A good friend of mine, Sue Ball (IMDB her, she's a veteran (she played Larry's sister on Perfect Strangers for fucks sake)), made this incredible video for the the 80's song that never existed: Albino Raindrops.
Watch and enjoy.
Directed by Sue Ball Director of Photography: Gary Turnier Edited by Wendy Peyton Song by Patrick Munson; Performed by The Me
Song Available on iTunes and Amazon MP3
PS. on a seperate, but related note, click through the video and check out Sue's other project, The Rochelle Show. It's a riot!
England seems to be a haven for great pop right now, and Bordeauxxx are an excellent example of this.
Their songs are catchy and clever, interspersing sparse bass, drums and vocals with sparkling, thick instrumental chorsues and layered vocal harmonies. They're skilled musicians, and it shows; they also know how to balance complication and simplicity to make a really great pop song. I have two complaints about the band - they haven't put out a full album (though their recent EP, Mother's Ruin, is available for free download, or you can buy the CD for 2 pounds) and they claim they don't have enough money to come to the States and hang out with me.
For those who don't know, the Canon 5D MkII does amazing things with light. Observe this beauty and report back. The music in this is a track called Kolniður from Jonsi. So pretty..... I need to go to Iceland.
Hi everyone, this has been one of the genuine craziest times for me as far as being busy with projects. Goldie can attest to that as I periodically bombard her with portentous announcements of all my projects like a proud toddler who has just painted "Un dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte" on the wall with ALL 8 colors of crayon. Good boy, go to your room. In music news, though, I will share that I have begun collaborating with the immensely talented Sarah P. Randall, an old friend of mine who recently opened for Westfold at Bar Of The Gods, in hopes of resurrecting the sleeping Coeur Machant. But enough small talk, on with the wacky videos!!!
What can you say about Barry Adamson other than that he is sooooooo cool. And I may interview him soon. Keep your fingers crossed.
This song is perpetually stuck in my head, and inspired me to buy a sweet hat.
Holy fuck, Iggy Pop, do you roll out of bed as scary as this?
And to think they let this guy do the tutorials to kids' games.
You didn't know that Karin Dreier was a shaman, did you?
What fucking cave have you been living in?
Tell you what, when you begin your own postmodern mythology, you can have two videos in a row on Bat Country!!! too.
Does anyone else feel like they've just been run through a velvet meatgrinder? Intensity ain't all Drop-D and 808s, kiddies.
Picture this video with the music from the last one...
...and never sleep again.
Yes, yes.
Bathe in the at-the-time-cutting-edge cinematography.
Amelia (14 mos. old) took control of the keyboard momentarily to post this:
I think they should remake "The Parent Trap" with Morrissey and The Blue Wiggle.
"If you meet Kid Beyond on the road, kill him."
"But not before you meet him."
Here's a little taste of an upcoming interview subject:
Kil Ripkin is displaying some definite hiphop skills, and I'll be talking to him about what exactly hiphop is.
Well, that's it for another episode of BAT COUNTRY!!! In closing I'd like to leave you with a video of Crappy's own Ben Meyercord in his band Y La Bamba, who he is too gentlemanly to post a video of himself. I saw them last night for the first time and they rocked it out.
It's after sunset and thus Hannukah has officially begun. What better way to celebrate this miracle of light than by listening to a festive song written by Senator Orrin Hatch? Get ready for some Mormon chutzpah!
It's December and many of you are probably eagerly awaiting a magical, sparkling gift from the upper regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Lucky for you, Caribou drummer Brad Weber and his alliterative side project Pick a Piper have delivered us a video for their song "Rooms," filmed in Iceland and Canada and wrapped in plenty of sumptuous arctic day-glo.
Perhaps 'Pick a Percussionist' would have been a more suitable moniker for this group, as its dense and eclectic percussion turns out to be the most pleasing feature of this particular song and video. The song itself is a sweet, droning affair that veers dangerously close to church camp sing-along material at times. However, things pick up as the initial percussion section of jingle bells and minimalist glockenspiel give way to an arsenal of intricately interwoven toms, hand drums and cymbals.
The accompanying visuals encompass a similar sweetness and wildness. A door opens to a room, or perhaps simply room, a physical and metaphysical space where soft dreamlike landscapes and bright, visceral action coexist and seamlessly interact. Green-screened deconstructionist psychedelia that would make Jimmy Joe Roche proud commingles with placid geology documentary landscapes and nothing could look more natural. The prominence of the former builds with the percussive crescendo of the music until everything recedes at the end into a pleasant lull of natural voices and scenery.
Today I logged into my Myspace and performed the dreaded task of slogging through all the band friend invites.... being a musician and music reviewer myself I feel compelled to actually give every band that offers me an invite a listen, and so I usually put this off until there are at least 10 lined up so I can take a quiet 20 minutes investigating them all. Tonight I found a total gem : The Younger Lovers, from Oakland, CA. There is minimal information on the website, but Retard Disco, their record label, informs us that The Younger Lovers is the solo project of Brontez Purnell from Gravy Train!!!, a band I will admit that I have heard of but never listened to. At any rate, it's totally adorable, totally punk, totally catchy, and totally gay (Which I mean, of course, literally rather than perjoratively.). Enjoy. (yes, the first video has a very long intro. wait it out, it's worth it. trust me.)
I LOVE all of the songs that come out of The Mighty Boosh. This one in particular hit home. I identify with Howard and his hippy cult self Parsley. How peaceful he looks when he doesn't need his friends or family!
Sing along:
follow me forget the world look around at the wonderness of nature never fear everything is here and you don't need your friends or family we're your family come with me and then you will see everything you need within life hey ho it's easy letting go when nothing before was real look into our eyes you can see the future look into our eyes we can see your soul we will be together everything is good here listen to your heart everything is good here nothing before was real never fear everything is here and you don't need your friends or family hey ho it's easy letting go we're your family we're your family look into our eyes you can see the future look into our eyes we can see your soul hey ho it's easy letting go when nothing before was real listen to your heart everything is good here nothing before was real
Hey guess what everyone? I love Massive Attack and I couldn't love their latest release, Splitting The Atom EP, anymore! THANK GOD! Wouldn't it suck if it sucked?
I love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you... *BOOM*
I realised recently that I haven't posted for a while. A combination of long distance relationship, early morning work hours, and graduate school have kept me away from the shows and new music. However, one thing I have been doing is sitting around at home and watching music videos. After significant research, I have come to the conclusion that music videos in the 1980's were way more awesome than almost anything else, ever. So please allow me to share some of my favourites. We'll start off today with OMD, (Orchestral Manouvres in the Dark) makers of some of the most delightfully pretentious synth-pop in the universe.
Tesla Girls
cause nobody's ever eaten toast so sexy...
Maid Of Orleans - The Waltz Joan Of Arc
Looking pretentious while reading and playing chess with a historical babe
I really, really wanted to post the video for "If You Leave" 80's tastic awesomness involving OMD's lead singer mooning about and overacting in a tux by a brick wall. But apparently Embedding is Disabled By Request because youtube is lame. You can watch it here though.
I was discussing with my good friend Tim over a delicious lunch of spinach and eggs over easy that what the world needs now is more really awesome indie band music videos. This in the wake of a discussion about the recent Kanye West debacle- because, when you think about it, even though our dear president was correct in calling him a jackass, Kanye was right about the awards. Taylor's Swift's video compilation of the worst moments of Weeds, Season 1, was not deserving of an award. So mainstream videos? Blah, of course, that's not news. We've featured some here on Crappy before, but I'd like to make BAT COUNTRY!!! a regular feature and drag some crazy shit in from all corners of the weird world.
Let's start sustainable:
What a land of fancy! And since we're in the land of fancy, let's go to see King Iron Maiden mc Dio:
Those crazy kids! And now you'll take your 1987 postapocalyptic computer game reference and eat it! In chiptune music video form.
I have no fucking clue about this next one. EH.
Well that was fun. Let's bring the mood back. Here's one for the ladies:
Oh, and he's local! Now, I don't know much about the Bollywood music scene, but I would hope that this qualifies as indie:
And since we've thoroughly descended into parody, then let's go to the experts:
Well, that's it for volume 1 of BAT COUNTRY!!! I'll see you next time!
Ok.. so maybe this post won't teach you anything about records coming out or the current Portland music scene. But what's more crappy and indie than a kids' music recital in the Couve? Besides, I think my sister is totally awesome, and I'm really proud of her. She's only 11! I really want her to put up some videos of her original stuff though. She's been making up songs pretty much since she could talk.
she's also a certified veterinary assistant. I'm not kidding. Precocity runs in the family, I can't help it.
In between talking to the Vanity Fair Twitter gal and watching this video I almost didn't feel sick today. My eyes burn as I type this but I love you guys to much not to share something that brought a smile to my snotty swollen face. It's one of my favorite songs. I can say I've seen the Ramones* which made me an instant fan but I have close friends** who are hardcore fans so I can't even front. I hope it makes you happy and not sick for a little bit too.
The director of this video is unknown. If you find out who it is and can prove it I will send you a present.
Love, Ste. Goldie
*I saw them at The Roseland sometime around 1995 **I was with Stephen Charbonneau and Jason Dodson. We were standing on Burnside and someone threw a half gallon of Newman s Own Lemonade at us.
