Country music is kind of one of those love-it-or-hate-it genres. You often hear people with limited exposure to music say “I listen to anything but Country;” at the same time, area Country music concerts draw huge crowds (CityBeat readers even voted the 2012 Kenny Chesney/Tim McGraw show the best concert of the year. Sigh.) — and we’re north of the Mason-Dixie line. Sure, it’s pretty easy to make fun of the stereotypical redneck Country music lover, but Country is making its way more and more into the mainstream, popular stage with crossover artists like Taylor Swift. And you don’t have to be a toothless moonshiner to like her squinty-eyed ass, right? Brad Paisley just set the genre back a few decades with his new single, “Accidental Racist.” The song is meant to explain how just because someone is southern and proud of his roots, doesn’t mean he wishes we still had slaves. See, all Paisley wants is to be able to wear a Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt to Starbucks without some black barista thinkin’ he’s a racist (and who hasn’t been in that situation). Between that target of a song title and the poorly-written lyrics, Paisley’s gotten a lot of backlash. He appeared on Ellen Tuesday to rectify the song and his intention and started the conversation like any good non-racist should: by citing that one of his best friends is black (LL Cool J, who appears on the track). The song is being pulled from YouTube and music sites faster than you can say “publicity stunt,” but you can see the lyrics here. One gem of note is LL’s chorus: "If you don't judge my do-rag/I won't judge your red flag/If you don't judge my gold chains/I'll forget the iron chains." See, guys? If you just stop being afraid of black guys who wear bling, all that white guilt can go away because we’re forgiven! What’s that sound? Oh, it’s Conan O’Brien quietly weeping in the shower, because Jimmy Fallon is officially taking over for Jay Leno by this time next year. Fallon’s Late Night is by far my favorite of all the nightly talk shows, so I think he’ll kill it in the earlier slot with the help of his trusty house band The Roots and Saturday Night Live’s Lorne Michaels as producer. The Tonight Show will move back to New York with this change, the first time in 40 years, when Johnny Carson hosted. Rumored Late Night replacements include current SNL “Weekend Update” host, Seth Meyers. Imagine if you were the sibling of a popular ‘90s singer/actress, trying to make your own name in the business. You release a couple mediocre albums, leak a sex tape with your no-name girlfriend, even star in a VH1 reality show. Years pass and, somehow, that big-booty trick you propelled into the spotlight is now about 700 times more famous than you. What do you do? Well, if you’re Ray J, you release “I Hit It First,” a song with “Kim K” written all over it. And if lyrics like “She might move on to rappers and ballplayers/But we all know I hit it first” weren’t obvious enough, the single cover is a pixelated photo of Kanye’s baby mama: Cincinnati on TV Alert: The Cooking Channel debuts a new series, America’s Best Bites, on April 20 (a perfect program to accompany your munchies. Yes, I am 17 years old). Hosted by Natalie Forte, the show travels across the country to showcase local fare and favorites. Nothing revolutionary here, but Cincy’s own Daniel and Lana Wright of Abigail Street and Senate will appear on the show’s third episode. Check out Abigail Street on ABB at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, May 4. Move over sloths. Step aside, oil-covered birds getting Dawn baths. My new favorite quirky cuties of the animal world are pets with cleft palates.                                                  You say deformity, I say givemeonenoooowwwww Meet Lentil. This little pup has had a rough road due to his irregular palate, but thanks to a feeding tube and a wonderful foster family, this little bean is growing to be healthy and adorable. Follow his heart-melting story on Facebook. Palate mutations are not just exhibited in dogs, though. Take it from Lazarus, vamp-kitty! Lazarus was a sickly alley cat when he was rescued, but now maintains a relatively normal kitty life, even without a nose and several teeth! And, on the topic of online pet stalking, it would be remiss to not highlight the animal Internet trend du jour: dogs in pantyhose. Big thanks to HBO for the shout out in their new HBO Go commercial!  

It’s holiday time, y’all! Whether you celebrate Chrimbus, Festivus (Google it for a fun Easter egg), Ludachristmas, Eggmas or any other equally spiritual special occasion, now is that magical time of year where it’s acceptable to get drunk in front of your boss and/or Grandma, go on a shopping spree at 4 a.m. and eat your weight in HoneyBaked Ham. OK, some of us do these things year-round, but now we can’t be judged for it! For some reason, it’s perfectly normal this time of year to go door-to-door singing unsolicited tunes to strangers. It’s also a good excuse to talk to your best friend’s wife, with whom you’re secretly in love. Music is a major factor in this wonderfully insane season, so I’ve collected a sampling of this year’s best holiday tunes for all the good little CityBeat readers. Gather ‘round! Rapper DMX spit some classic rhymes for New York radio channel 105.1 FM: The Roots produce pure magic week to week on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and all their musical projects. Earlier this year, Fallon and the crew teamed up with musical guest Carly Rae Jepsen backstage to perform her The Song That Shall Not Be Named using children’s/beginner instruments. Their follow-up? Mariah Carey’s infectious holiday anthem, “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” And who could forget the holiday collaboration we’ve all been waiting for — the reunion of Sandy and Danny — This Christmas from Olivia Newton-John Travolta (easiest celeb couple name ever). Apparently everything that’s ever existed is getting rebooted and, at this point, I think even my one-eyed cat has recorded a Christmas album, so it’s no real shocker that the Grease duo would team up again for a holiday record. But between Travolta’s Chia Pet hair, ON-J’s scary Juvederm face and the following low-budge music video, This Christmas is making my eyeballs beg for the impending apocalypse. Speaking of hot messes, while it’s always fun to get drunk on your employer’s dime, it is important to keep yourself in check at your work’s holiday party. No canoodling with co-workers, challenging your boss to a drink-off or dancing Gangnam style. Thought Catalog has some hepful dos and don’ts here. Everything is Terrible (via Videogum) got its hands on a clip from a 1988 Christmas television special starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, his Twins buddy Danny Devito, Mike Tyson, Country singer Randy Travis, old lady and champion bowler Marie Gretter and a bunch of probably terrified children. While Arnold’s Austrian Antichristmas tradition may sound scary, it’s not nearly as freaky as having Mike Tyson scream a Christmas carol into the face of an innocent child. Also, I’m pretty sure that when Ah-nahld manhandled the little girl who joked that he needed singing lessons, he may have brokes that little girls’ ribs. This looks more like a Tim and Eric sketch than a primetime family program, but I guarantee if you show this to your kids, they will never misbehave again.It's not Christmas in America until the Kardashian-Jenner family bestows its annual holiday card upon our unworthy eyes. Peep that Photoshopped piece here and find equally funny, scary and confusing family photos in this list of "34 of the most jovially insane family holiday cards ever sent."

Are you sick of silly, humorous material taking over the internet? So is Fred Armisen. That’s why he’s created Be Serious for 30 Seconds. It’s a project, not a contest, to generate user-created videos. The videos must contain no comedy, they must be 30 seconds or shorter, feature a five-second dramatic pause and no more than two people, contain a cutaway of an object and end with a door slam. This really is serious, so no laughing, ironic humor or purposefully poor acting. Fred explains with an example below (with Portlandia co-star Carrie Brownstein). Get it, it’s not supposed to be funny, so it is! Go here to watch some of the best submissions.  I sometimes find myself wondering what I’d do if anything should ever happen to my beloved pets (though I’m banking on immortalizing veterinary breakthroughs/all of us dying at the same moment during the apocalypse). This guy decided to taxidermy his cat, which might be weird for some people, but I find kind of cool. But we’re not talking standard window sill-sitting pose, here. He turned his cat into a remote control kitty-copter. Watch him fly! I genuinely apologize for adding to the audio assault that is Carly Rae Jepsen’s ubiquitous hit “Call Me, Maybe,” but this version really is the (taxidermied) cat’s pajamas. If anyone needed further proof that The Roots can make anything cool, that’s it. Does bongo guy remind anyone else of this?The SCP Foundation is my nerd obsession du jour. It’s one of those sites that is hard to describe, and really requires users to just jump in. But basically, it’s a database of fictional classified information. Think Wikipedia of the X-Files. Pick a series, browse top rated pages, or whatever you like, and you’ll find files on strange objects found and contained in a (again, fictional) headquarters. These objects range from oddly funny to legitimately terrifying. It’s going to be a very Leo Christmas for moviegoers this year, as Mr. DiCaprio stars in two highly-anticipated films, Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby and Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, both out this December. With these respective directors, you’ll either love ‘em or hate ‘em. I, for one, can’t stop watching these trailers on repeat.

For those who needed to see it before they believed it, The Afghan Whigs are officially back. The band appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night, performing the old-school Soul cover "See and Don't See" that was released as a free download recently. The band also played "I'm Her Slave," the first full song off of their second album for Sub Pop, 1992's Congregation. "Slave" was posted as a "web exclusive" clip. Check it out below. We'll add the other tune when it's available.The Whigs play their first concert in 13 years tonight at a sold-out Bowery Ballroom in New York City. Check back later this week for an exclusive review of the show.UPDATE: Here's last night's full episode from Hulu. You have to watch a ton of commercials but the Whigs play at the 37 minute mark. They sound better on this one (?uestlove plays with them as well). And they look fantastic throughout! Dig Greg Dulli performing without an instrument.

The Afghan Whigs' upcoming live reunion shows have generally been in Europe, largely at festivals, save a couple of U.S. shows (in New York City and at Lollapalooza in Chicago and All Tomorrow's Parties in Jersey). Today it was announced that the group's official first show back after 13 years will take place later this month, May 23, at the Bowery Ballroom in New York. Tickets go on sale this Friday in noon, if you're up for a roadtrip. Joseph Arthur opens the show.It will be the first Afghan Whigs show since Sept. 29, 1999, when the Whigs played a private show at an NYC club called Hush. If you can't make it to New York in 15 days, two weeks from tonight The Afghan Whigs will make their first public appearance together as a reunited group on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The band will be the musical guest on the program's May 22 episode. Still no word on a Cincinnati date (Chicago's the closest so far). Keep your fingers crossed, local Whigs fans. Keep an eye on the band's official site for the latest Whigs updates. (I've been loving the "On This Date" in Whigs' history; today in 1990, FYI, the band played at Foufones Electroniques in Montreal.)Fallon wasn't on yet when the Whigs were around previously, but here's a playlist of many of The Afghan Whigs' TV appearances over the years.

Cincinnati's Walk the Moon has been on a roll for about the past year and half but now that the band has a physical release out on its new major-label home, RCA Records, things are starting to move even faster and more and more people are discovering the young Alt/Dance/Pop band's charming sound and great, energetic live show. Having already mastered the fine art of blanket social media marketing (few acts are as interactive and accessible to fans), WTM is now set to conquer late-night TV and add even more new fans. Wednesday night, Walk the Moon made its second appearance on Last Call with Carson Daly on NBC. The first time was when they were scrappy young lads at South By Southwest looking for a record deal. This time, they're RCA recording artists working a big theater in L.A. and looking already like confident, veteran Rock stars performing to a mob of adoring (and sweaty) fans. The group will perform LIVE for the first time on network TV on April 5, appearing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. And you can catch them in the flesh next Friday (Feb. 24) at the Madison Theater with current tourmates Young the Giant. If you have a ticket, that is. The show is sold out, no doubt helped by WTM's appearance on the bill (the group's own homecoming show a couple months ago at the same club was also a sell out).Here's Walk the Moon playing "Anna Sun" at The Wiltern in Los Angeles from Wednesday's Last Call:

Cincinnati born and bred legend Bootsy Collins is known for his collaborations, from James Brown, George Clinton and Deee-Lite to more recent (and more unusual) hookups, like William Shatner, Charlie Daniels and Dr. Cornel West. But his latest collabo might be his strangest — and most fun — yet. Last night, Collins joined The Roots, DEVO's Mark Mothersbaugh, Biz Markie and Erykah Badu on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon for a little jam session with the cast of the trippy, hip kids' show, Yo Gabba Gabba.

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