Check It. She & Him on Conan [The Monday Download].

Although She & Him is one of those bands that's widely accepted as an exception to the actor-shouldn't-be-a-musician rule, I believe they're still pretty underrated for the most part. Yes, they do make great cute pop songs with a touch of vintage soul, but M. Ward does happen to be quite the amazing guitarist, and holy cow, Zooey Deschanel has an incredible voice that definitely doesn't get shown off enough, even in She & Him's music.

Need proof? The twosome's simple performance of Screamin Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You" on Conan last week is just breathtaking. Do yourself a favor and witness it below:

Told you.

And for some holiday fun, check out this behind-the-scenes video of She & Him playing with Conan himself.

-- Chau Tu

Check It. Mad Men pick up lines [The Monday Download].

The amazing Mad Men is set to return this Sunday, and it's kind of sad to think that we've gone without Don Draper and Peggy Olsen and Roger Sterling (swoon!) for so long. But it's time to refresh your memory and get back into that slick Madison Ave. world, which obviously leads to...pick-up lines!

This impressively long montage of Mad Men's most naughty moments (both intentional and unintentional) offers a great reminder of how far Peggy has grown and how hilarious the Sterling Cooper crew can be. I love seeing how things have changed so quickly over just three seasons. Raise those martinis (dry, of course), and get ready for another season!

Mad Men's season 4 premieres on Sunday at 10pm on AMC.

-- Chau Tu

Etc. TED Talks.

I first got introduced to TED by my friend Joel, who sent me a video of a brain scientist talking about her stroke, and how she lived through the experience knowing every single thing that was happening in her brain at that moment. In her words, "In the course of four hours, I watched my brain completely deteriorate in its ability to process all information." (And yep, that's her holding a real brain up there.) The talk was simple, personal and mind-blowingly (pun not intended) enlightening; the kind of lecture you wish you could get every day in school (but probably didn't/don't).

But now you've got TED. The non-profit began as a conference to bring together those in Technology, Entertainment and Design, and over the course of 25 years has featured speakers such as Bill Clinton, Jane Goodall, Richard Branson, Stephen Hawking, Steve Jobs, Moshe Safdie and John Hodgman, just to name drop to a few. Basically anybody who's done innovative work in those fields above has spoken for TED at their annual, nearly impossibly-to-get-into conferences--one of which is going on right now in Long Beach, and welcoming the likes of James Cameron, Andrew Bird, Valerie Plame Wilson and Bill Gates.

But don't feel left out. TED's motto is "Ideas worth spreading," and they stand by it by posting up intellectual and awe-inspiring videos every week. I've yet to be able to peruse all 500 currently on the site, but some of my favorites are J.J. Abrams, Dave Eggers and Malcolm Gladwell. Spend some time on the site, and you're sure to find something that touches you.

Time to get inspired, BEATs!

-- Chau Tu

Etc. Recapping the Super Bowl + commercials + a puppy bowl.

(cutest baby ever)

It's the Monday morning after the big game, and somehow you missed out--too busy going to noise-rock shows and watching British noir, right? Have no fear, because the BEAT's got the recap for you right here:

1. The underdog New Orleans Saints won, 31-17, thanks in the end to third quarter onside kick and an intercepted pass from the Indianapolis Colts' Peyton Manning. You'll be hearing a lot about 'Mardi Gras starting early this year' and the phrase 'Who Dat?' being uncomfortably used in formal arenas for the next couple of days.

2. And of course there were those really expensive commercials. You can hopefully watch all the worthy ones--including yes, one that includes David Letterman, Oprah and gasp! Jay Leno--if they don't get taken down from Videogum.

3. There was this, too. (SFW, but probably not SFYD..safe for your dignity).

Happy Monday!

-- Chau Tu

Photo credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Etc. Catch up with Lost.

Cue the eerie slow motion title screen: LOST IS BACK IN LESS THAN ONE WEEK. How have we gone so long without it? Without finding out what that white flash meant? Or who the hell Richard is? Whatever happened to the smoke monster? And goshdarnit, where is Vincent?

But soon, soon we will all finally know (hopefully). How best to prepare for the big return? Here's a recap:

Etc. The best of Conan O'Brien.

Unless you were living under a rock, you might have heard that Conan O'Brien is leaving the Tonight Show with his head (hair?) held high. My absolute adoration for this man and his comedy goes beyond words, so here's a compilation of best of moments from Conan's Late Night days that doesn't do him any justice (I was going to compile a bunch of videos myself, but alas, NBC has strict video-posting rules):



The People of Earth love you, Conan.

What's a favorite Conan moment of yours?

-- Chau Tu

Check It. Paper Birds [Guest Post].

We here at the BEAT realize that great writers must always appreciate other great writers. Today we feature a guest post by our talented colleague, Nairi Najarian.
Time. The chase for more hours, minutes, seconds in a day never ends. Never allows for satisfaction with what we've accomplished, always leaves us pining for just another moment. We are the White Rabbits, and Time, well, still the Crocodile. In this Wonderland, the caterpillar no longer asks of us "Who are you?", it is the Facebook who now beckons, "What's on your mind?" No more the mirror-images of Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum, than our Twitter twins calling for a re-tweet 140 characters long.

Nikon Festival's "A Day through your Lens" also wants a 140 out of you. A 140 second status update of your day. A live-action tweet. A minute and twenty to tell the world "What's happening." And the top prize for the winning lenscrafter? A cool $100,000. The Office's Rainn Wilson is a judge.

With the stunning "Paper Birds," finalists Shoushan Tavlian and David Falossi accomplish something the other films do not. Something even we, in our everyday, desperately wish to do.

Slow time down.

The daunting prospect of an assigned limit to the film is instantly forgotten upon hearing the first gorgeous aches of the piano. The world created is poignant with colors, music, places and a lovely girl existing in it all. Even when the viewer is transported into the cacophony of nameless streets, cars and pavement, the elegant thread with which our lovely girl bids us to follow is still trailing ever so delicately through the lens. The film auteurs weave us a patchwork of moments leading into moments. A fabric innocent of schedules, appointments and deadlines. A fabric of...time... equal to what we most revere in art, and that's timelessness.

Watch "Paper Birds" and other 140 intervals of time here, and don't forget to vote for your favorite.

-- Nairi Najarian
Nairi is writing amok over at Fête Cheese.

Check It. Julian Casablancas' "11th Dimension" video.

And I thought this song just couldn't get any better.

The shaggy-haired, won't-stop-wearing-his-leather-jacket frontman of the Strokes has, as we all know, gone solo, and though Julian Casablancas' debut album Phrazes for the Young left much to be desired, this first single absolutely rocks it. A banging synth, lyrics about frozen fireballs and Casablancas' trademark drone. And now! And now we have this amazing video. No words can describe it, my friends. Enjoy.



-- Chau Tu

Etc. Banshee Beat video.

As a now-regular commuter to the heart of Los Angeles, braving those packed freeways for a simple paycheck, I admit I have become immune to all the wonders this city's roadways hold. I am a born-and-bred Angeleno; these freeways have always been part of my blood and I appreciated them to a certain extent--the memories of trips to Orange County for delicious Asian food, the drives to college seeing downtown L.A.'s skyrises on the horizon. But commuting has ruined it all.

I discovered this video after my friend Greg posted it on his facebook, and let's just say that I've become nostalgic again. Eugene Cheung, the filmmaker (whom I know nothing about, sorry), writes in his description of the film that this traces his own commute to a job in L.A., and with Animal Collective as the soundtrack, this video just can't get more fitting. There is beauty in simpicity, my friends, and thankfully Cheung's video reminds us all of that. (And with the genius of using Google street view, ah!)

-- Chau Tu

Advance Notice. New Animal Collective.

We started the year with January's Merriweather Post Pavilion and now we can bookend 2009 with even more new tripped-out tunes from Animal Collective.

The new EP Fall Be Kind already leaked last week, but if you would like a physical copy, Domino is taking your pre-order for the December 14^th release now. Will it get to your house in time to wrap and give as a Christmas gift to the hipster in your life? Maybe. Otherwise, keep it for yourself, because you deserve it. Check-out the first track, “Graze,” below: