Morning Music Notes – Racist Edition

Is Florence + The Machine’s Video for No Light, No Light Racist? Kele Okereke from Bloc Party Thinks So

Florence + The Machine recently debuted their new video fro No Light, No Light. YES – it features a white singer and a white backing choir! But beyond the sarcasm, claims are being made that the video is in fact racist. Bloc Party front man, Kele Okereke, thinks the video goes over the top (via Gigwise).

Kele posted on his blog, ‘people i dont like… florence welch’. He also said, “Now i dont know if this girl is a “white supremacist” as this article claims but in this day and age a video like this seems pretty stupid. thoughts?”

The video features a man with a bag over his head, who is revealed to be a black voodoo artist. He chases Florence, who falls into the arms of white children, while the voodoo artist is shrouded in shadows. Is this a case of looking for racism in the wrong places, or do people have a point? Re-watch the video below and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Florence + The Machine – No Light, No Light (Racist version)
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Scott Weiland Discusses His Bizarro Christmas Album

We have been giving Scott Weiland a bit of a hard time for his seemingly illogical career move, from grunge rock front man to holiday tune crooner. Well, the Sudbury Star caught up with him and asked him a few questions and got us the answers we demanded (via Sudbury Star).

Highlights of the interview are below:

The Star: Why?
“Um, well, why not?” answers Weiland from his California home. “They’re songs and renditions that I’ve listened to from a child all the way to my adult years. And they’re very special to my heart, you know. If you last long enough in this business, you have the ability to make the kind of music you want to make. And this is something I’ve wanted to do for a while.”

The Star: How did you end up making a Christmas album?
Weiland: We actually recorded one song over a year ago, and we decided, ‘Let’s make this an album.’ So we recorded with a full jazz orchestra — some of the best players around. And we took a lot of time figuring out the arrangements and finding the right keys and giving some of the songs a different flavour. You’ve got some bossa nova, a little reggae. It was amazing to be able to sing those kinds of songs and experiment with different phrasing. Singing rock ‘n’ roll is a lot different than singing jazz.

The Star: Why go traditional instead of making a rock album?
Weiland: Rock ‘n’ roll pays the bills, but I have a lot of different musical tastes. And if I were just stuck in one genre, I wouldn’t be doing this gig anymore.

The Star: But you have to admit, this doesn’t fit at all with your image.
Weiland: Well, you know what, man? People don’t know me. They know what someone’s opinion is. And they know my songs. But they really don’t know me. Christmas, ever since I was a kid, was a big thing. It still is a big thing.

Samsung Mocks Apple and their Geeky Followers

Apple have massive and loyal followers. People who line up for hours, even days, to get their hands on the latest product means the fan base clearly has something wrong with them. Ignore the iPhone that I am writing this post with. Samsung (never heard of them) decides to poke fun at this Apple culture, as well as show off a few good features about their own phone, the Galaxy S II. Check it out below.

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