Pray for New Pop Videos

[mayer]

i come back to London, watch some MTV2, catch half the NME chart, and am astounded.

what the hell happened to the pop video in my short absence?

The Ordinary Boys clip relies on a "kid listening to a TOB record, the power cuts out, oy mate nah back on in a sec power up", most others seem to have horribly tired close-ups of floaty inanimate things, and worst of all was Muse's (admittedly a band i've never liked) new offering, the clip for "Pray For Absolution"

it has them going into space in a rocket, with terrible "special effects", bleepy screens and head-shots of them in spacesuits. if Justin Hawkins showed up it wouldn't look out of place.

oh, and Moz's video is rubbish (when i learn how, i'm going to make a fantastic one for that, all controversy and flags and stuff). hell, Pop Clips weren't this rubbish a mere few months ago, Take Me Out, Somebody Told Me, etc. all did the job fine.

it's not that a lot of the stuff about is ameuterish or cheap, because it clearly neither. it's just gash.

[Dr David V]

I've got to agree with you. We've just finished our music video project at college (I did Death In Vegas - Dirge, I might upload it one day) and these no-budget amatuer shoots showed much more imagination than most videos coming out at the moment. The only two that have really stood out for me recently were the videos for Ch-check It Out, but even that's just a rip-off of Spike Jonze's videos, and The Hardest Button To Button. Its a shame, because music video production seem to be one of the few artforms which you can create something truly original without having to reference other artists.

[monkhouse terror]

(I did Death In Vegas - Dirge, I might upload it one day)

Please do, that's one of my favourite tracks. I remember the original video being quite good, but not really living up to the full on intensity of it.

I can't remember the last time I saw a mainstreamish video that made me think 'ooh thats rather good', it was probably way back when I first saw squarepushers come on my selector.

I'd love to go into music video production, but, well, frankly I'd be shit. Ho hum.

[Z/Sb]

deleted

[mayer]

Like most other things, pop videos are another example of things becoming shit and uniteresting since the Millennium.

nah, despite my earlier rant i have to say that's a sweeping statement and a load of bollocks.....

Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground, Fell In Love With A Girl, Come Into My World, Can't Get You Out Of My Head, Pin, In The Walls, Take Me Out, Lose Yourself, Hey Ya!,  etc. etc. etc. are all fantastic and post-Millenium.

i agree fully that we're in a slump re pop-videos, but i think that's a freak mid-2004 occurence, and we'll bounce back soon enough.

choosing a landmark like the millenium and knocking everything post that is as silly as saying all british comedy post-Blair is wank.....

[Z/Sb]

deleted

[thatmuch]

I don'y watch videos - I've probably seen about ten since they became compulsory in the early 80's. One reason is that I hate the fast cutting - it feels like an assault on my brain - and the other is that I don't want somebody else's pictures in my mind when I listen to a record. PJ Harvey's new LP is wonderful but I'm not going to watch the video for 'Who the Fuck' that comes with it. Maybe I'm paranoid.

[Bollock Chops]

That new Britney Spears video is so over the top, it's fucking hilarious. We get Britney being yanked all over the place by 'evil' papparazzi (who are all physically ugly, obviously), we get Britney doing the punching/smashing mirror thing that every female American singer seems to be doing lately, we get Stephen Dorff hamming it up good and proper, kicking shit out of objects which seem to be strategically placed so that angry Stephen can kick the bollocks out of them. And at the end, after Britney has topped herself, we get a shot of a baby being born in a hospital, fading into a shot of Britney slowly emerging from a bath, somehow implying that she is, quite literally, being 're-born'.

It's probably the juxtaposition between the plinky-plonky limp ballad and the slowed-down imagery of Stephen Dorff's throbbing, veiny angry face that makes me laugh.

And don't even set eyes upon the horror that is 'Thunderbirds are Go' by Busted. Seriously. Don't.

[mrpants]

Isn't that Britney song basically Tori Amos circa 1991...?

[BetaKarraTene]

"Pray For Absolution"

It's SING For Absolution.

Also, if you listen to that Britney Spears song, it sounds like the piano is being played out on a typewriter.

I can't really comment too much on the state of new videos since MTV2 doesn't seem to show any these days.  Whenever I tune in it's always back-to-back Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Dirty Sanchez.

I'd agree that the videos mentioned are pretty poor, and, generally speaking, I'd say that the worst videos I've seen this year have been big budget - the Britney Spears videos in particular have been appalling - and the lower budget ones have been the best.  More in a moment.

I would put down the general poor quality of videos down to two things.  Firstly, the general malaise of the music industry means that they are less willing to spend big on videos for alternative acts who don't tend to sell many singles anyway.  Secondly, bands seem to be less bothered about doing videos, what with the rise of the internet and more and more people going to gigs thus providing a more appropriate way of raising profile.  I reckon this is the reason why we're seeing more of the standard 'band playing instruments' videos, since it's more time effective and doesn't need a big-name expensive director to put together a more challenging video.

Concerning low-budget videos that I've seen and have impressed me this year.  Animation has been well represented by Fiery Furnaces, The Shins and the Modest Mouse singles.  Magnet, The Stills, Air and Wolfman/Pete Doherty have had good low-budget videos.  Also, a few (then) unsigned bands have made great efforts with almost zero budget, like Kaiser Chiefs and Kasabian.

The contrast between having a good low-budget video with a rubbish high-budget video is perhaps shown by Snow Patrol.  The videos for Run and Spitting Games were done before they hit big and are wonderfully simple and effective whereas the video for Chocolate is stupifyingly overblown.

That's not to say that all of the big budget ones have been poor.  Pet Shop Boys, Franz Ferdinand, The Von Bondies and Scissor Sisters have all had good efforts.

Of the very best though, if you get yourself to a Hope Of The States gig, you get treated to a veritable feast of motion picture delights.  I don't know why they didn't just use the gig video for The Red, The White... for the TV, since that's far more effective in getting across their message, and the animated videos for Black Dollar Bills and Farewell To Pripyat are just jaw-dropping.
My favourite video of the year, however is stellastarr*s for My Coco.  It's simply a load of people singing karaoke whilst the band plays on the TV screen.  It may sound naff but the way it's actually been done makes it oddly beautiful (helped by the fact it's a great song).

Don't get me wrong I'd love to see more bands putting more effort and money into their videos since I like seeing videos that make me go, "What was That?!" like the current Fall video, but until the current situation in the music industry improves, I suppose we'll have to ride this current trough.

[mayer]

"Pray For Absolution"

It's SING For Absolution.

yeah i realised that a couple of days later, but i didn't think that Muse deserved the correction.

good points about other videos and HOTS gig clips. though i do like the promo for The Red... too

[Bogey]

Which is the more pretentious of the two, pray, or sing? Pray or sing?, as they were probably thinking to themselves. Wankers.

[Dr David V]

I've finally seen a new video that has completely blown me away. The video for The Cure's The End Of The World. Fuck me, it's brilliant. Amazing stuff. Definetely up there on my list with Come On My Selector and Sledgehammer.

[gazzyk1ns]

Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground, Fell In Love With A Girl, Come Into My World, Can't Get You Out Of My Head, Pin, In The Walls, Take Me Out, Lose Yourself, Hey Ya!,  etc. etc. etc. are all fantastic and post-Millenium.

"Remind Me" and "Eple" by Royksopp...

[mikeyg27]

"Go with the Flow " by Queens of the Stone Age has a crazy yet excellent video made this side of 2000.

[RHX]

Was flicking through the channels early this morning, stumbled upon an oddity: a good new music video. Jesus Walks by Kanye West is probably one of the best new "mainstream" music videos around at the moment, particularly the last 30 seconds. I suggest you look out for it.

(This may have just been my tired self. And apparently there are 4 videos for it.)

[mr rou-rou]

well here's one

I liked that, I could be a bit of a Jesus fetishist if I tried, I don't see what was so special about the last 30 seconds, but I could be watching a different video to you.

[RHX]

well here's one

I liked that, I could be a bit of a Jesus fetishist if I tried, I don't see what was so special about the last 30 seconds, but I could be watching a different video to you.

I liked the guy catching fire.

[Monkeyman1138]

This may seem a bit needy for my first post but does anyone know a website that reviews recent music videos at all?

[Rats]

I don't know one but I'd like to be your friend and I'd like you to stay. Ambient sheep will be along shortly to vomit minced prostitute into the ether but in the meantime, relax yourself and enjoy the sultry tones of the rats and weekender are the nice men quartet, fronted by nice man rats, and your favourite accordian playing alchoholic, burns victim and all round officer of the yard, weekender. Oh, and if some gummy harlot starts whining on about you being washed and sent upstairs, tell her "this one's from rats, who is probably too busy being funny to do it himself" and tell her she's got a face like a roaring fart. Meet us by tuckshop after dark and get ready for the biggest midnight feast this dormatory has ever seen, what ho!