Well, the unthinkable happened last night and America actually elected Trump as our president… It’s absolutely heartbreaking, but it’s important to remember to breathe before its time to fight the good fight to maintain the values we have fought so long for. In the meantime, here’s some vids to take a tiny break from all the anxiety inducing insanity going on in the media.
1. Foxygen – “Follow The Leader”:
I think we’ve all come to the consensus that 2016 was a fantastic year for music. Keeping in line with my tendency to never be “in the moment” though, I’m really looking forward to 2017. So many fantastic artists have announced releases in January 2017. Among them is Foxygen, who will release their fifth studio album, Hang, on January 20th. In the meantime, though, they’ve given us taste of the album with a video for the upcoming track “Follow the Leader”. The video is a bit simple, with the band and friends doing silly synchronized dances around a city park. However, their sound is definitely more complex, with a 40 person orchestra lending them a much bigger sound than we’ve heard on previous releases.
2. Bonobo – “Kerala”:
Another artist releasing an album in January 2017 is Bonobo. He released a video for the upcoming track “Kerala” this week, and it’s already one of my favorites of the year. The basic narrative of the video is that a meteor is crashing down to Earth and seemingly only one woman can see it. The creative editing is really the star of the video, though. The story progresses through small, rapidly repeated increments of time. Throughout the repetitions, there are subtle changes that occur between shots, like a car changing colors from blue to red, or people becoming multiplied. It can be quite jarring, and perhaps even a bit headache inducing, but it’s so worth it to watch it through to the end. Through experiencing the malaise that you get from watching the video, you sort of get to experience the panic, whether real or imagined, that the main character feels. You might actually want to listen to the track separately from the video to really appreciate that great Brandy sample though!
3. ABRA – “Pull Up”:
If you’ve been keeping up with the blog, you already know we love ABRA. As if we weren’t already crushing hard enough, she went and released this great self directed video for “Pull Up”. The video begins with ABRA and a friend chilling on the street. All of a sudden, a stranger pulls up and the two girls decide to get inside. Then, her hair flip magically transports us from the actual city, to a room with a neon version of NYC in it. The two girls then have a night of debauchery filled with getting tattoos, popping wheelies, and scamming guys out of money.
4. Trainspotting 2 Trailer:
We’ve finally got a full trailer for the sequel to Trainspotting, T2. I really didn’t know how to feel about it initially. I’m usually very wary of sequels, especially ones that are done several years after the original. However, considering that we’ve got the original cast, original director, and the fact that the film is based on the novel, Porno, this sequel has all the ingredients to produce something good. I’m trusting you, so don’t mess this up Danny Boyle!
5. David Bowie – “Life On Mars” (Re-edit):
It seems like just yesterday that artistic legend David Bowie died, but it’s actually been almost a year now. In honor of the upcoming greatest hits album, David Bowie Legacy, Mick Rock, the director of David Bowie’s “Life On Mars” music video, has just released a re-edited version of the iconic video. We get some bonus shots as well as restored versions of the original.
