Music Video of the Day: Sexual Vibe by Stephen Puth (2018, dir by Ally Pankiw)


I picked this video because it reminded me of middle school, high school, and St. Monica’s Catholic School, as well.  Actually, it also reminded me of my first two years of college.  And my last two years of college, as well.  It also reminded me of my old apartment complex in Garland.  Also, it made me think of a New Year’s Eve Party that I attended in 2010.  And 2013, as well.  The 2016 and 2017 New Year’s Parties weren’t anywhere near as fun as the ones in the past, largely because everyone got political.  But, from 2001 to 2015, I attended some interesting parties.

So yeah, chalk this one up to nostalgia.

Parties are always a lot more fun in music videos.  Have you noticed that?  I think that’s because only really attractive, really cool people ever show up for music video parties.  Whereas, in real life, there’s always like that one rando who shows up and kinda brings everyone down with their presence.  It’s like that one dude who shows up at the party and no one knows who he is but he keeps standing by the fireplace and pointing at you and nodding whenever you acknowledge his stare.

Anyway, am I rambling?  Well, then you better just ignore me and….

….Enjoy!

Song of the Day: As If It’s Your Last (by Blackpink)


Blackpink

It would be impossible to talk about K-pop without putting up as a “Song of the Day” a track by one of the most popular K-pop girl group of the last couple years. I am talking about YG Entertainment’s quartet known as Blackpink.

The group made their debut on the K-pop scene on August of 2016. The quartet are seen as taking up the YG Entertainment K-pop legacy with the disbandment of the ultra-popular quartet girl group 2NE1. Even their stylistic choices have been compared to their predecessors who were able to combine both the cutesy image seen by many as K-pop with the edgier sound of hip-hop and R&B.

For the most part, most of their singles since their debut in 2016 have what the group itself call as their “Black” concept which leans heavily on hip-hop, drum and bass and R&B influences. The choice for today’s Song of the Day is the group’s first foray into introducing their “Pink” side.

“As If It’s Your Last” still retains the highly-energetic beats and tempo of their previous releases, but also incorporates the more traditional dancepop influence in K-pop. While it helps showcase their cute side both in their vocal deliveries and the music video, the song still manages to mix in some reggae and moombahton influences.

This gives “As If It’s Your Last” not just a dance house edge but the familiar catchy hooks of traditional bubblepop K-pop.

Music Video of the Day: Stay by Cat Power (2018, dir by Greg Hunt)


Sometimes, it’s best to keep things simple.  That’s what I’ve been doing this week.  It’s a new experience for me, as I usually like to keep things as complicated as exhausting as possible.  That’s also what this video does, quite effectively I think.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: hey you got drugs? by Tove Lo (2018, dir by Brewer)


Well, do you?

Anyway, there are two things that I particularly like about this video.  One of them is the long tracking shot that follows Tove Lo as she walks back to her dressing room.  It reminded me a bit of the opening to Orson Welles’s Touch of Evil.  I also liked the long close-up of Tove Lo sitting in her dressing room.  It takes courage on the part of both the director and the performer to hold a shot for that long.

Enjoy!

Song of the Day: Ice Cream Cake (by Red Velvet)


Red Velvet Ice Cream Cake

For the most part all the K-pop I’ve shared have been on the more mature sounding side of the spectrum. As I mentioned before, for some this side of K-pop is more to their liking while others prefer the more cute and bouncy side of the genre.

Pantsukudasai56 has made it known that he is into K-pop and, for the most part, also J-pop (though from what I could gather it’s more the latter than the former). I can see why he’s more drawn to the cute and bouncy side of K-pop since J-pop has made that type of pop a cottage industry in Japan’s music scene.

So, just to show that K-pop is not just what I enjoy listening to, but what others have come to find entertaining and interesting, I give you Red Velvet’s “Ice Cream Cake” from the mini-album of the same name which came out right after their first debut singles, “Happiness” and “Be Natural.”

The song is a far cry from the R&B and jazzy sound of “Be Natural” but instead has a blend of drum and bass and dance pop that’s the staple of what non-fans think K-pop sound is all about. While the song does have that cute and bouncy sound, not to mention a video with visuals to match it, there’s also a subtle discordant layer to the proceedings. Whether it’s the group doing a haunting harmony that helps start off the song and returns throughout the song right up to some discordant chords.

Even the lyrics of the song could be mistaken for just your typical K-pop song about young love, or as some have mistaken just about ice cream cake. Yet, at further listening and understanding of the song’s translated lyrics there’s more than a hint and level of double entendre and innuendoes to the song’s wordplay.

So, for those who like their K-pop visually popping and bouncy with the vocals to match then Red Velvet’s “Ice Cream Cake” is a nice starter.

Music Video of the Day: All Alone on Christmas by Darlene Love (1992, dir by ????)


Darlene Love’s Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) is one of my favorite Christmas song but, unfortunately, there’s not an official music video for Love’s version.

However, there is a music video for Love’s 1992 Christmas song, All Alone on Christmas.  As you can tell from watching the video, this song was actually a part of the Home Alone 2 soundtrack.  The video is full of footage from the movie but it does not include the scenes with Donald Trump.  However, it does feature Macaulay Culkin “producing” the song.  I understand that the grown-up Culkin now performs song about pizza which …. well, I mean, I like pizza so hopefully it’s not as stupid as it sounds.

In the video, Darlene Love is backed up by members of the E Street Band, who all look happy to be freed (if only momentarily) from the tyranny of Bruce Springsteen.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Celtic Carol by Lindsey Stirling (2011, dir by ????)


Let’s start this holiday weekend off with another music video from Lindsey Stirling!

In Celtic Carol, Lindsey is an elf who has been locked into Santa’s workshop.  Apparently, Santa is a really demanding boss, which I always kind of suspected.  I mean, if you’ve ever seen Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, you now what I’m talking about.

Anyway, Elf Lindsey manages to get in the Christmas spirit despite having to work.

Enjoy!