Category: Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog

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July Video Challenge: Chris Gaines [Garth Brooks], Lost in You

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In 1999, Garth Brooks invented Chris Gaines from whole cloth, in order to explore genres outside of country. (There was also supposed to be a movie, but that didn’t quite work out.) One of the fruits of his labor was this video, a dreamy, melancholy piece, in which he is wholly unrecognizable as himself. The song did well, but faced with a baffled (and possibly somewhat concerned) public and a loss of momentum that came with the disintegration of the movie deal, Brooks let Gaines fade out of sight. The “real” Garth Brooks retired – temporarily – in 2000.

It is, if nothing else, an intriguing meditation on the idea of rock star as illusionist. As I was reading up on the affair to refresh my memory – all I had was the echo of baffled disbelief – any number of people have offered that his mistake was not in inventing a new persona but in revealing that the persona was, in fact, an invention.

 

http://youtu.be/n_zMEXOsNmU

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July Video Challenge: Mark Ronson and The Business, INTL, The Bike Song

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Mark Ronson and The Business INTL, or at least the current iteration of the band, are set to have their last London show in a couple of weeks, when they play a Greenwich Summer Session. I’ve been flipping through some of the snippets of video – outtakes of recording sessions, and so on – that are floating around the Internet, and it’s reminded me how much I enjoy their music.

The video below is for The Bike Song, and is an excellent example of the way they combine feather-light synth-pop with hip-hop. Also, there are semi-sentient bicycles, which I believe adds some joy to any music video.

 

Mark Ronson, The Business Intl. - The Bike Song

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July Video Challenge: Paula Abdul, Cold Hearted Snake

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Cold Hearted Snake was one of the singles from Paula Abdul‘s first record, Forever Your Girl, in 1988. The video she made for it, which you are about to watch below, was the one that got MTV banned in my house. That didn’t stop me watching MTV, of course, it just meant I had to be more strategic about it. By which I mean, I watched a lot of Headbanger’s Ball while I was babysitting.

Other reasons the video is notable: it was inspired by Bob Fosse’s choreography from All That Jazz and directed by David Fincher, who would later go on to make Fight Club; there’s a rap interlude; and there is also a live string section. And the expressions on the “record label executives” faces as the dancers do their thing are just priceless.

 

Paula Abdul Cold Hearted Snake - Full Version

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July Video Challenge: Sinéad O’Connor, Mandinka

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This is from The Lion and The Cobra, Sinéad O’Connor‘s first record, released in 1987, three years before her cover of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2U made her famous, and five years before an appearance on Saturday Night Live made her infamous.

While less in the spotlight now, she’s still active on the musical scene. Her next offering, to be called Home, is scheduled to be released in early 2012.

 

http://youtu.be/5QFPfSfLi-Q

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July Video Challenge: Girl in a Coma, As the World Falls Down

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The last time I saw Girl in a Coma was two years ago, at the (new) Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. About halfway through, I thought to myself Does Joan Jett know about these ladies? I consulted the internet on the subject as soon as I got home, and it turned out she certainly did, because they are signed to her label.

Robert Rodriguez, director of Sin City is also a fan, so much so that he made the video below for them as a present. It’s a mixture of footage from two different shows, one at SXSW and one in their hometown of San Antonio, Texas, and while they have many beautiful videos, I thought this one really captured the essence of who they are, and the energy of their live show.

Also, New Yorkers and adjacent folks, they’ll be playing a free show with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts at Coney Island on July 14. Get down there if you can.

 

Girl In a Coma, "As the World Falls Down." (directed by Robert Rodriguez)

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July Video Challenge: Kiss Me Deadly, Lita Ford

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And now for something completely different: Lita Ford. She was played lead guitar for The Runaways, but I missed that memo, somehow, as a teenage glam-metal fan in the late ’80s. Instead I knew her as the only girl on the scene, who flipped everyone’s world upside down and inside out when she did a duet with Ozzy Osbourne. I didn’t want to be her, exactly, but I was proud of her for going toe-to-toe with the boys.

Here she is by herself, with Kiss Me Deadly:

Kiss Me Deadly - Lita Ford

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You Won’t, Sycamore, 7/2/11

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This past Saturday night I ventured out to Sycamore, in Brooklyn, which in the finest New York City multi-tasking tradition is a flower shop by day and a bar / live music venue by night. They have shows in the basement, which is tiny, but on the plus side, it is air-conditioned. (It is not, however, very well lit, as you will see.)

I was there to see You Won’t, and they were well worth the trip. You Won’t are Josh Arnoudse (guitar, vocals) and Raky Sastri (drums / keyboards) and they divide their time between Massachusetts and New York. Their sound alternates between delicate piano-supported indie pop and slow-stompy fuzzy-thrummy guitars and surging drums.

Their new record is called Skeptic Goodbye and you can listen to the entire thing at Bandcamp. (If there are any Drivin’n’Cryin’ fans lurking in the audience: click that link, you’ll be glad you did.) Here, as an example, is my favorite song from it, which is called “Dance Moves”, and is a relatively new addition to their live repertoire, and which they very graciously wedged into their set for me at literally the absolute last minute:

They are playing a bunch more shows in both Boston and Brooklyn in the next couple of months, so check out their calendar if you like what you hear. Also, please, y’all, get up front and dance for them. It is dancing music! There should be swaying! The “got your dance moves down” is the perfect lyrical cue to lazily spin your partner while taking a gulp of a beverage!

Meanwhile, to give you an idea of how dark it was, I took these pictures with the flash on:

IMG_9536Raky

IMG_9533Josh

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July Video Challenge: Gravity, Vienna Teng

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It occurred to me this morning that when I was meditating on whom I might most like to participate in a remake of Wildflowers, I forgot a very important voice: Vienna Teng. Here she is with Gravity, from her first record, Waking Hour. The video itself is very The Piano-esque, though I promise there’s no naked Harvey Keitel awaiting you here, just good music.

http://youtu.be/X8nypWKa_aU

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July Video Challenge: Last Known Surroundings, Explosions in the Sky

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I always struggle when trying to explain Explosions in the Sky‘s genre. Modern classical, I’ll offer first, followed by electric guitar orchestra? In some ways, I think they pick up where Lou Reed left off after Metal Machine Music, in the way they play with the capabilities of the instruments to make noises.

But unlike Lou Reed, who built a spiky industrial cathedral of noise, Explosions in the Sky are gentler on the ears. Think morning light glimmering through rose windows and soaring Gothic arches instead of a cold bucket of water to the face amid Romanesque gloom. I don’t mean that in a bad way -  I find that cold bucket of water refreshing and gloomy shadows do have an appeal – but rather to underscore the difference in tone between the two artists.

Recently they made their first music video ever, after over a decade as a band, and it is exquisite:

 

Directed by Ptarmak
Illustration: Sissy Emmons
Animation: David Hobizal
Addt’l Artistry: JR Crosby, Luke Miller, Zach Ferguson
Ben Hansen, Christy Carroll, Annie Mayfield
Addt’l 3D: Josh Johnson