Category Archives: Music Review

Music Video of the Day: Scratched Lanyard by Dry Cleaning (2020, dir by Rottingdean Bazaar)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

At first, I thought this is was a Christmas video, just because of all the flashing lights.  Then I actually watched the video and discovered that it’s actually taking place in a miniature disco bar.

But really, when it comes to disco, isn’t every day Christmas?  I’ve always felt so.  Most Christmas celebrations would probably be improved by platform shoes and a disco ball.  Some people might toss a coke spoon in there but I don’t think you need cocaine to have a merry Christmas.  If anything, President’s Day is your cocaine holiday.  Christmas, on the other hand, is a opening presents sober holiday.  At least, it is for me.

Rottingdean Bazaar are James Theseus Buck and Luke Brooks.  They’re a British duo, specializing in surrealistic designs and fashions.  This video, let’s just say, is very Rottingdean Bazaar.

This video is a nice throwback to the days when artists actually tried to do something interesting when it came to music videos.  So many music videos now are just boring performance clips and, yes, they’re easy to write about.  When you wake up at two in the morning and realize that you forgot to schedule a music video of the day before you fell asleep, it can sometimes be a relief to find a performance clip that you can just toss onto the site with only one word to go along with it.  But sometimes, you want something more and that’s what this video delivers.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: 12 Days of Christmas, covered by Pentatonix (2020, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yay!  It’s my favorite time of year!

And here, to get the month started, is Pentatonix with a cover of the 12 Days of Christmas  One thing about the 12 Days of Christmas is that most of those gifts aren’t really that impressive.  I mean, what am I going to do with a bunch of drummers drumming after the holidays?  And do they just keep on drumming through the whole month?  That’s going to get annoying.

I do like the diamond rings, though …. oh wait.  They’re golden rings, aren’t they?  For some reason, I always remember them as being diamond rings.  Heh heh.

I do like Pentatonix, though I typically hate anything that’s a cappella.  Like, I’ve always had this fear that I’ll be out somewhere and suddenly, an old timey barbershop quartet will appear out of nowhere and start singing and they’ll be really bad but I’ll be obligated to stand there and listen to them until they finally stop.  That’s actually one of my number one fears.  Don’t ask me why I have this fear, I just do.  I’m also haunted by Bo Bice’s decision to go a cappella during the finale of America Idol because I think that decision led to him losing to Carrie Underwood.  So, as you can see, I have my reasons for dreading a cappella in general.

But Pentatonix is pretty cool, I think.  They’re the exception to the rule.  Kind of like how folk music is the music of evil people, except for Bob Dylan and Arlo Guthrie.

Anyway, enjoy!

Music Video Of The Day: Dear Prudence, covered by Siouxsie and The Banshees (1983, dir by Tim Pope)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy birthday, Erin Nicole!

To be honest, the main reason that I picked this for today’s music video of the day is because Erin and I both love this song and it’s one that we’ve both listened to several times of the past few months.  (When you’re basically stuck inside for the majority of the year, you really do come to appreciate good music.)  Add to that, this song always makes me think of my sister, even if she isn’t listening to it with me.  The sun is beautiful and so is she. As I always say, one of the best things about being involved with TSL is that I get to work with my sister.   She’s always been there for me.  She’s always put up with me, even when I was at my worse.  I don’t know where I’d be without her.

This, of course, is a cover of a Beatles song.  If you think you spotted The Cure’s Robert Smith in this video, you are correct.  At the time this song was recorded (and this video made), Robert Smith was temporarily a member of the band.  This video was filmed in Venice, which is a wonderful city that I hope I get to once again visit with everyone who I care about.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Everybody Here Hates You by Courtney Barnett (2020, dir by Danny Cohen)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Oh hell yeah!  That’s more of a reaction to the sound of the song than to the song’s message, which is kind of depressing.

Seriously, we all know the feeling, right?  Judging from this video, Courtney is actually inside of someone’s brain and reminding them that everybody here hates them.  Everyone has felt that way at some point in their life.  Of course, to be honest, I’d rather be disliked than unknown or ignored.  Of course, I’d rather be loved than disliked.  I want people to be scared of how much they love me.

Anyway, this is a good song and a good video and it’ll get stuck in your head and you’ll hear it every time you start to feel insecure about something.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Metal Head by Blotto (1982, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Could this video be more 80s?

Blotto followed up the success of I Wanna Be A Lifeguard with this song, which poked fun at the heavy metal bands that were, at that time, popular on MTV.  In the video, lead singer Sarge Blotto finds himself turning into a metal head, which means wearing a bandana and a denim jacket and owning a van.  I wonder how MTV felt about this video, which was essentially a good-natured parody of everything that the channel was about in the 80s.

Hailing form Albany, New York, Blotto was a band that never quite hit it big despite having a fervent cult following.  An oft-repeated story about the band is that they turned down a major recording contract because they would have had to surrender creative control of their music.  Instead, they released their own albums on Blotto Records, which meant less exposure but also more freedom to record what they wanted.  Today, a band like Blotto can take their music directly to the people on any number of platforms but, in the early 80s, signing with a major label was the only way to get national exposure.

Blotto disbanded in 1984, though they have occasionally reunited over the years.  Unfortunately, Sarge Blotto died on April 10th, 2019.  In real life, Sarge Blotto was named Greg Haymes and was a widely respected music journalist.

RIP, Sarge.