Category: video

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Light ‘Em Up: A Compendium of Halloween Music and Light Shows

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And today, fresh-fished from YouTube, a selection of my favorite Halloween house displays synchronized to music.

There is an art to this; selection of music is important – there are several songs that are apparently popular for these shows that are hot right now but not especially seasonal – but choreography is just as crucial. The following are videos that I thought nailed the idea of “Halloween Musical Light Show” in terms of both form and content.

First, from Naperville, Illinois: a show set to My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark (Light ‘Em Up) by Fall Out Boy, because YES, perfect use of this song!!!! and also they pick the right thing to highlight during the actual Light ‘Em Up section of the chorus. They have multiple videos: there is also one for Du Hast, by Rammstein (unusual but also classic music choice!!) and Dragula, by Rob Zombie.
 

Thomas Halloween 2013 Naperville, Fall Out Boy, My Songs Know What You did in the Dark, Light Em Up

 
From Valley Center, CA, something for classic rock fans: AC/DC‘s Hells Bells, another unusual but excellent choice. Also I love the little skeleton doing jumping jacks.
 
Musical Halloween sequence to Hells Bells by AC/DC

 
And from Leesburg, Virginia, Sail by AWOLNation (Skorge Remix), for truly excellent choreography to a dubstep track. They also have a bunch of videos, including one for Ghost N Stuf by DeadMau5.
 
Halloween Light Show 2013 - Sail by AWOLNation (Skorge Remix)

 
And finally, a Honorable Mention for a classic from 2011: from Riverside, CA, This is Halloween (Original Soundtrack), from Nightmare Before Christmas.
 
Halloween Light Show 2011 - This Is Halloween

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Video: The Dirty Nil, Nicotine

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Okay so this video for Nicotine by The Dirty Nil isn’t scary, but it does explore extraterrestrial themes.

To properly enjoy it, first consider the following:

What if –
1) We made contact with aliens
2) Some of them were human-shaped
3) They would consent to get romantically involved with humans
4) One of those alien-human relationships went horrendously wrong
5) What would it look like if they ended up on a future equivalent of the Jerry Springer show?

Ok. Ready? Turn your speakers up and press play.

 

The Dirty Nil - Nicotine (Official Video)

 

Nicotine is from Smite, due in January 2014.

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Video: Swiiim, All My Things

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I’m posting this video for All My Things by Swiiim (Danny Fujikawa, formerly of Chief) during Halloween week because I have to watch it through my fingers because it mashes on not one but TWO of my greatest-fear buttons: being trapped in an enclosed space and drowning.

That said, the song, which is from his new record, Cellophane Castle, is full of echo-booming wub-wub synths and lines like I have been reduced to using the Internet to communicate and is awesome.
 

SWIIIM - ALL MY THINGS - (DIRECTED BY CHRIS ACOSTA)

 
You can listen read an interview about the making of the video – it is just as hair-raising as it looks – and listen to the rest of the (really great!) record at Impose Magazine.

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Video: Metal Machine Music, pt. IV, Fireworks Ensemble

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A couple of years ago I had the chance to hear Lou Reed’s epic Metal Machine Music performed live by an orchestra.

I realize the ideas of “Metal Machine Music” and “orchestra” may seem like unlikely bedfellows, but the result, the Fireworks Ensemble playing a score transcribed by Ulrich Krieger, is among the best concert experiences I have ever had.

The orchestral version was, like the original, challenging. Brutal, even, at times; some people walked out. There were moments when I was clenching my teeth and clutching my armrests at the same time, just trying to anchor myself and stay above water. For a while it felt a bit like I had stuck my entire head inside the Gom Jabbar.

Then I got used to it, and relaxed, and was able to appreciate the stark, spiky cathedral of sound they were building for us. Below is an excerpt from the show.
 

Fireworks Ensemble: Metal Machine Music, Part IV

 
Rest in Peace, Mr. Reed. We shall miss you very much.

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Video: Alice Cooper, Teenage Frankenstein

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This is the video for Teenage Frankenstein, by Alice Cooper, the grand-daddy of shock-rock.

It originally appeared on Constrictor (1986), though I came to it via Prince of Darkness (1989), the compilation record he put out in 1989 for, I’m guessing, all of the new fans like me that he acquired when Trash (1989) blew up.

Also, I totally just fell down a YouTube hole just now while looking for this video, and while we’re on the subject of Trash, man I had forgotten how much I really loved House of Fire. Poison was so good, too, I still listen to that one frequently. But if you just want a quick overview of his back catalog, Prince of Darkness works pretty well; my other super-creepy favorite from that one was Roses on White Lace.

Anyway, back to Teenage Frankenstein, which I am sharing because it is great and has an immensely satisfying chorus to shout along to, especially if you are fourteen and feel really awkward. And it’s still fun when you are way older than fourteen, too.

 

Alice Cooper - Teenage Frankenstein

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Video: Letters to Fiesta, Vampires

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Letters to Fiesta are: Anna Louisa Etherington (vocals, synth), Tom Brydon (guitar), Andy Fletcher (bass) and Dan Houghton (drums) and they are from Manchester, England.

This is the video for Vampires, the second song from their debut EP Aphorism.

And I want you, dear reader, to stop what you are doing and watch it immediately because 1) the song is lovely and haunting and 2) the animation and storytelling by S. Mushin, who created the video footage, are at the top of the list of the most achingly beautiful visual art I have seen this year.
 

Letters To Fiesta - Vampires - Official Video

 

If you like the tune, be sure to stop by their bandcamp next week and check out the rest of the record.

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Late Night Listening: Lord & the Liar, Thrill-seekers Pubcrawlers and Shoplifters

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Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome once more to my virtual garage. Tonight we’re going to visit with Lord & the Liar, aka PaweÅ‚ Swiernalis, of PoznaÅ„, Poland.

He’s got an interesting vibe going: kind of jazzy, and also kind of creepy. You can listen to the whole record (somewhat choppily) on his YouTube page, but here are some highlights:

First: Prophet’s Fate, which starts with the following tantalizing line: You can find us making magic / near the flower shop / We are open for new stories / from closed doors, and then combines minimal drums and accordion to powerful, menacing effect.
 

Lord & the Liar Prophet's Fate

 
And second: this live version of Glass Full of Cigarettes, wherein the drummer makes excellent use of a glass bottle and a park bench:
 
Lord and the Liar - Glass Full of Cigarettes / On or Off Kolektyw #27 HD

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Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City

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Internets, I have a confession: I spent all day today listening to Modern Vampires of the City by Vampire Weekend on endless loop.

Literally all day. More than eight hours, even allowing for breaks for lunch, phonecalls, and a webinar.

It started because I had Diane Young stuck in my head (again) and then I just kind of got stuck in their groove and didn’t get out.

My observations on this experience are as follows:

1. Whoever came up with the video for Diane Young really fucked up. They took this FBI-agents-on-roller-skates dance party of a song and made it the soundtrack for the world’s most emo Last Supper. That said, when I watched it, I said both “what the hell? and also “I guess I’d maybe like to hear the rest of that record,” and I was not previously a Vampire Weekend fan.
 

 
2. They somehow sound like a fusion of Paul Simon and fun., but minus the latter’s tendency towards gloppily anthemic pop ballads. Now, I enjoy listening to Nate Ruess wear his heart on his sleeve and jump up his range as much as anyone else, but after a while it’s like being force-fed a seven course meal consisting entirely of cherry cobbler and vanilla custard. Vampire Weekend is just as capable of sweetness, it’s just that theirs is the less dessert and more the perfect hot cup of coffee from a street vendor before dawn on an icy New York morning.
 

 
3. Okay maybe they are a little bit gloppy sometimes:
 

 
4. A brief sampling of reactions to a few of the rest:

Don’t Lie is both plaintive and full of furbelows; Finger Back is a real New York love story (and also a true story, at least in part) told at breakneck speed and also my very favorite song; Everlasting Arms is what you play when cleaning your kitchen by yourself on a Friday night (bottle of wine optional); Hannah Hunt reminds me of a time when all of my furniture was foldable or inflatable and the Tower Records in the East Village salvaged many a bleak evening; and Hudson is the sound of the heart of the city that exists beneath/beside the one with all the bright shiny lights. There are the places the tourists go, and then there are the places we actually live, and sometimes they look like they are the same, but they are not.

Overall: A++, would marathon again.