Sensory Overload

Exwhites are a new-ish punk band featuring parts of some of the greatest dearly departed Columbus combos (The Feelers, The Slide Machine). I already gushed about their live show. Now I'm happy to report that I also dig the recording they posted to MySpace. Hell of a blitzkrieg!

After being lulled and then totally destroyed by that killer video for "Scissor," you'll be expecting the crash to come deafeningly on Sisterworld's No. 2 track. It never does. Things just stay locked in that weird tension that defines Liars even more than the band's punishing bursts of angry noise.

(Album dropped Tuesday. Entire thing is streaming here for a week.)

Conan O'Brien's tour is officially happening. Unfortunately, so far he's not booked anywhere close to Columbus.

Now this seems rather crass: A "Wizard of Oz" remake could be in the works.

And speaking of crass, The New York Times talked to Trey Parker and Matt Stone about "South Park"'s upcoming 200th episode.

Will those Barbie dolls ruin the "Mad Men" mystique?

The Daily Swarm has an interview with Gil Scott-Heron.

Beck roped St. Vincent, Liars and Os Mutantes into his latest "record club" recording session. Whatever they recorded should be tremendous.

More new LCD Soundsystem music? Love it.

DMX is in trouble with the law again.

EW lists the 10 best shows on TV now, with a surprising choice at No. 1.

88-year-old Betty White has officially signed on to host SNL May 8.

ABC is the latest news outlet to seriously investigate Juggalo culture.

Paste has five reasons to believe Big Boi's solo album might actually be coming out soon.

Lastly, I'm quite fond of "Terrible Love," the new song The National debuted on "Fallon" last night. Have a listen.

Andy Cabic from Vetiver was one of my first interviews at Alive, so I'm always glad to see the San Francisco psych-folkies bring their warm reverberations back to town. Tonight the place in question is Circus, 1227 N. High St., where Cabic and company will perform with Moon High and Vug & the Stallions. Doors open at 8 p.m., and admission is $10.

The short version of the story is that the minute Todd Rundgren bragged that he could write a hit whenever he wanted he stopped making hits. Until then, he was pretty unstoppable, so prolific that nearly everything on his sprawling 1972 double album was good.

Something/Anything? is chock full of a clean, stark testimonial rock that sat somewhere between a moody singer-songwriter and an angsty hard-rocker. That's a tight rope, friends, and Rundgren only fell once he started looking down.

Shame that he did.

Are you ready for "Mad Men" Barbies?

AV Club's new "Undercover" series sounds pretty sweet.

"Sopranos" creator David Chase is at work on a movie about 1960s rock music.

"Jersey Shore" is officially moving to Miami for its second season.

I really enjoyed Pitchfork's interview with Liars.

D'Angelo pleaded not guilty to charges of soliciting oral sex.

Billy Corgan put out a "help wanted" ad in search of new Smashing Pumpkins members.

Mercifully, it looks like "24" is finally coming to an end.

Atari Teenage Riot is planning a reunion show in London.

Paste has a feature on senior citizens being reborn as athletes through the magic of Wii.

Actor Corey Haim is dead at age 38 after an accidental drug overdose. R.I.P.

Lastly, "Fo Yo Sorrows," a new video from Big Boi featuring Too Short and George Clinton.

Fo Yo Sorrows VIDEO Big Boi Ft. Too Short and George Clinton from SNORT THIS TV on Vimeo.

When Titus Andronicus came to Cafe Bourbon Street two years back, I was impressed with the way the band translated its humongous sound to the stage. Not everything was as epic as desired because they played up their go-for-broke garage rock side and let their artier pretensions fade into the background, but all in all, solid stuff. So I expect much the same when they play at Used Kids, 1980 N. High St., tonight at 6 (preview, foo). They're touring in support of their sophomore LP, "The Monitor," out this week on XL.

Artist: MGMT
Track: "Flash Delirium"
Album: Congratulations
Listen

And you thought the album cover was out there...

New album Congratulations drops April 13. Expect weirdness.

Lil Wayne is officially in prison. Meanwhile, T.I. announced the end of his incarceration with a new single.

Nick Nolte has joined the cast of "Luck," the new HBO series starring Dustin Hoffman and helmed by David Milch ("Deadwood").

Did Cookie Monster inspire death metal?

The Roots' long-gestating new album now has a release date.

We already got word of a new Broken Social Scene album; now their homies in Stars announced a forthcoming LP too.

In a more outlandish case of music parallelism, after last week's news of a Wilco-themed sandwich shop comes word of a Ryan Adams-themed pizza parlor.

AV Club talked to Korean horror director Bong Joon-Ho ("The Host").

The Flaming Lips are working on another movie. Hopefully this one will take less than seven years to produce.

A new Tuesday means a new "Lost" and a new Doc Jensen column.

Slate chronicles "Johnny Depp's adventures in gender-bending."

Always psyched to hear a new LCD Soundsystem track.

A leftover John Hughes screenplay could be going into production.

We close with "In the Sun," the new video from She & Him.

Golden Triangle got reviewed in Pitchfork today, and they'll be in Columbus tonight at Cafe Bourbon Street, 2216 Summit St. As my own preview indicates, they're an artsy garage rock combo from Brooklyn in the vein of Vivian Girls, but with more unhinged energy and stylistic variation. No clue who's playing with them tonight, but it'll be $7 and start around 9 p.m.

Also noteworthy: shoegaze, blues rock and "retro-futuristic" art music are coming together at Skully's tonight.