Video Rewind 05.10.2013

Imagine Dragons “Demons”

From their debut album Night Visions, we get the new single from Imagine Dragons called “Demons”. The video shows why these guys are so great and a welcome to the music scene. The video is like the song , about people’s demons. It shows two opposing sides to society. On the one hand we have a crowd rocking out to a live performance of “Demons”. The camera slowly zooms in one audience members and cuts to scenes of what their demons are. We see the girl whose parents died. We see the boy who struggles with body issues. We see the other boy who has an abusive father. We see the war veteran who carried a fallen brother. These are the things that keep these people up at night. Yet, they are not alone. They come together having more in common than they know. They all have demons, but demons they call by different names. Even lead singer Dan Reynolds gives a glimpse of his demon. The video is dedicated to a 17 year old fan of the group by the name of Tyler Robinson. Tyler died of cancer while this video was being edited. As you can see at the end of the video, Tyler did get to see Imagine Dragons perform live. It was surely a memorable moment for Tyler. They call anyone who would like to donate to the Tyler Robinson Foundation to do so here http://tylerrobinsonfoundation.com/.
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Smith Westerns “Varsity”

Preparing for the June release of their album Soft Will, Smith Westerns release a video for their song “Varsity”. The video opens up at first looking like a demonstration of cleaning glass with citrus fruits. I think it actually has more to do with the senses. We get shots of fingers, and lips, and eyes, and cheeks. We see someone smelling a flower. Then, we jump into the mix of making out. That leads to the fluidity of making love, or looking at a lava lamp. The two have quite a lot in common. Suddenly the slopping of fruit onto glass starts to make more sense. This relationship isn’t just about swapping fluids. The fact that this type of behavior is occurring just shows this ain’t the JV team we’re dealing with here. This love is very much Varsity squad. You want a letter, you need to earn it. Be there for your partner.
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Telekinesis “Empathetic People”

When we last saw Telekinesis on the Video Rewind, he was trying to put together his computer girlfriend. This time he’s tinkering, but in a different way. Off of his current release Dormarion we get the video for his latest single “Empathetic People”. The video opens up with Telekinesis walking into a factory. We see all the buttons and knobs and switches that drive this factory, but we’re unsure what it is that they make here. Telekinesis goes about resurrecting the equipment from beneath dust covered industrial blankets. He powers up the factory and gets to work, literally pressing his own vinyl records of Dormarion. This guy is amazing. He does everything on his own. Ok, not true. It is cool to see the equipment jump into use. It’s a bit like watching a musical episode of How Its Made.

Foxtails Brigade “Little Person”

Foxtails Brigade recently released a single for their cover of Jon Brion’s “Little Person”. The video is an animated tale of Laura Weinbach’s story of how she is just a little person looking for that other little person to make life a bit more livable. My favorite part of this video is how the drawings look like a kid drew them. I mean, rather than seeing some Hollywood heartthrob when we meet this other little person, it’s a stick figure drawing of a man. He doesn’t have a nose. Just two eyes and a smile. And some hair. As life becomes more colorful, so do the drawings. The sky gets red. The water gets blue. A nice little tale of what meeting the right person does to you. It takes everyday life and makes it magical.
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Curtiss King featuring Faimkills “Doorknobs”

Just in time for Mother’s Day this Sunday, Curtiss King and Faimkills bring a song dedicated to their moms. The premise of the song being the images of doorknobs and moms. The video features shots of Mrs. Huxtable from The Cosby Show getting kisses from her children. It also has some snapshots of Curtiss and his family. The video is shot in the garage or lower basement of a building. This actually makes more sense than it may seem. If you read the notes each artist presents, one at the beginning of the video and the other at the end, you see that both had close relationships with their mothers and owed them a lot. The artists rap about their successes and how each one is considered the purchase of another doorknob in the mansion that their mother is owed. They also give thanks for all the sacrifices that their mothers made which resulted in doorknobs being opened and opportunities given that they otherwise would not have received. The funny thing about our deepest, darkest corners is that we don’t just keep our demons there. We often keep our angels there, or at least our love for those angels. Both Curtiss and Faimkills admit that they have a difficult time expressing to their maternal parents how they truly feel about them, at least artistically. To do so, they really had to go down into the depths of their souls where only dim light bulbs from the ceiling provide any light whatsoever and spit it as real as they can. No flashy lights and sets. No party. No jewelry or fancy cars. Just two grown men telling the world how they feel about their mothers. Happy Mother’s Day to all you mom’s out there.
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