IN PRODUCTION: The Shins - Hiro Murai, dir.

• artist: The Shins
• song: "It's Only Life"
• label: Columbia
• director(s): Hiro Murai
• production co: Doomsday Ent
• producer: Jonathan Wang
• exec. producer: Danielle Hinde
• commissioner:  Saul Levitz

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WATCH IT: Kreayshawn f/ 2 Chainz "Breakfast" (Kreayshawn, dir.)

How can you not like a song/video about pancakes and syrups, espeically when neither seems to a metaphor? Kreayshawn pays tribute to the most important meal, stacking flapjacks like dough (wait, maybe it is a metaphor?) with 2 Chainz and other early risers. --> watch "Breakfast"

Kreayshawn f/ 2 Chainz "Breakfast" (Columbia)
Kreayshawn, director | Giovani Hidalgo, producer | The Little Giant, production co | David Myrick, DP | Saul Levitz, commissioner

WATCH IT: Tenacious D "The Roadie" (Jody Hill, dir.)

All you probably need to know is that Danny McBride stars as a legendary roadie for Tenacious D in this video directed by Eastbound & Down co-creator Jody Hill. You should also know that it's NSFW and that the very funny intro and outro bookend a nice parody of the old "Wanted Dead Or Alive" video model, but sadder, and with more bj's and heroin. --> watch "The Roadie" (NSFW)

Tenacious D "The Roadie" (Columbia)
Jody Hill, director | Caviar LA, production co |  Michael Sagol, Jasper Thomlinson, exec. producers | Bryan Younce, commissioner

IN PRODUCTION: Passion Pit - David Wilson, dir.

• artist: Passion Pit
• song: "Take A Walk"
• label: Columbia
• director(s): David Wilson
• production co: Colonel Blimp/Doomsday Ent
• producer: Brian Turner

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WATCH IT: Tenacious D "Rize Of The Fenix" (Daniels, dir.)

Is this metal gone meta? Directing duo Daniels present a series of video mishaps — all under the guise of video "rough cut" — to match this musical tale of Tenacious D and the epic flop that was their movie/sophomore album, The Pick of Destiny. "Rize Of The Fenix" finds The 'D undeterred, rising higher than ever before to battle demons and conquer the rock landscape. Even if nothing goes as planned — there are missing shots, unrendered effects, green screen disasters and in-jokes that won't go beyond the production geek community — it's perfect as it is. --> watch "Rize of The Fenix"

Tenacious D "Rize Of The Fenix" (Columbia)
Daniels, director | Jonathan Wang & Becca Kinskey, producer | Prettybird, production co | Doomsday Ent, rep | Christian Sprenger, DP | Zak Stoltz, Ben Brewer, Daniels, editors/vfx | Jason Kisvarday, production designer | Brandon Hirzel, motion graphics | Candice Ouaknine, exec. producer | Bryan Younce, commissioner 

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IN PRODUCTION: Offspring - Mickey Finnegan, dir.

• artist: Offspring
• song: "Cruising California"
• label: Columbia
• director(s): Mickey Finnegan
• production co: Rockhard
• rep: LaBuda Management
• exec. producer: Nicole Acacio
• commissioner: Targa Sahyoun

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IN PRODUCTION: Train - Marc Klasfeld, dir.

• artist: Train
• song: "50 Ways To Say Goodbye"
• label: Columbia
• director(s): Marc Klasfeld
• production co: Rockhard
• rep: LaBuda Management
• producer: Melissa Ciampa
• exec. producer: Nicole Acacio
• commissioner: Targa Sahyoun

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IN PRODUCTION: Brandi Carlile - Cameron Duddy, dir.

• artist: Brandi Carlile
• song: "That Wasn’t Me"
• label: Columbia
• director(s): Cameron Duddy
• production co: Boulevard Industries
• rep: Laure Scott
• commissioner: Saul Levitz

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WATCH IT: John Mayer "Shadow Days" (Philip Andelman, dir.)

John Mayer goes roadtrippin' in this first video off new album Born And Raised, quite purposefully getting the hell out of Hollywood to find himself out in the country amongst real people. --> watch "Shadow Days"

John Mayer
"Shadow Days" (Columbia)
Philip Andelman, director | Sara Otterstrom, producer | Partizan, production co | This Is Frank, rep | Jim Frohna, DP | Maxime Pozzi-Garcia, editor | Jeff Pantaleo, exec. producer | Bryan Younce, commissioner

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IN PRODUCTION: The Offspring - Lex Halaby, dir.

• artist: The Offspring
• song: "Days Go By"
• label: Columbia
• director(s): Lex Halaby
• production co: Doomsday Ent.
• producer: Mark Staubach

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WATCH IT: Foster The People "Houdini" (Daniels, dir.)

Do you think the big businesses counting on all that Foster The People revenue don't have a back-up plan in case disaster strikes? Of course not. When a lighting rig collapses and knocks out the guys, a gang of silhoutte-suited Kurokos keep them performing. The trick gets refined — a green-screen squad is brought in to be even more invisible, while the band members get new ciruitry and parts — until FTP have been made into a perfectly compliant pop machine. Cool concept. Even cooler execution.--> watch "Houdini" 

Foster The People "Houdini" (Columbia)
Daniels, directors/editors/vfx | Gaetano Crupi, producer | Prettybird, production co | Doomsday Ent, rep  | Candice Ouaknine, DP 

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WATCH IT: The Shins "The Rifle's Spiral" (Jamie Caliri, dir.)

Director/artist Jamie Caliri creates a magical stop-motion world — somewhere between Edward Gorey and Henry Selick — in which we learn that maybe rabbits don't enjoy getting pulled from hats. PS: All the various depth of field compositions probably look very good on the Nintendo 3DS, which got the exclusive premiere. --> watch "The Rifle's Spiral" plus a Behind-The-Scenes featurette on the process

The Shins "The Rifle's Spiral" (Columbia)
Jamie Caliri, director  | RW Media, rep | Randi Wilens, exec. producer | Saul Levitz, commissioner

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WATCH IT: Jack White "Sixteen Saltines" (AG Rojas, dir.)

Civilization has ended and the only surviving non-teenager is, unsurprisingly, Jack White. He's at the mercy of rampaging juvenile gangs that look like a mix of Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road,' The Decline of Western Civilization and America's Best Dance Crew. Director AG Rojas makes the Adolescent Apocalypse look like bad/good fun with severed fingers, airborne krumpers, ceiling sandwiches and what seems to be BMX-riding versions of the White Walkers from Game of Thrones. The docu style of Rojas' visuals give the fantastical elements of the world he's created an extra immediacy. It's the end of the world as I know it and I feel fine! --> watch "Sixteen Saltines"

Jack White
"Sixteen Saltines" (Third Man/Columbia)
AG Rojas, director | Jonathan Dawes, producer | Caviar Content, production co | LARK CREATIVE, rep | Michael Ragen, DP | Gary Knight @ Cut and Run LA, AG Rojas @ Caviar, editors | Bart Mangrum, production designer | Jasper Thomlinson, Michael Sagol, exec. producers | Saul Levitz, commissioner

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WATCH IT: Tenacious D "To Be The Best" (Jeremy Konner, dir.)

So, Tenacious D's feature film The Pick Of Destiny didn't strike a chord with moviegoers (ed: see what I did there with chord/pick?). No big deal. Jack Black is still rich and famous. And nobody ever cared about Kyle Gass anyway. Such is the situation by Extra correspondent Maria Menounos in this tale of Kyle's mental breakdown and unstoppable drive to reform The D, or end things for both of them. Luckily, Val Kilmer is there to save the day and a couple of other guest stars show up to get the The D in fighting shape for the big comeback. --> watch "To Be The Best"

Tenacious D "To Be The Best" (Columbia)
Jeremy Konner, director | Melissa Larsen, Courtney Davies, Wendy Zehder, producers | Partizan, production co | Logan Schneider, DP | James Atkinson, editor  | Max Orgell, production designer | Jeff Pantaleo, exec. producer | Bryan Younce, commissioner

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IN PRODUCTION: Temper Trap - Dugan O'Neal, dir.

• artist: Temper Trap
• song: "Need Your Love"
• label: Glassnote/Columbia
• director(s): Dugan O'Neal
• production co: Doomsday
• producer: Courtney Davies
• exec. producer: Danielle Hinde

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IN PRODUCTION: Calvin Harris f/ Neyo - Vincent Haycock, dir.

• artist: Calvin Harris f/ Neyo
• song: "Let's Go"
• label: Columbia 
• director(s): Vincent Haycock
• production co: Somesuch & Co.
• rep: Alexa Haywood @ Free Agent UK
• producer: Geoff McLean
• exec. producer: Tim Nash
• commissioner: Mike O'Keefe

WATCH IT: The Shins "Simple Song" (Daniels, dir.)

Shins frontman James Mercer III is a bastard, even in death. After a lifetime of subjecting his family to one ill-advised idea after another, he uses a videotaped last will and testament to send his now grown brood on a wild goose chase that somehow winds up being destructive, yet unsurprisingly bonding. --> watch "Simple Song"

The Shins "Simple Song" (Columbia)
Daniels, director | Prettybird, production co 

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WATCH IT: Train "Drive By" (Alan Ferguson, dir.)

Love develops (ferments?) between Train singer Patrick Monahan and a sexy Wine Country tour guide at a Napa Valley vinyard, but is it enough to pull him away from his muscle car appreciation club back in San Francisco? Hey, can't fault a rock star for indulging in his passions when it comes to a music video, and I'll bet than the Train target audience gets a kick out of seeing their dreamlife depicted on-screen. --> watch "Drive By"

Train
"Drive By" (Columbia)
Alan Ferguson, director | Brandon Bonfiglio, Luga Podesta, producer | London Alley, production co | Samuel Brownfield, DP | Russell F. Santos, editor | Marshall Plante, colorist 

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WATCH IT: Jack White "Love Interruption" (Jack White, dir.)

Even before the demise of the White Stripes, Jack White was a man with a multitude of side projects: Raconteurs, Dead Weather and whatever super-duper Yardbirds deal was happening in It Might Get Loud. Now Jack is out on his own, although he does get a little help from an all girl band, including vocalist Ruby Amanfu. The clip, directed by Señor Blanco himself, is stripped down and ultra-basic — to the point where viewers might be wishing for an additional set-up, but it perfectly captures the White Vibe and makes us pay attention. --> watch "Love Interruption"

 Jack White
"Love Interruption" (Third Man/Columbia/XL)
Jack White III, director | Laura Matula, producer | Roger Pistole, DP | Michael Carter, editor | Lee Tucker/Ground Zero, online

QUICK CLIP: Bruce Springsteen "We Take Care Of Our Own" (Thom Zimny, dir.)

Perhaps unwilling to take any risks that "We Take Care Of Our Own" gets co-opted and misinterpreted like "Born In The USA," this official video features most of the lyrics unavoidably displayed in the center of the screen, without any frills at all. Not even a fancy font. The rest is Bruce Springsteen in no-nonsense rocker mode with footage of people from all walks of life hitting the streets.   --> watch "We Take Care Of Our Own"

Bruce Springsteen
"We Take Care Of Our Own" (Columbia)
Thom Zimny, director