Music Video of the Day: Got To Keep On by The Chemical Brothers (2019, dir by Michel Gondry and Olivier Gondry)


A new music video from The Chemical Brothers?

One that’s directed by Michel Gondry?

One that features a lot of dancing?

Of course, I love it!

That said, the video starts out so exuberantly but then it takes a bit off a strange turn about halfway through, which really shouldn’t be a shock considering that we’re talking about Gondry and The Chemical Brothers here.  While I wouldn’t go as far as to call it body horror (because no one appears to be particularly horrified), it still definitely feels as if our dancers taken a trip into the world of David Cronenberg.  Fortunately, things work out in the end.  They always do.

As I stated above, this video was directed by Michel Gondry, who will always have a place in the hearts of most cineastes for directing Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Enjoy!

Song of the Day: I Will Show You (by Ailee)


Ailee - I Will Show you

Ailee is the sort of K-Pop artist that would be more at home in the US with the type of music she performs. Sure she dabbles in the dance pop genre that K-Pop is famous for. What she seems to not do is what K-Pop fans would be calling bubble or candy pop. Not cutesy concepts or vocals from this artist.

Ailee’s sound is heavily influenced by Western R&B and late 70’s disco. While those two seem like an odd match, with her powerful voice and vocal range she makes it a match in heaven.

As part of her debut album, the song “I Will Show You” does a great job of letting the listener in at her vocal talent and that she’s not one to be an early flash in the pan success. It would remiss of me to say that her success has been mostly because of her looks. Ailee is one K-Pop artist who has it all. She’s not just beautiful, but her talented voice puts her in the same league as her Western counterparts in the R&B and pop music scene.

As for the video which accompanied “I Will Show You.” It’s an energetic music video which tells the oft-times told tale of the ugly duckling blossoming into the beautiful swan to the surprise of those who ignored her due to her earlier looks. While an entertaining music video, it also has its detractors due to how the video ends with the very man who ignores her when she was in her “ugly duckling” phase suddenly realizing his mistake and tries to woo her.

Maybe it’s a cultural thing, but the video goes the “happy ending” route with Ailee taking back the very man who dumped her in the beginning but now that she’s the swan it’s all better. Again, some have liked the video while others see’s the ending as being problematic.

Music Video of the Day: Swallow My Gum by Lorena B (2011, dir by Ido Shor)


Before Adi Ulmansky went solo, she was a member of the Israeli experiment electronic group, Lorena B.  Along with creating a dream-like soundscape, Lorena B were known for their visceral and challenging music videos, the best of which were like surreal visual poems.

Take Swallow My Gum, for instance.  Swallow My Gum was both Lorena B’s first single and their first video.  (It was also the first track on their debut album, the self-produced Siblings.)  The video starts out as just another drive through the Israeli desert, just to get progressively stranger and stranger.  Is Adi just along for the ride or is she being held prisoner in the back of that car?  Is she traveling or is she being taken somewhere?  Are the answers even present in the video or is it more important that we decide for ourselves?  What are we to make of the child who continually flickers in out and existence?  Whenever I see her atop the power lines, I’m reminded of the scene in Twin Peaks: The Return, where Harry Dean Stanton watched a dead child’s soul disappear into a traffic light.

It’s a video that plays out like a dream of dark and disturbing things.

As for the song itself …. well, gum could be taken all sorts of way, couldn’t it?

Anyway, enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Work It by Adi Ulmansky (2013, dir by Diana Grace Windsor)


It’s Adi Ulmansky in space!

I should probably say some more about this video.  Adi Ulmansky is an Israeli rapper and producer and a former member of Lorena B.  I was introduced to her music by my best friend, Evelyn and what can I say other than we absolutely love Adi Ulmansky.  In this video, we get both Adi in space and some appropriately metaphorical animation.  What does it all mean?  I don’t know and it doesn’t really matter.  It’s a good song.  It’s a good video.  In the end, that’s the most important analysis that’s needed.

(I’ve seen Adi described as being “the Israeli Drake,” which is not a totally off description.  Of course, ultimately, Adi is uniquely Adi.)

Enjoy!

Music Video Of The Day: Animal by Aurora (2019, dir by Tim Mattia)


So, this video starts out with Aurora stuck in a cage in a back of a truck and your natural reaction is to say, “Get her out of that cage!”  Of course, as soon as she gets out, she kills a man, starts to spit up eggs, and eventually finds herself in one of those dystopian clubs that everyone goes to in the future.  (I mean, even Britney Spears found herself stuck at one.)  

So, maybe things were actually better in the cage.  Perhaps that’s what the future  holds for us all — a cage of our own on the back of a truck.  Hopefully, there will be some variety as far as the cages are concerned.  Myself, I’d prefer a big cage that has room for a bad and a couch and nice TV.  It would appear that Aurora got suck in one of the cheaper cages, which just doesn’t seem right.

I believe that the point of this video is that everyone’s an animal, driven by animalistic desires.  I have to agree with that and it certainly does explain a lot about what’s been happening on twitter lately.  That said, I like the video mostly because I have a weakness for shadowy cityscapes.  There’s literally not a single song that can’t be improved by a music video taking place in a dark alley.

Enjoy!

Song of the Day: Some by BOL4


Some BOL4

Time to return to our latest Song of the Day: K-Pop Edition. While most of the entries, so far, has been K-Pop artists who fall under either the bubbly pop or the more mature sound, there are a bevy of K-Pop artists who we in the West would probably characterize as indie solo or group artists.

These are K-Pop performers whose music don’t easily fall under the well-known K-Pop music categories such as dancepop, bubble pop, R&B or Jazz fusion. Their songs are usually more indie pop or folk rock.

One such K-Pop artist is the duo Bolbbalgan4 or BOL4 for short. The group’s comprised of Ahn Ji-young and Woo Ji-yoon. The former handles the main vocals of the duo’s songs while the latter does everything else from being the group’s guitarist, bass player, rapper and back-up vocals.

The one song that’s gotten some major playtime and has become a favorite of K-Pop fans worldwide is their “Song” which talks about a girl at the cusp of puberty who is preparing to deal with her first love (or crush) and going through stages on how to prep, practice and go about dealing with it.

Music Video Of The Day: Football Is Our Religion by Rednex (2008, dir by ????)


“Actually, in the rest of the world, soccer is known as football….”

Yes, this song isn’t actually about American football but who cares?  Rednex loves soccer.  Rednecks love football.  It all works out.

Myself, I don’t particularly care for either but I will be watching the Super Bowl for the commercials and the halftime show.  With Maroon 5 headlining, this should be the best halftime show of 2010.  So, here’s hoping whichever team you like wins and hopefully, there won’t be any serious injuries during the game, nor will any riots break out afterwards.  People take sports very seriously, for some reason.

Did you know that today is also American Painters Day?  Maybe when you’re celebrating sportsball, take a moment to appreciate something that doesn’t cause concussions and compound fractures.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Out of Control by The Chemical Brothers (1999, dir by W.I.Z.)


The revolution, as they used to say, will be televised.

Of course, those who used to say that were being rather short-sighted.  Today, we know that the revolution will be streamed, live tweeted, and it will probably trend until Beyonce knocks it off the list.  Revolution, itself, is a term that gets tossed around a lot.  Everyone tends to claim that their revolution is the one “true” revolution.  It takes a little bit of concentration to keep track of which revolution we’re supposed to support and which one we’re supposed to find horrifying.

With all that in mind, revolution has always been good for sales.  The commercialization of rebellion has been around forever.  The music video above was released in 1999 but it feels like it could have been released yesterday.  When Pepsi thought it would be a good idea to have Kendall Jenner change the world with a can of soda, did they realize they were essentially copying this music video?

Of course, that’s Rosario Dawson, playing the spokesrebel.  Rumor has it that Rosario Dawson is currently dating Sen. Cory Booker, who might be our next President.  Senator Booker got some attention for himself last year when he announced that he was having an “I am Spartacus” moment, a reminder that even sitting U.S. senators like to fancy themselves as being revolutionaries.  Being a rebel pays.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: America The Beautiful, performed by Ray Charles (1972, dir by ????)


Happy National Freedom Day!

Now, you may think that I’m making up a holiday but I’m not.  National Freedom Day has been observed annually on February 1st ever since 1949.  That’s because February 1st is also the anniversary of the day, in 1865, that Abraham Lincoln signed the joint Senate and House resolution calling for a 13th amendment, one that would abolish slavery.  Lincoln did not live to see that amendment ratified on December 6th and officially adopted to the Constitution on December 18th of the same year.

So, in honor of National Freedom Day, here’s Ray Charles singing America The Beautiful on a 1972 episode of the Dick Cavett Show.  Enjoy!