That this was, indeed, Alanis Morissette:
Combine this with the Barenaked Ladies recently released YouTubesque songs from a water closet (thank you, Chris), and something weird is going on. Musicians seem to be saying “I can’t beat them, so I’ll join them with no-budget parodies and songs from my bathroom”.
http://flash.revver.com/player/1.0/player.js?mediaId:219924;affiliateId:0;height:247;width:300;
Is it a desperate grasp at relevance, or canny 21st century marketing? Regardless, don’t miss this unusual version of an old BNL favourite.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
Well, aside from the fact that the BNL have been pretty far out front on the whole “future of music” thing, there’s a bit of a challenge being thrown down here.
Look at a guy like Jonathan Coulton earn buzz by creating a song a week with zero production budget and no studio. It begs the question: if he’s 90% as good as “real artists” when stripped down to a guitar, a mic, and a computer, how good are those real artists?
The Ladies have given their answer: stripped down to a guitar, two voices, and a bathroom, they’re still awesome.
As for Ms. Morrissette’s video, I don’t know what that is about, but I know it’s darned funny. I don’t know whether it is more of a song parody or a self-parody, but i’ll take it.
I think it’s a song parody. I’m on the bandwagon that thought the original was the worst song to ever grace the planet for its lyrics, music, Stacie Ferguson, and its video. It’s good to see that Alanis Morissette looks fabulous when she styles herself as the girls need to these days to “get ahead” (take Nelly Furtado’s sleek new image).
LOL… nice parody… you have to appreciate our Canadian musicians.
BTW.. those BNL videos weren’t “YouTubesque”, they are from YouTube. BNL has it’s own blog I follow at bnlblog.com, and their own YouTube account. Bored during the few weeks between the Canadian tour and the England tour they just started, Ed started recording songs in his bathroom. After he’d done a few, Steve came over to do the duet you posted. These were all posted by Ed on their YouTube account.
BNL is one of the vocal leaders of the Canadian musicians that reject the recording industries stance. Directly from their site, you can buy a recording of every show they do (ie. you can buy a copy of the concert you went to, recorded straight off the sound board) and all their studio music, all without DRM. When I went to their last concert in February, they were selling their newest album on USB sticks.
If you want to know just how wacky our musicians can be, they also hosted a cruise in January just before starting the Canadian tour. At the last minute, they announced you could join them on the top deck for a group photo; requirements were that you wore nothing but a white robe and dropped it just before the camera snapped. Check out the header of their blog…..
I’m pulling for parody. Morisette has talent.
The BNL opened the Future Shop in Victoria in 1987 with a rendition of “If I had $1,000,000” that in tribute to Michael Jackson included the phrase “If I had a million dollars, I’d sleep with little boys …”
From the name on up, they’re out to poke sacred cows and make them moo.
Gregg: Yeah, I listened to their excellent podcast while recording their latest album. By “YouTubesque” I was referring to the quality and style of the videos. They’re co-opting the default broadcast format and aesthetic of their audience, which is pretty interesting (both innovative and pathetic? I’m not sure) for rock stars.
Ah, yes, I see what you meantnow. I guess for them it’s kinda natural; don’t forget the famous Speaker’s Corner video that made them famous in the first place.
Thanks for sharing this Morissette song lol 🙂