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I will not be watcing the World Cup, as I am really not a futbol fan, but there is no denying that Shakira's new song for the occasion, Dai Dai (with Burna Boy), is extremely catchy:
The video was directed by Hannah Lux Davis, who has worked with dozens of pop stars (Ariana Grande, Shakira, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, Avril Lavigne, Christina Aguilera, and Hilary Duff) and rappers (Snoop Dogg, Nicki Minaj, Lil' Wayne, 2 Chainz, Doja Cat) in the past decade and a half. The colours are vibrant, there are plenty of kids dancing to show the playfulness and unity that the World Cup claims to stand for, and Shakira is as bubbly as can be.
Showing posts with label Pop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pop. Show all posts
Thursday, June 11, 2026
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Video Of The Week: The Cars
Let's take a short break from hockey predictions to acknowledge one of the best songwriting talents in 20th Century Rock, Ric Ocasek, who was found dead earlier at the age of 75. He was inducted along with his other The Cars bandmates into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2018 (I sure as fuck voted for them, yes).
He also put out some terrific solo albums, my favourite being 1997's Troublizing, which included bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur (Tinker, Hole, The Smashing Pumpkins, a great solo career in stoner rock), drummer Matt Walker (Filter, Garbage, The Smashing Pumpkins, Morrissey) and Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins) on guitar, keyboards and backing vocals.
But I wanted to focus on The Cars for the moment, seeing as that's what Ocasek was most known for. My favourite Cars song is My Best Friend's Girl, with Just What I Needed ranking a close second:
I'm still looking for additional information pertaining to the video, including who directed it. When I find out, I'll update this paragraph.
Okasek also produced a ton of records for other artists, including Suicide, Bad Brains, Bad Religion, Nada Surf, Le Tigre, No Doubt, and, most recently, Weezer. He just may be the king of Power Pop.
He also put out some terrific solo albums, my favourite being 1997's Troublizing, which included bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur (Tinker, Hole, The Smashing Pumpkins, a great solo career in stoner rock), drummer Matt Walker (Filter, Garbage, The Smashing Pumpkins, Morrissey) and Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins) on guitar, keyboards and backing vocals.
But I wanted to focus on The Cars for the moment, seeing as that's what Ocasek was most known for. My favourite Cars song is My Best Friend's Girl, with Just What I Needed ranking a close second:
I'm still looking for additional information pertaining to the video, including who directed it. When I find out, I'll update this paragraph.
Okasek also produced a ton of records for other artists, including Suicide, Bad Brains, Bad Religion, Nada Surf, Le Tigre, No Doubt, and, most recently, Weezer. He just may be the king of Power Pop.
Friday, February 8, 2019
Video Of The Week: Fox And Bones
Somewhere along the lines of five to ten years ago, I took part in a benefit concert for the Mile-End Mission (a homeless shelter) in which all participants agreed to sing political folk songs; most chose to cover Woody Guthrie, Billy Bragg, Bruce Springsteen and Pete Seeger. My friend John "Triangles" Stuart used to hold these every month, each time with a different theme, which usually meant new songs we had to learn.
Fox And Bones sound like they would have attended a show like that one and been turned on by the general themes of "songs of the proletariat", but with an indie rock quality to their sound, a bit more polished.
The Portland, OR couple comprised of co-songwriters Sarah Vitort and Scott Gilmore know how to write a fine song; there's a nice positivity about Better Land that rises the song up like the best songs from acts like The Lumineers, however that takes away from the depth of what one expects from "songs for the people":
The video was co-directed by Chris Bigalke and video animator Zachary Winterton.
Fox And Bones sound like they would have attended a show like that one and been turned on by the general themes of "songs of the proletariat", but with an indie rock quality to their sound, a bit more polished.
The Portland, OR couple comprised of co-songwriters Sarah Vitort and Scott Gilmore know how to write a fine song; there's a nice positivity about Better Land that rises the song up like the best songs from acts like The Lumineers, however that takes away from the depth of what one expects from "songs for the people":
The video was co-directed by Chris Bigalke and video animator Zachary Winterton.
Friday, December 15, 2017
Video Of The Week: Fergie
Unbeknownst to be, I've been following Fergie's career since I was six years old, as she starred in the long-syndicated in the U.S. (but hard to find in Canada beyond 1986) TV show Kids Incorporated as Stacy Ferguson, alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt, Eric Balfour (24), Martika (who sang the theme song, and the mega-hit Toy Soldiers a few years later), Mario Lopez, and Wendy Brainard (who went on to sing with Corey Hart and Donna Summer).
I fucking loved that show so much I'd get up at 5 AM to watch it on Saturday mornings in the second grade; my parents didn't understand what was up with me, but there was something about the five songs per episode (and maybe Hewitt, Ferguson and Martika singing them as well).
Then came the girl-group Wild Orchid, whose records I bought for the album covers (namely the self-titled debut and the Supernatural single) but seldom listened to.
In the mid-1990s (and pretty much my entire life, really), some pop music suited my ears, but rock and rap more so; The Black Eyed Peas' first two records were decent underground fare, but when they hired Fergie and turned pop for Elephunk, their career hit new heights of commercial success... and creative depths that represent pretty much everything that is wrong with modern pop music.
In 2006, she came out with her first solo record, The Dutchess, which was successful, but sounded like it should have been a Gwen Stefani album, what with the reggae-ska numbers, the semi-honest/touchy-feely numbers that hint at deeper turmoil but ultimately fail at being truly poignant. And the insipid pure-pop numbers just didn't make it for me - although they made my then-girlfriend dance and act wild.
Fergie has tremendous skill as a singer, in the upper echelons, but for most of her career, it has felt like she was either holding back or refused to exploit it correctly.
There are two ways to go when you have a voice like that: the Céline Dion/Frank Sinatra/Whitney Houston way, which is to have people write songs for you to belt out like no other, or to bare your fucking soul, which works whether your voice is great or unique (Tori Amos, Charlotte Martin, Joanna Newsom, Björk), "normal" (P.J. Harvey), or awful (Courtney Love, Yoko Ono).
Finally, at age 42, Fergie has chosen the latter, with A Little Work, from the album Double Dutchess, which is a tad cliché'd but still rings true. The long-form video (a.k.a. "short film") by Jonas Åkerlund brings the point home very well:
You may recall Akerlund's work - such as the 2002 indie film Spun, or his videos for Roxette, Prodigy (Smack My Bitch Up), Madonna (Ray of Light), Metallica (Turn The Page, Whiskey In The Jar), The Smashing Pumpkins, Blink-182's I Miss You, and countless others - is among the best in the business.
He was the perfect director to bring to life a story about drug addiction (be it Fergie's documented struggles with crystal meth or the current opioid crisis in America) and mental illness.
I fucking loved that show so much I'd get up at 5 AM to watch it on Saturday mornings in the second grade; my parents didn't understand what was up with me, but there was something about the five songs per episode (and maybe Hewitt, Ferguson and Martika singing them as well).
Then came the girl-group Wild Orchid, whose records I bought for the album covers (namely the self-titled debut and the Supernatural single) but seldom listened to.
In the mid-1990s (and pretty much my entire life, really), some pop music suited my ears, but rock and rap more so; The Black Eyed Peas' first two records were decent underground fare, but when they hired Fergie and turned pop for Elephunk, their career hit new heights of commercial success... and creative depths that represent pretty much everything that is wrong with modern pop music.
In 2006, she came out with her first solo record, The Dutchess, which was successful, but sounded like it should have been a Gwen Stefani album, what with the reggae-ska numbers, the semi-honest/touchy-feely numbers that hint at deeper turmoil but ultimately fail at being truly poignant. And the insipid pure-pop numbers just didn't make it for me - although they made my then-girlfriend dance and act wild.
Fergie has tremendous skill as a singer, in the upper echelons, but for most of her career, it has felt like she was either holding back or refused to exploit it correctly.
There are two ways to go when you have a voice like that: the Céline Dion/Frank Sinatra/Whitney Houston way, which is to have people write songs for you to belt out like no other, or to bare your fucking soul, which works whether your voice is great or unique (Tori Amos, Charlotte Martin, Joanna Newsom, Björk), "normal" (P.J. Harvey), or awful (Courtney Love, Yoko Ono).
Finally, at age 42, Fergie has chosen the latter, with A Little Work, from the album Double Dutchess, which is a tad cliché'd but still rings true. The long-form video (a.k.a. "short film") by Jonas Åkerlund brings the point home very well:
You may recall Akerlund's work - such as the 2002 indie film Spun, or his videos for Roxette, Prodigy (Smack My Bitch Up), Madonna (Ray of Light), Metallica (Turn The Page, Whiskey In The Jar), The Smashing Pumpkins, Blink-182's I Miss You, and countless others - is among the best in the business.
He was the perfect director to bring to life a story about drug addiction (be it Fergie's documented struggles with crystal meth or the current opioid crisis in America) and mental illness.
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Video Of The Week: Halsey
Halsey is the stage name of one Ashley Nicolette Frangipan, from New Jersey.
She is a 23-year-old pop artist who is on her second record, Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, having released Badlands in 2015. She has toured with Imagine Dragons and The Weeknd, recorded with The Chainsmokers and Justin Bieber, and is emo to the core, citing Panic! At The Disco as her all-time favourite band.
She spent her late teens dating a heroin addict in New York City and dropping out of college, so he had the regular rebellious lifestyle worthy of a TV biopic.
Oh, and she's way more into P!nk than she lets on, as can be attested by the video for Bad At Love, which she co-directed with Sing J. Lee:
There's a lot of Thelma & Louise in there, as well, of course. Because empowerment.
And because watching and getting inspired by Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Gas Food Lodging, Bound, Set It Off, Mulholland Drive, Frida, Suffragette, or Lost And Delirious is not cliché enough for a young soul who only pretends to be interested in cinema.
She is a 23-year-old pop artist who is on her second record, Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, having released Badlands in 2015. She has toured with Imagine Dragons and The Weeknd, recorded with The Chainsmokers and Justin Bieber, and is emo to the core, citing Panic! At The Disco as her all-time favourite band.
She spent her late teens dating a heroin addict in New York City and dropping out of college, so he had the regular rebellious lifestyle worthy of a TV biopic.
Oh, and she's way more into P!nk than she lets on, as can be attested by the video for Bad At Love, which she co-directed with Sing J. Lee:
There's a lot of Thelma & Louise in there, as well, of course. Because empowerment.
And because watching and getting inspired by Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Gas Food Lodging, Bound, Set It Off, Mulholland Drive, Frida, Suffragette, or Lost And Delirious is not cliché enough for a young soul who only pretends to be interested in cinema.
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Video Of The Week: Walk The Moon
What do you get when you mix the worst haircuts of all time, the visual style of 1980s Red Hot Chili Peppers crossed with Aladdin Sane-era David Bowie and ten-year-olds trying their hands at KISS make-up, the musical stylings of Crazy Town, Fun., Imagine Dragons, The Lumineers, and the worst of Walk Off The Earth's originals, and the lyrical genius qualities of Black Eyed Peas?
Apart from a total lack of originality and a dumbed-down version of sub-par imitators, you get Walk The Moon, who recently released their new album, What If Nothing, which is exactly the kind of empty pretend-deep title you thought their record would have.
These assholes have the nerve to call their musical style "new wave", which is an insult to Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, Blondie, Devo, Nick Lowe, Joe Jackson, The B-52s, The Go-Gos, Adam And The Ants, The Romantics, The Jam, The (English) Beat, XTC, Roxy Music and the like.
Walk The Moon's sound is actually much closer to that of New Romantic acts such as Spandau Ballet, Squeeze, Duran Duran, Simply Red and Thompson Twins, i.e. "shitty male-dominated synth-pop".
Director Robert Hales (Nine Inch Nails, Imagine Dragons, Jack White's Would You Fight For My Love) should have left them to die in the Joshua Tree National Park:
Apart from a total lack of originality and a dumbed-down version of sub-par imitators, you get Walk The Moon, who recently released their new album, What If Nothing, which is exactly the kind of empty pretend-deep title you thought their record would have.
These assholes have the nerve to call their musical style "new wave", which is an insult to Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, Blondie, Devo, Nick Lowe, Joe Jackson, The B-52s, The Go-Gos, Adam And The Ants, The Romantics, The Jam, The (English) Beat, XTC, Roxy Music and the like.
Walk The Moon's sound is actually much closer to that of New Romantic acts such as Spandau Ballet, Squeeze, Duran Duran, Simply Red and Thompson Twins, i.e. "shitty male-dominated synth-pop".
Director Robert Hales (Nine Inch Nails, Imagine Dragons, Jack White's Would You Fight For My Love) should have left them to die in the Joshua Tree National Park:
Monday, October 23, 2017
Video Of The Week: CLARA-NOVA
CLARA-NOVA is Sydney Wayser's current electro-pop musical project. I hate 1980s-inspired electro-pop, and I hated it just as much back then. There are bits of this piece that make me want to throw up - this is not a metaphor, the only nostalgia I have for what the '80s were or stood for makes me physically ill. For real.
In this case, specifically, it's the chorus' bass line mixed with the atmospheric keyboards.
But I like the vocal melodies. And I feel like not enough people are aware of this project, that it warrants looking at the bigger picture.
So here's her new video, for The Illusionist, directed by Mimi Cave and starring dancer/choreographer Toogie Barcelo:
It was smart to use drones to film on location in an abandoned warehouse, at night. Indie innovation thinking, right there.
In this case, specifically, it's the chorus' bass line mixed with the atmospheric keyboards.
But I like the vocal melodies. And I feel like not enough people are aware of this project, that it warrants looking at the bigger picture.
So here's her new video, for The Illusionist, directed by Mimi Cave and starring dancer/choreographer Toogie Barcelo:
It was smart to use drones to film on location in an abandoned warehouse, at night. Indie innovation thinking, right there.
Thursday, August 3, 2017
Video Of The Week: Queen
As Freddie Mercury was nearing the end of his life, members of Queen hurried writing and production on Innuendo, their final record together. Just weeks before his passing of AIDS-related complications, Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher filmed These Are The Days Of Our Lives in black and white, so as to hide most of the effects the disease was having on him, and the toll it was taking on his health:
The song was credited to the entire band but was actually penned by drummer Roger Taylor, who participated in the first shoot with Mercury and bassist John Deacon; guitarist Brian May, who was on a publicity tour for the album, shot his footage a few weeks later.
Notice Mercury's last words ever filmed on tape, "I still love you", whispered at the end of the video.
The song was credited to the entire band but was actually penned by drummer Roger Taylor, who participated in the first shoot with Mercury and bassist John Deacon; guitarist Brian May, who was on a publicity tour for the album, shot his footage a few weeks later.
Notice Mercury's last words ever filmed on tape, "I still love you", whispered at the end of the video.
Friday, July 21, 2017
Video Of The Week: Sabrina Carpenter
So the biggest video this week is Sabrina Carpenter's Why, a faux-clever take on how opposites attract featuring a song with just about zero instruments and no melody or rhymes. It was directed by Jay Martin, who has directed three videos for Shawn Mendes and one apiece for Nas (featuring Amy Winehouse), Daughtry, and Christina Perri:
The kid's 18 and used to be on a Disney Channel show, so I'll let her grow up and live a bit before passing too mean a judgement on her songwriting skills, but suffice it to say I do not understand how millions of people have tuned into this song so far. Apart from the fact that she likely had a fan base from Girl Meets World and the fact that she's a pretty little blonde girl.
Martin has to be criticized for how cheesy the video is, too. Most of the tropes used belong in the 1980s. Then again, so does keyboard-based music that contains no music, so maybe he was just making a point.
Oh, and I just want to point out that this was released on Hollywood Records. Hollywood is a subsidiary of Disney (of course), but it used to be the "adult" and "edgy" branch, the one that released L.A. Guns' sleaze-rock albums, punk-funk pioneers Fishbone, metalcore band Atreyu, Butthole Surfers, Danzig, The Dead Milkmen, neo-swing/alternative rock band Fastball, gay icons Indigo Girls, Insane Clown Posse, Stryper (a cheaper, Christian, less-prone-to-extensive-solos Winger, if you will), The Polyphonic Spree, The Suicide Machines and trip-hop genius Tricky. They have seemingly lost their soul somewhere in the last decade.
The kid's 18 and used to be on a Disney Channel show, so I'll let her grow up and live a bit before passing too mean a judgement on her songwriting skills, but suffice it to say I do not understand how millions of people have tuned into this song so far. Apart from the fact that she likely had a fan base from Girl Meets World and the fact that she's a pretty little blonde girl.
Martin has to be criticized for how cheesy the video is, too. Most of the tropes used belong in the 1980s. Then again, so does keyboard-based music that contains no music, so maybe he was just making a point.
Oh, and I just want to point out that this was released on Hollywood Records. Hollywood is a subsidiary of Disney (of course), but it used to be the "adult" and "edgy" branch, the one that released L.A. Guns' sleaze-rock albums, punk-funk pioneers Fishbone, metalcore band Atreyu, Butthole Surfers, Danzig, The Dead Milkmen, neo-swing/alternative rock band Fastball, gay icons Indigo Girls, Insane Clown Posse, Stryper (a cheaper, Christian, less-prone-to-extensive-solos Winger, if you will), The Polyphonic Spree, The Suicide Machines and trip-hop genius Tricky. They have seemingly lost their soul somewhere in the last decade.
Friday, April 21, 2017
Video Of The Week: Athena Andreadis
Here's what happens when songwriters use songwriting software and a rhyme dictionary:
The songs is Stronger, and the video was directed by Monika Lightstone.
If you don't know Athena Andreadis, she is an Anglo-Greek singer-songwriter who has collaborated with a ton of people in the past decade, including singing background vocals on the late Leonard Cohen's Traveling Light, off his final album, 2016's You Want It Darker. Cohen had a thing for thin, classically beautiful blondes, after all...
Now, I don't want to rag on Andreadis, as she has won writing awards in College, and the BBC's Morag Reavley called her first album, 2007's Breathe With Me, "Intimate, thoughtful, (and) original". However, you have to agree that Stronger is none of those. It's too arranged and studio-soulless to be intimate, it's too cliché'd to be thoughtful, and nothing about it is original, from the music to the chord progression to the arrangements to the insipid lyrics. Even the title is ridiculously unoriginal, what with the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears, Ai, Sugababes, Kanye West, Mary J. Blige and Jennette McCurdy having released songs with that title in recent years - and a shitload more that I don't know about, and a ton more before all of these.
I had looked her up when I bought Cohen's album, and it seemed at the time - six months ago - that she had registered as "alright", not "wholly unoriginal" in my mind, so it's possible this song doesn't reflect her latest album, Ready For The Sun - or it's also possible that producer Ethan Allen (Ben Harper, Sheryl Crow) assassinated her style and asepticized and dumbed it down for her to better connect to an American audience.
Either way, I had expected a much better product from her. From anyone, really, but someone who wins awards shouldn't dive this low, ever.
The songs is Stronger, and the video was directed by Monika Lightstone.
If you don't know Athena Andreadis, she is an Anglo-Greek singer-songwriter who has collaborated with a ton of people in the past decade, including singing background vocals on the late Leonard Cohen's Traveling Light, off his final album, 2016's You Want It Darker. Cohen had a thing for thin, classically beautiful blondes, after all...
Now, I don't want to rag on Andreadis, as she has won writing awards in College, and the BBC's Morag Reavley called her first album, 2007's Breathe With Me, "Intimate, thoughtful, (and) original". However, you have to agree that Stronger is none of those. It's too arranged and studio-soulless to be intimate, it's too cliché'd to be thoughtful, and nothing about it is original, from the music to the chord progression to the arrangements to the insipid lyrics. Even the title is ridiculously unoriginal, what with the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears, Ai, Sugababes, Kanye West, Mary J. Blige and Jennette McCurdy having released songs with that title in recent years - and a shitload more that I don't know about, and a ton more before all of these.
I had looked her up when I bought Cohen's album, and it seemed at the time - six months ago - that she had registered as "alright", not "wholly unoriginal" in my mind, so it's possible this song doesn't reflect her latest album, Ready For The Sun - or it's also possible that producer Ethan Allen (Ben Harper, Sheryl Crow) assassinated her style and asepticized and dumbed it down for her to better connect to an American audience.
Either way, I had expected a much better product from her. From anyone, really, but someone who wins awards shouldn't dive this low, ever.
Friday, March 10, 2017
Video Of The Week: Toto
1982.
E.T. and Das Boot.
The year I turned 4.
Toto. Goddamn motherfucking Toto.
To this day, Toto are still one of the biggest bands to draw in France; they're basically to France what The Offspring is to Québec or what U2 is to the U.S., without the negative press.
You can barely get a sporting event or family gathering or sugar shack outing without hearing 1978's Hold The Line, but these guys have also brought you Rosanna and Africa...
I mean, sure, it's cheesy, but it also gets stuck in your head line nothing else. Africa and Rosanna are the brain cancer of prog rock...
This video was directed by Steve Barron, who was at the helm of many popular films and TV miniseries (1984's Electric Dreams, 1990's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 1993's Coneheads, 1998's Merlin) and many groundbreaking music videos, and a few cheesy ones as well: Michael Jackson's Billie Jean, A-Ha's Take On Me, Dire Straits' Money For Nothing and Calling Elvis, Bryan Adams' Cuts Like A Knife, Run To You and Summer Of '69, Eddie Grant's Electric Avenue, the Natalie Cole and Nat "King" Cole duet Unforgettable, Dolly Parton's Potential New Boyfriend, The Human League's two hits (Keep Feeling) Fascination and Don't You Want Me, The Jam's Strangetown, Sheena Easton's For Your Eyes Only and Telephone, Def Leppard's awful Let's Get Rocked, Madonna's Burning Up and a slew of others by the likes of Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark, Paul McCartney and Tears For Fears.
E.T. and Das Boot.
The year I turned 4.
Toto. Goddamn motherfucking Toto.
To this day, Toto are still one of the biggest bands to draw in France; they're basically to France what The Offspring is to Québec or what U2 is to the U.S., without the negative press.
You can barely get a sporting event or family gathering or sugar shack outing without hearing 1978's Hold The Line, but these guys have also brought you Rosanna and Africa...
I mean, sure, it's cheesy, but it also gets stuck in your head line nothing else. Africa and Rosanna are the brain cancer of prog rock...
This video was directed by Steve Barron, who was at the helm of many popular films and TV miniseries (1984's Electric Dreams, 1990's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 1993's Coneheads, 1998's Merlin) and many groundbreaking music videos, and a few cheesy ones as well: Michael Jackson's Billie Jean, A-Ha's Take On Me, Dire Straits' Money For Nothing and Calling Elvis, Bryan Adams' Cuts Like A Knife, Run To You and Summer Of '69, Eddie Grant's Electric Avenue, the Natalie Cole and Nat "King" Cole duet Unforgettable, Dolly Parton's Potential New Boyfriend, The Human League's two hits (Keep Feeling) Fascination and Don't You Want Me, The Jam's Strangetown, Sheena Easton's For Your Eyes Only and Telephone, Def Leppard's awful Let's Get Rocked, Madonna's Burning Up and a slew of others by the likes of Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark, Paul McCartney and Tears For Fears.
Monday, December 26, 2016
Video Of The Week: The Killers
Christmas has come and past, the Holidays weren't meant to last, but here's a remnant with a bit of a twist, to be added to the original yuletide hit list, Don't Shoot Me Santa by The Killers, featuring Ryan Pardey in the role of a murderous Las Vegas-area Santa:
It was directed by actor Matthew Gray Gubler (of Criminal Minds fame).
Other Vegas staples in the video include digging a hole to bury a body in the Mohave, an old red convertible that Hunter S. Thompson would have loved, and a shitload of sand and dirt.
Happy Holidays!
It was directed by actor Matthew Gray Gubler (of Criminal Minds fame).
Other Vegas staples in the video include digging a hole to bury a body in the Mohave, an old red convertible that Hunter S. Thompson would have loved, and a shitload of sand and dirt.
Happy Holidays!
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Video Of The Week: Walk Off The Earth
One thing Walk Off The Earth specializes in is covering popular songs, and in their latest video, directed by Tom MacLeod, they take on Snoop Lion's Lighters Up - with special guest Snoop Dogg himself:
The video may not have all the visual and instrumental trickery of some of WOTE's earlier work, but it shows us a glimpse of studio life, and in particular studio life when a lifelong pot smoker enters the fray and gets the entire atmosphere to chill out.
The video may not have all the visual and instrumental trickery of some of WOTE's earlier work, but it shows us a glimpse of studio life, and in particular studio life when a lifelong pot smoker enters the fray and gets the entire atmosphere to chill out.
Monday, November 7, 2016
Video Of The Week: Leonard Cohen
We lost another great today, with the passing of legendary Montréal poet Leonard Cohen, who was inducted in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.
Sure, Cohen was a Montrealer through-and-through, a Jew-turned-atheist-turned-Buddhist-turned-peacenik, a bohemian ladies' man, a quiet man who loved his routine (including freshly-squeezed orange juice to start his walk around the Mile End area on Sunday mornings)...
But he was also a New Yorker through-and through, having lived at the Chelsea Hotel alongside Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin (the story of their night together told through Chelsea Hotel No. 2), a friend of Lou Reed's, who partied with Saturday Night Live cast members and its producer, Lorne Michaels.
And yet he was also at home in Europe, drinking wine, eating well, and courting beautiful women at all times of night and day, muses for eternal songs to come.
And he spent his last years in the perfect California weather, perhaps extending his life by doing so, as you want to battle cancer in the most perfect setting possible.
Many of his songs are now seen as prophetic - and not just those from You Want It Darker, the record he released just weeks prior to his passing. Now, the final words from one of his best-known songs, Tower Of Song, ring as true as ever:
Today, I choose to feature the video for Closing Time, from his 1992 record The Future, directed by Curtis Wehrfritz, featuring back-up singers Perla Batalla and Julie Christensen:
If you like the look he has in his eye, it's because his flame at the time, actress Rebecca De Mornay - who also co-produced the record - felt he needed to show more passion than he had in previous takes and opted to perform a mock striptease off-camera to seduce him.
Ever the Old World Romantic, Cohen then bent down and put De Mornay's shoes back on for her, on his knees.
Lou Reed. Hunter S. Thompson. Leonard Cohen. Most of my influences and idols have now passed.
Someone make sure Tom Waits, Renaud Séchan, Eric Clapton, Jean Leloup and Eddie Vedder still have a pulse.
Sure, Cohen was a Montrealer through-and-through, a Jew-turned-atheist-turned-Buddhist-turned-peacenik, a bohemian ladies' man, a quiet man who loved his routine (including freshly-squeezed orange juice to start his walk around the Mile End area on Sunday mornings)...
But he was also a New Yorker through-and through, having lived at the Chelsea Hotel alongside Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin (the story of their night together told through Chelsea Hotel No. 2), a friend of Lou Reed's, who partied with Saturday Night Live cast members and its producer, Lorne Michaels.
And yet he was also at home in Europe, drinking wine, eating well, and courting beautiful women at all times of night and day, muses for eternal songs to come.
And he spent his last years in the perfect California weather, perhaps extending his life by doing so, as you want to battle cancer in the most perfect setting possible.
Many of his songs are now seen as prophetic - and not just those from You Want It Darker, the record he released just weeks prior to his passing. Now, the final words from one of his best-known songs, Tower Of Song, ring as true as ever:
Now I bid you farewell, I don't know when I'll be backI don't know. As I sit here in tears writing this piece I find myself reflecting on my own life, most of it spent not just with no regard to my own future, but not even picturing myself in one; I've lived for the moment for so long - 20 of those years in the excesses of food and alcohol - that I never thought I'd outlive someone like Cohen.
They're moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
But you'll be hearing from me baby, long after I'm gone
I'll be speaking to you sweetly from a window in the Tower of Song
Today, I choose to feature the video for Closing Time, from his 1992 record The Future, directed by Curtis Wehrfritz, featuring back-up singers Perla Batalla and Julie Christensen:
If you like the look he has in his eye, it's because his flame at the time, actress Rebecca De Mornay - who also co-produced the record - felt he needed to show more passion than he had in previous takes and opted to perform a mock striptease off-camera to seduce him.
Ever the Old World Romantic, Cohen then bent down and put De Mornay's shoes back on for her, on his knees.
Lou Reed. Hunter S. Thompson. Leonard Cohen. Most of my influences and idols have now passed.
Someone make sure Tom Waits, Renaud Séchan, Eric Clapton, Jean Leloup and Eddie Vedder still have a pulse.
Friday, October 28, 2016
Video Of The Week: The Record Company
Sometimes social media does good things, like when Katie Sunshine instagrammed herself hula hooping to The Record Company's Rita Mae Young, caught the band's attention, and became the entire video of the song onto herself:
The Record Company hail from Los Angeles and their blues-based old-school rock comes informed with rap, soul and a bit of country to make the sound I wished The Black Keys would have made if I liked them.
They formed in 2011, have been relatively active since 2013 and are currently touring the U.S. and playing late-night talk shows. I'm curious to hear what the future holds for the trio.
The Record Company hail from Los Angeles and their blues-based old-school rock comes informed with rap, soul and a bit of country to make the sound I wished The Black Keys would have made if I liked them.
They formed in 2011, have been relatively active since 2013 and are currently touring the U.S. and playing late-night talk shows. I'm curious to hear what the future holds for the trio.
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Video Of The Week: High Dive Heart
Nashville pop act/couple High Dive Heart (comprised of singers/songwriters Nelly Joy and Jason Reeves) is creeping up the pop culture highway, starting independently but climbing a ladder that led them to producer Nathan Chapman (Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban).
They're still about having a ton of fun, as can be attested by the video for Dirty $$$, directed by Patrick Tracy, which pokes fun at rap videos, the American political system, corruption, and the current election with humour:
They're still about having a ton of fun, as can be attested by the video for Dirty $$$, directed by Patrick Tracy, which pokes fun at rap videos, the American political system, corruption, and the current election with humour:
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Video Of The Week: Banks
With her second full-length album due out in just over a month, Banks (or Jillian Rose Banks, as her birth certificate calls her) seems to have set her sights on a dancier version of dark pop (where Lana Del Rey is more orchestral) - or at least that's what I gather from her latest video, directed by Philippa Price, for the song Gemini Feed:
There's something in the song's sound that I find lacking, but I can't put my finger on it exactly. Perhaps it's the drum programming, or the lack of actual string instruments, but there's a void in the sound that is reminiscent of that of 1980s pop to my ears, the type that makes me nauseous usually - but not in this case, not quite.
I do really like the directing and photography, though; the colours are clear and crisp, the wardrobe design is really nice and makes up for the simplistic set design (and probable lack of budget). And, yes, I did say I liked the clothes she wears in the video, despite not being a fashion enthusiast - at all.
There's something in the song's sound that I find lacking, but I can't put my finger on it exactly. Perhaps it's the drum programming, or the lack of actual string instruments, but there's a void in the sound that is reminiscent of that of 1980s pop to my ears, the type that makes me nauseous usually - but not in this case, not quite.
I do really like the directing and photography, though; the colours are clear and crisp, the wardrobe design is really nice and makes up for the simplistic set design (and probable lack of budget). And, yes, I did say I liked the clothes she wears in the video, despite not being a fashion enthusiast - at all.
Friday, August 5, 2016
Video Of The Week: Blonde Redhead
New York City indie rock group Blonde Redhead actually has ties to a bunch of cities; singer and multi-instrumentalist Kazu Makino was born in Kyoto, Japan, while twin brothers Simone (drums) and Amedeo Pace (lead guitar/vocals) were born in Italy, raised in Montréal, moved to Boston as adults and studied in NYC, where they met Makino.
They formed the band in 1993 and released their self-titled debut in 1995, but people like me only started knowing of them in 1997 (Fake Can Be Just As Good). My favourite record of theirs is 2004's Misery Is a Butterfly.
Today, I chose to feature the title track from their 2007 record, 23, the first the band self-produced, though sound engineer extraordinaire Mitchell Froom participated in the recording of two songs. The video was directed by Melodie McDaniel, a photographer-turned-director whose past work includes Tori Amos' God, Madonna's Secret, Annie Lennox' Momma, Patti Smith's Don't Smoke In Bed, Porno For Pyros' Cursed Female and Charlotte Gainsbourg's Another Magazine:
They formed the band in 1993 and released their self-titled debut in 1995, but people like me only started knowing of them in 1997 (Fake Can Be Just As Good). My favourite record of theirs is 2004's Misery Is a Butterfly.
Today, I chose to feature the title track from their 2007 record, 23, the first the band self-produced, though sound engineer extraordinaire Mitchell Froom participated in the recording of two songs. The video was directed by Melodie McDaniel, a photographer-turned-director whose past work includes Tori Amos' God, Madonna's Secret, Annie Lennox' Momma, Patti Smith's Don't Smoke In Bed, Porno For Pyros' Cursed Female and Charlotte Gainsbourg's Another Magazine:
Friday, July 29, 2016
Video Of The Week: The Strumbellas
The closest thing to a "song of the year" that I hear everywhere (unlike, say, anything by the Eagles Of Death Metal that mostly plays in my headphones) is probably The Strumbellas' Spirits.
One part Arcade Fire, one part Fun., one part Of Monsters And Men and one part The Lumineers, the Canadian band (hailing from the suburbs of Toronto) made waves with that one song, and the video for it, directed by the Juno-nominated Daniel AM Rosenberg, does nothing to squash comparisons with Arcade Fire, what with the disguises and the roaring chorus leading to masses of people getting together and chanting in the streets:
One part Arcade Fire, one part Fun., one part Of Monsters And Men and one part The Lumineers, the Canadian band (hailing from the suburbs of Toronto) made waves with that one song, and the video for it, directed by the Juno-nominated Daniel AM Rosenberg, does nothing to squash comparisons with Arcade Fire, what with the disguises and the roaring chorus leading to masses of people getting together and chanting in the streets:
Friday, July 22, 2016
Video of The Week: The Droids
The Droids were a French synth-pop act that was strongly inspired by the film Star Wars (1977), which is pretty obvious in their choice of band name and album title, Star Peace (1978). The bad was comprised of two main members - Fabrice Cuitad and Yves Hayat - although keyboardist Richard Lornac (who also performed with Renaud, Joe Dassin and Marie-Paule Belle, among others) played on every song.
The dancer in their video, taken from a Top Of The Pops-type of French "variété" show, is none other than Chantal Dardenne, a star of the Opéra de Paris and the New York City Ballet:
The dancer in their video, taken from a Top Of The Pops-type of French "variété" show, is none other than Chantal Dardenne, a star of the Opéra de Paris and the New York City Ballet:
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