Video Rewind 09.05.2014

Glass Animals “Hazey”

It’s just a fact that we’re never totally in control of anything. In fact, when you consider it, we’re hardly in control at all. Even when it comes down to your body, you’re never in total control. There are always limits to what you can do, and many of them come down to control. You can’t play an instrument or sing, it’s because you’re not capable of making your body perform the correct motion to create the sound. Same thing with sports, dancing, or any other hobby you have be it art, fishing, etc. You can get better at it, but you can’t necessarily become good at it. Practice will only take you so far. The dancers in the video for “Hazey” by Glass Animals can contort themselves in some crazy ways. That type of body control is impressive. It’s the equivalent of drawing a perfect circle without the assistance of a compass. There’s also something to be said about the setting. They’re all in an abandoned building next to water. In a way, it’s beautiful because it’s like a born again natural landscape. True, the buildings were put up by people, but as they are now, nature is free to take it back. You can definitely see a bit of Kung Fu masters out on their own practicing the control of their bodies through martial arts. It demonstrates the beauty of the human form and what it can do.

Into It. Over It. “The Shaking of Leaves”

Into It. Over It.’s song “The Shaking of Leaves” was written in response to the murder of Mitch Dubey, a friend of Into It. Over It.’s creator Even Weiss. The video is an animated feature that shows the relationship between a dog and his abusive owner. The dog is living outdoors. When he barks for attention, his owner opens the door and chucks a handful of dog food at him. Then, later, when a storm is raging outdoors, the dog again barks to be let it. This time he has a newspaper thrown at him. Enough is enough, and the dog packs up to leave. As his owner sees this, he turns angrily from the dog as if to say “fine, go then”. The dog makes his way to the city where he winds up seeing one man robbing another in an alley at gunpoint. The dog stops to stare, and the gun is pointed at him. Lucky for us, the dog survives as he attacks the gunman. A killer in jail, and the dog is named a hero in the newspaper. This is when his owner reads about it. He packs up some things and goes off in search of his dog. He finds the dog, they seem to reconcile without a word in the way that people in a close relationship often do. Back at the house the season changes from Winter to Spring, and we don’t see the dog living outside anymore. Sometimes it is tragedies that actually bring us close together. If only it never had to come to that.

Clipping. “Inside Out”

Clipping.’s already had two videos on the Video Rewind from his latest album clppng. The videos show a different perspective in terms of point of view. They’ve been quite original to date, much like his music. The latest video for “Inside Out” shows Clipping. walking in a leather jacket. We don’t see his head. What we do see are visuals to accompany his lyrics. In a way you could say that what we’re seeing are the things in his head as he raps. But that would mean that we would simply see the visuals where his head should be. What we get instead are the visuals coming up out of his torso through the hole where his head should be, and they rest right there before falling either out or back into the hole. We are getting what’s in his heart rather than his head. This is something that needs to be said about Clipping., he is likely among the most genuine of rappers. He is definitely one guy who hasn’t changed to rapping about how he wants to be perceived or what he thinks the world wants to hear from a rapper. He is legitimately remaining himself while being creative.

Odesza featuring Zyra “Say My Name”

The latest release from Odesza is “Say My Name” which features Zyra. The video for it is a tale of two sides to one city. We start with a young couple who seem very much in love. They’re making out, each wearing headphones with a logo of a hand making the “o.k.” sign. A phone is used to take a selfie, and we see another logo. Sneakers, with a logo, and other items with logos are seen throughout. We follow the couple to a house with nobody home. They make their way to the swimming pool, where they get down to their underwear and go swimming. After their dip, we find them getting dressed when the man gets down on one knee, produces a ring, and asks the woman to marry him. She says yes, they kiss again, and then everything changes. It turns out to be a shoot. The man is an actor, there is a film crew, it’s a commercial of sorts. Everything is fake except for the woman. She believes the whole thing real. She approaches the man but he doesn’t want to talk to her. She makes her way to a room where there is a computer and equipment. On the screen we see the couple in the first scene set to make out with their headphones on. She reaches to the screen and winds up going through it. The director comes in, makes his way to the computer and we see the screen. The woman’s wearing a different shirt, they one they placed on her after the last scene was shot. Her hair’s no longer done. The headphones are no longer around her neck. She’s gone back into the shoot as though it were real. She’s stuck on an illusion, and not willing to let it go.

Lost Frequencies “Are You With Me”

Lost Frequencies have a new song out called “Are You With Me”. The video reminds me a bit of the Star Trek reboot. It’s mostly that the movie has a rocket launch facility in the middle of the MidWest. Here, we see an astronaut from back in NASA’s heyday. He’s getting ready to be fired up into space. He leaves behind his wife and son and goes into the great unknown. While on his way to wherever his destination, his ship is struck by a large rock. This causes his ship to break apart, and his module goes crashing onto the moon. Or perhaps it’s supposed to be a planet. Either way, the last we see of our astronaut is that he’s stranded away from earth. Maybe there will be a sequel where he is saved. Or maybe, he’s lost forever.

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