Culture Blues

Internet Killed the Video Star: July

Music videos have disappeared from the airwaves but they're now available on demand 24/7 in cyberspace. That's why we provide a monthly rundown of noteworthy music videos.

R. Kelly “Radio Message” – R. Kelly singing into his phone is a cheesy and ridiculous image. It’s also extremely entertaining. Throw in some soaring shots of Chicago architecture and you’ve got a simple video done right.

Mountain Goats “Estate Sale Sign” – For an animated video that is basically just two monsters chasing each other and fighting over a snow globe, it’s surprisingly poignant.

Bjork “Crystalline” – In recent months, I’ve lamented the overuse of trippy animation in videos. I could do the same here, but this video is directed by Michel Gondry, and let’s face it, the rules are different for him. The song takes a while to get going, hence a pretty slow video, but Gondry’s stop-motion work keeps things interesting (I really liked the sand rippling) until it all explodes into sensory overload.

White Denim “Street Joy” – Casting yourselves as a high school prom band and then cutting your performance together with what I have to assume is authentic prom home videos seems like a great idea. Unfortunately in this case, the band can’t interact with their crowd, or even appear in the same shot as them. They simply stand in the corner playing. The lack of cohesion really hurts the video. It’s why Buddy Holly works so well, and this doesn’t.

Paramore “Monster” – They sure do a lot of running from exploding things.

Shaggy “Sugarcane” – Don’t let your girlfriend, wife or daughter go to Jamaica. Once they get a taste of Shaggy’s sugarcane they’ll never come back. Also, thank god Shaggy is back.

Wolfgang Gartner ft. Will.i.am “Forever” – I’m always up for some Little Man special effects, but not so much the oh so 90s image of a sperm with a man’s head pasted on it.

Atmosphere “Last To Say” – I’m a big proponent of simplicity in videos, but this might be too simple for its own good. While Slug raps about a legacy of domestic abuse, we see the situation against the backdrop of a kitchen. There’s power in many of the images, but there isn’t much dramatic movement here and it just becomes predictable.

Ladytron “White Elephant” – Wait a minute, are there always animals at orgies? These people have a turkey and a baby alligator or something. Who knows what’s lurking in the rooms we didn’t see. I’ve never been that interested in orgies because, you know, gross. But if there’s some petting zoo aspect, I may have to reconsider my stance.

Grouplove “Tongue Tied” – Watching events unfold in reverse, and discovering how this dude came to be running shirtless from three masked luchadores in the middle of the night and then faceplanting in a kiddy pool is entertaining, but the execution here doesn’t really do justice to the premise. And it’s certainly not worth suffering through the embarrassing Ke$ha-esque rap in the middle.

The Game ft. Justin Timberlake and Pharrell “Ain’t No Doubt About It” – Being released seemingly a year after it was produced, this video provides an interesting bit of perspective. Am I the only one that can’t imagine Timberlake making this video now? Hanging out on a boat with The Game, Pharrell and a bunch of video girls? After starring in The Social Network, Bad Teacher and Friends With Benefits? Timberlake was obviously a huge star when they made this, but it still feels like one of those embarrassing movies an actor tries to block the direct-to-DVD release of after they get famous.

The Drums “Money” – What seems to start as an ode to free shit in the world’s most expensive city turns bizarre when people start tossing guns around in the park. It’s fine, but hopefully their next video has more spastic dancing from the lead singer.

Cormega ft. DJ Red Alert, Parrish Smith, Grand Puba, KRS-One & Big Daddy Kane “Fresh” – Getting all these rap legends onto one track seems like a big coup for Cormega. When I saw that he released a video, I doubted he could have gotten them all together to film something and was pretty curious about how the whole thing would be handled. The answer, of course, is poorly done CGI. The whole video is computer animated with each rapper getting their own avatar complete with awkward motions and lips that don’t match the lyrics. It looks like a rap video version of Sims. It’s actually pretty funny.

Foster the People “Helena Beat” – Post-apocalyptic stories are so hot right now. This one balances comedy with a terrifying band of juvenile misfits causing chaos in the wasteland.

Slaine “Trail of Blood” – The song and video both consist of two unrelated narratives around the “trail of blood” concept. The video shoehorns a connection between the stories in at the end. It tries a little too hard to shock but that connection does make the video (and song) feel more complete. Depressing and violent, this video takes you on a pretty interesting journey in just 4 and a half minutes. Apparently hanging out with Ben Affleck is paying off.

VIDEO OF THE MONTH: Beastie Boys “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win” – A month with new videos from Gondry and Spike Jonze, that’s something special. Honestly, this doesn’t even really qualify as a music video. It’s 11 minutes long, the song adds nothing to it, and it doesn’t even play during the vast majority of the runtime. The shortened version of the video kind of sucks too, feeling very slapped together. Normally, all those things would preclude me from honoring a video as the best of the month, but this wasn’t a great month for music videos. I was really hyped for this video last month. At first, I was a little put off by the fact that this video isn’t stop motion animation, instead they just manipulate the toys during filming. It actually helps sell the idea that this is just a kid’s play session, and I think that sort of nostalgia is an important part of the video’s appeal. Beyond that, it’s just a cool, wild ride. I love that the villain gets some dramatic depth too. That’s classy filmmaking.

VIDEO TO WATCH FOR: Best Coast’s Our Deal is getting the “Supervideo” treatment from MTV and director Drew Barrymore. The Supervideo concept mostly seems like a way to feed the egos of Hollywood actors by letting them make music videos. This one will star Tyler Posey from MTV’s Teen Wolf and Chloe Moretz and it looks to have some sort of Grease meets The Warriors set up. This is the third Supervideo (the other two aren't anything special, but they do look good) and is set to premiere today on MTV’s site.

Tagged as: lots of violence this month, new music video reviews, r kelly never disappoints, shaggy is back, spike jonze, supervideo