While many of us, myself included, were first made aware of the undeniably adorable PS22 kids chorus — led by music teacher/Tori Amos fanatic Gregg Breinberg — when they took on Phoenix’s “Listzomania” last year (a cover that even pulled at the heartstrings of the band), Breinberg’s rotating cast of Staten Island, NY 5th graders have actually been filming versions of well-known pop, classic rock, and new wave songs, not to mention a few lesser-known indie faves (e.g. Beach House’s “Zebra”), for 10+ years. Their recent take on 2010 critical favorite “Round and Round” by Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti inspired me to dig through the PS22 YouTube archives for a few standouts and others that you may want to enjoy before they perform at next month’s Oscars. Here’s my uplifting, essential collection of 10 PS22 videos:

I was pleasantly surprised to see Kyp Malone and Harsh Toke’s cover of Talking Heads classic “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” make the rounds this morning as just yesterday I revisited a video of an early MGMT performance of the song at their alma mater, Wesleyan University. Upon further inspection, the band behind the most anticipated album of the year, Arcade Fire, also gave the Speaking in Tongues closing track a shot, back in ‘05.

After one viewing of all three live performances, it struck me how they each were feeling the song in different ways. Malone’s version stays true to the dance-inspiring, art-rock vibe of the original, while Win Butler applies his trademark emoting vocals to the track, stripping away the funk a bit for a more serious take. MGMT, meanwhile, are having an insane amount of fun, as always, which is quite infectious this Friday afternoon. Watch all three below, and, don’t worry, we won’t ask you to choose a favorite:

As we mentioned they would, MGMT performed tonight on Saturday Night Live, where Andrew VanWyngarden, Ben Goldwasser, and friends broke out their new non-single, “Flash Delirium,” and “Brian Eno” jam in celebration of their latest record, Congratulations, which snagged the #2 spot on the charts this week.

The Roots’ ?uestlove dropped some choice tweets during the episode, including an excellent observation about MGMT’s new record: “Why do I get the feeling this album is about to be their Satanic Majesties Request?” Also: “*gives MGMT a pass for the Portsmouth Sinfoniaesque Brian Eno homage at the end of their second song.” Was Questo unaware of the song’s title? If not, well played, sir.

 Watch MGMT play SNL below:

*Update: Watch this performance here.

Despite the ongoing debate about MGMT’s first single and now-streaming second album, Congratulations, there’s one thing I think we can agree on: these guys don’t take themselves too seriously. Sure, Jónsi prefers a somewhat less ironic take on Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser’s jams, but one look at their videos, promo pics, or lyrics, and a Lonely Island-helmed digital short seems all but inevitable. (Not to mention they’ve already worked with Andy Samberg’s girlfriend.)

On April 24th, MGMT are booked as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, followed by a performance on the Late Show with David Letterman on May 11, Gibson.com reports. The host for SNL is listed as “to be announced,” but we unfortunately know for certain that it won’t be Betty White.

On a speculative note, that SNL slot was set to coincide roughly with the official Congratulations release date, but a cryptic countdown on MGMT’s site has me wondering if they’ve moved it up to next week.

Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi Birgisson performed songs and did an interview today on BBC Radio 1 to promote his forthcoming solo album, Go. Though Jónsi performed his brilliant new single “Go Do” of course, it was his choice of cover song that caught my eye: MGMT’s “Time to Pretend.”

The latest song from Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden has been a bit divisive of late, but there’s certainly no denying this gem from their debut, especially with Jónsi on the vox. His version does strip away all the irony and tongue-in-cheek fun of MGMT’s original version, but in exchange Jónsi’s less-layered take carries the tune to another planet with only a single piano as his rocket ship.

Stream “Time to Pretend” here or below:

And by the way, MGMT’s Congratulations leaked, so the band are now streaming the album in its entirety here.

Our friends at Pedestrian.TV landed a scoop-filled interview with father-son filmmakers David and Jordan Miller last night in Sydney, Australia, discussing their new film My Suicide, a “self-inflicted comedy” currently on the festival circuit, as well as their next project: a Daniel Johnston biopic.

First off, My Suicide, which was scored by Tim Kasher (Cursive, The Good Life) with a few pieces by Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh, managed to get a Radiohead song approved for use by the band. “[W]hen Radiohead agreed everyone pretty much agreed,” said David Miller. So who is everyone? Devendra Banhart, Bright Eyes, MGMT, My Morning Jacket, TV On The Radio, Rocky Votolato, Animal Collective, the Pixies, and more. Wow.

The Daniel Johnston biopic is still in its very early stages, but Miller was able to leak a few intriguing details about the developing project.

Unless you were living under an internet-less rock, you’ve likely heard that MGMT dropped their new, unfocused-on-purpose, song “Flash Delirium” as a free download on Tuesday, a day in which we explored the fine line between “freak[ing] people out” — as Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone was the 4-part jam’s intended purpose — and just annoying them. MGMT confessed before the song even came out that “[s]ome will love it, some will hate it,” but for those in the “hate” camp, they’re now offering an apology (sorta).

“When we first wrote that song, we were laughing so hard,” Ben Goldwasser told Spinner today. “Andrew just reminded me of that, that we thought it was the funniest thing we’d ever heard. And then we got used to it, it started to sound more normal.”

Goldwasser emphasized that “Flash Delirium” is only a preview and not technically the first single off Congratulations. For those “who think it’s completely weird and not what they were expecting,” he added, “I’m sorry.”

As for my opinion, I’ll withhold judgment until the full album comes out, but his apology is graciously accepted with regard to that flute solo.

Director Christopher Pomerenke has rounded up an impressive — though somewhat random — group of artists for his forthcoming documentary The Heart Is A Drum Machine, including the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne, actor/A&R man Elijah Wood, actor/Coconut Records mastermind Jason Schwartzman, Spoon’s Britt Daniel, Tool’s Maynard James Keenan, ex-RHCP guitarist John Frusciante, Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT, and more. As the Playlist reports, the film features interviews with the above artists answering a not-so-simple question: “What is music?”

Okay, we’ll add that to TwentyFourBit’s official Netflix queue (trailer below), but here’s the part that caught my eye: “The film features an original score by The Flaming Lips’ Steven Drozd and a cover of Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’ by Drozd and Keenan.” As Larry David would say, “What a combo!”