Just a little something to spice up your work week. Whereas people in most countries clap on beats 2 and 4 when listening to a song, German people clap on beats 1, 2, 3, and 4! This video offers some proof from popular German television shows (can you say kitsch?)…

The peerless You Tube surfer Vanessa Roanhorse has just drawn my attention to a new video from Venezuelan-American folk rock musician Devendra Banhart (whose website is super fun to play with). The song, Carmensita, is from his latest album, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon and the video stars none other that Natalie Portman . I’d be curious whether any Hindus find it offensive…

We just want to take this opportunity to commend Ray Tintori, a 24 year old director from Brooklyn, on his fabulous music video for the song “Time To Pretend” by MGMT. The video has been described as “a low-fi, epic, psychedelic 3D odyssey”. We prefer to catagorize it as “a neon explosion of carnal delight with a Lisa Frank and Lord of the Flies-meets-Dune aesthetic”. Since the video has been blocked from embedding you’ll have to click here to see it.

Ray Tintori also directed MGMT’s interactive music video Electric Feel which is similarly rad.

Ever had a day when you wake up to a pile of dirty dishes and a laundry basket begging for some love? Well, Craig at Wheezy Waiter (asthmatic since 1980) knows how rock those chores out!

According to his site, Craig used to be a waiter in downtown Chicago. He says,

I started a video blog in late May 2007 out of frustration with a job that barely paid the rent and didn’t involve any of my creative skills. It was originally going to be a blog about the trials and tribulations of the dining experience, from the point of view of both waiters and customers. It became a showcase for my own brand of absurd humor which occasionally includes dining subject matter.

Craig is also in the band Driftless Pony Club which has released such classics as “Inertia is a Bitch“. Fresh Cut hearts you Craig!

I love the art direction in this music video “Stand Right There” from Canadian singer Laura Peek. The director is Ante Kovac - Ante you rock! Buy The Album at www.justfriends.ca

Now that it’s finally starting to feel like summer, say goodbye to the cold with the unusual sound compilation Fare You Well - Songs After Winter which we discovered on the always wonderful MULE magazine blog. It’s the first album released by the brand new Reelfoot Library of Music and Sound, the sister establishment to Reelfoot Books. They plan to release tracks of rare, common, and previously unheard recordings 2-3 times a year. As the website states, they are always accepting donations of original songs and sound collages.

“Reelfoot Library of Music and Sound is interested in everything audible, even some things that aren’t. If you run across an unusual sound bite or hear something that makes you feel happy, send it to us. We will file it away in just the right place. Sing a song and give it to us. Read a poem into your dictaphone and let us have it. Contributors will receive an official Reelfoot Certificate of Participation and be a permanent addition to our mailing list. 2-3 times a year, you will receive a CD containing samples from our collection, curated by Chris Roberson - founder, director, conservator, and Minister of Visuals for both The Library and Reelfoot Books.”

There’s always been something fascinating about Björk, that not-quite-comprehensible Icelandic queen of electronica music.

For starters, she’s got an umlaut in her name. (How hot is that?) Secondly, she’s got some of the most psychedelic songs and music videos in the industry.

And still, Björk managed to raise the bar with the online release of her newest video, “Wanderlust,” which features an abstract storyline involving yaks and river gods. Oh yeah, and it’s also in 3-D.

Wired.com unveiled the video’s 3-D version yesterday as part of an exclusive release, complete with instructions on how to make your own 3-D glasses, and a substantial set of behind-the-scenes pics and videos.

For the 98 percent of us who don’t want to make 3-D glasses, there’s an equally stunning 2-D version of the video. Otherwise, if you have Quicktime, you have to watch the original version here.

Believe it or not, the only computer-generated footage is the river flow; according to Wired, everything else was filmed in front of a green screen using puppets and basic post-production.

It all reminds me of Spike Jonze’s film adaptation of “Where The Wild Things Are,” which is supposed to hit theaters in October 2009. Check out this leaked test footage to compare.

I think that’s enough abstract stuff for one day.

Dan Trueman is not your typical composer. As co-founder of the Princeton Laptop Orchestra, otherwise know as PLOrk, he designs orchestral music for a group of students on their computer-based meta-instruments. Each instrument consists of a laptop, a multi-channel hemispherical speaker, and a variety of control devices (keyboards, graphics tablets, sensors, etc.). The students in the ensemble act as performers, researchers, composers, and software developers. Listen to their debut performance here.

We heart Pitchfork. Their festival even served as the backdrop for one of our first videos, “Trash Talk”.

Now they’ve entered the web video world by launching Pitchfork.tv, which features a gamut of interviews, performances, and other random clips that cater to snarky Pitchforkians.

One bit of randomness involves a video series called “Pitchfork Central Casting.” Its tagline: “In fall of 2007, Pitchfork put out a call on Craigslist seeking fresh young talent to be the face of Pitchfork TV.”

The videos are hilarious sketches documentaries about the auditions, which are judged by two special Pitchfork execs. (The interviewers’ characters are brilliantly played by Les Savy Fav singer Tim Harrington and SNL veteran/chameleon Fred Armisen.)

Obviously, there’s more to Pitchfork.tv than comedy bits, and we’ll have to see how it holds up in comparison to its heavily trafficked text site. Plus, while good for viewers, the site isn’t yet serving any advertising.

So viewers, go enjoy what Pitchfork.tv has to offer, ad-free!!! (For now at least.)

This just in via Greg Kot, The Chicago Tribune’s Resident rock & roll critic, who had the scoop first:

Pitchfork Media, the Chicago-based indie music webzine and host of the Pitchfork Music Festival, will be launching a web music video site next month. Kot says that Pitchfork “is widely recognized as the most influential music destination on the Internet,” and we’re in no place to disagree with him.

The site, which is set to launch on April 7, will be located at Pitchfork.tv, and it will air “original mini-documentaries, secret rooftop and basement sessions, full concerts, exclusive interviews, and the most carefully curated selection of music videos online,” according to the Pitchfork site.

We will count down the days with bated breath.