As you may have heard, Erykah Badu has dropped a buzzy new music video for “Window Seat” from her new album New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh. Why the hype? In the five-minute clip — which is an homage to Matt and Kim’s “Lessons Learned” — the soul songstress strips down from a black overcoat into eventual full-frontal nudity.

But as quickly as it surfaced, the video was taken down from YouTube by Universal Music Group, and we were left feeling slightly pervy for craving more naked music videos. We’ve done the dirty work so that you don’t have to, and rounded up 10 of our all-time favorites after the jump. We’ve come a long way since Duran Duran’s “Girls on Film.”

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With a new album set to drop this week, Erykah Badu decided to celebrate by playing a “secret” show in NYC on Saturday night at the Hudson Hotel’s underground venue, Good Units. Of course, it was about as much of a secret as the opening of Hot Tub Time Machine, meaning the last-minute tickets sold extremely fast. Those who did manage to snag one were treated to a phenomenal show from the born performer, but not one that went off without its hitches.

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1. Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, partners in the Japanese architectural firm SANAA, have won the 2010 Pritzker Architecture Prize. Among their projects in the U.S. are New York’s New Museum and a glass pavilion for the Toledo Museum of Art. [via NYT]
2. It’s officially a hit: Broadway’s Next to Normal, which took home three Tony awards last year, has earned back its $4 million in invested capital. [via NYT]
3. Blossom (aka Mayim Bialik) has landed a role on The Big Bang Theory as a potential love interest for Sheldon. [via EW]
4. Mark your calendars: MGMT will be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live‘s April 24th episode. [via TwentyFourBit]
5. Is it “groupthink” to tell you that you must watch Erykah Badu strip in her new music video, “Window Seat”? [via Vulture]

Bonus link: Why we’re glad President Obama is not our editor

When fallen Roc-A-Fella records CEO, Damon Dash, reinvented himself as a DIY show thrower/art gallery debutant this past year, Gothamist wondered, “Is Damon Dash Today’s Andy Warhol?” He has his own “factory” in Tribeca, the self-titled Dash Gallery. Instead of welcoming Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, and Mick Jagger, he’s had Mos Def, the Cool Kids, and Swizz Beatz. And, last night, rather than Edie Sedgwick, Dash had a (very loosely) comparative female by his side, Erykah Badu, who co-hosted the gallery’s reception party for its newest exhibition, The Voice That Arms Itself To Be Heard. Many of the pieces by artist Kyle Goen were, incidentally, made through Warhol-favored screen printing, too. But Andy Warhol, Dash is not.

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Today at Flavorpill, we learned how to bust ghosts. We found it funny that Thom Yorke’s avoiding Peter Gabriel. We met the next Coppola director: Sophia’s niece Gia. We got a little mushy over the top 10 tragic love stories in geek fiction. We drooled over the opening sequence of Up in the Air. We wanted to tweet for Obama. We were surprised to read that Google may remove Buzz. We enjoyed a brief history of pretty much everything, as a flipbook animation. We enjoyed this A.V. Club post about the cultural treasures they’ve fallen out of love with over the years. (We’d like to guiltily nominate Michael Cera.) And finally, we freaked out over this new video from Badu and Weezy.

Have a great holiday weekend; we’ll see you back here on Tuesday!

Image via Girls in Trees.

Who said indie-rock can’t have soul? Solange Knowles has been known to run with a different part of Brooklyn than her sister, and with this latest, it has paid off. Solange takes the Dirty Projector’s Angel Deradoorian to task with her cover of Bitte Ocra‘s standout, “Stillness Is The Move,” proving her dedication to Pitchfork runs deeper than a trip to Grizzly Bear with her big sister. Random aside: Do you think she knew it was going to top NY Mag’s list of the 40 songs that define Brooklyn sound?

The song, with its massively melodic chorus, lover’s narrative and mid-tempo back beat, always edged on an R&B jam. Solange simply drew on these leanings, threw in a little Erykah Badu via Soul Man & The Brothers, and added her own little radio-ready groove. We love it. Sadly, there are currently no plans for an official release, but you can download the track thanks to our friends at Pitchfork.

Download MP3: Solange, “Stillness Is The Move”

Garnering comparisons to the likes of Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, international star Nneka is ready to make her mark on the US.

Making music that blends soul, hip-hop, and global grooves with a positive political message, Nneka bridges the divide between her homeland of Warri, Nigeria and her adopted home of Hamburg, Germany. The striking singer/songwriter has two albums under her belt overseas, and makes her US debut this week with a four-song EP, The Uncomfortable Truth.

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Scan any music-related “Best Of…” list and you may notice a disturbing lack of respect given to artists of the female persuasion (the top 30 greatest albums in history can’t all be by men, can they?). So we concocted our own list, highlighting the most seminal recordings of female artists. There were a few rules: No repeats (sorry Joni, we know you put out about a billion albums), any bands on the list had to be unequivocally fronted by a woman (yes, this means Fleetwood Mac is not on here), and every album had to make an essential contribution to the role of women in popular music.

This week, we only reveal ten of our selections (in no particular order) – so don’t get worried if you don’t see your favorite yet. It was tough to limit ourselves to only fifty albums, but we tried our best. If you love female artists, these are the recordings you have to hear. Check back next Friday for Part 2. Read More »