Apocalyptica is famous for rocking Metallica songs on four celloes. Is it celloes or celli?

Anyway, the band loves 52 Shows. Perhaps we can get them to throw together a thrash cello theme song for us. For now we’ll make do with the Euro-shout-out.

Recently, Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward made hipsters cream themselves with the release of She & Him “Volume One,” a collaboration that combines Ward’s musical talent with Deschanel’s general awesomeness.

She’s always been great in films, delivering that much needed sarcastic tone/look/atmosphere that can elevate a film like “Failure to Launch” into the “watchable” pile.

But which do you prefer? Here are some videos to help you decide.

Zooey Deschanel in “Failure to Launch”

She & Him “Dream a Little Dream”

And by the way, if you haven’t picked up She & Him, it’s worth it, provided you like a throwback to the sounds of a ’70s summer and a cover of “You Really Got a Hold on Me.”

As for me, I think I prefer concert Zooey. Even “Elf” gets tiring after the 12th viewing and I can tell I’ll be listening to “Volume One” for a while.

*Update: Just found a NY Times article this morning on She & Him that’s worth your time.

There are Neutral Milk Hotel fans, like myself, who met the group too late to ever see Jeff Mangum live and must rely on modern conveniences like YouTube to help fill the void. Here’s a clip of Mangum, solo, performing the title track from his 1998 release “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.”

Many consider the album to be the group’s best. Since then, Mangum has been a sort of spiritual presence in the music world, popping up around the world and on various albums. In 2001 he suffered a nervous breakdown and has been in the background ever since.

Enjoy the video. It’s a footage of a great musician we may never see prominently on stage again.

Thanks to reader Jeng Liu for finding this live video of Infinite Flying Kick doing a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep.”

Whoa…while I was watching this a spider walked across my desk and creeped me OUT. I should leave work and go home.

Joy Daniels

Last week on Wednesday (March 26) I had a particularly shitty day at work. Nothing truly horrific happened, it was just packed with menial tasks and forced me to question my career path in life.

Then I went to the invite-only launch party for Cafe 939, the new coffee shop/music venue for Berklee School of Music and was greeted by the two of the most beautiful words in the English language: “Open bar.”

Oh right, there was music there too, as you can tell from the video above and below.

Julia Easterlin

The cafe is meant to teach Berklee students about what it takes to run a music club. The students handle the booking (national and student acts), the box office and the food. It’s also good that the musicians get used to the feel and atmosphere of a coffee shop, since there’s where the majority of musicians start out.

The truth is, Berklee holds some of the best young musicians in the country. Joy Daniels (above video) ended the night with an energetic performance (she even covered “What’s going on.”)

And if you want to feel completely untalented, check out Julia Easterlin performing with the sounds she makes on stage and loops them throughout the performance. She’s 18. When I was 18 I could barely get through a Nine Inch Nails album without running into a wall.

Berklee students are pretty impressive and it’s almost scary how talented these kids are. If you want a taste of what’s to come, check out The Sounds of Berklee podcast.

We’re hoping to get something going with Cafe 939…because I’m a glutton for seeing how much I suck as a musician.

Morphine is a band more people should listen to. Their sound is an entirely unique blend of gritty tuned-down riffs, dark melodies and killer saxophone. With only three members, Morphine has an energy that’s so peppy it could substitute for your morning coffee. Paradoxically, a cool, laid-back, loungey aspect gives them a subduing edge, much like…well, morphine.

Frontman Mark Sandman (vocals/bass) is a man of true musical vision. Believing that low notes carry a certain relaxing quality, he combined his deep vocals with a baritone sax and his electric bass to create this irresistible experiment.

Note that he’s strung his bass with only two strings–the lowest two; the only two he’s interested in. He’s also known to play using a glass slide, creating a sound unlike like any you’ve heard before.

Another interesting point about Morphine is that, for a few songs, Dana Colley plays two saxophones at once. The blasting harmonies of two deep-throated saxes sounds like a run-away semi careening wildly down a mountain. Watch out below.

Mark Sandman died of a hear-attack while performing on-stage in 1999 …talk about playing your heart out. Seriously though, what a tragedy it is to only be able to experience Morphine through the Internet. I truly envy any one who’s seen them live.

The Tripwire reported on Monday that Jarvis Cocker, of Pulp fame, debuted a new song during a concert in Buenos Aires. According to Cocker, “Girls Like It Too” is a song about guys chasing girls and during the chase get drunk on “about 3 bottles of wine, so if he calls her, nothing would really happen…or if it happened it certainly wouldn’t last very long.”

Does this mean another album is in the future? Let’s hope because based on this song, and on last year’s Jarvis, his pop sensibilities on the indie love song are in full force.

The video says its from 2000 and it looks like they’re playing in a gymnasium or something.  They do a pretty tight rendition of 3rd Planet that sounds about as good as you can expect from a bootleg recording.  This video captures the band well before they hit the corporate world, in what I consider their prime.

From Eddie: This is another feature we want to be a regular thing on the site, looking for rare/cool/weird live videos of our favorite bands. If you got one, send it to info@52shows.com and we’ll post it (and give you credit).

The greatest band in the world reunited last night (Dec. 10) in London. Above is video from the opening I found on YouTube from the user “backpackdave” (sadly, not our Dave).

And here’s a story that has some footage of fans and what they did to get to the concert.

The reviews? They’ve all been positive. I even overheard a guy in the bathroom say “I saw that video too! I can’t WAIT till they tour.”

(The only negative word surrounding the show has been the ticket scandal that happened).

Sadly, my co-worker with the disturbingly loud bowel movements may have to wait a long time…you know, forever.

Plant has already started saying that this was a “one-off concert,” which warms my heart since it ensures that I’ll never see the band live. That’s fine. I’ll never crap gold either.

It’s Monday and here in Boston it’s cold, wet and crappy outside, which means the weather is perfect for some Portishead (you try listening to them when it’s sunny out. It sounds…weird-er).

Anyway, the video comes from TheTripwire.com (and there are two more from the show on their post) and I think it’s a perfect way to welcome the week.