Moments after taking the stage to Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5″ dressed in a red hoodie last night, it was clear that Monday was far from over and Mika was at The Metro to work. Ignoring the song’s lyrics about “all takin’ and no givin’,” Mika’s job was simple - to give the packed audience a great time. The title of his debut album, Life in Cartoon Motion, could aptly describe Mika’s energetic stage performance, which is filled with plenty of bouncing dancing, more bouncing, and Freddie Mercury-style arm salutes. His liveliness was as contagious as his pop music and the audience couldn’t help but move along.

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File this one under good news & bad news for fans of science. Only days after We Are Scientists showcased new material at their “Beat Up Old Fellas” show on June 9, comes today’s sad news that TV’s Mr. Wizard (i.e., Don Herbert) has passed away.

What’s the Word captured some great footage from the Scientists’ show, including this clip of the band performing the new track “Best Behavior”:

You can check out some more of the performance here.

What happens when Paula Abdul, Flava Flav, and Feist get on an L.A. bus? It may sound like the best joke setup ever, but Hypeful thankfully witnessed a sadly overlooked rerun of Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night. Kimmel hosted an entire show direct from an official Santa Monica Big Blue Bus, picking up his guests along the bus route including drunken Idol judges, methed-out rappers, and Feist!

Unfortunately, Hypeful hasn’t seen an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! since he hosted Vinnie Chase (that counts, right?). Apparently, we have been missing some excellent television. Check out this clip of Feist (performing on a bus!) for an example:

For Abdul’s segment, please click here.

For Flava Flav’s segment, please click here.

Another Tuesday, another batch of new releases. There’s five new albums on Hypeful’s radar being released today we think you should check out and one we would strongly suggest staying away from (we’re looking at you, Toby Keith…)

Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation
MP3: Blitzen Trapper - “Wild Mountain Nation”

Chow Nasty - Super (Electrical) Recordings
MP3: Chow Nasty - “Ungawa”

Datarock - Datarock Datarock
MP3: Datarock - “Computer Camp Love”

Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
MP3: Queens of the Stone Age - “Sick Sick Sick”

Mark Ronson - Version
MP3: Mark Ronson - “Valerie (featuring Amy Winehouse)”

Hypeful is a big fan of covers. Particularly when said covers are done by Flaming Lips and are songs from the King of Rock & Roll. Hypeful is still holding out for The Lips to cover Elvis’ “If I Can Dream” - it just makes sense. In the meantime, please enjoy Wayne Coyne & The Gang’s take on a classic.