Category: New Video

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays La Femme Return with a Cinematic and Decidedly French Take on Psych Pop and Art Films

The Parisian collective’s highly-anticipated sophomore effort Mystere will officially drop today and you may recall that I’ve written about two album singles “Sphynx,” a track that manages to evoke a lingering fever dream — while cementing their growing reputation for boldly defying categorization, while the album’s second single “Ou va la mode” was a more stripped down, as though the Parisians were returning to the breezy and decidedly French take on surfer rock of Le Podium #1; but with warped, carnival from hell-sounding organs — and in some way it would force the listener to think that both songs would be heard as part of the soundtrack of a surrealistic French arthouse film. Now the album’s third and latest single “Septembre” continues along the same veins of the preceding single as the band pairs swirling and soaring organ chords, propulsive and steady drumming, whirring background noise and dreamily distracted vocals to craft a song that sounds deeply indebted to 60s psych rock and psych pop; but interestingly enough, just under the surface is a mournful and bittersweet air.

The recently released video was shot on old, grainy Super 8 film and features some of the members of the band broodingly walking on the beach — but spliced and superimposed over old home movies, which further emphasizes the song’s mournful and bittersweet air.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Patiently Surreal and Gorgeous Visuals for Mark Pritchard’s Gorgeous Collaboration with Thom Yorke, “Beautiful People”

Warp Records released Pritchard’s latest effort Under the Sun earlier this year, and from all accounts the album has Pritchard maintaining the lush and accessible production style that has won him international attention — but while crafting material that may arguably be the least club and dance-floor ready he’s released to date. Interestingly, one of the album’s singles is”Beautiful People,” a lush and ethereal collaboration with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke that pairs Yorke’s plaintive and aching vocals with a slow-burning production that possesses an almost painterly quality as it consists of an airy and gorgeous, looped flute sample, steady yet tribal-like drum programming and cascading layers of shimmering and undulating synths. In some way sonically speaking, the song meshes the ancient and tribal with the contemporary in a way that’s spectral –and in fact, in some way the song reminds the listener that ghosts linger and have a way of haunting your life in unexpected ways. That shouldn’t be surprising because as Pritchard explained in press notes “The original instrumental to ‘Beautiful People’ is a personal song about loss, hopelessness and chaos, but ultimately the message is love and hope. Thom’s contribution to this collaboration captured perfectly what the piece is about. . .”

The recently released video is a stunningly gorgeous video that follows its hooded, central character as it hikes and explores scenery that possess an otherworldly beauty before revealing that the character is a sort of Thom Yorke avatar. As the camera pans out in a cinematic fashion, it manages to reveal how small and insignificant its central character is the proceedings at hand — that is before some amazing gravity defying action at the end. Much like the song that inspired it, the video possesses a patient yet intense quality.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Creepy Film Noir Visuals and Tense, Uneasy Sounds of No One Mind

As you’ll hear on “Tiger” No One Mind’s latest single, layers of angular, buzzing guitars, a propulsive, throbbing bass line and rapid-fire drumming is paired with venomous lyrics full of recrimination, bitter accusations and spite and it comes from a deeply personal and fucked up place that should be familiar to anyone who has felt as though their heart was stomped on by someone close to them — including the miscommunication and misunderstanding, pettiness and deceit that adds a razor sharp edge to the feeling of deceit and loathing at the core of the song while pairing it with a song structure that feels dimly familiar yet alien.

Directed by Zoe Dehmer, the recently released video for “Tiger” is an film noir-like video that follows a pair of two young girls — presumably sisters — who appear as though they’re under the influence of hallucinogens as they wander around a suburban town, explore each other and mess with each other, while hinting at something deeply menacing and cruel just under the surface.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Trippy Sounds and Visuals of WL’s “Feeling Down”

“Feeling Down” the latest single off the Portland-based trio’s forthcoming sophomore effort Light Years is a trippy yet strangely funky song that pairs layers of cascading and droning keys, four-on-the-floor drumming, Misty Mary’s ethereal and aching vocals singing a repetitive, mantra-like refrain with blasts of saxophone to create a song that’s moody and feels as though it evokes the enveloping and overwhelming fog that depression can feel like.

Directed by Zach Erickson and featuring art by Souther Salazer, the video for “Feeling Down” featuring a black and white, newspaper cut out of the band’s Misty Mary moving in and out of focus, superimposed over an oceanic blue background in which concentric, psychedelic shapes appear both in the background and eventually overtake her and everything around her. Certainly, the video is as equally trippy as the song while evoking a sense of being overwhelmed — by everything.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: J. Hanna’s Slick Club-Friendly Remix of RICCA VITA’s “Abba Dabba” And It’s Neon Paint Filled Visuals

The original single is a lush, dreamy and ethereal bit of synth pop in which shimmering synths, gently swirling electronics are paired with plaintive vocals in a song that sounds as though it drew from Tame Impala, Vinyl Williams and others. However, the J. Hanna remix turns the psychedelic-leaning song into a slick, futuristic R&B-leaning synth pop in which the original’s plaintive vocals are paired with propulsive drum programming and boom bap-like beats, cascading layers of shimmering synths and razor sharp, contemporary pop-leaning hooks, essentially turning the song into a radio-friendly, club-banging track.

Interestingly, the video was shot not for the original song but for the remix. Shot in just four-and-a-half hours with most of it shot at Ryssemus’ home and segments shot at a few abandoned factories in downtown Nashville. As Ryssemus explains in press notes, “The remix was being released in a few days, and I was spastically [sic] struck with an idea to make and release the music video in the next three days. So I started frantically calling people and trying to make arrangements and the more people that got involved the more it took shape.” “All the neon scenes came first,” Ryssemus explains. “A friend of mine had an idea for doing a photoshoot with neon paint, which as I thought about the concept it spiraled into a place and time- a people. An almost tribal somewhat hedonistic, neon people. With this video, as oppose to the first two, I wanted to make something that felt visually exactly how the music felt. As oppose to taking someone on a journey in a linear logical storyline and I wanted to take someone on more of an emotional journey.” Visually, the video reminds me quite a bit of several videos shot in the 90s.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of primary members Guy Fenech, Oly Marlan and Nick Franklin Sydney, Australia-based indie electro pop/indie rock act Australia independently released their full-length debut Portraits of People, Places and Movies earlier this year to national attention for a sound that channels their homeland’s early 80s pub rock scene and 80s New Wave — in other words, as you’ll hear on Places and Movies‘ latest single “Breathe In,” anthemic hooks paired with propulsive four-on-the-floor-like drumming, angular guitar chords, a sinuous bass line, shimmering and undulating synths and Fenech’s baritone crooning to craft a sound that will remind listeners of INXS‘ “Listen Like Thieves” and In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy — but with a dance floor-friendly feel.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Trippy and Psychedelic Visuals and Sounds of Vinyl Williams

Brunei’s latest single “Feedback Delicates” is a gorgeous and trippy bit of psychedelia that has Williams and company pairing wobbling bass lines, four-on-the-floor-like drum patterns, ethereal vocals, shimmering synths and guitar chords to craft a song that sounds as though it were equally drawing from jazz fusion, psych rock and psych pop, all while sounding otherworldly and retro-futuristic.

The recently released music video is a mind-expanding interactive video that allows the viewer to experience the brightly colored psychedelic visuals in a 360º fashion. To truly capture the 360º effect, view the video though Google Chrome — or if you’re viewing it on a smartphone, make sure you’ve downloaded the most current version of the YouTube app.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Dark Post-Apocalyptic, Industrial Sounds and Visuals of Toronto’s Odonis Odonis

“Needs,” the latest single off Post Plague has the trio pairing layers of undulating synths, howled and shouted vocals, industrial clang and clatter, rapid fire, staccato drum programming, chopped up vocal samples, a rousing, anthemic hook and a propulsive, hypnotic groove in a tense, anxious song that sonically channels early Nine Inch Nails, Ministry and others — but with a contemporary and stark sense of unease, uncertainty and the realization that we’re on the precipice of our own mutually assured self-destruction.

Directed by Scott Cudmore, the recently released video for “Needs” is the first episode of a series of short films, based around the material of Post Plague that blends virtual reality with traditional video to tell a larger, fictional story. And in the case of “Needs,” the video begins with a person transferring their existence into a barely functional AI robot — and are quickly pulled into a post-apocalyptic future that somewhat resembles our own present. As Cudmore explains in press notes, the video is about “Old, entitled, white men and the system of oppression and exploitation that they’ve created to serve their…well…needs, which are usually money and power. I’m looking at this through the lens of science fiction, but I wanted to depict that power structure breaking down finally. Breaking down internally. There’s no linear narrative and you are free to think of that aspect in any way, but each image is a depiction of this breakdown as well as of repression, exploitation and desperation.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Check Out clipping’s Gravity Defying Visuals for Their Menacing New Single “Air ‘Em Out”

Splendor & Misery’s second single “Air ‘Em Out” features an ominous and menacing production featuring stuttering drum programming, industrial clinking and clanking, swirling electronic, brief bursts of twinkling synths that mischievously nods at trap hop while Diggs rhymes about what sounds like either an alien invasion, a zombie apocalypse or a civil war — all happening simultaneously perhaps, complete with roving gangs causing trouble, killing people and getting fucked up. Seriously, someone should make a movie out of that. And while being absolutely vicious, the song also manages to be the most melodic and (somewhat) radio-friendly song they’ve released to date.

Directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada, the recently released video features Diggs as a disinterested and bored security guard, who after taking medication finds the surrounding objects in his dark office trembling to the woofer and tweeter rocking beats just as they began to defy gravity.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Check out Freeway and Dutch Producer Big Ape Hanging out and Performing in Amsterdam in the “Primates” Video

The Philadelphia-based emcee’s latest single “Primates” is a collaboration with renowned Dutch producer Big Ape and it’s a swaggering headbanger of a track that has Freeway spitting fire over a looped and stuttering horn and string sample and tweeter and woofer rocking boom-bap beats and actual scratching from Sweden’s DJ Devastate. Of course the track is full of Freeway telling off wack emcees — reminding them that only is he dope, but that he’s probably their favorite rapper’s rapper as he uses a variety of cadences and flows and a creative sense of inner and outer wordplay throughout, while reminding listeners that not only is he still here and fiery as ever, but that real hip-hop ain’t dead either.

Directed by Ed Jansen, the recently released music video for “Primates” was shot in Amsterdam and features the emcee and his crew stomping around The Netherlands’ largest city, some live footage of Freeway performing in front of an incredibly enthusiastic crowd, and hanging in the studio with Big Ape.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: “Lost Under Heaven” Captures Lost Under Heaven’s Urgent, Swooning and Youthful Passion

Spiritual Songs For Lovers To Sing’s latest single “Lost Under Heaven” consists of a rather simple arrangement of buzzing guitar chords, gently swirling feedback, propulsive, staccato drumming paired with howled lyrics and a rousingly anthemic hook to craft a song that swoons with a furious urgency while being somewhat reminiscent of PJ Harvey’s “Good Fortune” but filtered through shoegaze and New Wave.

The recently released video for “Lost Under Heaven” employs a relatively simple concept of featuring the duo moodily walking around darkened streets and footage of the duo passionately performing the song in what appears to be an empty garage. Interestingly, the release of the video comes in advance of the duo’s sets at Reading and Leeds Festivals this weekend — and in some way serves as a teaser to what fans should expect from their upcoming live sets.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Thee Oh Sees Pair Strange, Disturbing Visuals with Their Blistering, Forceful Sound

Earlier this year, I wrote about “Plastic Plant,” the first single off Weird Exit, a single that continues the band’s renowned guitar pyrotechnics but filtered through dreamy psych rock, gritty garage rock, prog rock with tons of effects pedals paired with propulsive and forceful drumming and Dwyer’s falsetto. And of course, in typical Thee Oh Sees fashion it’s a thrashing, ass-kicking, sweaty mosh pit worthy song with an atypical, almost jam-like song structure. “Dead Man’s Gun,” Weird Exit’s second and latest single seamlessly meshes garage rock, psych rock, surfer rock and punk as Dwyer’s falsetto and howls are paired with alternating sections of scorching power chords, shimmering reverb and delay pedaled surfer rock and psych rock chords in the song’s quieter sections, and the whole thing is held together by a propulsive rhythm section featuring a throbbing and insistent bass line and a rolling drum pattern. Every time I hear the Bay Area-based band’s material I’m reminded of how much of a sonic debt they owe to the 60s — but with an underlying sense of menace.

The recently video follows a series of people, who clearly appear to be tweaking on crystal meth and freaking out/rocking out in almost exact rhythm to the song and it’s spliced with sequences of someone making the shit in their basement. In some way, the video evokes the perverse human tendency to be unable to stop looking at something particular gruesome — although we’ll almost always regret it later.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Australia’s Two People and Their Gorgeous, Cinematic Visuals for “If We Have Time”

The duo’s second and latest single “If We Have Time,” pairs vocalist Phoebe Lou’s aching vocals with a moodily atmospheric production consisting of swirling electronics, stuttering drum programming, twinkling keyboards and guitar played through reverb. And sonically speaking the song will likely remind a great deal of readers of Portishead and Goldfrapp‘s gorgeous Tales of Us — while thematically being a song that focus on the intangible and fleeting nature of time, as well as on a relationship that is in an uncertain place, and on the verge of dissolution. Both scenarios force people to stop and look into the mirror.

The recently released music video is shot in a gorgeous and expansively cinematic black and white in the desert, complete with long pans and much like Martin Amis’ incredible Time’s Arrow with some performance footage and moody and lyrical footage of a woman walking in the desert going in slow motion or in reverse. It’s a trippy yet visually arresting video.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Radiohead “Paranoid Android”-like Visuals for Coastgaard’s “A Well Adjusted Man”

“A Well Adjusted Man,” the first single off Coastgaard’s forthcoming sophomore full-length Devil on the Balcony pairs upbeat jangling guitar pop with lyrics that follow the psychological makeup and inner monologue of a decidedly average man, who frequently vacillates between brooding self-reflection and self-doubt and self-assured potency — often simultaneously, ultimately revealing that the kingdoms of heaven and hell are actually within.

The recently released, animated video follows the daily exploits of a decidedly average man, struggling to survive through the indignities of working a corporate job, stopping at a local shitty bar before presumably dying in a car accident that quickly sends him to his own hell. Visually speaking, the video reminds me quite a bit of the visuals for Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android.”