Hey, way to go Sebastien Tellier and team, for creating a video that is centered around a cartoon ass (or ambiguously flowy, butt-shaped shorts, to begin with) that somehow mesmerizes viewers. I’m watching this in a coffee shop right now and feel a little bit embarrassed watching it, but it sure is hypnotic…

Directed by Mrzyk & Moriceau.

With one of their new videos, Chico Fellini have taken their music a more synth-rock route. This video is a blur of a Christmas Eve nightmare, with a crazy guy going rage-a-hol one a Christmas tree.

Unicycle Loves You might craft songs with straight-forward pop hooks and beats, but there’s always something more complicated under the surface. In the case of “Justine”, the dissonant guitarwork is certainly hypnotic. This video is just the same — seemingly straightforward initially, but breaking down into bloody messes and spastic colorations.

Directed by Anthony Dixon.
Edited by Jim Carroll.

Mangan’s voice has the gravelly tones and vulnerability of Damien Rice or Conor Oberst, but with a deeper, heavier quality. Most of Mangan’s songs have both gentle and thunderous characteristics. They build from a calming hum to a rousing result. Instead of just accompanying the music after the fact, Mangan’s lyrics work with it to serve the story as a whole and create meaningful layers to his songs.

Mangan puts a simple song together very effectively, expertly adding the little pieces that make them special. Not everyone can pull off an uncomplicated song and make it memorable; it’s certainly not as easy as it seems.

“Baskets” is a striking song about recapturing youth while growing old. As the song progresses, Mangan becomes increasingly angry at the loss of his youth and the music and his vocals engulf the listener: “Won’t you take my cane and hold my hand/ You’re holding on to all I have/ Just a basket full of memories/ And I’m losing more every day it seems.”

“Et Les Mots Croises” (French for “And The Crossword”) is another simple but excellent song about the stereotype that artists need to be sad to create great pieces. Fortunately for him, Mangan has found someone that makes him happy: “All I found was this here one who makes me tea/ Brings the crossword/ So how am I supposed to bring us down?” The sprinkling of horns and strings against an acoustic guitar makes this song, and many of the others, unforgettable.

“Robots” is the catchiest and one of the more complex songs on the album. It builds cleverly from a more reserved start into a bigger sing-along sound. The use of horns as the song builds adds an additional depth to the acoustic guitar melody.

Nice, Nice, Very Nice is an album with depth and layers; it’s something you could slowly peel away for a long time. While it’s mostly acoustic folk-country, there are loads of additional elements that make Mangan’s songs stand out. Along with well composed music, his lyrics tell rich stories which bring additional strength to the songs.

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One of the highlights of the album is “At Arms Length”, a delicate love song based in keys and acoustic guitar. Blanck’s lyrics suit the song’s simple melody; they are poetic and stand out: “Don’t drown in modesty/ I’ve seen through your nightgown/ How much a halo weighs and how it pulls you down… I feel paralyzed, someone’s broken my will/ Like a frozen lake that’s cracked but holds you still.”

“Nothing Left To Lose” is another poignant, well-written song, but the other songs on Alibi Coast which stand out seem to be those with guest female vocals. The female ranges accompany Blanck’s voice beautifully and add more interest and harmony to the choral sound; Caroline Polachek of Chairlift, Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond, and Lia Ices all appear on the album. “Don’t Let The Darkness Gather Me”, featuring Becky Stark is one of the most striking on the album, showcasing a haunting exchange between the two.

Alibi Coast is a pleasant folk album, but its lack of variation can border on overloaded repetition. At times, the doubled vocals get tiring. It would be nice to hear Blanck’s voice with less of that treatment, as evidenced by the break on the end of “Tumbling Skies”, which was refreshingly vulnerable. However, the lyrical content is inspired and well thought-out, so the music seems more like a platform for the prose than something which would stand out on its own.

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This video, from Brad Laner’s album, Natural Selections, takes images of cityscapes and reduces them to obscured, colorful geometric squares and rectangles. The shots are then edited so that the transitions between shots match up with the rhythms. Not terribly complicated, but the finished product is beautiful in a minimal, architectural way.

Directed by Josh Laner.