Welcome to another wonderful week, and a whole different month. While you’re scrubbing makeup off your faces and trying to get that silver Lady Gaga hairspray off your mop, why not settle into November with the first Music-Monday column since daylight savings?
The Week in Music
First off, those Gaga costumes. Millions of college girls nationwide dressed up as the goofy popstar with their sorority sisters, rocketing musician costumes (including Michael and Miley) to the top of the costume popularity/unoriginality list, just behind pale, chain-smoking teen idol vampires.
Another great thing about holidays—especially weird ones like Halloween—is that artists try to do over-the-top things to make their show the best of the night. This year’s honors go to Weezer, who made big waves after bringing Gossip Girl meanie Leighton Meester on stage to sing along with the band’s new single “(If You’re Wondering if I Want You To) I Want You To.”
In unrelated news, Austinite favorites Spoon have announced their seventh LP, Transference, will hit shelves on January 26. Former indie rock elitists everywhere are secretly jumping up and down with joy from the seclusion of their cubicles.
Weekly Recommendation
Ryan Gosling is best known as a guy who loved a doll, but beyond that he’s got some pretty impressive musical chops. The actor’s debut album as part of the duo Dead Man’s Bones is riveting in its simplicity, eerie in its execution and as memorable as any actor-turned-artist work we’ve heard in the past couple years. Featuring a children’s choir from the Silverlake Music Conservatory, the trebly chatter of little voices adds a dynamic edge to what seems like a record of pre-dawn surf punk songs without the energy to paddle out. The album is on sale at iTunes right now, so grab it—and look out for Gosling’s upcoming tour, especially if you’re harboring some McAdams-loving fantasies that might only come true were he finally out of the way.
For fresh reviews, remixes, interviews and more from the Internet’s favorite music sites, check out @PulseOnMusic. And to check out last week’s music edition, hop on over here.
