There’s no denying the resounding influence of 1970s prog rock on Parisian electro-heads Justice (whom many have called the heirs to Daft Punk’s giant pyramid throne) and their much-anticipated second record, “Audio Video Disco,” which was released yesterday. 

The two videos below do well to match the enormity of these new tracks, particularly “Civilization,” which literally has glowing, stampeding space buffalo trying to dodge falling boulders as the world falls apart. Glad to know that somebody other than Kanye West wants to bring back what bands like Yes and King Crimson loved about music.

Watch:

So you may have heard that The Flaming Lips recently recorded a 24-hour song. Per Wayne Coyne’s promise of a Halloween release date, that song is now available for listening (assuming you are the lucky 999th listener) at flaminglipstwentyfourhoursong.com/. I can tell you right now that the first six or so minutes are pretty wobbling and eerie, and also that I intend to live-blog this thing, titled “7 Skies H3,” all Halloween workday long.

Check back throughout the day as I attempt to at least carve out a third or so of this thing. Feel free to tweet me your thoughts at @okmattcarney, and we can get a little discussion going.

Also, for those of great fortune looking to blow an extra $5,000 on a collector’s item, you can purchase — via PayPal — The Flaming Lips 24-Hour Song Skull™, which is encased in an ACTUAL HUMAN SKULL, thanks to the services of Oklahoma City’s own Skulls Unlimited. Wayne Coyne has assured the public that this is perfectly legal, and also pretty bizarre.

Also, Wayne recently told Pitchfork that the Lips have a laundry list of artists they’re currently either recording with (via email) or talking about recording with that includes Deerhoof, No Age (No Age!), Stars, Death Cab for Cutie, and Nick Cave (Nick Cave!). I think a No Age-Lips EP would absolutely just split my brains out all over the floor.

Anyhoo, live-blogging begins now:

9:40 a.m.: The track begins with a gentle keyboard and short-circuiting guitar ambling around an overhanging haze of synth aura, with little, muted drums plodding along behind.

10:39 a.m.: It was much of the same for the first hour, each instrument growing steadily louder in volume.

11:11 a.m.: Aaaand my Internet connection was interrupted. I am currently listener #1,000. Balls.

From here on out, it’s a pretty safe bet that a Justin Timberlake late-night appearance equates to another installment in the “History of Rap” series, which, as of last night, is now up to three. I think “Part I” will always remain the best just because: 

1. it was completely unexpected,
2. that two white guys slipped from Eminem’s “The Real Slim Shady” straight into Missy Elliot’s “Work It,” each with its little nonsense-isms, and
3. they capped it with the crowd spontaneously singing the chorus to Jay-Z’s love letter to New York.

De La Soul, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Young MC, House of Pain, Coolio, The Fugees, OutKast, Snoop, Kanye, Nicki Minaj and “H.O.R.” mainstays Beastie Boys all get the treatment here. Decide which one you like best:

Stereogum pointed out late Tuesday that a bunch of videos of mushy-gushy bedroom songwriter Christopher Owens of Girls performing songs both released and unheard showed up on the openingceremony.us blog this weekend.

“I wrote this song a coupla days ago, hadn’t played it for anybody yet,” he said before dedicating “Key to My Heart” to his girlfriend. The song (and several others here) didn’t appear on last year’s “Broken Dreams Club” EP, nor on this year’s fantastic “Father, Son, Holy Ghost,” suggesting he’s probably got a wealth of scribbled-in notebooks full of lyrics stashed away somewhere.

The filters on the video (it’s almost exclusively black-and-white, except for “Cold Again,” with splices of sepia color), Owens’ jean jacket and the folkie setup make these performances seem really timeless. Watch for yourself:

“Solitude”


“Mr. Blue”


“Saying I Love You”


“Nobody’s Business”


“Keys to My Heart”


“End of the World”


“Cold Again”


“Back to London”