Indie Theater 03.19.07: Hot Music Videos
Posted by Stephen Mogan on 03.19.2007
Steve Mogan runs down the hottest music videos of the moment in this debut column!
Hello and welcome to the first ever edition of Indie Theater. My name is Steve Mogan and I'll be your host as we wade through the best new music videos the world of indie rock has to offer. To be honest, the title is slightly misleading, since I'll be making these columns as eclectic as possible (which means you will, at some point, be watching some Lily Allen or Lady Sovereign) but for the most part, indie is the ‘home' genre we'll be returning to most often. That alright with you? Excellent.
As a side note, some of you remember me from a column I used to write here about a year ago called ‘The Untouchables.' To those people: hello again. To everybody else: I'm 23, I like a wide range of music and this thing should be appearing either every week or every other week, depending on how many videos catch my eye at any particular time. Let's get started.
LCD Soundsystem – North American Scum
‘North American Scum' is the first track to be taken from James Murphy and co.'s sophomore effort, ‘Sounds of Silver.' In keeping with the general style of their other singles, this is an understated affair that doesn't make too much of an impact upon first listen, but it's definitely a grower. The tongue-cheek-lyrics (delivered in Murphy's trademark disinterested-yet-charming monotone) and choppy guitar build towards a chorus that's difficult to get out of your head. This will sound great on festival stages this summer.
The video itself doesn't start out too promisingly. It opens with a few shots of Murphy posing in some ridiculous positions for press shots, tongue firmly planted in cheek once again. It's pretty amusing, but the whole ‘making fun of scenesters' thing is quite played out nowadays. It's a great relief, therefore, when Murphy steps through a side door and suddenly find himself in space (!). The rest of the video basically sees the DFA crew dicking around a deliberately shonky-looking ‘space' set whilst dressed up as astronauts. They manage to plant their flag on the moon (complete with DFA logo), but are suddenly hijacked by a rival spaceman dressed all in red (*ahem*). The ensuing battle between the two is straight out of a video game, and bloody good fun too. Unlike some videos, the political nuances aren't at all irritating because they're not meant to be taken seriously. In fact, the whole thing is delivered with a sly wink to the viewer, which makes it hard not to enjoy given that most acts these days take themselves far, far too seriously.
Best bit: The crap victory pose struck by our heroes after they plant their flag on the moon (at 1:36).
New Young Pony Club – The Bomb
Speaking of scenesters, this lot are the current hipster band du jour. Having licensed their debut single (‘Ice Cream') to Intel before it was even properly released, they could also be considered the music industry's fastest-ever sellouts (quite the accomplishment when you think about it). They can be forgiven for this, however, since the music they make is more than worthy of mainstream attention, something they prove again on their second release. The funky bassline and driving drumbeat make this instantly danceable and it's catchy as hell. A great example of a song that sounds like it has had a lot of time and energy lavished upon it to great effect.
As for the vid, the dark, broody setting is very 80's (always a good thing) and is interspersed with solo clips of the lead singer dancing about against a garish yellow background and rolling around in a room full of mirrors (she's very easy on the eyes by the way). From there, the video really takes off after the middle eight, where the lights go down and we get a number of unsettling shots from weird angles and on different types of film. The quick cuts really compliment the energy of the song and result in a massive thumbs up from me.
Best bit: After the lights come back on and it all goes a bit weird (at 2:36).
Battles – Atlas
I'm immediately suspicious of bands that mask their singer's voice with vocoders and other technological nonsense. On ‘Atlas', the new single from electro-post-rock hipsters Battles, it appears that a giant, unintelligible chipmunk has stormed the recording studio and taken all the microphones hostage. "Self-indulgent garbage," I thought, until I found myself humming its gibberish verses in my every waking moment. The insistent drum beat, distorted vocals and heavy, pulsating rhythms etch themselves into your subconscious, even if you can't quite make out the lyrics. It's a bit weird at first, but instantly danceable and, after a few listens, uniquely lovable.
As for the vid, if you like ‘arty' promos then you're in luck. The deal here is that the band is encased in some sort of bizarre, reflective oblong. They perform the song, the camera pans and zooms and er, that's about it. It has been really well shot, however; the movement of the band combines perfectly with the song, for example. The colors (including a sharp yellow drum kit) all look gorgeous as well. It may be just a performance video, but it's a really lush performance video.
Best bit: When the lights go out for the breakdown in the middle (at 2:28).
Hadouken! – That Boy That Girl
This is the debut single from ‘New Rave' band Hadouken! The merits of such a stupid, redundant genre are questionable but labels aside, this is an amped-up anti-scenester rant that makes life very difficult for those who enjoy keeping still. The harsh synths and scattershot drums give it the kind of edge that's lacking in most pop music these days. They're certainly not for everyone (the singer's voice and shouty half-raps are fairly polarising) but Hadouken! show enough here to suggest they'll outlast whatever made-up genre they may be sellotaped to.
The vid sees the band re-imagined as animated cardboard cut-outs. This is the third performance video in a row and it would take something quite special to stand out at this point. Fortunately, this delivers in spades. It's another that falls into the ‘eye candy' category, with lots of bright colors and flashing things, but it's missing the layer of gloss that would make it unbearably self-indulgent. In fact, its DIY ethic actually makes it rather charming. It was made by a friend of the band on zero budget, which actually makes it a more impressive achievement than the cooler-looking Battles video.
Best bit: The fairly hypnotic shot of a spinning box shadowed by the lead singer's profile in triplicate (at 2:40).
Robyn – Konichiwa Bitches
Robyn is a Swedish popstar who's been famous in her native land for years. She's finally got around to releasing something for wider consumption, and this is something that should be celebrated by all. ‘Konichiwa Bitches' is a day-glo electro-pop masterpiece with cheeky lyrics and a beat tailor-made for booty shaking. Imagine a cartoon version of a lost Run DMC B-side with more swearing and you're somewhere in the ballpark.
If all those performance vids were starting to bore you, this is the perfect antidote. In short, Robyn dresses in various costumes and dances around a lot. She beats up a kangaroo, pretends to be a stick of dynamite and does about a million other things I can't cover here. Just got and watch it; you'll have a big, stupid grin for hours afterwards. Promise.
Best bit: All of it.
Well that's it for this week. I intend on doing a running top ten for these, but with it being the first edition it hardly seems worth it (Robyn would be winning so far, if you're interested). I'll also be doing one classic vid each column, which this week is…
Aphex Twin – Window Licker
God I love this video. Part of the fun of these is to just discover them for yourself, but I will say this; it takes a while to get going, but when it does, it's fucking terrifying (in a good way).
If you have any comments on anything I've written then drop me a line using the email link below. I'm always open to suggestions for great new videos to cover, so if you have a particular favourite you'd like to see reviewed then let me know.
And if you like what you see here, then you can check out more of my stuff on my blog at: www.monkeygrump.com. See you next time,
