by SHANE SINNOTT

I never really got Kermit the Frog, or the current ironic-but-only-kinda resurgence he’s found with the youngsters online. That said, his starring appearance in a “New York I Love You” video by LCD Soundsystem is pretty good, mainly because the puppeteer (who is… surprise! Wait for it at the end) has a knack for the crescendo—the shaking lips are perfect. The songs is a pitch-perfect example of the bitter, aging hipster thing done so well by frontman James Murphy, and you can get it all at tinyurl.com/6fz4by. Actually, you can get it pretty much anywhere, as New Yorkers’ appetite for self-reflection seems limitless.

More somberly, on Dec. 9, Amnesty International released a song and video called “The Price of Silence,” to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Watch it at tinyurl.com/6x6h9h. It’s very “world music” influenced (obviously), and set in the UN itself. The press release says, “The video turns the UN General Assembly hall into a dance party for global human rights. Moved by the musicians’ message, the UN delegates in the video first listen then are gradually overtaken by the energy and message of the song until they are dancing and singing along.” And having seen the preview, I can confirm that that is in fact what happens. The producer, Steven Lawrence, says artists were contacted who couldn’t participate because it would endanger themselves and their families, and others had to communicate “in code,” such was the risk. Proceeds from sales of the song on iTunes go to Amnesty International.

Now for an early Christmas present: Bon Iver. The Justin Vernon project released its first and only album, For Emma, Forever Ago, in 2007, and its haunting folk was acclaimed by just about everyone. Now the label Jagjaguwar has an EP, Blood Bank, set for release in January, and I’ve tracked down the first song—“Blood Bank” of course—for you. It’s at tinyurl.com/645t47. You should look for “The Woods” too (I don’t want to give it all away here), which has one of the weirdest uses of auto-tuning I’ve ever heard