Closing out of Culture Collide Festival‘s second night were London-based band, Klaxons. Klaxons have been a well known band since the release of their first album, Myths of the Near Future, which also won the Mercury Prize. However, what everyone loves to argue about is whether they are a “rave” or rock band as they pull numerous influences into their music. Whichever genre you may think Klaxons are, we assume everyone can agree that they’ve written some of the most danceable songs in the indie realm and they aimed to have this reaction at the Echoplex last night.

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It’s a well known fact that Lady Gaga is beyond out of control. Not only has she been causing a some more drama around the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy lately but now we begrudgingly report that her meat-dress from the VMAs is now being turned into “jerky.” Gross? Yes. How? According to the NY Daily News, the designer of Lady Gaga’s infamous meat-dress says that he will “archive the dress for posterity.” I suppose people take their own routes to make their personal accomplishments stand out more, but am I right when I say most of us could care less?

What we do care about are bands putting a fresh spin on songs that have been beating us over the head all year long. Enter, British new wave alternative rock band, Klaxons. Although we’ve heard plenty of “Bad Romance” covers, the trio’s naked, live take done in Australia for the radio program, Like A Version, is a little spookier and a bit more organic than any other renditions we’ve heard. Take a listen to it below!

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Too many headlines, too little time. But never fear! BeatCrave has taken the liberty of scouting out the weekend’s top stories and tightening them up for your speed-reading pleasure. Take a look at the latest scoops:

• Austin Powell of the Austin Chronicle has printed a story that he’s received confirmation that Metallica will take a giant step outside of arena-land to play this Friday (March 20) at Austin, TX’s legendary Stubb’s BBQ for SXSW‘s “Guitar Hero: Metallica” showcase. The venue holds only 2,100 people, so if you plan on going and want to make it in by 10 p.m. to see the band, I recommend getting in line the night before if possible. SXSW won’t publicly affirm Powell’s statement, but I’d say get your metal horns ready, just in case.
• UK’s pop-rockers Klaxons are the latest victims of overbearing label execs. Or at least that’s how the situation appears, because the band has admitted that they will re-record parts of their second album after Universal rejected the first take, which band member Jamie Reynolds described as “really dense” and “psychedelic.” Reynolds indicated that the tweaked tracks, which will be done in four weeks, would be more pop-oriented, but it’s not clear if this is more the band’s decision or the label’s. At any rate, it’s sad knowing that the album in stores won’t be what the band was originally shooting for… bands need to stand up for their music!

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