Music Videos

The folks at watchlistentell have put together a really nice green-hued acoustic HD video with CHIEF performing “Night And Day”. The scenery — near a derelict, spraypainted underpass — is a little bizarre, but it’s a lovely video nonetheless, and the sound quality is pretty fantastic. You feel — as much as possible, anyway — that you’re right there with them, doing a relaxed afternoon sing-along session.

Every body movement in this video is an awkward, overly-dramatized exercise in interpretive dance, which gives the most mundane of human actions an engaging, almost zombie-like quality. These movements match up perfectly with the deliciously frenzied beat of the track. Mmmmmm. From their press release: “Conceptually, the video is based on a “Stepford Wives” wasteland scenario and stars Isabelle Albuquerque of Hecuba playing most of the cast herself.” Directed by Keith Musil.

Dogs are the name of this game, with dogs reflected in sunglasses and dogs licking earlobes galore. I’m not entirely sure how the chaps in this video can stand having puppies make out with their peanut buttery necks, but it’s okay. Guests include Patty Schemel of Hole and Michael Schemel of Abe Vigoda, and hey, is that the guy from The Mae Shi? Tis.

Recent Bridge 9 signees and Buffalo, NY powerpop sensation, Lemuria, plays their song “Pants” at the Black Lodge in Seattle.

During a Seattle stop, April Smith and the Great Picture Show invited Sarah Shay of The Mongrel Jews to play suitcase on their song, “Colors.” The album is out now.

Black Mountain always have some subtly creative videos. In this glitchy, sun-baked video for “Old Fangs”, psychedelic witches meet trashy road film. This amazing video was directed by Mike Bruce and produced by Zoe Bower and Russell Sanzgiri — a combination of folks who have created a lovely hazy blur that seems like a throwback to the drug-fueled ’60s.

With his sophomore disc, Into The Great Wide Yonder, Danish musician Anders Trentemøller explores a great wide yonder of dark and powerful proportions. The album single, “Sycamore Feeling”, is a good indicator of Trentemøller’s accomplishments; particularly notable are the smokey vocals of Marie Fisker and the track’s immense moments of waxing and waning. Periods of relaxed downtempo standard give way to driving beats and twangy guitars one might find in a Western film, and all of the elements intermingle with synths to create a sonically dense and enveloping atmosphere. For the duration of Into The Great Wide Yonder, one gets the impression that the disc is the work of a band — not the construction of a singular talented individual. [...]

Take a close look at Helen Earth Band while they perform “(We All) Talk With Knives”. The video follows a simple idea of splitting up the screen into four distinct quandrants, with each quandrant focused on a different band member. Helen Earth Band certainly don’t make simplistic music, but the video grows from bare basics to a colorful celebration. Directed by Phill Tornroth.

Interpol’s new video is classy in its use of black and white. It somehow makes mysterious medical equipment seems sexy, and shot after shot looks like it could’ve been lifted from the pages of Surface Magazine or Zink Magazine.

Dan Sartain creates lo-fi rockabilly and sings about things like voodoo. He’s from Birmingham, Alabama, and he absolutely hates the place (in part due to the religious right coordinating an event during which The Beatles records were burned and run over by steamrollers). Channel all that negative energy and turn it into some music — and this song, in particular — which talks a lot about atheism! Hoorah! His album, Lives, comes out on July 20th. On a side note, I rather suggest you watch this Dan Sartain interview as well. It’s quite interesting and addresses the aforementioned issues in depth.