Category: Video

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Psychedelic Imagery for Toy’s “I’m Still Believing”

As you’ll hear on “I’m Still Believing,” Clear Shot’s second and latest single, the band’s sound has began to lean more towards lush, guitar pop territory as layers of shimmering and jangling acoustic guitar chords (with gentle amounts of reverb) are paired with soaring synths, an anthemic hook and Tom Dougall’s introspective lyrics, all while nodding at Nick Drakeand Wish You Were Here-era Pink Floyd.

The recently released music video employs a pretty basic concept of having the extremely British looking band performing the song in a variety of strobe lights and Super 8-like filters, sequences of the individual band members broodingly hanging out, brief bursts of animation and Japanese commercials and it gives the entire proceeding a trippy vibe reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s The Wall but with a playful air.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Hang Out and Bullshit with Kool Keith, B.a.R.S. Murre and Dirt Nasty in “World Wide Lamper”

“World Wide Lamper” Future Magnetic‘s latest single is a collaboration that consists of the incredibly dexterous Kool Keith trading bars full of braggadocio, couplets that with insane punchlines that touch upon pop culture, the profane, the grisly violent, and the surreal with B.A.R.S. Murre and Dirt Nasty over a menacingly sparse and hypnotic production consisting of twinkling synths and subtle yet propulsive drum programming. Listening to this track should remind all listeners of several things — that Kool Keith is one of the most inventive and challenging emcees around; and that everything receiving airplay on your local multinational conglomerate hip-hop station is complete bullshit.

The recently released video feature features each of the song’s emcees being hanging out, eating, smoking weed and being cool as shit in a variety of settings while turning some hip-hop video cliches on their head.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Vex Ruffin Teams Up with Hip Hop Legend Fab 5 Freddy on the Incredibly Upbeat “The Balance”

Vex Ruffin’s latest single “The Balance” is a collaboration with YO! MTV Raps host, actor, painter, photographer and icon Fab 5 Freddy and interestingly enough, the single is Fab 5 Freddy’s first musical project since the release of “Change the Beat” over 30 years ago. And as the story goes, the collaboration between Ruffin and the hip hop legend came to fruition through an introduction from a mutual friend director and animator Ben Marlowe, who coincidentally produced the video for “The Balance.” As Fab 5 Freddy explains in press notes, “I liked the way this idea organically developed and I began to see my involvement as a sort of art performance piece. The track reminded me of cool dance records that downtown NY DJ’s played back then in the 80’s at places like The Mudd Club, The Garage, Area, Danceteria and Nells where I hung out so I put myself in that mindset when working on my lyrics for this song.” And interestingly, “The Balance” consists of a sinuous and funky bass line, stuttering drum programming, swirling electronics, bleeps and bloops run through tons of reverb paired with Vex Ruffin’s plaintive falsetto singing lyrics about desperately trying to keep himself balanced and Fab 5 Freddy’s old school braggadocio to craft a swaggering and strutting song that sounds as though it could have been released in 1983 — sonically, it gently nods towards The Clash’s “Magnificent Seven,” and “This Is Radio Clash” as much as it does to classic dub.

The recently released video is a mix of black and white shot, live action footage of Ruffin and Fab 5 Freddy and trippy animation that features neon bright figures dancing in a charcoal drawn version of New York City, line drawings, psychedelic imagery that suggests that someone is losing their head both literally and figuratively.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Ride Amusement Park Rides with The Kills in Their Video for “Impossible Tracks”

Ash and Ice’s third and latest single “Impossible Tracks” consists of layers of scuzzy, bluesy guitar chords paired with stuttering drum programming and boom bap beats and an anthemic hook with Alison Mosshart’s cigarettes and whiskey soaked, come hither vocals in a swaggering, arena rock-friendly song that’s full of recrimination and accusation and urgent, plaintive desire.

The recently released video follows Mosshart and her collaborator and bandmate Jamie Hince as they ride roller coasters and other rides in an empty amusement park, perform the song in a house of mirrors and the video is completed by kaleidoscopic filters that give the video a trippy and psychedelic vibe, while emphasizing the feelings of being carried away and led by forces much larger than yourself and in a ways that you can’t quite comprehend.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The 80s New Wave Channeling Sounds and Visuals of Public Access TV’s “End of an Era”

The quartet’s highly-anticipated full-length debut Never Enough is slated for a September 30, 2016 through Cinematic Records and the album’s latest single “End of an Era” sounds as though it draws from radio-friendly, 80s New Wave — in particular, think of The Fixx’s “Saved by Zero,” “One Thing Leads to Another,” “Red Skies,” and “The Sign of Fire,” The Knack’s “My Sharona,” Huey Lewis and The News’ “The Heart of Rock ‘N’ Roll,” and others as the band pairs angular guitar chords, a driving bass line, four-on-on-the-floor-like drumming, atmospheric synths, punchily delivered lyrics and an anthemic hook. As the band’s John Eartherly mentions in press notes “We’ve been told that playing a rock ‘n’ roll band in 2016 is a ridiculous thing. For all of us though, it isn’t a question of wanting to do it or not. We have to do it. I left home and quit school at 16 to play music. Music is all we know and love, and this son his an ode to us following that path.”

As for the recently released video, the band’s John Eatherly mentions in press notes that “the label wanted David LaChappelle to do this one, especially ’cause it’s the pop sugar injection song, and they hope, a little pot of radio-friendly unit-shifting gold. But we said ‘nah, give us your money and we’ll do it it ourselves.’ So we took their money and bought a 1986 Dodge 600 and a mini DV Cam and did what we normally do — but for your voyeuristic pleasure.” While visually nodding at the sort of visuals Crocodiles would do, the video does capture some of the spirit and feel of videos released in the 80s.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: clipping performing “A Better Place” on The Late Late Show with James Corden

Up until recently, it had been a couple of years since we had heard music from the members of clipping as the members of the act have been pretty busy with other creative pursuits — with Diggs famously winning a Tony for his dual roles of Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash-hit musical Hamilton. However, the trio returns with Splendor & Misery, their long-awaited follow-up to clppng, and the album, which officially drops today is reportedly a Sci-Fi dystopian concept album that eerily evokes our increasingly frightening and bizarre time. “Baby Don’t Sleep,” the album’s first single features Diggs’ imitable rapid fire rhymes, describing characters, who feel alienated, empty, paranoid and afraid paired with an abrasive production featuring undulating feedback and static and what sounds like a jackhammer and industrial clinking, clanging and crumpling. Splendor & Misery‘s second single “Air ‘Em Out” featured a 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. And while being absolutely vicious, the song also manages to be the most melodic and (somewhat) radio-friendly song they’ve released to date.

The trio performed Splendor & Misery’s latest single “A Better Place” on The Late Late Show with James Corden and from the live version of the single, it may be the most hopeful and profound song they’ve ever released. Snipes and Hutson’s production features a looped carnival-like organ, chiming percussion and skipping and stuttering drum programming and explosive peals of feedback while Diggs’s rapid fire delivery conquers a number of profound topics — the nature of man’s mind, the senselessness, immensity and cruelty of universe, the endless passage of time, species memory, and the hope of finding someplace where you can be someone, hell something else but yourself, complete with ridiculous inner and outer rhymes and mischievously witty word play.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: A Gorgeous and Thoughtful Ballad from Cuban-born Pianist and Composer Harold Lopez Nussa

Interestingly, the Stateside release of Lopez-Nussa’s latest effort (the album drops here on Friday) comes as the US has begun to lift the embargo started during the Kennedy Administration and normalize diplomatic, cultural and trade relations — and in fact, it’ll be the first album by a Cuban-based artist to see a complete international release in more than 50 years. Now last month I wrote about two singles from the album “Mozambique en Mi B” and “Feria,” two tracks which possessed an understated and elegant simplicity that made them sound and feel timeless, as they nodded at bop-era jazz — hinting at the charm and mischievous wit and stunning melodicism of Horace Silver and Thelonious Monk but meshing that with a breezy and danceable tropicalia and Afro-Cuban/Afro-Caribbean polyrhythms. The album’s latest single, album title track “El Viaje” continues within the same vein of its preceding singles as the track consists of gently propulsive Afro-Caribbean percussion, a gorgeous, a stately horn line paired with the a sensual interplay between Wade’s tender and yearning vocals and Lopez Nussa’s dexterous blocks of piano chords providing melody and emotional heft in a breathtakingly gorgeous and accessible ballad.

The recently released video for the song splits its focus between a man walking down dusty roads and canopied forests to a yet unknown destination and footage of the musicians recording the song and hanging out in the studio — and interestingly enough, the video evokes the joy and wonder in traveling to someplace completely new; the profoundly lonely recognition of being a stranger in a strange place, where you don’t understand the language; the longing for seeing a face like yours in a crowd; the longing for home and the joy of returning home.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Surreal, Dream-like Visuals for Sofia Härdig’s “Streets”

Interestingly, the EP’s first single “Streets” possesses an urgent and raw grittiness as slashing guitar chords, squalls of feedback, a throbbing bass line and propulsive drumming are paired with anthemic hooks and Härdig’s sultry vocals to craft a song that sounds as thought it draws from Sonic Youth and Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea-era PJ Harvey — in particular, the song reminds me of a grittier, swaggering version of “Good Fortune.”

The recently released music video for “Streets” follows Härdig as she wanders through a garden, plans a route with an old map and wanders through the streets of Swedish city; but the video manages to possess a surreal, dream-like logic, thanks to the usage of frenetic cuts and lighting.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Gorgeously Cinematic Visuals for Living Hour’s “Seagull”

As you’ll hear on “Seagull,” the first single off the band’s full-length debut released earlier this year, the band’s overall sound manages to possess elements of shoegaze, dream pop and chillwave as shimmering and jangling guitar pop, swirling synths, ethereal vocals are paired together to craft a stunningly gorgeous and dramatic sound; in fact, the song reminds me quite a bit of the sort of guitar rock you’d hear while watching 120 Minutes-era MTV — in particular think of Mazzy Star‘s “Fade Into You” and The Cranberries “Linger.” Or in other words, it’s the sort of song that sounds as though it would be the soundtrack of an intense and fervent make out session — or a dramatic and bitter breakup.

Directed and edited by Nicholas Taylor, the recently released music video for “Seagull,” is a gorgeous and cinematically shot video that captures a day in a life of a teenaged girl and her family as they eat dinner, go to soccer practice and the rest of the banal and mundane aspects of life — but just underneath the surface, there’s something off: the mother of the trio seems moodily distracted, as though still recovering from a massive and inconsolable loss while the girls seem to be desperate to try to move on as best as they could.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: The Kills Performing “Impossible Tracks” on “The Late Late Show with James Corden”

Ash and Ice, the duo’s latest full-length effort and first full-length effort in over 5 years was released earlier this year, and if you’ve been frequenting this site you might recall that I wrote about album singles “Heart Of A Dog” and “Siberian Nights,” two singles that reflected a thorough refinement of their sound as the duo paired enormous boom-bap drum programming, skittering beats, buzzing electronics, scorching guitar chords and anthemic hooks with Mossheart’s bluesy, cigarettes and whiskey soaked vocals to crate a swaggering and arena rock-friendly song that possesses a raw, insistent and urgent carnality.

Recently, the band performed a swaggering, boozy live version of album single “Impossible Tracks” on The Late Late Show with James Corden — and the live version maintains a fervent urgency of the album’s material.

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

Live Footage: The Cinematic Sounds and Visuals of Boise, ID-based Electronic Act Magic Sword

Earlier this year, the masked producer and his masked collaborators partnered with Steve Angello’s Size Records for Volume One’s follow up, a series of episodic EPs, which are accompanied by a comic that tells another chapter in the story of The Keeper with the first of the EPs, Legend was released earlier this year and the second of the series will be released later this year. The act recently appeared on GoPro’s Done In One series, and not only does it give you a great sense of the act’s incredibly dramatic live set, it also gives you a good sense of why the act has started to receive the attention they have — their sound manages to bear a resemblance to John Carpenter’s futuristic soundtrack and to French electronic act Chateau Marmont, as their sound possesses a cinematic quality; in fact, it sounds as though it should be part of a post-apocalyptic/retro-futuristic thriller.

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

Live Footage: Tall Heights’ Electro-Folk-Leaning Cover of St. Vincent’s “Year of the Tiger”

Boston-based indie folk duo Tall Heights recently released footage from their City Winery “One On One” Cellar Session, which featured a re-arranged cover of St. Vincent’s “Year of the Tiger” to accommodate cello, acoustic guitar and drum machine — and the end result is a somewhat straightforward yet twangy and rootsy cover that retains the song’s moody irony.