Tag Archives: Music

Music Video of the Day: My Window by Jake Epstein (2008, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi there!  Lisa here, recovering from my birthday and bringing you today’s music video of the day!

Today’s music video of the day comes from a Canadian show that is very close to my heart … no, not Saved By The Bell: The New Class.  That show wasn’t Canadian.  I’m talking about Degrassi!

Starting with the second season, Jake Epstein was a regular on Degrassi.  Epstein played Craig Manning, the bipolar photographer-turned-musician who, over the course of his time on the show, did everything from impregnating Manny to beating up Joey Jeremiah to eventually breaking the hearts of both Ellie Nash and Ashley Kerwin.  He even befriended Kevin Smith!

In the middle of the fifth season, Epstein left the show and Craig left Toronto.  However, even though he was no longer a regular character, Craig would occasionally return to Degrassi.  For instance, during season 6, he came back to play a show and, as a result of snorting too much cocaine before taking the stage, ended up having a massive nose bleed in the middle of his performance.  Agck!

Fortunately, Craig went to rehab and was able to return during the season 7 episode, Bust a Move.  Playing a surprise show at a Canadian college and reconnecting with two of his exes, Craig also found time to perform My Window, a song that, in real life, was written by Jake Epstein.

The video above was released around the same time that Bust a Move premiered in the States.  It’s an official video, even if it is mostly made up of clips taken from previous episodes of Degrassi.  Unfortunately, most of those scenes were lifted from his season 6 return.  I would have liked to have seen more scenes between Craig and Ellie.  (I used to think that Ellie was totally me but, while recently rewatching the show, I realized that I actually had more in common with Ashley.)

Anyway, I can hear the eyes rolling already but cut me some slack.  I love Degrassi!  Add to that, this is actually a pretty good song.  I love Jake Epstein’s voice.  Along with appearing on Degrassi and countless Lifetime films, Epstein is also a respected musical theater actor.  Among his credits: American Idiot, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.

Enjoy!

 

Music Video of the Day: Down To Earth by Flight Facilities (2015, dir by Rhett Wade-Ferrell)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi there!  Lisa here, filling in for Val and bringing you today’s music video of the day!

Today’s my birthday and I gave a lot of thought as to what music video I wanted to share on this special day.  I considered sharing Only Happy When It Rain by Garbage, because I’ve been told that song pretty much is me.  But then I realized that I had already shared that video!

I then considered Fiona Apple’s Criminal but again, I remembered I had already shared that one as well!

(Seriously, after a year and a half, it starts to become a challenge not to repeat yourself.  Give full credit to Val on this.  She keeps the feature fresh and updated and she has yet to repeat herself once.)

I also came very close to going with the music video for Jake Epstein’s My Window.  I love that song and the entire video is pretty much made up with clips from Degrassi and y’all know how much I love that show.  (Maybe Val will do My Window someday, Lisa thought, keeping her fingers crossed…)

But then, suddenly, I had a vision of Sam Rockwell dancing in a deserted diner.  And I knew then that I was meant to share, on this particular day, the video for Down to Earth by Flight Facilities!

Sam Rockwell’s just adorable, isn’t he?  This video was directed by Rhett Wade-Ferrell and the choreography is credited to Vincent Paterson, who previously worked with Michael Jackson.

Enjoy!

 

Update On Music Video of the Day Posts (Rock Me Tonite by Billy Squier)

Posted on by Valerie Troutman

I haven’t been doing good health-wise, and I’m not sure when it’s going to pick up. So, I am going to be in and out for awhile. I just wanted to give people a heads up. I don’t like missing these, but it’s going to happen more frequently. I would provide a timeframe if I had it. It’s all over the place at the moment.

I picked out Rock Me Tonite by Billy Squier because I wanted to talk about the infamous music video that went with it for today. Unfortunately, that isn’t something I can just throw together like this post. There’s interviews–written and oral–, context, my opinion, it’s importance, etc. It’s one of the most significant music videos ever made.

In the meantime, do what Squier would have liked people to do in the first place: Listen to the music absent of the images that the video brings to mind.

Music Video of the Day: Make You Move by Slam (2015, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi everyone!  Lisa here with today’s music video of the day.  For some reason, this video does not come with a thumbnail image but the video is there.  If you click play, you will see it.  I promise.  (Unless, of course, you’re reading this in 2032.  If that much time has passed and you’re just now coming across this post from 2017, I make no promises.  Sorry, kids.)

Hailing from Glasgow, Slam consists of Stuart McMillan and Orde Meikle.  (McMillan and Meikle are co-founders of the legendary label, Soma Quality Recordings.)  I like the video for Make You Move because it’s deceptively simple.  On the one hand, it may appear to just be a lot of old footage on a cheap TV that’s sitting in the corner of an apartment.  On the other hand, this video is exactly what music is all about.  It’s all about making you move and, as far as I’m concerned, this video certainly accomplishes that.

It just seems like a good way to the start the week!

Enjoy!

Music Video of The Day — Burn The Witch by Radiohead (2016, dir by Chris Hopewell)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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

Today, we have the video for Radiohead’s Burn the Witch.  Through the use of stop motion animation, Burn the Witch tells a disturbing little story, one that deals with an inspector who comes to a seemingly idyllic English village and who eventually ends up getting trapped in a wicker man.  If any of this sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen either the original Wicker Man or the remake starring Nicolas Cage.  The video for Burn the Witch is actually a bit more positive than the film that inspired it.   In the video, the inspector escapes at the end.  Neither Edward Woodward nor Nic Cage were quite as lucky.

As for the song itself, it deals with the dangers of groupthink and blind obedience to authority.  Since Radiohead’s music has always possessed a libertarian streak, that’s certainly not a shock.  The video condemns not only those who would demand blind obedience but also on those who are foolish enough to give it.

Of course, with The Wicker Man theme, it’s also perfect for October!

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff by deadmau5 featuring Rob Swire (2009, dir by Colin O’Toole)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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

Life as a ghost isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be and if you needed proof, just check out this otherworldly music video.  The video mixes spirits with a good beat, so you know there’s no way that I’d be able to resist it.

This one was filmed in Toronto and it was directed by Colin O’Toole.

Music Video of the Day: Ed Wood by Howard Shore (1994, dir by Tim Burton and Toni Basil)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi, everyone!  Lisa here, filling in for Val.

In 1994, Tim Burton released Ed Wood, a film that I consider to be his best.  (In fact, it’s one of the few Tim Burton films that I feel actually improves with repeat viewings.  Don’t start yelling at me about Beetlejuice.)  The score, which so evocative of Wood’s style of filmmaking, was composed by Howard Shore.  This video features the actress Lisa Marie (who played Vampira in Ed Wood) dancing to Shore’s theme music.

Before anyone says it, I did not pick this video just because it features a dancer named Lisa Marie.  I’m not the egocentric … well, actually, I am.  In fact, I’m so egocentric that I’m shocked that I have yet to dedicate an entire post to just listing words that rhyme with Lisa.  (Sadly, there’s not many.  Visa is a good one.)  But still, I did have other reasons for picking this video than just the fact that I am also named Lisa Marie and I also enjoy dancing in cemeteries.  Those reasons will hopefully become obvious as the day develops here on the Shattered Lens.

Anyway, both Tim Burton and Toni Basil are credited with directing this video.  I’m going to assume that Burton’s directorial credit is largely due to all of the scene of Ed Wood that are spliced into the footage of Lisa Marie dancing.  Toni Basil, who also did the choreographed this video, is one of our favorite people here at the Shattered Lens.  Just check out my review of Head and Val’s review of Slaughterhouse Rock.

Enjoy!

Halloween TV Havoc!: ALICE COOPER – THE NIGHTMARE (ABC-TV 1975)

Posted on by gary loggins

gary loggins's avatarcracked rear viewer

This past August, I got to see Alice Cooper perform live in concert (on a triple bill with classic rockers Deep Purple and Edgar Winter!). The Coop’s Grand Giugnol antics, complete with a ten-foot Frankenstein, a murderous danse macabre with a ballerina, the famous guillotine routine, loads of pyro, and the incredible shredding of guitar goddess Nita Strauss, stole the show. Alice has always been the most theatrical of rockers, and the man’s still got it!

In 1975, Alice released his first solo LP without his longtime backing band, “Welcome to My Nightmare”, featuring Cooper classics like “Cold Ethyl”, “Black Widow”, “Only Women Bleed”, and the title track. A videotaped TV special was made to coincide with the album, and horror icon Vincent Price was brought in to play ‘The Curator of The Nightmare’ (Price did narration for ‘Black Widow’ on the record, predating Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”). If you’ve got…

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Follow That Dream: RIP Tom Petty

Posted on by gary loggins

gary loggins's avatarcracked rear viewer

In an era of throbbing disco beats, ponderous prog rock, and angry loud punk,   Tom Petty’s rootsy, guitar-jangling sound was like a breath of fresh air blowing through the late 70’s radio airwaves. Petty was a Southern boy, but didn’t fit the ‘Southern Rock’ mode of the Allman Brothers or Marshall Tucker. Instead, he and his band The Heartbreakers were influenced by the stylings of The Beatles and The Byrds, crafting tight-knit pop tunes for the ages.

The Florida-born Petty was an artsy type of kid, an outsider in a world of machismo. He met his idol Elvis Presley when The King was making the 1961 film FOLLOW THAT DREAM on location, and three years later, when The Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan, Tom knew what he wanted to do with his life. By age 17, he’d dropped out of high school, and three years later started Mudcrutch, a…

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