Blog Posts by Daniel Kreps

Perhaps to make everyone forget about the plagiarized choreography in "Countdown," Beyoncé has quickly unveiled another new video, this time for "Love on Top." When you're already embroiled in one controversy for stealing dance moves, it's best to follow that up with a video that's completely original. Instead, "Love on Top" is a direct homage to New Edition's "If It Isn't Love." (Whereas Knowles failed to give credit to choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaekeron on "Countdown," New Edition was named early on as an inspiration.) The main difference between Beyoncé's video and the one Bobby Brown's group made is that B's dance studio is probably worth a lot more on the real estate market.

To those looking for more evidence of a baby bump conspiracy, there's no smoking gun here, since it's evident from the belly-baring final minute that this video was filmed before Knowles announced she was pregnant. There is one problem with "Love on Top," however: The video completely eradicates the

It's not often that indie rock fans get caught up in the tabloid fodder of engagements and divorces, but last Friday night brought news that painfully reverberated in the hearts of Daydream Nation: Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon are splitting up. "[The couple], married in 1984, are announcing they have separated," the band's label Matador wrote in a statement. "Sonic Youth, with both Kim and Thurston involved, will proceed with its South American tour dates in November. Plans beyond that tour are uncertain. The couple has requested respect for their personal privacy and does not wish to issue further comment."

Moore and Gordon were the Romeo and Juliet of indie rock, minus the whole "star-crossed lovers" thing, and their personal and professional partnership lasted over three decades. Their union not only spawned a daughter, but an external hard drive's worth of innovative, meaningful music and now-classic albums like Daydream Nation, Goo, and Sister. They also served as

Considering that Drake spent nearly a decade on Canadian teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation before becoming the most hyped-about rapper in hip-hop, it was a given that the writers at Saturday Night Live would try to squeeze their musical guest into a few skits. The only question that remained was, "Will those skits be funny?" The answer was a resounding "yes," as werewolf Drake and SNL cast member Jay Pharoah gave candy lovers who are too old for trick-or-treating a solution to the problem: Bag-jackin'. This "werewolf in a letterman jacket" look will be a guaranteed costume at every Halloween party this October 31st.

Song 1: "Headlines"
+4 for the interesting "rapping-inside-a-television" set. SNL provides a stage that looks like a train terminal, but Drake turned it into his personal live lyric video. The only thing that made this a 30 Rock performance was the chandelier.
+3 for The Revolution-esque backup band. Is that Drizzy or Prince?
+2 for the brief guitar solo!
+2 because

If a band is going to release a music video for a single that was initially unveiled five months ago, it better be a damn good music video. Otherwise, what's the point? Fortunately, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks' vid for "Senator," a song that debuted in early-June, delivers the goods. Here's the pitch: Jack Black, playing the glad-handing titular politician, cattle-prodding his own genitals. Playing off all the sex-related political scandals in recent years, the actor stars as an ultra-conservative candidate by day, coke-snorting pervert by night. It's like a slacker version of The Ides of March, but with the actor who was Lumbergh in Office Space in the Ryan Gosling role. Bonus: Malkmus actually appears in this video, something that was lacking from his other Mirror Traffic clips.

Based on The Projector's review of Black's new film The Big Year, you'd be better off saving your $13 by just watching "Senator" on repeat. Well, "Senator" and Airborne:

If you asked 100 British music fans what band they'd most want to see reunite, 99 of them would probably answer "The Smiths," but one person polled would most certainly respond "The Stone Roses." Congratulations to that dude: According to Clash Music, the four original members of the Stone Roses -- singer Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire, bassist Mani, and drummer Reni -- will appear at a press conference next week to announce they'll reunite in 2012. The band last performed together at the 1996 Reading Festival, and since then they've fought off rumors of their reformation every six months or so.

The Stone Roses only recorded two albums during their time together, but their 1989 self-titled LP is regarded as one of the best British albums ever, one of the greatest debuts ever, and an indispensable influence on the Britpop era of Blur and Oasis. The NME especially has a soft spot for The Stone Roses, calling it the "Greatest British Albums Ever" (over every Beatles album), while

Scary moment in the hip-hop world today as a plane carrying Rick Ross was forced to make an emergency landing after the rapper lost consciousness following a seizure. According to TMZ, paramedics boarded the plane and administered CPR to Ross before transporting him to a local hospital. Thankfully, the situation doesn't appear to be serious as a couple of Ross' Maybach Music Group protégés hit Twitter to let fans know that the rapper was fine. "I just talked to Ross...he's 100 pct ok...@tmz #dontpanic #dontpanic," Wale tweeted, while Meek Mill added, "yo @rickyrozay is straight!!" About a half hour ago, Ross himself tweeted "never dat homie..we outchea #mmg powercircle!!!!" to hip-hop writer Elliot Wilson, who wrote " Pray for Rozay."

Ross seemed to be in good health when he appeared at the BET Hip-Hop Awards on October 2nd (and two days later, when he and Drake partied at New York's Greenhouse club, although he looks a bit drowsy in the above photo). However, the fact is that Ross is

Attention to the Hollywood folk that coordinate movie premieres: If you need some last-minute star power for your red carpet, give Marilyn Manson a call. If there's one thing that the shock rocker loves more than scaring parents with his dark lyricism, it's attending movie premieres. This week alone, Marilyn appeared at both The Thing and The Rum Diary parties. In fact, at the entertainment archive WireImage, there are more pictures of Manson going to see free movies over the last few years than there are of him performing.

That's him up top with Johnny Depp and Amber Heard at The Rum Diary event. Below, take a tour of Manson's outings to movie premieres:

With Eli Roth at The Thing:

[Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images]

With Eli Roth and Wes Craven at Scream 4:

[Photo: Katy Winn/WireImage.com]

With Quentin Tarantino and Tilda Swinton at I Am Love:

[Photo: Craig Barritt/Getty Images]

With Seth Rogen and Danny McBride at Eastbound and Down:

[Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com]

With Paul

These days, Billy Corgan seems more interested in being Vince McMahon than pumpkin-smashing. He has a longstanding obsession with the "sport": He recorded a track called "G.L.O.W." ("Glorious Ladies of Wrestling"), appeared on Sirius XM's Right After Wrestling show, and released that strange fighting video for "Owata." Corgan is now taking his love of fake punches and soap opera storylines to the next level by launching his own pro wrestling company, Resistance Pro.

"The opportunity to be a part of a different kind of independent company in Resistance Pro was just too good for me to pass up," Corgan wrote in a long mission statement about his fledgling league. "My job, if you can call it that, is to write the angles and set the tone for the future vision of the company. I believe I bring to the table a unique set of experiences from the music business that translate to how to engage a fan's deeper interest, whether it be in the ring or hopefully one day on television." Here's a