Come to Daddy
A great one to watch just before bedtime.
Come to Daddy
DYWM was a relatively early Steve Barron - went on to do Take On Me/Billie Jean of course (and Africa by Toto!!!). And STTR was probably the high point of the ZTT label.Feego wrote: ↑Thu Oct 03, 2019 9:59 pmA few more gems from the 80s:
Genius of Love (Tom Tom Club) - Animated in the style of a child's colorful drawings, this video alternates between literal interpretations of the lyrics and more imaginative associations. Like the song, it's delightfully upbeat yet occasionally tacky. And it constantly moves, never holding a static image, with objects and characters squiggling in and out of existence or shape-shifting into something else.
Don't You Want Me (The Human League) - A mysterious brunette. A blonde. A murder. A film set. The video eerily anticipates Mulholland Drive while exploring the obsessive relationship of the song. Is the guy exercising his revenge fantasy through the violence of the scripted film? What's real and what's fake? It all culminates with the camera pulling back on the real crew's reflection.
Slave to the Rhythm (Grace Jones) (NSFW) - Composed entirely of recycled clips from previous Jones videos and even commercials in which she appeared, this is perhaps the best distillation of her warped and perverse aesthetic. When Ian McShane's (!) opening narration announces, "Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Grace Jones," that's exactly what you're getting -- five minutes of high fashion, kinky sex, and flights of surrealism as only the defiant Miss Jones can deliver.
This is one of my favourite as well!zedz wrote: ↑Thu Oct 03, 2019 3:27 pmThere's more Gondry of course. Somebody will have posted 'Let Forever Be', and I think I've posted a half dozen others, but not The White Stripes' 'The Hardest Button to Button', a human pixellation tour-de-force.
The Hardest Button to Button
This is another one where the visuals match the music to a tee, and the execution is meticulously OCD, even though the result has a rough, improvisatory veneer - which is sort of the Gondry aesthetic in a nutshell.
This one is radically hardcore... too violent for me. Still formally interesting though.
And I had forgotten about this one I like very much (I didn't think of it as a music video per say):
This song, man. As much as it’s the stand-out, I love all of Broke with Expensive Taste. When it was announced RZA was directing her in a feature, I’d hoped it would be that album as a full-on weirdo ‘Wall’-type musical about a hip-hop kid finding/losing herself in a rave. Instead it was the dismissibly dull-looking Love Beats Rhymes. A shame she’s mostly known for being a toxic social media presence, now, but talented people have done far more horrid things and held on to their careers. “212” is mostly her and a brick wall, and some people are so compulsively watchable that that’s enough.Cameron Swift wrote: ↑Sun Sep 29, 2019 5:34 pmAzealia Banks ft. Lazy Jay - 212 - I watched this over and over and over when it came out. A very charismatic presence, though I understand she's kind of thrown her career down the toilet since then by being an outspoken idiot.
Another Hiro Murai video should make my list and fits neatly with these: “Never Catch Me” by Flying Lotus feat. Kendrick Lamar. Also: Colin Tilley’s video for Lamar’s “Alright.”Feego wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 12:44 pmTwo videos from last year engage directly with the impact of gun violence on the black community. One of these is also certainly the most talked about video of recent memory, Childish Gambino's This is America. Depicting two shootings with unflinching bluntness, the video is mesmerizing, filled with symbolism that has led to various interpretations and choreography seemingly designed to distract us from the violence surrounding it. Taking a different approach, the video for Prince's Mary Don't You Weep focuses on the aftermath of a shooting, showing the loss and mourning of the victim's family as his spirit watches helplessly from the sidelines. I was familiar with This Is America since it's premiere, but the (posthumous) Prince video was new to me. They definitely make interesting companion pieces.
And Romanek later did a full on Janet Jackson video with her take on Got Til It's Gonebrundlefly wrote: ↑Fri Oct 04, 2019 9:44 amIt may not be top-tier Jackson, but I’ve always felt “Scream” gets overlooked because it was a single from a greatest hits package. Mark Romanek’s video comes with asterisks – the unnecessary classification titles, the infatuation with morphing technology – but it’s gorgeous, it comes together everywhere it should, alleviates its more overbearing aspects with glimpses of genuine playfulness. And it brings Janet into this conversation.
I was wondering when Busta Rhymes' videos would get a mention. His image as the weirdo-in-the-room fits really well with the Hype Williams style, and the videos for Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See and Gimme Some More have always been iconic, kinetic late 90s day-glo masterpieces to me. One of those will be on my list, but I'm still mulling over which if anyone wants to form a Busta pact!brundlefly wrote: ↑Fri Oct 04, 2019 9:44 amTo that end: “The Rain” may be the ultimate Hype Williams video, but I find Busta Rhymes’ “Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check” as undeniable as five minutes of mugging into a fish-eye lens can be.
I was going to mention My Favourite Game as the other great Cardigans video. Didn't it beat Tarantino to the Death Proof dangerous driving gimmick by a few years?thirtyframesasecond wrote: ↑Sat Oct 05, 2019 3:43 amI liked the Jonas Akerlund vid for My Favourite Game.....well the uncensored one anyway! The Cardigans were a pretty fey Belle and Sebastian-esque group, obviously hit pay dirt with Love Fool, but then developed some edge. Did some decent vids for Madonna, Smashing Pumpkins (though the Dayton/Faris vids for Tonight, Tonight/1979 are iconic!), The Prodigy, etc.
The other great close up video is probably Sinéad O'Connor's singing of Nothing Compares 2 U. Directed by John Maybury who would later make Love Is The Devil, The Jacket and The Edge of Love. He also directed the video for West End Girls by The Pet Shop Boys.The Narrator Returns wrote: ↑Sat Oct 05, 2019 3:54 amSince I think every other Directors Label director has been mentioned so far, I'll discuss Jonathan Glazer and specifically his video for Nick Cave's "Into My Arms". Cave has said he doesn't like the video because it's working in opposition to the song's hopeful tone, but I think it's a really powerful piece of work on its own (especially the director's cut with an extended tragic striptease), and it makes the case along with Birth for Glazer being one of our best close-up directors.
Maybury started out working on the films of Derek Jarman, who himself made some good pop videos.colinr0380 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 05, 2019 7:13 amThe other great close up video is probably Sinéad O'Connor's singing of Nothing Compares 2 U. Directed by John Maybury who would later make Love Is The Devil, The Jacket and The Edge of Love. He also directed the video for West End Girls by The Pet Shop Boys.
Going through the thread, I was just going to comment on all the love for Jonze & Gondry, but not Cunningham who made my 2 favorites from the 90s & possibly all time, (Come To Daddy would probably be #3 of his): [Warning NSFW For both]
youtube comment wrote:This is historic footage of Col Joe Kittinger's (USAF) record setting parachute jump from space during Project Excelsior, a program to establish very high altitude emergency bailout procedures for astronauts. This was 1960, the altitude- 102,800'! (about 19 miles high). He free fell for 4 1/2 minutes! down to 18,000' where he deployed his chute. He was the fastest man alive without propulsion at 614 mph!/quote]
Not that I want the title of OK Go Historian ever, but their first viral hit was actually their dance to A Million Ways, which is also quite accomplished in terms of synchronized movement (albeit not nearly as impressive as the 4 person choreography on moving treadmills in Here It Goes Again). The band members are incredibly creative in seemingly every field but their chosen professionLowry_Sam wrote: ↑Sat Oct 05, 2019 4:12 pmThe Treadmill video was a hit because of its simplicity & it was their first, but The One Moment is such an impressive technical feat & I think the song is better too.