This video, directed by Joe Wein, is packed full of delights. Among them are Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy), singing a song that is part of his new solo efforts; a girl with the most adorable skateboarding helmet ever; and also a dude doing backflips with a pogo stick.
Here is a video that actually was filmed on the beach (and the pier) in Santa Monica: No Escape, from The Chances. The video is by Eddie O’Keefe, the band is Julia Barna, Michael Runion and Sara Sinclair, and the tune has the pure sweetness of a summer crush.
Other notes: I’m especially fond of this one because Santa Monica is one of my favorite places; I enjoy the line about the city bus; and I’m now left with an abiding desire to go down the Shore to the boards and eat some ice cream while listening to the waves crash on the beach.
The CHANCES – No Escape from Eddie O'KEEFE on Vimeo.
ALEXCALIBUR (Alex Gulla) has an incredible voice – rich, supple, and flexible – and his live show is nothing short of mind-blowing. Note: that link may or may not be NSFW, depending on where you work, and contains pictures of Mr. Gulla singing while wearing very small trunks and not a lot else.
I chose this particular song because I find it incredibly soothing, and the video, created by Gulla and Katie Torn, is illustrative of his general aesthetic. You can listen to more of his work here.
AF THE NAYSAYER x Luke St. John, photograph by Tyler Walker
AF THE NAYSAYER x Luke St. John are currently based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. AF THE NAYSAYER (right, above) is an electronic musician formerly of rap group Shuggie Watts, while Luke St. John (left) has a background in spoken word. Together they create groovy, funky jams.
They are currently hard at work on their first record, but you can get a preview of their sound in the videos below. The first song is The A. M., and the video was shot and edited by Tyler Russell; the second song is r.a.w. talent, and the video was filmed and edited by Jon Rogers. Both videos are of live performances: one at a club, where they are assisted by drummer Logan Leis and bassist Taylor Lee, and one at the Brec skatepark in Baton Rouge. The second video also features local Baton Rouge skaters.
If you like what you hear, you can keep up with their progress on Facebook. Other places to find them: AF THE NAYSAYER’s solo project, and the GRNOLA May 2011 Mix by DJ Def D. Also, Luke St. John has a mixtape you can listen to.
http://vimeo.com/25558329
http://www.vimeo.com/26455104
This time I picked two videos by the same artist because I genuinely just couldn’t choose only one to share. They are both from the same record, The 11th Day Single Collection, but that is about the only thing they have in common. The first one Arittake No Ai De [With All My Love], is a sweet pop song for “the one that got away”; Redemption is a hard-rock howl of rage and loss.
I picked the first one because it looks predictable and uncomplicated, at first, and then all of sudden there is BLOODY VIOLENCE and then Gackt comes in and literally hits rewind and redirects / fixes the narrative arc:
The second one I selected because it was used as the theme song for Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerebus and so has Final Fantasy-themed costumes and also Deeply Symbolic Birds of Prey all over everywhere:
As some context for all of this, Gackt was formerly the lead singer for Malice Mizer, a visual kei band, whose look and sound was essentially goth crossed with glam, punk, metal, and French romanticism and turned up to 11. Ten years ago he went solo, and in addition to his musical accomplishments he’s also appeared in several films and stage productions and lent his voice to a number of different projects.
Also, the YouTube channel for the label he’s on, Nippon Crown, is full of fascinating material and well worth checking out.
The Bronx , though named for one of the boroughs of New York City, are actually from Los Angeles. There have two wildly different incarnations: as The Bronx, they are a punk/hardcore band; as Mariachi El Bronx, they are a mariachi band. This video is for one of their mariachi songs. To quote the YouTube description, “Light-up suits ahoy!”
http://youtu.be/S1uihI8UOM4
This is My Chemical Romance, broadcasting from a post-apocalyptic California, in 2019. There’s lots of geeky details, fancy driving and things blowing up in a very satisfying manner. Every time this one comes up on shuffle I almost wish I had a car just so I could plug my iPod into the speakers and crank this one up while driving very fast. It’s also the first video in a series, and served as a visual introduction to the concept and the world of their latest record, Danger Days: The True Life of the Fabulous Killjoys.
You may recognize Phantom Planet, or at least singer Alex Greenwald’s voice, from The OC, as they sang the theme song for the show. (You might recognize his face from Donnie Darko.) This song is from Raise The Dead, their last record, released in 2008. The video should get some sort of prize for creepy, horror-movie inspired effects.
![Phantom Planet: Do The Panic [OFFICIAL VIDEO]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9p8DVxc16CA/0.jpg)
Jail Weddings, of Los Angeles, are in the process of an ambitious project: making a video for every single song on their new record Love is Lawless. This one, for The Spell is Lifted, is directed by Lauren Everett, and intersperses performance shots with vintage pictures of Los Angeles. Some of them evoke the glamor of Old Hollywood; others of them depict the far uglier and twisted flip side of that coin. It is a visual meditation on the lure of Tinseltown, and the way that lure can be dangerous.
Here, fusing the genres of country, goth, and rockabilly, is Miss Derringer, with Click Click (Bang Bang) from Winter Hill. There’s a cake-fight in the first minute and a half or so, and it only gets better from there. Also notable: Liz McGrath’s epically fabulous hat.
