Stephin Merritt, Amanda Palmer: “Science Fiction/Double Feature”

The latest chapter in David Lynch’s consistently interesting recent focus on music arrived today in the form of news of a 17-track charity compilation, curated by and set to benefit his David Lynch Foundation, which features exclusive tracks by Tom Waits, Iggy Pop, Peter Gabriel, Moby, Ben Folds, and many more artists. In exchange for a pledge of $18, DLF Music will provide all tracks in a digital format over the course of the next six weeks, with all proceeds going to their global effort to teach “stress-reducing, health-promoting meditation to one million at-risk youth and 10,000 veterans with PTSD.”

Waits’ exclusive contribution to the “Download for Good” campaign is a stripped-down live recording of “The Briar & the Rose,” a song the Rock Hall inductee wrote in 1993 for the album and William S. Burroughs-co-written play The Black Rider. You can hear a 90-second preview of the track alongside four more cuts from the comp right now and purchase/pledge thataway.

From time to time, music video contests hosted by bands catch my eye, though rarely do I (or many others, for that matter) follow up on the results. For example, Monsters of Folk held a video contest earlier this year for their song “Dear God” and chose a winner, though many didn’t check out director Nele Hecht’s work until the band hired someone to make a different video anyway. In the case of Moby, he already enlisted the great David Lynch to provide video treatment for a single off his latest album, Wait for Me, so when it came time to promote the title track, a contest was born.

This time I checked back, and, well, the results are pretty great… Israeli director Nimrod Shapira and a group of Tel Aviv University film students went all out (and won). Read Shapira’s description and watch the winning video for “Wait for Me” below:

Before the dust settles on this weekend’s revelation that Grizzly Bear have written music for upcoming Ryan Gosling/Michelle Williams flick Blue Valentine, let’s take a look at a few other artists premiering film score compositions at next year’s Sundance Film Festival in Salt Lake City, UT:

When California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill this summer, which effectively cut over $20 million from the budget of the state’s domestic violence programs, many emergency houses, counseling, and legal aid services for victims were forced to shut down. Well, the Terminator may have been unable—or unwilling really—to keep these programs intact, but Moby is here to save the day.

Now, Moby may have nearly killed Tina Fey’s baby, but he does have a heart of gold: SF Gate reports that Moby will donate the profits from his upcoming California gigs to the cause of restoring domestic violence shelters in the state. Moby hopes to donate $75-100K from his shows in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, which are coming up soon.

Meanwhile, Moby’s tour has been getting rave reviews for the ex-raver, so get out there, CA peeps, and rock out for a good cause.

Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon may be getting in on the Twilight/New Moon-inspired vampire flick craze, but they’re not the only pasty rock types associating with pasty immortal types of late. Moby, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, and Henry Rollins star in Suck, a new “vampire spoof about “rock ’n’ roll wannabes in search of immortality and a record deal,” which debuts at the Toronto Film Festival next month.

In the film, Malcolm McDowell (“Lost,” A Clockwork Orange, etc.) plays Eddie Van Helsing, a modern day version of Bram Stoker’s infamous Dracula hunter, who is trying to track down vampire rock band The Winners. Kinda reminds me of a certain Aaliyah-starring flick.

Iggy Pop plays Victor, a record producer who calls out The Winners for selling out with their vampire schtick, while Henry Rollins doesn’t go too far out of his comfort zone, starring as radio show host Rockin’ Roger. Based on the trailer (seen below), Moby really dug in deep as a kind of scrawny version of Rob Halford dubbed Beef Bellows, the lead singer of rival band The Secretaries of Steak.

Not sure what to make of the trailer below, but Iggy Pop’s questionable acting chops and Henry Rollins’ mullet wig do send a bit of a chill down my spine.

In Moby’s latest round of interviews and media appearances, he has been quite the open book, sounding off on the music industry, drugs, piracy, and celebrity culture. Perhaps he should’ve censored this bit, however. Recently, Moby appeared with the Beastie Boys, Clay Aiken, Elvis Costello, Norah Jones and Cyndi Lauper on the finale to today’s most Emmy-nominated show: 30 Rock. In an interview with LiveDaily’s Maya Marin, the singer/songwriter/producer told this funny/scary anecdote about working with the show’s star.

“I accidentally almost killed Tina Fey’s baby,” Moby said. “I was playing with her child who’s about 2 years old and I got a little bit too excited, and it started choking and threw up on itself. I’ve never felt more embarrassed in my entire life. Tina Fey is, I think, the world’s most perfect woman. She’s so smart and so funny—so to almost accidentally kill her baby! The day was wonderful, but that was a low point in the day for me.”

So in case you were wondering, Moby does not make a good babysitter. But what would you expect from a guy who lives in a 19th century abandoned factory?

If you’re still hoping that your next record will sell 10 million copies amid the current music industry’s crisis, Moby’s here to shatter your dreams. In a way, Moby is the perfect man to deliver the bad news: His 1999 album Play went platinum 10 times, it was the first record to license all of its songs, and he’s friends with David Lynch.

In an interview with LA Weekly’s Liz Ohanesian, Moby celebrated the decline of a wealth-driven music industry and welcomed the dawn of musicians that are in it for love instead of money. As for musicians thinking that marketing will help them sell 10 million records, “That’s delusional,” Moby said. “No one sells 10 million records. The days of musicians getting rich off of selling records are done… Anyone who wants to start a band in 2009 because they want to get rich is, quite simply, an idiot… The older, established artists can get rich, but new artists have to make music for the love of it because there is no real financial incentive, which I think is actually a really healthy thing.”

It sure is a lot easier to record and distribute your labors of love nowadays, but I’d be careful saying those with financial incentives are extinct just yet. For more from Moby, including his relationship with David Lynch, his former Hollywood partying lifestyle, and how he thinks money makes people miserable, click here.

Here are some bits of news from today worth noting before we hit the hay:

50 Cent’s VP of digital marketing, Chris “Broadway” Romero, talked about how he created thisis50.com as a way to promote 50 Cent’s beefs with other rappers and he modeled the site after President Obama’s campaign. Check out the full article at the Village Voice (via NY Mag).

Michel Gondry told Ain’t It Cool News that Beck insisted he direct his “Cellphone’s Dead” video to prove his friendship. Gondry: “at some point he slammed his fist on the table and said, ‘If you want to work with me, say it! Or if you don’t want to work with me, say it!’”

Part 5 of Bill Flanagan’s Bob Dylan interview is on the Huffington Post. Dylan talks about his favorite songwriters and leaks that his new album Together Through Life was mostly co-written by Robert Hunter (a detail later confirmed by his rep to RS).

David Lynch and Moby are bromancing a bit. The pair sat down for a little Q&A about Moby’s new album and Lynch dropped an animated video for the first single, “Shot In the Back of the Head.” Lynch seems a little jealous of Moby’s 19th century art pad and Moby’s gaze gets lost in the woods of Lynch’s full head of hair (via The Daily Swarm and The Playlist).