Video Of The Week: Die Antwoord

Die Antwoord were never my cup of tea, really. And this time, the South African zef superstars went electro-pop with Ugly Boy, a ''shocking'' subject matter of a girl not falling for the pretty guy, shock-full of hits in the face, blood spilling, blood-like paint on walls, celebrity cameos, an Aphex Twin sample, and what the internet knee-jerk reactors were quick to assume was blackface.

So let's start with that, the Richard D. James masks, from the Windowlicker video, in which some were white, some were black. It wasn't blackface, it was the opposite: it was face-face. Everyone had Aphex Twin's face, except the ''super RDJ mask'' with the teeth. Die Antwoord's video just has that mask. As far as I can tell.

As for cameos, Jack Black in scar tissue is a sight, as is Dita Von Teese in her daily clothing. Marilyn Manson was himself, probably because he went with the ''ugly guy'' shtick in 1994. I'm not entirely sure why Flea's in there doing contemporary dance, but ok. Cara Delevingne is the model with the facepaint; she's starting a career as an actress, too, so expect to see a lot of her in the next 3 to 5 years. Cypress Hill's DJ Muggs is in there too. Perhaps under the RDJ mask.

Let's talk about the music itself. The sounds are centered around Aphex Twin's Ageispolis, and the lyrics borrow as much from Roy Orbison (''anything you want, you got it / anything you need, you got it / anything at all, you got it'') to Sade (''this is no ordinary love'') to Deez Nuts (''unfuckwithable'') to Mick Smiley (''I believe it's magic! magic!'')  to film titles (''There Will Be Blood'').

But we're in postmodern times, they're a post-racial act, playing post-rave pop for post-adolescent young folks who will never know what it's like to go to a post office.

As the boys in Sloan used to say: ''If we feels good, do it / even if you shouldn't''.

As for the subject matter of giving love to someone others are repelled by, it's been tackled by Christina Aguilera this decade (in Beautiful, among others), TLC the one before that, and Smashing Pumpkins (most songs, but Ugly is the most obvious example) and Pearl Jam (''so I'll just lie alone and wait for the dream / where I'm not ugly and you're looking at me'') in the 1990s. Probably some in the 70s and 80s, too.

Every decade needs to bring that point home, but to glorify purposely looking ugly, Manson seemed to put a lot more thought into it 20 years ago, personifying the essence of what it meant, not just in his appearance but his entire art, and almost every quote given in the media as well.

And Now For Something Completely Safe (For Children)

A lot drove the internets crazy this weekend, and it didn't let up when the week started.

After numerous online and regular-life talking about it, I'm too drenched to even attempt to write about the Woody Allen rape thing (did he do it? did he not?), except to say this: we don't know, and there are no facts proving nor disproving. It's more moral to believe the victim than the accused, which is why we have courtrooms and legal systems, but people's opinions on this matter are just a reflection of their own prejudices. I'm trying not to have any. So I'm taking a rain check on this one.

I will, however, go ''light'' and talk about the Super Bowl halftime show, starring Bruno Mars and featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers, doing the opposite of lip-synching - instrument-synching:

Flea explained today that having live bands play is too much of an intangible for the NFL (unlike, say, a quarterback sack that would concuss a player and have him removed from the game, obliterating his team's chances of winning, or a half-hour power outage), so they use play-back for the instruments and only go live with the vocals - and the Chili Peppers deliberately chose not to pretend to plug in out of respect for their fans.

But playing with - and second fiddle to - Bruno Mars was ok with their fans?

The NFL should wise up and learn from this, and have bands go live. Or just go all-out theater and run scenes from Macbeth or re-enact Al Panico's speech from Any Given Sunday. Or just show more fucking ads, it's what most people are tuning in to see anyway.

Video Of The Week: Atoms For Peace

The name of the group may ring a bell: it's from a song off Thom Yorke's solo album.

That name may ring a bell: he's the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for Radiohead.

That name may also ring a bell, as it's taken from a Talking Heads song title (off the oft-overlooked True Stories album).

So... who are Atoms For Peace? Well, first and foremost, they're Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano). Their first few gigs consisted of them playing his solo record, a cover or two, and a Radiohead b-side, then they stated incorporating new songs, until they had enough to make an album, Amok.

The band's center and sound engineer is none other than Radiohead's long-time producer Nigel Godrich (keyboards, synthesizers, guitars), and their backline is rounded up by Flea on bass (from the Red Hot Chili Peppers), mercenary drummer extraordinaire Joey Waronker (who has filled in for the regular drummers of Beck, R.E.M., Charlotte Martin, Smashing Pumpkins and The Vines, as well as being a one-time session drummer for Paul McCartney, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, P!nk, Norah Jones and many other past and present greats), as well as percussionist Mauro Refosco (from the band Forro In The Dark, and RHCP's tour percussionist).

You may call them a supergroup.

This song, Before Your Very Eyes, is their fourth single overall, and the third one from Amok - the first release was a stand-alone double-A-side consisting of Tamer Animals and Other Side. The video is reminiscent of Radiohead's Kid A-era videos, barely showing the musicians, mostly consisting of digitally-constructed landscapes blending water, mountains and buildings. Like the song, it's no longer ''original'' per se, but it's still pretty cool.