Hypeful’s readers are clearly no April fools! The Devil may have gone down to Georgia, but Xenu Sufjan ain’t headed to Arkansas. As most of you caught, yesterday’s post about Sufjan releasing Arkansas and joining Scientology was an April 1st prank. However, “The Lord God Bird” is an actual Sufjan track he previously recorded for NPR. The other song (”Retrieve The Lady Baxter!”) is simply a random instrumental (although feel free to enjoy it on your next Virgle trip to colonize Mars). Happy April Fools’ Day!

Radiohead launched a new site today where they are encouraging fans to remix their current single “Nude”. The band released seperate stems from the track (bass, voice, guitar, strings & drums) onto iTunes, with fans encouraged to add their own beats and instrumentation. Remixers who buy all five stems from iTunes during the first week they’re available will also be sent an access code to a GarageBand file ready to open in GarageBand or Logic. However, you don’t need GarageBand to do a remix, all the stems are in iTunes Plus format and compatible with several music software platforms. Finished mixes can be uploaded to the site where the public can listen and vote for their favorite remix (voting ends May 1st). Someone should mix it up with NIN’s Ghosts and put together an “Insincere Remix” for Trent Reznor. I hear he’s a fan.

Ever wanted to play Tim Gunn with your favorite indie musician? Now’s your chance! Devendra Banhart has added a virtual paper doll version of himself to his website, which allows you to dress the singer up in a variety of freak folk fashion choices (including a rather frightening clown mask). Come to think of it - maybe Banhart is more Santino than Gunn. Either way - make it work.

MP3:
Devendra Banhart - “The Body Breaks”

Here’s a great way to put together a fake band and album in less time than it used to take Lou Pearlman! Here are the 3 easy steps:

1. The first article title on this page is the name of your band.

2. The last four words of the very last quote on this page is the title of your album.

3. The third picture (no matter what it is!) on this page will be your album cover.

Now all you have to do is sit back and wait for fake rehab! My resulting fake band is Castries and the fake debut album is entitled Of Luck Or Merit (taken from The Talmud’s quote, “Never expose yourself unnecessarily to danger; a miracle may not save you…and if it does, it will be deducted from your share of luck or merit.”). Additionally, I couldn’t be happier with the cover art. Check it out and post your fake band/album info in the comments! (Thanks to Okay City for the heads up and dustbury for creating the meme!)

Many of us have owned music that we didn’t necessarily pay for at some point in our lives. While some may rest easy at night, there are still plenty of others who have experienced some complex emotions about shafting an artist out of making a buck. Luckily, the great website Dear Rockers has created a way to help fans thank their favorite artists and repay them in five easy steps - you simply pick a musician, write them a letter, send a pic of the letter to Dear Rockers, mail off your letter along with $5, and enjoy the karma. It’s kind of like Post Secret for a post-Napster society and reading the letters on the site is insightful and hilarious. A particular favorite is a girl who sent Axl Rose $5 in coins “because that’s how bum wine should be bought.” (Thanks to Pop Candy for the heads up!)