Category: Watch Me
Superbody: “Wings 4 Two” Music Video
After their recent release of Hades Land, Chattanooga-based Robert McCurry and Caleb Dills have debuted their newest music video for “Wings 4 Two.” With an 80’s pop sound and deep vocals from McCurry, the video implicates a “home video” style. French subtitles guide the video as McCurry and Dills play in front of a sparse audience. The glowing light and stark contrast gives the video a David Lynchian feel. Among the audience is a mutated man, like something out of Eraserhead. The man follows Dills home, who eventually emerges from the nightmarish scene only to exhibit more disorientation.
The video coincides with Superbody’s heavy sound. With sonorous guitar rhythms combined with Dill’s dreamy synthesizer effects and McCurry’s baritone vocals, the video embodies the ethereal style of the track. The video is directed by the boys of Superbody and Christopher Artell.
Drake Dances In Hotline Bling
No one expected “Hotline Bling” to get so popular, and no one expected it to become the next music phenomenon. Now you can’t go anywhere without hearing the iconic beats along with someone saying “you used to call me on my cellphone”. On Oct. 19, 2015 Drake released the highly anticipated music video for “Hotline Bling”, which was the first music video since If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late‘s “Energy”. Created by Director X with inspiration from American lights artist James Turrell, the video is clean and simple. The use of different colored lights and sharp shapes created an aesthetically pleasing world for Drake to freestyle some dances moves in. Heads up: the dancing is goofy and absolutely perfect.
Check out the video for “Hotline Bling” here!
FIDLAR: Too
FIDLAR is known for their edgy sound and high-energy performances. It was unfortunate that they played at the same time The Black Lips performed at Shaky Knees this summer. Both bands have very similar sounds, and it was hard for my friend and I to choose between the two. However, Vinyl Mag had previously interviewed The Black Lips at SXSW in 2014, and I wanted to see what their performance was really like. I think the heat was too heavy for anyone to do any proper moshing; nevertheless, The Black Lips came through with their typical punk sound. I imagine FIDLAR would’ve played out similarly. In fact, their video for “West Coast,” from their most recent album, Too, shows some behind the scenes footage of the band, complete with bathroom tattoos, kicks to the face and partial nudity.
In 2013, FIDLAR released their debut, self-titled album with Mom & Pop. The band members have history with the punk scene; members, Elvis and Greg Kuehn’s father was a guitarist for the punk band T. S. O. L. FIDLAR released their newest album, Too, this month. Edgy vocals and raw lyrics give the album that signature punk sound. However, this album seems to experiment with genres like indie and garage rock, instead of the inherent screaming commonly associated with the punk genre. The album opens with “40oz On Repeat,” in which there is a stark verse change from FIDLAR’s typical sound to a simple, softer melody. The video gives the melody context. Elvis dresses up as multiple pop icons to parody musicians’ tendency to express their seemingly trivial problems. Elvis is quite the actor and his performance (especially his rendition of Britney Spears) is hilarious. The video appears homemade, as does “Leave Me Alone,” in which an entire roll of toilet paper is used to display the song’s lyrics.
The punk genre is one that has evolved since its genesis, constantly incorporating similar genres such as classic rock and metal. What remains constant is the genre’s effect on its audience members. The band and their audiences are tight-knit groups. It is not uncommon for punk bands to play in small venues without a stage or for band members to get involved in the mosh pit along with their fans. The genre is highly sensational. Just as Father John Misty can drive us to tears, punk bands like FIDLAR and The Black Lips can drive us to anarchy, yet audience members still leave the venue as friends and wake up in the morning laughing at the night’s escapades.
4/5
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp
Set in 1981, Wet Hot American Summer (2001) is the story of Camp Firewood and the raunchy counselors who strive to make their last day of camp one they’ll never forget. Directed by David Wain, WHAS is comprised of a hilarious cast starring Paul Rudd as Andy, the bad boy who has a way with the ladies, specifically Katie, played by Marguerite Moreau, Amy Poehler and Bradley Cooper dominate the camp thespians, and Michael Showalter acts as “Coop,” the stories main character who is just trying to fit in and find a girlfriend, also specifically Katie. Michael Ian Black, Molly Shannon, Christopher Meloni and Elizabeth Banks also contribute to the deadpan humor and witty jokes.
Fourteen years later, David Wain and Michael Showalter have created an 8 episode series of Camp Firewood, only this time set in 1981 on the first day of camp. ATTENTION: only watch the series, if you have watched the movie first. The humor stays the same, but a lot of it depends on the audience’s knowledge of the movie. The series is funny in its telling of origins: how “Coop” came to wear a cut off shirt and a puka shell necklace, how Katie and Andy became an item and how H. Jon Benjamin became “The Can.” New faces enroll in the camp: Jason Schwartzman, “Weird Al,” Jordan Peele, John Hamm, Kristen Wiig, and Chris Pine among others. And you can’t beat the awesome music!
The series doesn’t miss a beat, and the fact that the actors are fourteen years older playing fifteen and sixteen year old’s makes it that much more hilarious. Furthermore, the series is quick, 8 episodes on Netflix no longer than thirty minutes and literally no brainpower required, just watch and laugh.
5/5
Modest Mouse “The Ground Walks, with Time in a Box”
Modest Mouse released their newest album “Strangers to Ourselves” March 2015 with hit singles such as “Lampshades on Fire” and “Coyotes.” Now, a new music video accompanies one 0f the most familiar tracks, “The Ground Walks, with Time in a Box.” The video opens slow and dramatic, strange creatures in straw hoods walk across what seems to be a landfill; lead singer, Isaac Brock is king of the wasteland. The video is hard to grasp with a gray tone and Brock’s energetic facial expressions, almost unsettling and a little bit mind boggling. Brock rules the junk in a crown made of scrap metal and almost nothing but an animal pelt on his back. Geometric shapes wave across the video in true Modest Mouse form. Plastic bag angels and dark lipped maidens are his followers, and Brock oversees them all with a maniacal grin on his face. Pops of color bring life to the scene and coincide with the upbeat track. I guess one man’s trash is Isaac Brock’s treasure.
Austin to Boston
The thrill of a concert comes with the experience to hear and (more importantly) feel your favorite music live and to see your favorite artist in the flesh. Still, there’s the barrier that separates an audience member and the artist from individual, face-to-face interaction. Although we can relate to an artist on a personal level through song, we’ll never get to have a conversation with them, or at least it’s rare.Now on Netflix, Austin to Boston (2014) closes that gap with honest interviews and a look at what goes on off-stage. And, although we can’t ask the cast of Austin to Boston any questions, James Marcus Haney brings us closer to them in his second music documentary, his first being No Cameras Allowed, which followed Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros and Mumford & Son.
Gill Landry of Old Crow Medicine Show narrates the documentary in his fluid, Louisiana tone. 5 Volkswagen camper vans carry the cast, among which are producers Ben Lovett and Ty Johnson, as well as director James Marcus Haney, along with 4 bands: Ben Howard, The Staves, Nathaniel Rateliff and Bear’s Den. Leaving from Austin, Texas, the gang travels in a zigzag across America, playing at venues along the way. Their final destination: Boston. Landry introduces each band. Ben Howard, a singer songwriter from the UK, not as well known in the States but still his songs are familiar and his performances energetic; The Staves, a trio of sisters also from the UK, whose voices are hypnotic in their simple harmony; Nathaniel Rateliff, his music an open door to his heart; finally, Bear’s Den, a group of fun-loving guys playing great music.
Each band is different, but talented in their own ways. Although 3 thousand miles takes a toll on even the best of friends, the bands find common ground and friendship in their art, and eventually grow to be a family, all for the sake of memories and music.
Austin to Boston is now streaming on Netflix.
Watch: The Libertines: “Gunga Din”
Few bands have been as on-again-off-again, as will-they-won’t-they, as The Libertines. Formed in 1997 by BFFs (Best Frenemies Forever) Carl Barât and Pete Doherty, the group had line-up and punctuality problems from the start. Their rough shod, jangle punk sound garnered a heap of attention from British fans and press alike, but drug use, inter-band squabbling, and some light B&E tore the group apart. Doherty went on to focus on his similar-sounding side project in (the aptly-named) Babyshambles, and Barât soon followed suit with Dirty Pretty Things. The Libertines officially disbanded in 2007, with Barât refusing to continue under its name until Doherty quit his various drug addictions for good.
As it happens, Doherty completed a Thai rehab treatment in January of this year; the time for heroes just might be nigh . This past weekend, The Libertines announced Anthems For Doomed Youth, their third album, slated for a September 4 release. We now have a first official glimpse of what it’ll sound like in the music video for “Gunga Din”. The song’s verses almost have a reggae vibe to them, and they seem a little too clean cut considering the loose, untuned sound that made this group famous. But when the feel-good amiable pub chorus hits, full of Britpop glory as the whole band sings along, it really does feel like a comeback. The video itself has the likely lads galavanting around Thailand, sweating through their wrinkled suits and giving each other bear hugs. Our fingers are crossed that the tabloid drama stays far in the background, because it’s good to have these limey bastards back.
Watch: Son Lux: “You Don’t Know Me”
Son Lux are set to release their Glassnote debut Bones this year, and have just released a video for their lead single “You Don’t Know Me”. The star is none other than Tatiana Maslany – a.k.a. Tumblr’s perpetual nomination for all of the awards. Maslany stars in BBC’s Orphan Black as approximately forty hundred cloned characters, all of whom have completely different personalities and backgrounds. The show’s wild success and utterly bizarre nature made her a perfect fit for the defeatist and paranoid Son Lux song about an empty relationship. Maslany’s SO (Noah Segan from Looper) is self-absorbed and uninterested in her; he talks at her instead of to her, he’s really only in it for the sex… and he doesn’t know she’s in a cult.
Created by The Made Shop, the symbolism and seance visuals were meant to evoke “the empty rituals we often see in relationships and, to a larger degree, religion.” Just your average everyday things, until you add in tribal face painting and robed-up prayer circles. Living mystically is the best revenge.
Watch: Anne-Marie: “Karate”
In less than a month, summer will begin. This means that bars will be filled to maximum capacity; families will take cross country vacations to the beach and the same music about dancing in club will pollute both the airwaves and eardrums.
Enter Anne-Marie, the 22-year-old London singer-songwriter — who also happens to be the touring vocalist for drum and bass quartet Rudimental. Her debut single as a solo artist “Karate” premiered just shy of three weeks ago and has amassed over 50,000 Soundcloud streams.
Classically trained in musical theatre through London’s West End, her voice exudes a cool confidence that floats over the track’s sparse rhythmic lines without ever overpowering the contrast established between the two. The track’s title is even more fitting as she is a three time World Champion of Shotokan Karate, so it makes sense that she would choose to integrate this into the video.
Her debut EP “Karate” will be released on July 10 via Major Toms and includes production work by Chloe Martini, Two Inch Punch, Brad Ellis, Josh Record and Pablo Nouvelle. The tracklist is below:
1. Karate
2. Gemini
3. Stole
4. Stole (Chloe Martini Refix)
If the rest of the EP sounds similar to the slinky fusion of electrogrime and R&B, the charts could have a new competitor to watch out for. Anne-Marie is surely one to break the monotony of summer releases.
Watch: Jenny Lewis: “She’s Not Me”
The perfection.