Video Rewind 02.12.2016

Jukebox The Ghost “Hollywood”

Jukbox The Ghost take a 7th grade talent show and turn it into 12 year olds have talent battling it out for a trip to Hollywood in their video for “Hollywood”. The director of this talent show let’s the kids know how it is. Life isn’t about growing and learning, because that’s like a horse taking two shits. I should have quoted that last sentence, because those are his words, not mine. He further tells the truth by letting the kids know life is about winning. He starts drinking later which makes a lot of sense. Most 7th grade talent shows don’t have 12 year olds who have peaked at their talents yet. There is a talent agent judging the show, and this director is worried it’s going to be a shit show. I personally like how the band members who play the children also play the parents in the audience. The parents mimic the kids insomuch as while the kids are jockeying for a shot to be famous, the parents are jockeying to only see their child perform. That means getting off the phone only when your kid comes up. Or making a huge fuss when your kids on stage, but treating the others like they’re chopped liver. True to the director’s words, there can only be one winner. When this kid wins, the only one cheering with him is his dad. You can never start teaching your kids about cut throat competition too early.

OK Go “Upside Down & Inside Out”

OK Go – Upside Down & Inside Out

Hello, Dear Ones. Please enjoy our new video for "Upside Down & Inside Out". A million thanks to S7 Airlines. #GravitysJustAHabit

Posted by OK Go on Thursday, February 11, 2016

OK Go got help from S7 Airlines for their latest video “Upside Down & Inside Out”. For those of you who don’t know, S7 Airlines have planes built to simulate zero gravity. They do this by flying very high into the atmosphere and then pretty much plummetting straight down. During this drop, you experience zero gravity. OK Go’s videos are always visually stimulating. This one is no different. The band performs acrobatics, throw props about the cabin, and even make a big mess. You hear the stories of Rock Bands destroying hotel rooms. Well, I’m certain that OK Go destroyed the inside of the plane. I’m sure they stuck around to clean up, after all they got some great shots of how zero gravity affects liquids when they started bursting balloons.

Sean Magee “Pigtails”

Sean Magee’s song “Pigtails” is all about the childish to adolescent way we sometimes don’t like somebody most likely because we do like somebody. The video shows a story of a young Sean Magee engaging with the girl he’ll love for the rest of his life. It starts out with him back in elementary school but while all the other kids are kids, he and his love are played by older versions. He still throws a ball at her juice box. Throws dirt in her face. Tries to squirt her with a water gun. It’s the old I’m going to annoy you so you’ll have to think of me approach. Eventually we jump forward to the future. Now they pull the switcharoo in a club where the only two kids are Sean and his little crush. It still fits, because he can’t get her to like him. He sees a sign that says karaoke is what the girls like, so he gets on stage and sings. We then see a quick montage of a super game of dodge ball where there’s another guy who seems to like the girl, but he’s being super mean. So, Sean being the stand up guy, defends his woman. He’s not entirely grown up, though, as the lyrics end with “pull the pigtails and run away”, he’s pulling on her pigtails. This should prepare you for Valentine’s Day.

Son Lux “Undone”

Son Lux’s latest video is for “Undone”. While I can’t say I entirely understand what the song is about, I think we can all relate to having a dream where we’re running away from something. That’s how this video starts out. We have a woman running in white sneakers and a dress. She’s running away from something. At one point, a ball of light shoots past her, but as she looks behind there’s nothing. When she stops to catch her breath, she’s transported to a dark room where a man grabs her and the two start dancing. It’s the performance type of dancing, not a waltz. When this ends, she’s back in the woods standing a bit away from the man, but they’re facing each other. Next we pan to some corn fields. Again she is running, only now the man appears behind her running as well. It’s unclear if he is chasing or if he’s trying to keep up.He vanishes without a trace. The woman is back in the dark room, only now she is dancing on her own. On the surface it may not seem like much is going on. But I think repeated viewings of this video will open up more and more possibilities of what is going on. Art is supposed to make you think, and come back for more scrutiny.

The Lumineers “Ophelia”

The Lumineers made a big splash when they debuted in 2012 with their self titled album. Fans have eagerly been awaiting their next work, which is titled Cleopatra and should be released April 8th of this year. Their single “Ophelia” will feature on the album, and they just released the track’s video. In it, I get to finally have an answer to a question that has plagued me for years. What do musicians think of when they are up on stage? The video starts with the band performing for a crowd, but a few bars in and singer Wesley Schultz steps back. As he starts to come forward again, he splits into two. One Wesley returns to singing, while the other Wesley ventures out the side door and into an alley. He starts to dance here, at first jumping across a small stream of water that has collected in the center of the alley from the rain. Soon he’s stomping through the water and making his way out into the street. The rain really starts to come down now, and Wesley keeps on dancing. I watched this video before I read the press release, and immediately thought of Gene Kelly in Singing in the Rain. When I read the press release after, I was glad to see that the intent was to pay homage to Kelly and the musical. It’s a striking image overall as well, because the song is about a new girlfriend while Wesley pines for a girl from his past named Ophelia, but all we see is Wesley dancing in the rain. He won’t let the weather spoil his mood, and that’s something we should all remember as Valentine’s Day approaches this Sunday. If you don’t have anyone this year, don’t poo-poo on those who do. That’s booty. Rather, go dance in the rain, or at the very least skip through the puddles.

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