French music site La Blogothèque’s self-produced Take Away Shows feature exclusive, unedited footage of top indie artists performing in public places.

Shooting bands on the street, in the subway, or in a restaurant, auteurs like Vincent Moon (also a co-founder of the site) capture the devil-may-care nature of impromptu performances by artists such as Phoenix, Fleet Foxes, Arcade Fire, St. Vincent, and even R.E.M.

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With most of the music world’s eyes trained on the live performances at the South by Southwest Festival this week, you might think that it would have been difficult to come up with a handful of cool, new videos for you to check out. Not so, which is great news for those of us who didn’t make it to Austin (cough, cough). After the jump, check out the latest offerings from Devendra Banhart, Hot Chip, Lykke Li, Gus Gus, and that crazy Fat Boy Slim/David Byrne collaboration project that’s all about Imelda Marcos.

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The concept behind Peter Gabriel’s forthcoming album Scratch My Back is simple: The artist records his favorite tracks by everyone from David Bowie to Radiohead to The Magnetic Fields, and the musicians he has selected complete the song swap by covering a selection from Gabriel’s extensive songbook.

The list we’ve assembled here was inspired by a different kind of reciprocity — that is, of indie rockers showing appreciation for their own kind. So far, only one of these tributes has been mutual but that isn’t to say that we shouldn’t keep our fingers crossed for more. After the jump, check out ten indie acts covering 10 other indie acts’ singles. We think you’ll agree that imitation is the highest form of flattery.

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Music Blog Zeitgeist is the Hype Machine’s punchy visual reference for the most blogged-about bands and artists of 2009.

Based on thousands of daily posts by bloggers writing about their favorite music, the Hype Machine aggregates the myriad songs and remixes floating across the web. At the end of the year, the site revealed the top 50 artists according to how frequently it posted their songs, then paired each act with a visual artist who created original work based on the band name.

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Whatever your thoughts on vegetarian vampires, sexual repression, or the world’s most puzzling sex symbol Robert Pattinson, you can’t argue with the numbers: the New Moon soundtrack has sold 115,000 copies after just three days. If it goes to number one (which history tells us is likely), Twilight will become the first movie franchise to have two soundtracks reach the top. All of this leads us to believe that middle school kids aren’t the only ones drooling over the New Moon. It’s all of us.

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Thanks to the wonders of Amazon.com’s 30-second clip leaks (and full tracks from Pitchfork) we now know what to expect from the eagerly anticipated (and semi-bizarre) New Moon soundtrack. Yes, we know what our beloved bands will sound like in the Twilight universe, but what exactly will this indie rock takeover look like? After the jump, Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Brandon Flowers (The Killers), Ed Droste (Grizzly Bear), Lykke Li, Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), and Muse join the cast of Twilight.

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In a surprising interview with Gawker, MisShapes‘ Leigh Lezark — who the site nicknamed “Princess Coldstare” back in 2005 — refused to name a song of Fashion Week, but she did suggest that everyone should download this one. What do you think? On a related note, did you know that Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste curated the playlist at Jeremy Laing? Find out (and download) the tracks he included after the jump. Read More »

1. It was Kanye West, and not Jay-Z, who showed up at the Diesel party last night. Lykke Li performed with The Roots! [via BlackBook]
2. Famed photographer Annie Leibovitz is allegedly really broke and being forced to sell all of her art because of a $24 million loan. [via Gawker]
3. Judd Apatow has signed a three-picture writer/director deal with Universal; they’re the studio releasing Funny People. [via THR]
4. You can now hear a few track teasers from 7 Worlds Collide, the Radiohead/Wilco/Marr/Finn supergroup. [via Pitchfork]
5. The mother of Jude Law’s fourth child is 24-year-old actress Samantha Burke; an official statement says he has “been nothing but responsive and supportive.” [via TMZ]

The debut album from Swedish producer Andreas Kleerup features collaborations with Robyn, Lykke Li, and Marit Bergman.

Kleerup gained fame via “With Every Heartbeart,” the hit he created with Swedish alt-pop star Robyn; the track is included on his self-titled album, as well as on hers. The record’s haunting first single, “Longing for Lullabies,” features Titiyo, younger sister of Neneh Cherry. Flowing in the same vein as fellow Scandinavians Röyksopp, Kleerup’s electronic pop is as pristine as it gets. Read More »

Today at Flavorpill we listened to this Lykke Li Kings of Leon cover on repeat. So pretty. We drooled over Kanye’s LV shoes and naked model gal pal. We enjoyed hearing a laser cutter take on the Super Mario theme. We started polishing our mini-golf clubs for the summer. We laughed way to hard at this joke from @heyitsnoah: “”Comic Sans walks into a bar, bartender says, ‘We don’t serve your type.’” We watched a tiny Seth Rogen do stand-up. We wondered if the #unfollowfriday tag on Twitter was real. It seems kind of mean. On the flip side, we were surprised by how nice Stereogum was about Mandy Moore’s upcoming album. Odd. We looked at Speidi’s wedding registry. We couldn’t help it. We cheered to hear that the actors and studios have reached a deal. No more shortened seasons! And finally, we loved to see Shaq giving Oprah a few online etiquette pointers. Now if he would only pass that same tip along to Kanye.