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When we ran Aimee Mann’s video for “Freeway,” we mentioned she was to be admired for not hitting the “hammy guy and girl” as they did various dances and etc., behind her while she tried to perform the song. In the Bobcat Goldthwait-directed (!) video for aforementioned Magnolia-core anthem “31 Today” there’s a similar setup and Mann shows even more restraint. So far she’s leaving the outbursts of profanity to the title of her new album, @#%&! Smilers. Also, that’s not Frank Zappa with her in the picture. It’s Morgan Murphy, a comedian friend of Mann’s. She played the Hanukkah Fairy at the Christmas Shows. Here she throws Aimee a very special birthday party.

A little while ago we saw and heard “Three Women,” the brassy lead track from Stereolab’s forthcoming Chemical Chords. The band’s getting ready to hit the road — Synch festival in Greece this weekend — and included the track in a set they played last night. It was their first live show in over two years, a “secret warm-up” that took place at the Windmill, Brixton in the UK for 100 fans, who found out about it via the band’s mailing list. We weren’t there, but Annette Lee was, and she snapped some photos while someone scribbled down the set list, a mix of old favorites and Chemical Chords material.

One day Lindsay and Scott will arm wrestle to settle their ongoing Who Is The Bigger Mr. Show Nutcase feud they didn’t know they were in until just now. Until they go over the top, though, one point goes to Lindsay for not only posting Rogue Wave’s video for the previously loved “Chicago X 12″ — which features Bob Odenkirk as a clueless director — but also for spotting the trend and appending more music videos starring Bob and/or Dave as clueless directors. This includes the likes of YLT’s “Sugarcube” and Superchunk’s “Watery Hands” (but disqualifies the New Pornos’ “Use It” and the Strokes’ “Juicebox“). In the Rogue Wave clip, Bob is a misheard lyric specialist with a predilection for The Karate Kid. Not sure there’s more you need to hear than that. Go watch at Videogum, it’s a cute clip and a fun video spread. I saw the shit out of it!

André Allen Anjos’s Remix Artist Collective came on our radar last spring with some inspired Bloc Party and Tokyo Police Club remixes. We’ve kept an ear on the 23-year-old Portuguese artist ever since, and late last year cooked up with André the idea of compiling previously unreleased remixes to celebrate RAC’s first year. Today we bring you that mix, titled Stereogum Presents… RAC Vol. 1, as a free 9-track MP3 download and embeddable flash player. Here’s the tracklist:

1. Bloc Party - Helicopter (Intro)
2. Bloc Party - Hunting For Witches (RAC Mix) (extended)
3. Au Revoir Simone - Sad Song (RAC Mix)
4. Tokyo Police Club - Nature Of The Experiment (RAC Mix)
5. Ra Ra Riot - Manner To Act (RAC Mix)
6. Robbers On High Street - Across Your Knee (RAC Mix)
7. You Say Party! We Say Die! - Like I Give A Care (RAC Mix)
8. Femme Generation - Orlando Boom (RAC Mix)
9. Chromeo - Fancy Footwork (RAC Mix)

Two of those have appeared online before, but they’ve been extended and changed. The rest are new to you. André’s remixes are not meant for clubs, but that doesn’t mean you can’t dance to them.

Alternate post title: Have You Driven A Ford While Listening To Santogold Lately? You know where this is going. There’s been Buds and there’s been Chucks, but now Santogold’s throwing tunes to Ford. Which might sound shocking for a second, until you realize that now Santogold can buy herself some food. And food’s great, don’t lie. People should eat, at least that’s my position. Anyway Eliza tipped us off after noticing a dab of “L.E.S. Artistes” in the new spot for the Ford Flex, and Eliza has very good ears: Ford’s ad is soundtracked with the “L.E.S.” Squeak E. Clean remix. Check it.

We’ve posted a couple of original tracks by Asthmatic Kitty trio Cryptacize, as well as their cover of Steely Dan’s “Peg” (for which, they were taken down a few pegs in the comments). That said, the smartest way for a young (or old) band to get their name out there is to have a band with a “bigger” name review you. Ask Daniel Johnston. Or, maybe ask the Meat Puppets (actually, we did) or Vaselines. Sufjan isn’t of Nirvana proportions, and we have to take into consideration that he’s writing about his label mates on his label site, but no doubt his positive thoughts on Crypaticize’s debut will do good things for Chris, Michael, and Nedelle. It’s also good writing. On top of that, he takes a swipe at Vampire Weekend. Yes, it’s got it all. The title: “Cryptacize is ALIVE! Decipher that code, yo!” The highlights:

hey hey! right after work i walked across the street to the hollywood/highland courtyard to catch santogold doing her first los angeles performance - she played like eight tracks and was simply incredible in person - she was just featured here on popbytes last week on my ‘monday .mp3′ column - it was so neat to see her just a few days later live in person! you must pick up her debut self-titled album (which already landed a secure spot in my best albums of ‘08 list) it’s my new obsession along with lady gaga - check out some of my pics below along w/ a video i shot of santogold performing her hit single l.e.s. artistes - the audio came out pretty decent! popbytes over & out for tonight…xxoo

Broken Social Scene may have decided to Present… Brendan Canning’s Something For All Of Us… a few weeks early due to leak issues (buy here, free MP3 here), but fellow BSS founder Kevin Drew isn’t ready to let you forget about his own ellipses-loving solo venture Spirit If… just yet. This new video for “Safety Bricks” has KD making like Dylan with a notebook for a quick minute, then shifts into a hand-in-hand stroll with some children in an out of the way village, strumming through dust storms, saluting the sun on a bluff. There are lots of bright smiles, hugs, and heartwarming moments to accompany the tune’s bitter, sweet shuffle. OK, you win, KD: We won’t forget about your album just yet. And if you’re gonna put this much heart into your clips, we don’t mind you stretching out the Spirit If… parade as long as you want.

New Walkmen album on the way, everybody. We got our last listen of new stuff from Ham & Co. a year ago with the one off “Lemon Hill,” but don’t look to that tipsy instrumental as a sign of what they have in store for You & Me (remember they said it wasn’t “exactly in line with the other stuff we are doing now”). Instead, the press release sets our expectations with references to Elvis, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Randy Newman, the Modern Lovers, and their beloved Pogues. The band invited John Agnello (The Hold Steady’s Boys & Girls… and Stay Positive) and Chris Zane to engineer, and recorded it in two studios: Sweet Tea in Oxford, MS (of Bows + Arrows fame) and NYC’s Gigantic. No sounds to sample just yet, but here’s a tracklist so you can begin imagining:

We recently posted the heavy, dark, fragile “In Moonlight” from Mount Eerie’s new, self-described quest for “Black Wooden” music, the Black Wooden Ceiling Opening EP. A few days later it showed up as the opening track on our quest for “BBQ” music, the Memorialized ‘08 mix. Today, Elverum on the brain, we spotted a stripped down, clipped live version of “In Moonlight,” along with other footage from Phil’s current tour. He’s been in Poland from the 31st until today. Tomorrow you’ll find him in Belgium and then France, etc. The videos come from 5/31 in Gdańsk and 6/3 in Katowice. Both of those places are in Poland, per the above headline. The space where he performs in Gdańsk seems especially conducive to the atmosphere of your typical Elverum track — all very understated, but all very beautiful.