OK Go Gets Obsessed

Modern Rock

By Kristi Kates | Dec. 9, 2017

OK Go are known for their wildly imaginative videos, and their latest doesn’t disappoint. Set to the tune of “Obsession” from the band’s Hungry Ghosts album, the video, which took five days to film, utilizes over 500 computer printers to create a colorful, ever-morphing background behind the band. The band members also embark on a little wire work to give the video even more of a three-dimensional component. Check it out at https://tinyurl.com/y7eej24b…

Universal Music Group has teamed up with virtual reality company WITHIN to make a VR game that will feature UMG’s roster of musicians, which the team said will be a “new way” for artists to forge deeper connections with their fans. The two companies previously collaborated on a VR experience for the Chemical Brothers’ song with St. Vincent called “Under Neon Lights,” in which viewers could virtually step into the environment inside the video; another similar recent team-up was WITHIN’s project with OneRepublic, in which they distributed the band’s premiere of “Kids”…

The Dave Matthews Band will amp up Super Bowl fans the night before the big game with a live headlining performance at the XCel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Aptly called The Night Before, the Saturday, Feb.3 performance will cost jam-band fans between $65 and $125 to attend …

The University of Copenhagen (Denmark) has had such a surge of interest in a new academic course for arts and cultural studies undergraduates that it has had to expand the student roaster and move the class to a larger lecture theater. The class in question? Beyonce, Gender, and Race, a course focusing on Beyonce’s music, feminism, and the various controversies surrounding the performer. Similar classes have been held in other universities, including Rutgers’ course about Bruce Springsteen’s song lyrics and Georgetown University’s class The Sociology of Hip-Hop: The Urban Theodicy of Jay Z …

LINK OF THE WEEK
The Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne has designed a new holiday wrapping paper for charity, turning the art from the cover of the band’s latest album, Oczy Mlody, into a funky Santa Claus. Sales of the paper will benefit the homelessness initiative of the Curbside Chronicle in Oklahoma City. You can buy a roll at wrapuphomelessness.com …

THE BUZZ
Candlebox has booked a show at Saint Andrew’s Hall in downtown Detroit for Jan. 26 of next year …

Godspeed You! Black Emperor will take the stage at Saint Andrew’s as well, but not until March 20 …

The new album from Grand Rapids band Jukejoint Handmedowns, Dispatches from the Great Lakes State, pays homage to a wide range of attractions across Michigan, including the U.P.’s Mystery Spot …

Don’t miss the Motor City Blues Festival, coming to Detroit’s Fox Theater in March …

Taylor Swift’s team has announced her return to Detroit for her Reputation album tour, which will hit Ford Field on Aug. 28 … and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.

Comments, questions, rants, raves, suggestions on this column? Send ’em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com.