Wild Ones “They Said”
Race is a heavy issue in the video for “They Said” by Wild Ones. You have a white couple driving in a truck. You have a black couple hanging outside a gas station. The black couple gets a dirty look from a white woman who is leaving after filling her truck up with gas. When the white couple arrives, you see that the black woman runs and jumps into the arms of the white man. The black man takes the driver’s seat of the car next to the white woman. That’s right, there are two interracial couples. Unfortunately, as good of a mood that most of the video has, the ending leaves me a little queezy. There’s nothing to see other than the black man running shirtless through a field of stalks. It seems that things didn’t go well. Surely, the white folk got wind of what was going on and decided to put an end to it. What else would cause you to take off and leave your friends behind?
Bloc Party “The Love Within”
In their own way Bloc Party harken to the early days of Rock. It wasn’t just noise, like the generation before would claim it was, enducing their children to worship the devil and lose their morals. It was all about dancing in a louder, more expressive way. You certainly get that with Bloc Party tracks. “The Love Within” is no different. So it’s no wonder that the video for “The Love Within” would feature dancing. What we see is a mall that is closed. We start with a young boy dressed in yellow dancing. It soon switches to a woman in red. The people dancing keeps changing, but it’s always just one person at a time. It’s neat how in the end we return to the boy in yellow only for his clothes to drop in a pile and a chameleon comes crawling out.
Busdriver “Much”
Busdriver’s video for “Much” isn’t your typical rap video. Busdriver comes walking between some houses, through a backyard with some men sitting by a fire, and enters the house through the back door. All the while the camera is moving behind him, giving you a glimpse of what he’s doing. He makes it inside where he starts to move around looking for money hidden about. At various times he interacts with the people around him. Other times he just moves about. It becomes clear that money isn’t important to him. He either throws it or burns it. You get dancing girls, but they’re not in bikinis insinuating sex. In fact, there’s nothing showy about this video. The theme is doing too much, but your typical rap video does that with the outlandish sexualization of women, and abundant displays of frivolous wealth. Busdriver just brings the lyrics and everyday people.
Sia “Alive”
Sia’s new album This Is Acting will be out January 29th, 2016. You can get a taste for it with her single “Alive”. The video follows Sia’s format of the last three. Insert a talented young girl and watch what she can do. In this case it’s 9 year old Mahiro Takano who is a dancer and martial artist. For this video, she focuses on the latter. In a wig half blonde and half black, she proves that the black belt on her waste is well deserved. Her moves are both crisp and fierce. I’m fully convinced this girl can beat some people down. Her facial expressions are also killer. She’s focused on her moves and though you can’t hear when she screams her ferocity comes through.
Requin Chagrin “Adelaïde”
French pop outfit Requin Chagrin bring it with their latest video for “Adelaïde”. The video opens vibrantly at a gymnastics competition. Think of the floor dance where they whip around a banner. The young man dancing in this video sticks out like a sore thumb. He’s one of only two black people in the auditorium. He’s also the only male performing. One of my favorite parts comes towards the end. Throughout the video the female competitors have turned and are watching straight faced. Finally, one young woman breaks out in a grin. This kid is phenominal. Another great touch is how they shift from him dancing to him practicing. While the former occurs in a room that is as colorful as a rainbow, right down to his outfit and ribbon, the latter takes place outdoors in some setting that is white. His outfit while he practices is a black sweatsuit. The juxtaposition of the two is great, as undoubtedly he was holding something back for the performance.