(Let's try this again)... I always get more inspiration from the British Broadcasting Company when it comes to music video that inspires me financially. #trendwatch
Let me be clear - I think the best way to help the unemployed is to encourage them to hide behind the topiary outside Bunker Hill Community College, and then ambush Winston Chin when he exits at 2:35 A.M. He will have an iPhone, books, and 2 kidneys - those will fetch at least $1000 on eBay. That's at least one job saved or created, if you axe me.
Foster, you really need to stop commenting on music. Grizzly Bear is "aping" the Beach Boys? Robbie Williams is better than Lady Gaga? I just feel slightly embarassed for you. Grizzly Bear is a great band.
(btw. it's not called "aping", it's called "influence", for however little you find the Beach Boys in there...)
@Pope John Peeps II: Hey hey HEY. I enjoy Grizzly Bear! They absolutely ape Pet Sounds. And yes, Robbie Williams is far superior to Lady Gags. FAR superior.
@Rosewater: In the.... what... use of piano? use of harmony? Even if these weren't really common in music, evoking something is not the same as copying it. And "apeing" means to copy, as far as I'm aware.
This is a nice animated short. The music is only marginally connected; it's a pleasant soundtrack for it, but the video would work just as well with almost any upbeat poppy number. Sugar Sugar, for example. So I don't think it really qualifies as "rock video." This does not auger what might have been if MTV had never invented My Super Sweet Sixteen or Maui Fever. In no way does it approach what we saw in the golden era of MTV or Friday Night Videos. Of course it would be unfair to compare this to the Thriller video, Walk This Way, or Hot For Teacher, but neither does it hit the compelling heights of Trapped In The Closet, the Cars, early Britney or Xtina, or even the video for David Lee Roth's remake of California Girls. Also, on what planet is 47,000 a large number of views? I've seen Gawker posts with more hits. (This post has racked up 1/4 that in just a few hours.) On the other hand, if I were an indie band with a modest-sized following, of course I would take notice of something like that.
@Peter Feld: What do you mean when you say it's only marginally connected? The lyrics themselves aren't really that forthcoming, but I thought the video translated them pretty well.
To each his own, but I prefer this type of added-dimension video to the ones that can get too literal. I certainly wouldn't single out early Britney or Christina as something I'd rewatch.
@limber: That's fair. It's not a bad video -- it's good -- or song, though the lyrics (as you note) are not impressive. Some of my examples are tongue-in-cheek, but I just don't see this as representing some lost world where "important" videos still air on a mass-media channel.
@Peter Feld: I'd be ecstatic if three-minute long minifilms were airing on a mass-media channel. They do this in the UK, late at night they sometimes air little filler films that really are a bunch of art packed into a small space, and I always find them so enthralling that I want more of them. So Vimeo's sort of the US equivalent: a widely-available platform for little meticulous art projects.
I mean, the sigh during the sushi? The diorama guy-in-the-mirror? The beats of the bird's wings to one tempo, the stars -- the fact that the stars are suspended from the ceiling, while the litebrite fireworks are flush with the surface? Amazing.
I don't watch most music videos anymore because they're all very egoistic and shallow (in my opinion). In NZ they had a late-night video takeover, and they played a lot of more creative videos that I'd actually stay up to watch because many of them were like minimovies. I loved Fat Freddy's Drop "Roady", and there was one with a jack-in-the-box and airships -- it's a fantastic venue for animation. The song in all of these examples is largely a backdrop to the art, admittedly, but I don't mind that.
Not only is this video far far better than the songs' original, it's far far better than the song itself. (Kudos to its portrayal of same-sex desire, too.)
You hear a lot about Beach Boys this and Beach Boys that when people talk about Grizzly Bear, but that's bullshit--even when he was in the sandbox, Brian Wilson's hunger for Top 40 glory was so great he never would have settled for such a paltry amount of hooks and such a monotonous sense of dynamics.
@Dickdogfood: Thanks for mentioning the same sexiness aspect. It wasn't until the 2nd viewing that I caught on that it wasn't the band members but a male couple. I'm noticing and appreciating the increasing normalcy granted to gayness in certain aspects of media, rather than being sensationalized.
This video is good, I liked the animation and creativity a lot. I appreciate the work that went into it.
Pity the song is so twee and ploddingly ordinary. Could they tap that piano any more nonstop for effect? Pecking at the same few notes like a vulture pecking at my brain? I realize they're the cool thing this week, but I wonder about the tranference of cool. Like, it sounds like something I could do! Tap tap tap tap...
If you ever have a chance to see these guys play live, take it. They're really nice, too. My cousin used to room with one of them. Good peeps. Good music.
That was like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs crossed with a whole lot of wonderful. It's funny that I've gone the full spectrum of the art: staying up til I was a zombie trying to watch Friday Night Videos (no MTV in my house) to now often completely forgetting that bands still bother to make videos since there really isn't a venue for them anymore. Which makes the good ones even more special.
@Conchie Birdie: I tend to think actual bands, as opposed to performers,@Aethyr such as Lady Gaga, don't really focus on videos like they used to. I rarely go to youtube to look up a video for a band I like. Maybe I'll look for a song but I usually come across home made remixes. It used to be such a humongous deal to release a video! I see more videos on public television than on however many music channels combined.
@maevemealone: I know! I can still remember staying up to watch the "world premiere" of Michael and Janet's Scream video.
On another note, this is pretty freaking awesome...
I think this is an awesome fan video in a different way. Band of Horses legit videos have kind of thrown in the towel on high art but are fun bc they are just having a blast. Which is also a good thing!
@maevemealone: Totally. I also heart Weezer which is why I love them for pulling off this mgmt/lady gaga vid.
But yeah, kadooz to Band of Horses as well. Woohoo for bands keepin' it real on youtube after the death of the real reason for mtv.
P.S. Here's another pretty chill band too... doing the whole legit video thing on youtube too.
Rather than reminiscing about the good ol' days of MTV (full disclosure: I was born in 1989, so I totally have no idea what it was like) I'd rather feel extremely proud about a culture where 47,000+ people can see something that fans made for their favorite band. When I used to write my totally awesome Pokemon fan-fiction at the tender age of 8, the only person who read it was my dad. I doubt he forwarded them on to his friends, let alone Satoshi Tajiri.
@croush1211: While the video is good and reminiscent of mid to late 80s MTV, I'd say it's kind of a stretch to romanticize this as a tribute to the band.
An artist, who according to an interview which came-up via a quick google hasn't been very inspired by the diminished budgets and short timeframes at his job, where he works with similar technologies, so he decided to infuse something with his artistic passion and it ended-up being this song.
I'm sure the four months he spent working on it after work and on weekends were moments of respite from his workaday world and he should be proud of the outcome, but unless he blows it or chooses otherwise, I'd say this example of his capabilities will end-up getting him another job or at least more freedom from his clients.
@croush1211: For those of us who have the ability to reminisce about the "good 'ol days," we can do that as well as appreciate the new culture. Both/and not either/or. It's the new black.
@Murgatroid: Ah.. I thought Gabe made his video because one didn't exist already -- as if to say "here you go, guys, I went through all this trouble to make you a video, do what you will with it.." but since they already have one in all its ironic hipster-showcasting glory, it's kind of a missed opportunity... he should do that with a [more awesome] song that didn't bother making a video ..
I don't think interesting work like this really ever existed in great abundance on MTV or VH1. Perhaps it's best that video artists have alternative platforms for their work and don't have to compete for attention amid crap that all looks like high-production-value versions of Girls Gone Wild.
@lionboy: I beg to differ! Mark Romanek and Spike Jonze made their names on MTV. Same with Gondry. Even Marcos Siega's videos were good. But then, well, yeah. Good videos left with good music.
@lionboy: Perfectly put. The art never should have been judged based on one or two platforms that got it the most exposure. Painting was once relegated to the walls of chapels and cathedrals and consisted of little more than religious iconography. It really got interesting when independent movements outside of the rigid and accepted structure took over. Let it evolve. And fuck MTV.
@Foster Kamer: k.d. lang's constant craving is one of the ones that stick out as a quality video with decent and fitting artistic direction.. but that was 17 yrs ago..
10/28/09
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* Actual performance may vary. #trendwatch
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(btw. it's not called "aping", it's called "influence", for however little you find the Beach Boys in there...)
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To each his own, but I prefer this type of added-dimension video to the ones that can get too literal. I certainly wouldn't single out early Britney or Christina as something I'd rewatch.
08/23/09
08/23/09
I mean, the sigh during the sushi? The diorama guy-in-the-mirror? The beats of the bird's wings to one tempo, the stars -- the fact that the stars are suspended from the ceiling, while the litebrite fireworks are flush with the surface? Amazing.
I don't watch most music videos anymore because they're all very egoistic and shallow (in my opinion). In NZ they had a late-night video takeover, and they played a lot of more creative videos that I'd actually stay up to watch because many of them were like minimovies. I loved Fat Freddy's Drop "Roady", and there was one with a jack-in-the-box and airships -- it's a fantastic venue for animation. The song in all of these examples is largely a backdrop to the art, admittedly, but I don't mind that.
08/23/09
You hear a lot about Beach Boys this and Beach Boys that when people talk about Grizzly Bear, but that's bullshit--even when he was in the sandbox, Brian Wilson's hunger for Top 40 glory was so great he never would have settled for such a paltry amount of hooks and such a monotonous sense of dynamics.
08/23/09
08/23/09
Pity the song is so twee and ploddingly ordinary. Could they tap that piano any more nonstop for effect? Pecking at the same few notes like a vulture pecking at my brain? I realize they're the cool thing this week, but I wonder about the tranference of cool. Like, it sounds like something I could do! Tap tap tap tap...
08/22/09
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On another note, this is pretty freaking awesome...
08/23/09
I think this is an awesome fan video in a different way. Band of Horses legit videos have kind of thrown in the towel on high art but are fun bc they are just having a blast. Which is also a good thing!
08/23/09
But yeah, kadooz to Band of Horses as well. Woohoo for bands keepin' it real on youtube after the death of the real reason for mtv.
P.S. Here's another pretty chill band too... doing the whole legit video thing on youtube too.
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08/22/09
Also, this song is terrible.
08/23/09
An artist, who according to an interview which came-up via a quick google hasn't been very inspired by the diminished budgets and short timeframes at his job, where he works with similar technologies, so he decided to infuse something with his artistic passion and it ended-up being this song.
I'm sure the four months he spent working on it after work and on weekends were moments of respite from his workaday world and he should be proud of the outcome, but unless he blows it or chooses otherwise, I'd say this example of his capabilities will end-up getting him another job or at least more freedom from his clients.
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