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LOLlapalooza 2013: Music’s 10 Best April Fools’ Pranks

thom yorke, radiohead, ted nugent, pro-hunting, april fool's day

April Fool’s Day was supposed to bring The Terror, the latest studio album from Oklahoma psych-freaks the Flaming Lips. Instead, that LP got delayed and April 1 only brought news of terrifying collaborations (see: Thom Yorke and Ted Nugent’s pro-hunting musical), frightening reunions (Tilda Swinton taking up drum duties in the newly revived White Stripes), and idiotic sound bites from Chris Brown. Don’t worry, though — those were just April Fool’s pranks. (Well, two of them were).

In honor of April 1, SPIN has rounded up some of the finest music-related April Fool’s Day hoaxes the Internet had to offer today. 

1. Radiohead and Ted Nugent are working on a pro-hunting musical based on the children’s book We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. “In the story, right, these kids go looking for this huge momma grizzly, and when they find it, they just run,” a source said. “Nuge and Thom reckoned it would be more fun if the kids just pulled out some serious firepower and blew the damn bear away — then skinned it and brought the hide home to their folks.” Could be nice to hear Thom Yorke be pro-something for once. (via the Guardian)

2. Headphones for cats. Make it happen, Sony. (via Sony)

3. Daft Punk have canceled the release of their upcoming album, Random Access Memories, because people are “expecting way too much” from the years-in-the-making full-length. The French disco duo admitted the new LP is “pretty OK,” but the robo-DJs would “rather just scrap it, because when it comes down to it, the music just really isn’t that good.” If only other bands would follow that same line of thinking. (via xlr8r)

4. In case there was any doubt about when exactly you should lose your shit to “Bangarang,” the masterminds at Soundcloud have introduced “Dropometer” technology, which inserts an arrow pointing to the specific location of the drop in any track. Though first conceived for dubstep purposes, the Dropometer can be applied to a variety of genres, helping listeners “find out when to expect a key crescendo in a 17th-century symphony or an emotional climax in an episode of This American Life.” (via SoundCloud)

5. David Bowie is planning to open a pet shop called “The Spiders From Mars.” We never thought he’d stoop so Low, but then again, have you heard The Next Day? (via Clash)

6. Jack White insisted he’d have to go bankrupt before he reunited the White Stripes, but the Blunderbuss rocker seems to have changed his tune. Just in time for the 10th anniversary of the White Stripes’ Elephant, Jack White has announced he will be reviving the Detroit rock duo, but with actress Tilda Swinton filling in for Meg White. At least it keeps with the band’s pasty white-and-flush red color scheme. (via the Beat)

7. Islands frontman Nick Thorburn announced his own death on Twitter today. Guess he wasn’t kidding on when he sang “Get down, stay down” last year.

8. YouTube has revealed that it’s actually been a “Best Video Ever” contest this whole time. The site will be shut down for the next 10 years, and a winner will be revealed in 2023. Don’t even bother reading the nominees — this thing belongs to the goats. (via YouTube)

9. All right, guys, this whole “digital music” thing had a good run, but all good things must end. Disgruntled music executives are planning to remove all digital music from the Internet. Really glad we saved our 8-tracks. (via Mace & Crown)

10. Self-hating hipster blog writes an inane post about a new track and video from a fresh new indie band. The song features “crescendoing guitars [and] synth bleepbloops,” the video hinges on pop culture references, and the nameless crew are set to play Jimmy Fallon and Conan later this month. Head over here for the band’s tour dates. (via Hipster Runoff)

— Additional reporting by Harley Brown