Verdict: Kids – MGMT v The Kooks/Weezer/Ben Lee

MGMT are no doubt extremely popular and remarkably catchy, and their single Kids is one of their best songs that I’ve heard to date. Apparently a lot of other people also seem to think so, because the Internet is flooded with covers of the song by several different artists, including The Kooks, Weezer (although they do break into Lady Gaga after about two minutes of awesome MGMT) and Ben Lee.

While MGMT’s version of Kids is still my favourite, The Kooks’ version comes in at a close second. What do you think? Leave a comment below.

(NB – The link official MGMT video on YouTube wouldn’t load, but I’ll try and fix the link soon.)

Artist Alert: She & Him

The dual profession of actress/singer has been tried and tested by numerous PYT’s over the years, some of whom have been stellar at both and some who just make me want to shoot myself (aka Miley Cyrus).

Thank God for Zooey Deschanel. The fairly-indie actress is now making very indie music as the “she” in She & Him, along with one of indie music’s favourite men – M. Ward. Only two albums old – aptly titled Volume One and Volume Two – and going strong, She & Him have a string of original songs as well as covers that are consistently excellent.

Volume One’s Why Do You Let Me Stay Here and Volume Two’s In The Sun and Thieves are some of my favourites by She & Him. Next on my wishlist: Zooey’s super talented husband Ben Gibbard (of The Postal Service and Death Cab For Cutie fame) collaborating with the duo. She & Him are so fantastic on their own; can you imagine how unbelievable they would be with the Gibbard’s magic touch?

Artist Alert: Vampire Weekend

Photo by Tim Soter

Although ‘Artist Alert’ isn’t quite the right category to fit Vampire Weekend into – seeing as they’re really famous – the band hasn’t been heard in India before and this seems to be the perfect time to feature them because, as I discovered recently, the good people at EMI India are releasing their second album Contra!

This post isn’t an album review for Contra – it’s a list of reasons why VW is, without a doubt, my favourite indie band.

1. They have the quirkiest lyrics yet don’t sound absolutely ridiculous while singing, “In December drinking Horchata, I’d look psychotic in a balaclava.”

2. They sing songs about things such as an Oxford Comma that are so legen-wait for it-dary that they’ve been played on How I Met Your Mother.

3. M79 (the first VW song I heard) is just an all-round happy song and makes the best use of violins I’ve heard recently.

4. Their latest video Giving Up The Gun is even funkier than the song is.

Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Christopher Tomson and Chris Baio met at Columbia University and started formed VW in 2006. Four years and two albums later, they show no signs of slowing down and continue to get better. Thank God for that.