Music on TV - Week of 02.06.12: Of Montreal, Die Antwoord

Of Montreal performs on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon this Wednesday night.

Since Of Montreal's breakout 7th album (Satanic Panic),Kevin Barnes' has moved further and further into the recesses of his own mind, treating the songs as very personal therapy sessions. This was fascinating early after the switch (see 2007's genius Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?), but it has become a patience-trying affair of late. This week marks Of Montreal's 11th full length, Paralytic Stalks, and there's not a hook or melody that sticks with you (after five spins, at least) to be found. Even when Barnes is over-reaching, though, one thing you can say about Of Montreal is that they put on a tremendous live show, and they'll have the spectacle on full display when they appear on Fallon Wednesday night.

For more spectacle this week, be sure to check out the South African hip-hop puzzle that is Die Antwoord. After being one of the strangest hyped outfits to have a major label debut (2010's $O$), Interscope pressured the band to be 'more generic,' and after refusing (or, perhaps not understanding what they meant by 'generic') found themselves dropped and putting out their follow up on their own Zef Records. Check out their weird non-generic performance on Letterman Monday night.

Picks for the week
Monday, February 6
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Pitbull
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Die Antwoord
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Ziggy Marley, Fun (REPEAT)
TBS: Conan: Bret McKenzie
Tuesday, February 7
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: 50 Cent
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: The Cranberries
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Jessie Baylin
TBS: Conan: Alabama Shakes
Wednesday, February 8
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Punch Brothers
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Of Montreal
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Ed Sheeran
TBS: Conan: Dr Dog
Thursday, February 9
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Tony Bennett
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: The Kills
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: "Weird Al" Yankovic
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Estelle
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Primus
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Milow
Friday, February 10
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Betty Wright
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Cee-Lo Green
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Victor Wooten
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Milow
Saturday, February 11
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show: Will Young
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Karmin
PBS: Austin City Limits: Jimmy Cliff (REPEAT)
Sunday, February 12
CBS: 54th Annual Grammy Awards: Rihanna, Paul McCartney, Foo Fighters, Kelly Clarkson

Ear on TV: Week of 10.18.10: Die Antwoord

Die Antwoord appear on Jimmy Kimmel Wednesday

When the South African hip-hop mystery that is Die Antwoord makes their network television debut Wednesday on Jimmy Kimmel Live, there's bound to be a clear divide of love and hate among viewers. And that's just they way Die Antwoord's Ninja and Yo-Landi Vi$$er would want it to be.

Die Antwoord, who's debut $o$ was released last week, is essentially an art project from hip-hop provocateur Waddy Jones (Ninja), a sort of musical cousin to the work of Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G, Borat, Bruno). 'Zef style,' as it's now commonly called, is a manic, rave-inspired hip-hop mixed with a trailer-trash aesthetic. With rat tail haircuts, garish colors and thrift store rejected clothing, it's anti-fashion at it's most polarizing, and Die Antwoord are so fully committed to the act now, it's becoming harder to call it, in fact, an act.

The trio (the act also includes the Offensive Lineman-sized DJ Hi-Tek) has been involved with making a mockdocumentary style film entitled The Answer with these characters, chronicling the formation and leading up to their signing with Interscope. Rumors have it that early clips have been impressive enough to warrant Yo-Landi an audition offer from David Fincher for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (keeping with the Die Antwoord mystique, she naturally turned it down). Here's footage from their film, which also serves as a kind of music video for the track "Beat Boy:"



Picks for the week
Monday, October 18
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: MGMT
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Maroon 5 (REPEAT)
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Gogol Bordello
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Weezer(REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Justin Timberlake, Belle & Sebastian (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Nas & Damian Marley (REPEAT)
TBS: Lopez Tonight: Neon Trees
Tuesday, October 19
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Mumford & Sons
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Gorillaz (REPEAT)
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Frightened Rabbit
IFC: 360 Sessions: Daniel Merriweather
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: David Gray(REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Robert Plant (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Menomena (REPEAT)
Wednesday, October 20
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Die Antwoord
FUEL: The Daily Habit: As I Lie Dying
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: OK Go(REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: John Legend & The Roots (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Morning Benders (REPEAT)
TBS: Lopez Tonight: John Legend
Thursday, October 21
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: N.E.R.D. (REPEAT)
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Andrew W.K.
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Tommy Lee's Methods of Mayhem(REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: The Cast of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Japandroids (REPEAT)
Friday, October 22
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Tom Jones (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Teenage Fanclub (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Los Campesinos! (REPEAT)
SYNDICATION: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: One eskimO
Saturday, October 23
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Kings of Leon
PBS: Austin City Limits: Alejandro Escovedo, Trombone Shorty