Consider this video to be a reminder of the fact that, even after the best of gatherings, someone will still get stuck having to clean everything up. Remember that, the next time that you’re at a friend’s house and you’re tempted not to use a coaster. Someone always has to clean up.
Well, today’s music video of the day — with all the fog and the car and video camera — made me think about Lost Highway. Or I should say, the first half of the video made me think about Lost Highway. The second half made me think about being back in high school, hanging out with my friends and watching them try to set things on fire.
From the minute this video started, I was thinking about Kyle MacLachlan and Sheryl Lee driving across the country during the final episode of Twin Peaks: The Return. In fact, all of the night driving scenes pretty much put in the mood for more Twin Peaks.
I like Sleigh Bells. Originally, I was going to use their video for I Can Only Stare for today’s music video of the day but the video’s suicide heme didn’t feel appropriate for this weekend.
So, I went with Comeback Kid, instead. I tend to think of this video as being a trailer for some extremely over the top television show about life in small town Texas. (Having lived in small town Texas, I’m allowed to say that. If someone from up north said the same thing, I’d have to claw their eyes out.) I know that some people are probably saying, “So, you wouldn’t share one video because of all the suicidal imagery but you’re willing to share a video that opens with a woman jumping around with a gun!? What the Hell, Bowman!?”
Well, you might have a point but I’ve made peace with myself. When I was fourteen, one of my friends told me that her father had just purchased a new gun and I spent an entire afternoon holding the gun and pointing the gun and jumping around with the gun. I never pulled the trigger, which is a good thing because I later discovered that, despite what my friend had told me, the gun was loaded the entire time. But it’s odd. Guns are scary and yet strangely seductive at the same time. Denying that fact doesn’t do anyone any good.
(For the record, I’m the only person in my family who doesn’t own a gun. Recently, a new gun store opened a few blocks away from our house. As Erin put it, we now know where to go “when the shit finally goes down.” She was joking and I quote her with her permission but still, that shop is probably the first place that the majority of my neighborhood would head if a revolution ever did break out or if our country was invaded Red Dawn-style. I’d probably be right there with them.)
(By the way, there’s another store in my town that specializes in selling both guns and antique dolls. It’s a fun place, to be honest.)
Today is National Best Friends Day so I knew I would absolutely have to share something from Kedr Livanskiy. My best friend Evelyn introduced me to Kedr Livanskiy’s music a few years ago and she quickly became a favorite of ours.
Evelyn and I absolutely love this wonderfully atmospheric song and video. As usual, one of us thinks that this song is about being young and free in Russia while the other thinks that it’s about young vampires who are learning how to deal with the ennui of being immortal. Try to guess who believes what! It’s fun!
In this video, Fiona Apple serenely covers the Beatles’s Across the Universe while chaos reigns all around her.
Fiona recorded this cover for a 1998 film called Pleasantville and the video follows along with Pleasantville‘s plot of a black-and-white world descending into chaos as the result of a little color being added. That said, I would argue that this video is far superior to the film because Pleasantville was directed by the always heavy-handed Gary Ross while this video was directed by Fiona’s then-boyfriend, Paul Thomas Anderson. While staying true to the themes of Ross’s film, Anderson still brings his own signature wit to the video.
Jim Radford is a British folksinger and peace activist. At the age of 15, he was also the youngest participant of the Allied Invasion of Normandy, which occurred 74 years ago today.
This video, from 2014, features Radford singing about his D-Day experiences at the Royal Albert Hall.
So, I have to admit that today’s music video of the day is a bit of a last minute pick for me. I got so busy reviewing trailers and watching cute cats on YouTube that I nearly forgot to pick a video!
And why did I pick this video?
Two words: Eric Roberts.
The video itself is okay. The same can be said for the song. (By now, you should be able to guess that my musical taste pretty much runs the gamut from EDM to more EDM.) But, that said, the main reason I picked this video is because it features the reliably eccentric presence of Eric Roberts.
I guess the idea behind this video is that, if your boyfriend’s being a dick, you can call Eric Roberts and he’ll make the guy’s life difficult. That sounds good to me and I’m sure if anyone could make that into a profitable business model, it would be Eric Roberts. That said, judging from this video, it doesn’t look like he really got the job done here.
I don’t know. It’s a confusing video, to be honest. That’s okay, though. Confusion is a good reminder that there are still mysteries left to be explored.
This video, I have to admit, was a last minute selection for today. The end of Sunday and the start of Monday managed to sneak up on me this week. It’s odd how that can happen, especially considering that I’m usually hyperorganized. Maybe it’s the heat.
Anyway, the main thing that appealed to me about this video is that it starts out wistful and kinda happy and then quickly gets rather ominous and kind of disturbing. The club, to me, looks like it should be full of gangsters from a Martin Scorsese movie and once the dancing begins, it’s impossible not to be reminded of the Roadhouse scenes from Twin Peaks: The Return. I assume the gentleman with the shaved head towards the end is either a football hooligan or a Kray brother.
Above & Beyond are the freaking best, aren’t they?
Enjoy!
(Incidentally, my supertalented cousin, Paulie Marchi, used to have a band called Sun & Moon. They never made a music video, though. It’s a shame.)
This song can be found on Confidence Man’s debut album, Confident Music For Confident People.
They’re a Melbourne-based band, one that recently announced that “There’s not enough dork in dance music nowadays.” They’re absolutely correct. Dance music should be fun and it should be random and it definitely shouldn’t take itself too seriously. Read more about the wonderful dorkiness of Confidence Man by clicking here!