that seems like the perfect price to me.

The band Fun will be joining the tour. While they are a relatively new band, they have been getting a lot of good reviews and have recently received an Independent Music Award. Definitely check out their website, they seem like a fun up beat band, and I expect we will hear more about them soon.

My Music Video of the Week: "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne

Many music videos are useless or unnecessary. But there are also the music videos that define their song. This is an example of the latter.

I was reintroduced to this gem of a song last week while I was playing Guitar Hero: Van Halen. In addition to the multitude of obligatory Van Halen stuff (which was an excellent collection of their work, I might add), these themed Guitar Hero games typically feature a mix of additional artists. Some of these are supposed influences to the title band, others may be descendants with a similar sound and artistic style. I do not feel that Fountains of Wayne are either of these, but I'm not going to complain about their inclusion in the game. Not with this song.

This is definitely one of those songs that stands to be enhanced by a good music video. There are many, many music videos out there these days that are little more than various action shots of the band rocking out to the featured song ("Let's stick them in a cool room, on a rooftop, or in an abandoned house! Then What? Special effects, that's what! Perfection!"). This is a waste of the potential and purpose of a music video, and whether or not this can be taken as a reflection on the quality of the song's contents is a matter for an entirely separate debate. But on rare occasions a song provides the band with the source material necessary to accomplish something truly worthwhile.

The results for this particular video are hilarious which, while predictable, should still be commended for the successful interpretation and execution. I especially enjoy the perverted masseuse, the exploding pop bottle, and the highly controversial and somewhat unclear conclusion.

See Also: An interesting interview with the band from 2004. I especially appreciate the acknowledgment by the band that a great music video can launch a song.

Relient K rumored to be touring with Paramore in 2010

Paramore joining forces with Relient K

Twitter seems to have a love-hate relationship with pop culture. People either love it or find it repulsive and don't understand it. I for one am an advocate of Twitter for one main reason; it allows me to get the inside scoop on what bands and artists are up to. It is straight from the band's mouth, and allows you to hear from members not often heard from like the drummers, or bass players.

Relient K recently posted "Looks like we're touring with Paramore this year. We win!"
This post had only been retweeted 100 times on Twitter, which is relatively low, and yet it was still picked up by fans all over the country and even music websites such as Absolutepunk.net.

Now sometimes it's difficult to sort out rumors and truth, but its hard to think this is just a rumor when the drummer from Relient K, Ethan Luck, tweets to the lead singer of Paramore(Hayley Williams) saying, "@yelyahwilliams stoked to tour with your guys this year."

Along with the large fan base following both bands, I will be awaiting the official word from either camps confirming that this tour is in fact happening. Having seen Relient K five times in concert and seeing how impressive their live show is, I am very interested to see how Paramore performs. Overall I find with a headliner like Paramore, who has been reported of giving one hell of an energetic show, along with such melodic harmonies with dashes of humor from Relient K I am seeing possibilities for one of the best concert going experiences of the year.

My Music Video of the Week: "Her Words Destroyed My Planet" by Motion City Soundtrack

Motion City Soundtrack band members terrorize, then dominate a grade school science fair.

Remember those science fairs in school? The ones where you'd make vinegar and baking soda volcanoes and an accompanying tri-fold in the hopes of winning a prize ribbon? Well, just be thankful that you didn't grow up in the same community as the guys from Motion City Soundtrack. This music video of the song "Her Words Destroyed My Planet" off of their recently released album, My Dinosaur Life, has a lot going on. There is a gymnasium invasion, a variety of over the top science projects (including my favorite, the "Theory of Everything"), and even a little surprise in the final 30 seconds or so.

As a band, Motion City Sound Track is somewhat of an acquired taste. Featuring punk-pop guitars, some synth elements, and a healthy dose of pop culture references, their style is very eclectic. Still, I have heard mostly good things about this latest album (Produced by Mark Hoppus). And having seen them put on a good show live, I have a good amount of personal respect for them. I always respect a band or artist that can perform well live. You know, as opposed to this.