Tag: video

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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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Dex Romweber Duo: It’s a Long, Long Way to Nowhere

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Is That You in the Blue?, the second studio long player from the Dex Romweber Duo, plays like a fever dream of the 1950s with guitars doubling as ethereal, reverberating angels and fire-tongued devils. And you’re never quite sure if Romweber himself is an archangel or the lead demon.

Romweber is a man haunted, and his playing can feel like an exorcism in reverse. As you listen, you begin to understand the motivations of those square parents of the first rock ‘n’ roll generation who wanted to keep this devil music from their children. It’s easy to believe that Dex Romweber is not of this world, and if those leg-wiggling, pompadoured boys of early rock sounded as frenzied and deeply agitated to those parents then as Romweber sounds now, maybe locking up their sons and daughters wasn’t such a bad idea.

Listen, I don’t mean to be hyperbolic, but even among the down-dirtiest musicians you’ve ever heard, you rarely hear someone play as rawly and primitively – and when I say “primitively”, I don’t mean simple or uneduated; I mean from the very core of emotion – as the Dex Romweber Duo. Sister Sara anchors everything with her heavy beats, but you sometimes feel that even she is one good rage from becoming unhinged. And, in case it’s unclear, I mean these all as good things. This is rock ‘n’ roll as it began and should, in its essence, always be. Fun, yes. Danceable, hell yeah. But even more than that, expressing the dark, passionate, ravenous id of the soul.

Here are Dex and Sara working out their ripped up take on a song from Dex’s old band, the Flat Duo Jets, called “Jungle Drums” – which kicks off Is That You in the Blue?

 

 

Download:
Jungle Drums – Dex Romweber Duo

 

Is That You in the Blue? drops on July 26, and the Dex Romweber Duo will be begin touring in earnest on July 22.

7/22 Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
7/23 Atlanta, GA @ The Star Bar
7/27 Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor
7/28 Charleston, SC @ Tin Roof
7/29 Athens, GA @ Caledonia Lounge
8/2 Oxford, MS @ Proud Larry’s
8/3 Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree Cafe
8/4 New Orleans, LA @ Saturn Bar
8/5 Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s
8/6 Austin, TX @ The Continental Club
8/8 Phoenix, AZ @ The Rhythm Room
8/11 West Hollywood, CA @ Whiskey A Go Go
8/12 San Francisco, CA @ Thee Parkside
8/13 Reno, NV @ St. James Infirmary
8/15 Portland, OR @ World Famous Kenton Club
8/16 Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
8/19 Chicago, IL @ Glenwood Arts Festival at Heartland Café
8/20 Union City, OH @ Woodcrest Lanes
8/21 Columbus, OH @ The Tree House
8/23 Pittsburgh, PA @ 31st St Pub
8/24 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
8/25 Boston, MA @ Church of Boston
8/26 Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Bowl
8/27 New York, NY @ The National Underground
8/28 Washington, DC @ Black Cat (Backstage)
9/3 Ormond Beach, FL @ Iron Horse Saloon

 

Dex Romweber Duo Official Website

Dex Romweber Duo @ Bloodshot Records

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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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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

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July Video Challenge: I Spit Roses, Peter Murphy

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I found this one while I was looking for something else (specifically, Skinny Puppy videos) and of course I had to share. There are some beautiful visuals and Mr. Murphy (formerly of Bauhaus, aka, per Wikipedia, the “Godfather of Goth”) is in fine vocal form. Apparently he also has a new record out! It is called Ninth, and you can listen to a few songs from it at his MySpace.

 

Peter Murphy - I Spit Roses [Official Music Video]

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July Video Challenge: Starry Saints, Angels

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The gentlemen above are the Starry Saints, and they are based in Portland, OR. This song is from their most recent record Serenade. I like this video because it’s in a familiar format – a live performance – but they project different moving images on to the wall behind them during the show, which adds texture but yet doesn’t look weird and fake. I also enjoy the dramatic close-ups on the keyboards.

And the song is pretty cool, too. I was hooked in the first thirty seconds and still humming the chorus in the shower two days later.

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July Video Challenge: All of My Best Friends (Are Behind Bars), Justin Haigh

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This month I’ve set myself a challenge: post a video every day. I’ve mentioned before that I have A Lot Of Feelings About Video, which is true, but more than that, I have A Lot Of Feelings About Music Television, or rather, what used to be music television, and, at least in some locations – CMT doesn’t seem to have been affected as thoroughly as MTV – is now All Reality TV, All The Time.

Mostly I’m interested in the intersection of music and image, and how artists, directors and choreographers work together to bring a song to visual life. I’m starting today with All of My Best Friends (Are Behind Bars), sung by Justin Haigh (Apache Ranch Records) and directed by Jim Shea.

I like the song, but the video itself is also a delight, because it is beautifully shot and lit and, most importantly, playfully highlights the wordplay in the title without overworking the punchline:

 

Apache Ranch Records Presents Justin Haigh's All My Best Friends (Are Behind Bars) - Official MV

 

Originally from South Dakota, Justin Haigh now lives in Texas, and before he was a country singer, he was a lot of other things, including: cattle rancher, meat packer, trucker and U. S. Air Force service man. As you might expect, he has stories to tell, and you can hear them on his new record People Like Me.

Here’s what I can tell you about the record: It was circulating through my “To Listen To” playlist during exams, and the title track never failed to make me grin and tap my pen to the beat. I also enjoyed the slower, more reflective songs, like his cover of  Kevin Higgins’ Monahans, as well as The Leaving in Your Eyes and Is It Still Cheating.

There are no melancholy love songs like country melancholy love songs, and those hit the same sweet spot as Ghost in this House, by Shenandoah, and Vern Gosdin’s Set ‘Em Up Joe. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the good stuff, and you should check it out.

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The Wild Joys of Living: Emily Zuzik

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IMG_9432Emily Zuzik

Emily Zuzik is a veteran of the New York City music scene, but you might also recognize her voice from Moby’s latest record – she collaborated on a track called The Low Hum – or from television and movies: her songs have appeared in Smallville, Ticking Clock, and Fifth Form.

 

IMG_9436L to R: Wes Hutchinson, Ryan Vaughn, Emily Zuzik and Brian Killeen.

 

She has just released her seventh record, The Wild Joys of Living, and I had the pleasure of attending her show at The Living Room – a venue as tiny and cozy as the name would suggest – this past Saturday night, where she played the record in its entirety. Ladies and gentlemen, it is delicious. The songs run the gamut from sweet pop morsels to fuzzier, more aggressive rock and roll. I was especially fond of Motels, which is about naughty things people do in motels, and also You’re The One, which is sweet but not treacle-y love song.

As a taste, I give you a video of her singing Want to Go Out Tonight?, which is the first single off of the new record:

 

Emily Zuzik Band_You Wanna Go Out Tonight?_R2

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Scott H. Biram at the Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH, 6.24.11

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One of these days, I will master the art of showing up to the Grog Shop at Just The Right Time – not too early, not too late. This past Friday was not that day. I missed all of Heelsplitter and caught one and half songs from the Not So Good Ol’ Boys. I can tell you that the audience was into NSGOB. And it was good to see that much long hair on dudes on a rock stage in Cleveland without any spandex in the vicinity.
 

 

 

Witnessing a Scott H. Biram show might lead you to believe the phrase “Texas tornado” was invented for him. Biram even comes with his own siren, by way of the megaphone he keeps in his instrument arsenal. Offstage, Biram appears calm, unassuming… sweet, even. But once he sits down in the midst of the aforementioned instrument arsenal – which includes a few vintage hollow-body electric guitars, one angular solid-body electric, harmonicas, guitar pedals, stompbox and a pair of tambourines set on the edge of an equipment case to pick up the beat of the stompbox – and straps himself in, it’s as if something snaps inside him, and he is a whirlwind of energy, fury and conviction until he steps off stage.

The audience loves Biram. He will show his appreciation, for sure, but he won’t back down from telling someone to fuck off or shut up, as when someone requested that he “play something good”.

“I just played three good ones,” Biram rightfully pointed out.

Attitude is undoubtedly a big draw with a Scott H. Biram show. “This is a love song, so spread your legs” was his introduction to “Wildside”. Biram has just the right balance of sweet and ornery to pull off something like that (so don’t try this at home, kids).

But attitude is just air without the chops to back it up, and you don’t get a reputation as solid as Scott H. Biram’s by being just okay. From the bluegrass-style picking of Doc Watson’s version of “Freight Train Boogie” to the folk strumming of Woody Guthrie’s “Pastures of Plenty” to the heavy metal slide of “We Come to Party”, Biram is the kind of guitar player that makes it all look easy. And his harmonica playing is pretty much perfect.

 

 

While it can be overshadowed by all the amped up guitar and sweet-ass harp, Biram’s voice is also a beautiful instrument worthy of its own spotlight. Biram’s rendering of “Go Down Ol’ Hanna” is gorgeous and might have made Leadbelly a little envious if he was around to hear it.

 

 

But Biram’s forte is whipping a crowd into a stomping, hollering frenzy, throwing his whole self into a song, a one-man audio mosh pit – and all while seated. You won’t get any video examples of this from me, though, because all you would see would be a shaking blur due to all the actual stomping (and hollering) I was doing.

In addition to the previously-mentioned songs, Biram brought out “Time Flies”, “Long Fingernail”, Muddy Waters’ “I Can’t Be Satisfied”, a Mance Lipscomb tune dedicated to roadie/guru extraordinaire U.S. Justin, an unapologetic cover of Johnny Lee’s “Lookin’ for Love”, a handful of songs from the album he just finished recording before this tour started (slated to be released in October, and it’s going to be gooooood) and more songs that I didn’t write down. The man just goes, and good luck keeping up with him.

There was no encore, per se, Friday night. Biram announced that he had a couple of more songs, but those couple more songs turned into five or six more songs as he just played until he couldn’t anymore. He doesn’t go out with a bang because the whole damn show is one huge bang.