Music Video of the Day: Bob Dylan — Must Be Santa (2009, dir by Nash Edgerton)

Posted on December 10, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I just realized that it is December 10th and we have yet to share any Christmas videos here at the Shattered Lens. That may be because there’s not really that many good Christmas music videos out there….

However, there is this video of Bob Dylan performing Must Be Santa!

Is Dylan celebrating the holiday or making fun of it in this video? Personally, I choose to believe that he’s doing both. If anything, Bob Dylan’s reached a point where he can pretty much do anything he wants and if that means he wants to do a polka Christmas song, we’re all the better for it!

As for the song itself, it was originally written back in 1960 and has been performed by several different singers. The polka version was first performed by the pride of Denton, Texas, Brave Combo. Dylan’s version can basically be considered a cover version of the Brave Combo version. Even if you don’t like polka music (and I certainly wouldn’t consider myself to be a fan of it but then again, my personal taste in music pretty much runs the gamut from EDM to More EDM), you should always take advantage of the chance to see Brave Combo play live. They put on a quite a show.

Anyway, enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Escape Velocity by the Chemical Brothers (2010, dir by Adam Smith and Marcus Lyal)

Posted on December 9, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi there, everyone!

Today’s music video of the day is the video for the 2nd track off of The Chemical Brothers’s Further. Things pick up exactly where Snow ended, with the woman swimming under water. (The woman is played by Jenny Godding when she’s swimming and by Romola Garai when she’s not.) When the woman emerges from the water, she is treated to a light show that should be familiar to anyone who has been lucky enough to see The Chemical Brothers perform live.

I know, I know. This is the type of music that drives some people crazy. I happen to love it. It’s all about the way it makes you feel and it makes me feel like dancing.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Snow (2010, dir by Adam Smith and Marcus Lyall)

Posted on December 8, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As I sit here writing up today’s music video of the day, the temperature outside is plunging. When I woke up this morning, it was 40 degrees outside. Tonight, it’s 33 degrees and getting colder. This weather may not be good for my asthma but at least it finally feels like Christmas around here! Best of all, it might snow tonight. My plan is not to sleep tonight. Instead, I’m going to sit in front of a window, write, and look for snow.

Living in Texas, I’m lucky if I get to see snow twice in one year. It snowed back in January. Didn’t last for long. It looked something like this:

Photograph taken on January 8th, 2017 by Erin Nicole. This is what we consider to be a lot of snow in Texas. Stop laughing at us, Canada.

Anyway, Snow is not only what’s on my mind but it’s also the title of today’s music video of the day! Snow was the first track off of The Chemical Brothers’ seventh studio album, Further. All 8 of the tracks featured a video directed by Adam Smith and Marcus Lyall. Snow‘s dreamlike video features Jenny Godding swimming. Intentionally or not, it reminds me a good deal of Irene Miracle’s surrealistic swim in Dario Argento’s Inferno.

Jenny Godding is also featured on the cover of Further.

Enjoy!

Music Video Of The Day: There’s A Beast And We All Feed It by Jake Bugg (2014, dir by Bob Harlow)

Posted on December 7, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi there! Lisa here with today’s music video of the day!

Welcome to life on the Bayou!

This video is for a song by Jake Bugg. It’s called There’s A Beast and We All Feed It. One reason I like this song is because it’s only 99 seconds long, which is perfect for my miniscule attention span. Despite the short running time, this video manages to include just about everything that you might expect to find living on the bayou. Alligators. Shoplifting. Guns. Drugs. Dogs. Bizarre religious rituals. They’re all here.

I have admit that one reason why I like this video is because I “know” all of these people. When I was growing up, my family lived all over the country. We spent time in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Colorado, and, of course, Texas. Even though I’m happy to have escaped it, I still know the world in which this video is set.

The song itself is a Dylanesque attack on conformity. Check out the lyrics:

They grin but they don’t mean it
They sing but they don’t feel it
They’re gone but they don’t see it
They can call but they can’t heed it
They think but they don’t speak it
There’s a beast eating every bit of beauty
And they all feed it

Stop a moment, try to freeze it
Find and they don’t seek it
At the bar but they can’t meet it
Try their best but they can’t beat it
Nice car, somebody keys it
There’s a beast easting every bit of beauty
And yes they feed it

Not a finger pointer
I will not cry your name
For yeah brothers and sisters
We are one ‘n’ the same
But when my sister suffers
And when my mother cries
All I want to do
Is look in someone’s eyes and say

You sleep but you don’t dream it
You’re sly but you don’t seem it
You’re busy as a flea pit
You struggle to perceive it
Is it hard to believe it
There’s a beast eating every bit of beauty
And yes you feed it

I’m not a finger pointer
I will not cry your name
For yeah brothers and sisters
We are one ‘n’ the same
But when my sister suffers
I have my mothers job
All I want to do
Is look in someone’s eyes and say

Somehow we’d better speak it

We’re scared someone will tweet it
It’s on the wall but you won’t read it
It’s gone before you see it
We all dread to repeat it
There’s a beast eating every bit of beauty
And yes we all feed it

Anyway, enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Elements by Linsdey Stirling (2012, dir by Lindsey Stirling and Devin Graham)

Posted on December 6, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Watching this video makes me want to learn how to play the violin.

My favorite credit for this video reads: “Thanks to the Dyer Family for letting me use their driveway for the water scene.”

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Electric Daisy Violin by Lindsey Stirling (2011)

Posted on December 5, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

There’s no big reason behind why I picked this video for today’s music video of the day. This song just makes me happy and it’s a fun video. If you don’t like the music, you can concentrate on the dancing. If you don’t like the dancing, you can look at the mountains. If you don’t care about mountains, you can try to read all the graffiti behind Lindsey. Seriously, this video has something for everyone.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Stockholm Syndrome by Muse (2003, directed by Thomas Kirk)

Posted on December 4, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi, everyone!

I have to admit that one reason why I picked this video for today’s music video of the day is because there’s really not a whole much to say about it. I’m running a bit behind tonight, which tends to happen during the holidays. I still haven’t even watched the latest episode of The Walking Dead! So, by necessity, I have to pick a video that’s fairly straight-forward.

I also have to admit that this is definitely a case where I like the song a lot more than video. Along with Jakalope, Coldplay, The Chemical Brothers, and Sleigh Bells, Muse is one of my go-to bands whenever I need writing music. I’ll be listening to Muse tonight as I try to get caught up. I love this song but the video hurts my eyes. The infrared filter is effective when used sparingly but, after five minutes of it, my eyes start to water.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Lust for Life by Iggy Pop (1996, dir by Danny Boyle)

Posted on December 3, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi everyone! Lisa here with today’s music video of the day.

Lust for Life, which was co-written by David Bowie, was originally released in 1977 but it didn’t become a hit until it was used in the 1996 film Trainspotting. The director of Trainspotting, Danny Boyle, also directed this video, which is basically scenes from the movie mixed in with footage of Iggy Pop performing.

Appropriately for a song that would become the theme to Trainspotting, Lust For Life is a song about heroin addiction. (The majority of the song is told through the eyes of Johnny Yen, a character created by noted heroin aficionado, William S. Burroughs.) Because of the song’s rousing chorus, it has regularly been used in advertisements for things that have absolutely nothing to do with heroin. For instance, it was used to promote Royal Caribbean Cruises.

The recent Trainspotting sequel featured The Prodigy’s remix of Lust for Life. Sadly, this one doesn’t come with a music video but you can listen to it below:

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: I Like Snow by Lara Snow featuring Safra (2016, dir by Vadim Mechona)

Posted on December 2, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

For the record, I like snow, too. I especially love snow in December and January but, as of right now, I have my doubts as to whether it will happen during this particular holiday season. It’s a shame. Next year, I’ll do Christmas in Canada.

As for this video …. well, I like this video. It’s trippy and weird and kinda disturbing and it’s got two dancing wolves. Dancing wolves are always a good thing.

It was directed by Vadim Mechona, who was also one of the directors on the previous Lara Snow video that I shared.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Sometimes It’s Enough by Lara Snow (2016, dir by Jonatan Harpak and Vadim Mechona)

Posted on December 1, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

For today’s music video of the day, we have the video for Lara Snow’s Sometimes It’s Enough.

Why do I like this video? To a certain extent, I relate to it. Abandoned buildings have always fascinated me, just the idea that a structure that was once full of life can suddenly be so … dead. It’s hard to resist. Just a few years ago, my sister and I had a lot of fun when we came across an abandoned house with an open door. I mean, on the one hand, it was the perfect set-up for a horror movie. On the other hand, that kind of made it fun. That may or may not make sense to most people but it makes perfect sense to me.

This video also reminds me of the films of Jean Rollin. That’s always a good thing.