If you watch James Blunt's latest video for his disposable single "Love, Love, Love," you may notice a familiar foxy face. Yes, Antonia, former drummer for the Teenagers gets behind a pastel drum kit in his latest clip, as shown about 30 seconds in. It opens with an introduction sequence much like that of Outkast's "Hey Ya" video, only Ryan Phillipe's hotness is absent. Never fear, foxy Antonia is here!
So do I just sit around watching James Blunt and waiting for his latest videos? Oh hells no. I sit around watching Kinga Burza's Partizan page. There's many things that keep me as a fangirl for her even when she's producing appealing visuals for James Blunt. I mean when you can use her as an excuse to love Katy Perry ("Huh? I'm not watching this video because I LOVE the song. No! I'm watching it because a distinguished director made it... yeah...), you can never turn your back.
My review of Holocene's election night shindig is up on LocalCut. I left all my drunkness out. It was so magical! I had too many favorite moments, but one notable one came when they announced Obama had won single women's vote and so many ladies screamed. My thoughts? That is the only time single women are going to scream merrily about being single. Yes, Obama brings about many firsts.
At this point I'm hoping the media will cool it with all this stuff about him being black - if we're moving beyond race, stop making a big deal about it. I mean yes it must be acknowledged, but now let's move beyond it. And if we must address his color, he isn't black. He's brown. His election is victory for EVERYONE, not just those of us who identify as RGB #ab5c00 and I feel that much of the media coverage is marginalizing that fact.
So it's a bit more than glaringly obvious that a video for this track will never wind up soundtracking a music video given Metronomy's remix of Goldfrapp's "Happiness" is 1. a "remix' and 2. a b-side, but I couldn't help myself. I'm a very visual person and what with the cinematic-ness of the track, I instantly began imagining a scenario. So I now present "The Treatment" (Metronomy Dead Disco Remix MP3) for "Happiness."
If you would like to be kept in the dark about the levels of my imagination/craziness, I'll give you a Lemony Snicket-like warning and tell you to turn back now.
I'm really inspired by the music of the track. It sounds tropical on some level to me and the strings bridge near the end of the remix reminds me of the guitar part from that summer-y Gap commercial that ran a few years ago - the one synced with the Seals & Crofts song "Summer Breeze." Remember? "Summer breeze, make me feel fine..." So maybe that comparison is what's giving "Happiness" a bit of a tropical vibe in my mind, but I don't think that's entirely the case... I think the percussion and other elements add to the quality too.
So I see this woman, Alison Goldfrapp if you will, at some island resort. She's come to escape her demons from the mainland and maybe heal in the process. The demon being her failed romantical relationship. Failed for whatever reason. She's come here to leave it behind, but in every scene it's all too clear she hasn't. It's the kind of resort adorned with upcoming concert posters advertising such acts as Barry Manilow and Neil Sedaka and wood paneled walls as well as hatch roofing and torches every few feet outdoors.
It starts with her in her resort room, sitting on the bed amid open luggage to indicate she recent arrival. She sits in contemplation before getting up to take part in the day. She looks reluctant as she exits her room, casting a glance behind her as she shuts the door as if not totally wanting to leave.
First chorus:
taking a dance lesson
Everyone swirls around her in happiness like that scene from Almost Famous where the band-aids deflower Patrick Fuget, except his expression showed he was a willing participant and in Alison's case it's clear she doesn't belong. The male dance instructor is giving her a beguiling look and using his hands to be like "c'mon" in order to coax her into participating as if him being her dance partner is what she's been holding out for. He does the mambo a bit for means of further temptation. A couple dancing together eases right up into her personal space to smile - they're having the time of their life.
Some class attendees have started a conga line and all smugly smile at her as they pass. It's almost cult like/surreal and almost like an invitation. She stands there seemingly disoriented, the only person in the room not in motion or without a smile plastered across their soon to be sunburnt face.
We now find her sitting on the edge of a reclining chair pool-side with a large straw hat and dark sunglasses, the only one shielding themselves from the sun. She pushes up from her spot and walks towards the other end of the pool. The shot moves down her body with each step she takes, coming to focus on her feet and ankles until she passes Michael who is in the pool and swimming to the edge. The shot stays with him as she continues her walk. He makes it to the edge and props his arms up on the ledge just as his chorus kicks in. He puts on his glasses which he left sitting there and breaks the fourth wall i.e. he speaks directly to the camera while staying in the pool for the entirety of his verse. People semi-blurred in the background splash around happily as he speaks with nonchalance.
Come the end of his verse he glances up to his right and the shot follows that direction to find Alison having made it to the edge of the pool. She looks out into the distance, her back to all the activities going on around her. As the song reenters her chorus (she does not sing or acknowledge the camera ever), the shawl around her waist unwraps and is carried off into the breeze. She remains completely unphased. The shot follows the shawl as it twists in the wind until her sigh signals the next scene.
We now find her in the cabana bar, still wearing the hat and glasses even though indoors. Her posture is nothing to shout about as she takes her time with a drink at the bar. She swirls her straw around in it, turns around to face out onto the bar patrons who are throwing darts, laughing, adding their names to sign-up lists for various recreation. A man walks past, nodding his head at her as if attracted. Her response? No response. She swivels back around on the stool and focuses her attention back onto the drink.
Michael walks in through the cabana door, a door to her right at an angle. He takes a place beside her at the bar, raises his hand and extends two fingers to indicate a drink order and the bartender quickly serves him with a drink indicating he has a regular order. The bartender then places a receipt down beside the fancified scotch blend and produces a pen. Michael's verse starts. Michael turns his head to his left, which would be towards Alison and speaks directly to the camera for the duration of his verse. Once it ends, he downs the drink, turns his attention back to the receipt and notes his room number, signs and walks out of the bar. The shot follows him to the doorway and then pans to the dark of the cabana's ceiling.
When the shot comes down we now find ourselves in the midst of Alison's third chorus while on the beach at night. Her fellow resort goers are partaking in a rousing game of limbo, all swarmed around the limbo stick, laughing, holding drinks with mini umbrellas in them, accessorized with leis and some women with grass skirts looking every bit the stereotypical tourists.
She wanders slowly away from the group to find a place of her own - coming to sit alone on a piece of driftwood, removed from the group by several yards, an abandoned campfire in front of her, the wood still smoldering. She looks in the direction of the group, but its clear her thoughts are transporting her elsewhere as she contemplates the song's question - "how to get to be happiness" with a sigh. The shot then focuses on the faint trail of smoke rising from the charred logs, embers carried up into the night sky. Eventually the shot reaches the sky awash with stars.
Then the shot comes back down quickly and it's now Alison laying on the floor of her room back at home still in her day clothes looking as though she accidentally fell asleep after work while listening to a record. The colors of the scene are muted. An empty bottle of rum is beside her as well as a shot glass. She wakes long enough to reset the needle on the record player and then returns to sleep/her apparent misery (what with the mascara stains beneath her eyes). The shot follows her hand to the needle, then focuses on the vinyl record from above. Its shows the record gently spinning with enough detail to show the song is "Happiness," then widens to include her pathetic figure strewn beside it as well as a photo she clasps in her other hand of a soldier, presumably lost to war.
End.
Very 40's melodramatic. Almost noir. Campy noir... but with color. Was it a dream?
That Summer Breeze Gap commercial:
(Are you listening to the guitar chords that start at 3 seconds in? Now listen to the semi-bridge in "Happiness" starting at 3:23)
"Summer Breeze" lyrics - not that reading them ties into this in any way, shape or form...
Now are you ready for the real happiness as a video!?!?!!
I watched this about 40 times yesterday. It is the best thing EVER. Like the more you watch it, the more indoctrinated you become by it. I was crying by my third screening and laughing like Arthur just a few more times after that. You are cheating yourself of joy if you only watch it once. You seriously have to watch it - at the very least - ten times in a row. At 9 seconds long, how can you not?
The video - the editing, concept, coregraphy... Captivating isn't entirely the correct word, hypnotizing maybe? Not to mention the freshness of the song.
Mattias Montero, the video's magic harnessing director, also served as director of photography for Calvin Harris' "The Girls."
How much does Lykke Li's look like Ashley Olsen in the video? Yes - I actually narrowed it down to a specific Olsen. Except unlike the Olsen twins she's not creepy. She also kinda resembles one of the girls from the Like.
The track sounds like it could be an estranged sister to Roisin's song "Primitive" (which you can download as apart of my post on seeing Roisin live) and her dance moves mirror some of those from Moloko videos or the understated shoulder shrugs that M.I.A. gets familiar with when onstage.
I'm really excited about many many people/bands at SXSW this year - BON IVER, These New Puritans, BORN RUFFIANS (so I can sing along with all my heart), heartthrob Lazaro Casanova, seeing No Age again and again and again, seeing SMD's live show instead of DJ set, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, N.E.R.D., New Bloods, Shy Child, Turbo Fruits, The Pan I Am, White Rabbits, Robots In Disguise... the list goes on AND ON, but Lykke Li is pretty much decorating the top of my list.
And here she is performing "I'm Good I'm Gone" in a bathroom with the aid of a faucet and toilet as instrumentation. I SWEAR they are singing a Michael Jackson song as the clip begins:
She is playing ten billion parties. I will totally be catching her at Fader's, at the Pitchfork party on Friday where she graces the main stage an at Press Here's on Saturday. I can't tell yet whether I will see her or No Age more, but I won't be satisfied until I've seen both acts at least five times over the next few days.
Her disc came out in the US this past Tuesday, featuring production from Bjorn of Peter Bjorn and John.
Anyways, dispatches from Austin to follow. If I don't party till I puke and/or get alcohol poisoning, I won't have partied hard enough this week hahahahaha. I'm staying with Greg from Panda Toes - we are also DJing together on Thursday along with 1/2ALIVE at the Above the Radar party throughout the day on Thursday at Trophy's. More info about the party over on Panda Toes.
I've been to ten million concerts in the past couple weeks that will eventually see the light of day sometime too...
I can't help myself. Must. Do. Yet. Another. Teenagers. Post. I held back the past couple days, but I couldn't let an email chat with Greg from Pandatoes slide into unblogged oblivion...
Greg: Do you like the new Teenagers video?
Me: Yes. I want to be Michael's ice cream cone. Quentin is entirely too creepy in it... as always
Greg: Quentin is my hero. If I were a girl, I'd have his babies. If I was
gay, I'd have his STDs. But I'm neither, so I'll just write creepy,
awkward sentences like the two that preceded this one.
Oh those Mystery Jets - oh so mysterious! Their new single "Young Love" is out today!! Pretty much the moment they sent out a myspace bulletin (the night before V-day) announcing the arrival of their music video for the tune, I was plagued by four questions, but before we get to those, let's have a quick chat with William (who handles lead vocals on the track) shall we? He brings up stalking by the second question. Out to steal my heart a little?
Was "Young Love" written in response to a specific situation or an ode to young love in general?
Written
more in general really, although there are a number of different
situations over the past years which the song draws from. I'll keep the
details under wraps....
If literally all you had to go on was
the girl's name, would you really go door to door? Or would you have to
know the name and maybe a few of said girl's acquaintances and general
area of residence before taking up the task?
Yes, I would go from
door to door, we're not lying you know. Obviously postcode and address
details would be greatly appreciated, but then we are getting into
stalker territory aren't we?
What is currently the most perplexing question on your mind? Can be related to anything at all...
What colour shall I paint my walls?
How important is your blog to you and why?
Really
important; it's where all our little passions come out. All the things
we love get a mention on it. It's good to write with an awareness of
other people reading it. It's a discipline.
How many blogs do you subscribe to?
I subscribe to none, but read lots of music blogs.
Back to the video at hand for "Young Love":
My questions upon watching were:
1) Is it truly possible to love them more?
2) Are they themselves sure they've collaborated with Laura Marling and not say... Emmy the Great?*
3) Gasp!!! Has resident patriarch Henry left the band? He's noticeably absent from the video...
4) And who is the director?
For a few, the answers came to reveal themselves in a multitude of different ways:
1) Ummm.... apparently yes. Rather unsurprisingly enough. That was answered in the first second.
2) *=Not a serious question in the least... just a reference to being on the Patrick Wolf/Lightspeed Champion tour trail with Dev in November. Everyone got confused when it came to his Lavender Bridge collaborator. At one point in Bristol he took a quick call from Emma during a radio session. He then informed the DJs that he hadn't talked to her almost since their time in Omaha and that she was talking about their song "Everyone I Know is Listening to Crunk" during the short convo. Minutes later he was asked if Laura Marling had supplied the female vocals for his tracks. Weren't you just listening???
3) Henry's still in the band!!!! I guess I just don't brush up on their Wikipedia often enough, but some mysterious folk by the name of 9 & 12 supplied me with the positive answer. Just cutting down on live and press appearances, but very much still apart of the band!
4) Still unknown.... But as Scully and Mulder have taught me, the truth is out there...
Buy "Young Love" digitally today or pre-order the single in physical form. All 3 formats for only 4 pounds or 4 thousand USD (nah.. only a little more than eight dollars, but it feels like 4K). 2 x vinyl plus the CD single is out on March 10th.
I spent my Sunday dancing along to multiple versions of "Diamonds in the Dark" and Lykke Li's "Little Bit." You can too:
As for William's great paint dilemma, I'm thinking he should select a nice green tea shade of paint. It's proven the most calming plus it looks pretty cool and can accent nearly anything. Oh, and to avoid bright red at the very least...
I love me my Late of the Pier! I want to swig cheap wine with them and have wanted to for approaching a year now; ever since I stumbled upon a NotGL reader who had "The Bears Are Coming" on their myspace page. That page view opened me up to their Nottingham madness.
It was a bit of a bummer I didn't connect with them while in the UK at the end of 2007, but I'm sure the opportunity will present itself sometime on the near future. It better! I have occasionally emailed with them - first about "The Bears Are Coming" and most recently when I was writing about them for URB Magazine's "Next 100" issue due out in March. I had a bit of info on my hands, but I went straight to the source for a fun exchange. Here's what Late of the Pier had to say:
What is your connection to Metronomy and have you recorded more with Erol than just "The Bears are Coming?"
Hello Nilina, we're with Erol right now, he's recording our album.
We played with Metronomy about a year ago, and became friends. Joe says he's a father, but we just consider him a really cool but slighty unhinged uncle. He's remixed "The Bears..." and it's the best remix I've ever heard.
How long have you been a band and how did you form i.e. were you all friends through school, etc. ? Why did you form?
We grew up in the same village and shared a passion for music and alchemy. Now we're trying to chase a career in both passions. Gold music, or just fools gold music... Either way we're having fun and we no longer live in the village.
Are they kings of the pull quote or are they kings of the pull quote? "Slightly unhinged uncle," "a passion for music and alchemy,"Now we're trying to chase a career in both passions." !!!???!!! Gold I tell you! Gold! I so want to talk to them in-depth as they have interesting things to say and interesting ways of saying it.
Oh wait - I think they're already kings. At least in their brand new video out for "The Bears Are Coming":
Now, let's go back to the bit about the Metronomy remix. I went on a mad search for it, found it and then got hit by what felt like a ton of bricks. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I still can't. It was actually a Metronomy remix. A remix. I've never heard one of those before.
We all know I have an extensive collective of Metronomy tracks, from Britney Spears covers, to "remixes" of Kate Nash, Bright Eyes and the Infadels, but never have one of those remixes every sounded like a remix. Ever. He takes them and make them sound like whole new tracks, like Metronomy tracks just with said bands' vocals. His remix of "The Bears Are Coming" actually sounds like a remix in the casual sense of the word. Not in the Metronomy definition of remix.
And I'm oh so thankful for it because it truly caught me by surprise and made me go through every "remix" I have of his to discern whether this had a occurred before - a remix sounding like a remix as opposed to an entirely new track. That action reintroduced me to his remix of Hot Club de Paris' "Clockwork Toy." In just days it racked up 82 plays in my itunes when previously I'd only gone through the first minute and stopped. That track is sheer brilliance! Thank you Joe Mount for remixing "The Bears Are Coming" to sound like an actual remix and in turn giving your other remixes that had somehow escaped my attention a new lease on life for me! That's clearly the reason you did it, right? hahaha
Here is their original version of "The Bears Are Coming." By original, I mean even pre-Erol production:
They've got a load of other tracks on their myspazz. So much so that they sent a bulletin around about 'em at the beginning of this month:
Date: Feb 1, 2008 9:22 AM Subject: new choooooons Body: well. sort of. finally put up the single version of The Bears Are Coming, lovingly fondled by our second daddy mr erol alkan.
also posted one of the remixes from the mighty Emporer Machine (I love it. I really really really love it.) along with an amazing remix of Bathroom Gurgle by our favourite BreakBot. 'ave a ganders.
also put up a new demo of Heartbeat. we've reworked it slightly for the album. let us know your thoughts on it please.
Vocab of the day: alchemy - • the medieval forerunner of chemistry, based on the supposed transformation of matter. It was concerned particularly with attempts to convert base metals into gold or to find a universal elixir. • figurative a process by which paradoxical results are achieved or incompatible elements combined with no obvious rational explanation
I actually had a dream about Saam, the director of These New Puritans' latest video for their latest single "Elvis," last night. I think it's because I saw the email about their new video just before I hit the sack. The dream wasn't so much about Saam, as it was a round-table discussion/debate about his video output in general, his video budgets and the matter of Simian Mobile Disco eventually ditching his original "Hustler" effort for whatever reason and doing another video for "Hustler" with director Ace Norton.
Anyway, it was really interesting. My idea/opinion of him/his work shifted through-out the dream and maybe even a little after I returned to the real world from 6 hours of slumber, an influence which is kinda weird given it was simply a dream. I wish I could remember everyone who shared their opinion about his output. There were a lot more girls than guys chiming in and everyone to my recollection was a card-carrying member in the London scene.
Anyways, here is his video for These New Puritans' "Elvis":
It reminds me of a cross between promo photos for the play Equus crossed with the Horrors' video for "Sheena is a Parasite." It's a bit bizarre. At first there doesn't seem to be an actual narrative and I don't know if my brain is playing tricks on me, but by the time frontman Jack Barnett hits the " 0 800" part, I kinda saw the semblance of one. How much am I loving that symbol on his hand at the end? Reminds me a bit of Lost with the Dharma project and all. How bizarre was that polar bear collar in last week's episode?
Part of me wonders if they're gonna work with him on their next video and if it'll be tied to this and further develop a story-line or sort of act as the close of a to-be-continued much like the last couple of videos Saam did for Klaxons. I don't know. Something about this video isn't giving me the "stand alone" vibe.
What do we learn from video comments? Well, quite the sound-off rages on, currently to the tune of 177 comments.
How much does this video apparently remind everyone of Carpark's "Human" as seen below?
Which actually reminds me a bit of little kids doing their best re-envisioning of the Craft when the four girls are walking down the hall and reminds me even a little bit of Donnie Darko when the kid is holding the hose or whatever.
Moving on still, These New Puritans had a decidedly lower video budget when they originally filmed a promo for the original "Elvis."
Old Elvis:
And that video yields this comment left a week ago:
"I hope TNP won't become mainstream ..."
Will they? Angular and Domino are certainly making the effort.
Will Saam? Has he already? While Britney Houston has tackled Janet Jackson's Feedback with a budget I could only dream of if doing a parody, let it not go unmentioned that Saam helmed Janet's actual clip for the track. Janet freakin' Jackson! From the streets of London working with the arguably the best in the scene he is now but one degree away from the gloved one! Blows my mind! Holy Shit! His Soulwax documentary is soon to premiere this year...
I make two appearances :) The top of my head in a shot of Quentin 15 seconds in ahahahahahaha and then the photo at the top of this post shortly after, taken by their tour manager Kristin Klein. Dorian really wanted her to take photos of us taking photos.
At 23 seconds, the beloved TonyX of 1/2ALIVE gets dialog!!!! We all get to swoon over Antonia and Michael (especially at 3:02)
And we also get a sneak peek at their rollerskating embracing new video towards the end. Dorian has a pic of it on his flickr, along with a photo of Metronomy followed by a question mark. Me and my fangirl self actually screamed when I saw the photo hahahaha. But a question mark? Nobody questions Joe Mount. It's like putting Baby in the corner!
Anyway, how much do I LOVE that they used their own song as soundtrack?!!? I see a trend sparking...
The printed itinerary from Dev's manager Rene alloted us two hours to make it to Manchester from London, but knowing better we arranged an earlier departure time the night before so that we'd make it to scheduled radio sessions in time and perhaps have time to shop - Footballer's Wives style as Fifi referred to it as. Since there had been a day off in the tour schedule, we'd all headed back to London. Originally Patrick was going to ride the rails up to Manchester, but opted to come along in the car with Dev, Fifi, driver Tom Page and I. Needless to say it was a full load when we eventually took off, however our take-off was hampered by an hour as Patrick was late arriving to Dev's flat. Already bringing along a dollhouse for all the tour dates, Patrick showed up with a menagerie of instruments and odd toys bought at Shepherds Bush Market including an unfortunately sized goldfish balloon that took up what free breathing space there was in the car.
We made it to the University of Manchester radio station early! A first! Fifteen minutes after our arrival the station attendees came out to meet us and take us down to their lier adorned with posters that decried songstress Kate Nash. A recording session ensued including Patrick joining in for a Lightspeed Champion rendition of Wolf's song "Souvenirs" after an interview.
Then we hopped it over to the venue - a proper venue and seated as Patrick had requested. Many of the venues were being upgraded to standing to allow for people to make more money which Patrick didn't like. The hall was actually located just on the fringes of Manchester and apparently designed by someone with an obsession with the color pink. Everything was pink! From all the seats to the walls.
The promoter was especially generous with Dev's rider for the night - setting out a sole bag of crisps (aka potato chips) on a plate in his mirrored dressing room while tables overflowed with food in Patrick's allotted space.
Dev filmed it as apart of his video clip of the day - it appears just a little more than half way through. Note all our disbelief as he pans his camera around haha:
(And of course the above clip was filmed via his Fuji camera. He got it cos both Fifi (see) and Patrick(see) are sponsored by Fuji - to the point where Patrick randomly sang "Fuji-la-la" - the the tune of the Fugee's "Fu-Gee-La" pretty much all the time)
A few seconds later in the video I'm going crazy with Patrick's children's "terrorist training toy." Seriously - it was the best thing EVER! He of course bought it at Shepherds Bush Market and was convinced of it being a terrorism tool as each button says something else and one says "war" repeatedly while another says "New York, New York" hahahahahaha. I used to be OBSESSED with found sounds and still carry an affinty, so I recorded some of it. I don't know if I'm convinced of it's message, but it sure is fun! Can anyone translate it?
Dev took to his practically sold-out merch table as Fifi manned Patrick's. Two girls dressed in capes approached Dev. We couldn't decide whether they had simply chosen to dress up as casual super-heroes regardless of where they were going or if they'd dressed up in homage to Dev's frequent caped crusades on the many concert stages of the world.
The audience was rather subdued throughout both Lightspeed Champion's and Patrick Wolf's sets. During Patrick's encore the duo finally played their "Souvenirs" duet in the live setting in front of a crowd. Patrick messed up on the lyrics, but it was still a treat.
After the show we headed back to Patrick's hotel for a few drinks. While Dev is a teetotaler, he did take a tiny sip from Fifi's white Russian from a straw. An exposed nerve in his mouth has made it so that wherever he goes, so does a handful of straws should the occasion arise that he needs to drink. The bar just off the lobby closed soon after our arrival so within the hour we caught a black cab to our castle for the night - ie Travelodge - a rite of passage for any band touring in the UK and residence of Dev's so often that he recognizes the staff members now.
Yes - Manchester also brought about the first date on the tour in which there was a hotel room! Oh the luxury of Travelodge. No internet - unless you want to pay five pounds per hour (!), no TV, no microwave, wonky heating, but three beds - one in the form of a couch. Now that's accommodation.
We had until noon the next day to check-out, so Tom took off for a walk, Dev hunted down Subway, and I got lost looking for a bottle of water as the hotel's vending machines were throughly under-stocked.
Now it was off to satellite town of Leicester! To play the Y Club. Where does the name come from you ask?
Well, it was actually part of the YMCA - it's doorsteps decorated with kids in tracksuits and not looking especially welcoming i.e. chavs. Dev looked on with indifference, inside his head and with Lil' Wayne cranked to deafening levels.
Right before I arrived in London (in an airport in Minnesota in fact), Dev said he'd be back to his flat around 9pm on the day to let me in as he had ten million things to do during the day that would keep him away. Doubts he'd be able to leave his flat by the 10:30am time he was scheduled for entertained themselves in my head given his habit/penchant for only leaving the flat in the evening, not to mention an unabashed love of the internet. When I showed up with my too much luggage around 12-ish in the afternoon, he hadn't quite made it out of the Big Chill, so all was good - after a hug I instantly started boiling some water to make some Annie Chun as he further checked his schedule.
I assumed his appointments for the day were meeting up with friends before two weeks spent on the road, but oh no, I was wrong. My god was his schedule packed - with everything from business meetings with accountants and his management to press, press, and more press. And then more press after that - photoshoots, interviews, and videos shoots.
Just prior, he'd been in Europe doing near 80 interviews in 5 days. When he went to New york for two days in October, his schedule had been similarly packed - if not more - doing shoots and interviews with every publication including my book club read Nylon. One shoot was with the guy who shot the portraits in the Strokes' Is This It album booklet. Talk about perfect pairing.
This is in addition to endless online press commitments he's continually emailed. Major hectic!
So on his schedule for the day (aside from the couple of appointments he'd missed) was a Black Cab Sessions filming - basically the equivalent to Blogotheque: Take Away Shows, but always in a cab. Because Dev's laptop doesn't carry the correct software necessary to open the schedules his manager Rene sends him, we misread it as shooting at 3. Um no - 1pm more like it. We'd already got on a bus to go by his management when he received a call from Rene alerting him to the correct cab timing and we headed off to the Old Blue Last where the cab was waiting.
We drove around the city getting a good view of London as the meter racked it's way up to 18 pounds. Dev did two songs: "Tell Me What it's Worth" and "Heart in a Cage," which I requested when he was searching for what would be the second song.
He ran through a couple chords in his flat before we left for about 30 seconds, but other than that - no other notes had been played by him before they pushed record on the camera.
Wanna watch the final product?
Also featured? The Kooks, St. Vincent and Eugene Mcguinness amongst many others.
Dev was still doing his daily video-blogging at the time, so I shot some of it with his camera which I dropped repeatedly (in the car, on the sidewalk, etc. hahahaha :( Watch our DIY cinema:
Dev shot me in his kitchen and laughing hysterically in the cab too which is right before I took over in the video.
Last year Dev released a single track "Happy Birthday Jesus" (MP3) (which he deems as "the worst song ever written") to commemorate Christmas. This year - a whole EP!
He received a myspace message asking if he'd be doing anything special musically for the holiday and yes in fact he did in the form of Lightspeed Champion's Garageband Xmas E.P.
Garageband Xmas E.P tracklisting:
1.INTRO I Forgot To Wrap Your Present (PERFORMED BY VICTORIA HESKETH)
2.Happy New Year (ABBA Cover)
3."Another Song About Being Alone At Xmas" Lightspeed Champion MP3
4.I Forgot To Wrap Your Present...My Bad
5.OUTRO I Forgot To Wrap Your Present (PERFORMED BY VICTORIA HESKETH)
6.(BONUS TRACK) Perfect Harmony 2
"Perfect Harmony 2" features guest vocals by Patrick Wolf and Trash Pussies DJ Fifi Brown.
The day after Klaxons at Brixton and after his 3am return from a gig in Sheffield, we went to the pound store across from his street and bought four santa hats, magenta tinsel, mittens, a plastic North Pole plaque, a gold bag to cut faux ornaments out of and a cane and got our Christmas photo on at his flat.
When Dev hears a song he doesn't just hear it - he sees the chords. I asked if he could play "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and he said probably even though he hadn't heard it in a bit. Then I asked if he could play "Winter Wonderland" and got the same answer. In a few minutes later and sat in front of his computer, he took "Winter Wonderland" to task - and it was kinda magic to watch - he is so talented. He got it on his first try - perfectly - and he wasn't strumming just the basics - no there were intricate chords!! It was amazing to watch him work it out and master it in under two minutes.
Before abandoning his youtube channel due to negative feedback, he recorded a video for Garageband Xmas E.P track "Another Song About Being Alone At Xmas" that became a featured video on youtube!!! Excitement! Of course I had to screencap the occasion!
^^Right there! First vid under featured!^^
View the video (filmed on his hot pink Fuji camera) below:
PS - if you know anything about Dev's taste, you know he hails the Killers as the best band on earth. We spent far too much time waiting for their neue Christmas video to load so he could show me. Notice the green ribon around his neck in our photos? Yep - that's an ode to Mr. Flowers. I bought the ribbon at Mills End. Shout out! Here's "Don't Shoot Me Santa":
Talk about fast turnaround! Just a couple weeks ago, Mr. Mount sent out a myspazz bulletin asking for a brunette to come and star in the music video for "Radio Ladio" shooting on November 29th. Looks like they found one:
"Hello Folks,
My manager has snuck up the video we made for Radio Ladio (directed by the wonderful Daniel Brereton).
I'm just warning you it's pretty creepy, we got up on a day off from the bloc party tour and were all really unwell...that's why I look like Hulk and Oscar looks like death itself.
Anyway, i hope you enjoy it.
joseph"
Just a few seconds into viewing and I wanna turn Oompa Loompa too!
And note I say quick turnaround because Dev shot a Lightspeed Champion music video directed by the ever-enjoyable Saam the day before I arrived in London and was supposed to get it back within a few days. Where is it?
Since everybody and their brother is already offering "Radio Ladio" and I included it in my October podcast and you should buy it, I thought to change it up and hit you with his best Britney:
Arya equated it to what "Toxic" would sound like if Beirut covered it (only a bit more electronic I must add).
I have local electro goddess Michele (with one "L") Wylen to thank for passing along this track. Remember when Scots Travis covered Britney's "Baby One More Time" and then people covered Travis' cover? Well, Michele has covered Metronomy's cover - the MP3 of which you can download ala LocalCut.com.
Regardless of your preferred music genre, this video is required viewing:
Did Ashlee Simpson just take it there? I believe she did. It reminds me of everything (Gwen Stefani's "What You Waiting For?" video, those insane asylum scenes from Good Burger with George Clinton, that twins photo by Diane Arbus, Missy Elliott's "Work It" video, Spanish geeks who hold world records in Rubiks cube fumbling to name just a few) yet disturbs me like nothing before. If I were to list all my favorite parts in this video I would be listing every single second - seriously. Yes - she's dancing, levitating and hanging upside down in a straight-jacket. And NO - I CANNOT believe this video exists. AT ALL. Omgzzzzzzzz forever - it just gets better and better - new levels, new dimensions, new youtube favorite.
WHO is the director? I'm not sure if they should be taken out and shot or celebrated. I'm gonna go with the latter for now. I've got a wreath of flowers just waiting to decorate their neck who ever it is.
"What You Waiting For" (Gwen Stefani Cover) Franz Ferdinand MP3
cos now I have an excuse to post this olden days BBC live lounge MP3 since I mentioned the original song and all...
Is it just me or does Calvin Harris remind you of a wannabe Liam Kyle Sullivan? Calvin Harris totally used Liam's "Muffins" as his muse for "Make Your Own Fly Eyes." Holding certain expressions in takes that last just that little bit longer than they should... The randomness... The fact that Calvin finds himself in a kitchen later on in his clip...
PS: Calvin must have another channel, because how else would it be possible for him to have only viewed 425 videos! Seriously!?! My count is at 15,408.
A Friday ago I put on my best dress and shoes to go "Get Dancey" to New Young Pony Club. I was pretty much the opposite of this blog's title as Andy from the band sent me an unexpected message on myspace the day before the show.
They are sweethearts - I heart them for tracking me down/keeping track of me.
Due to rounding up balloons and taking a trip back home after doing so to collect my polaroid camera that'd I forgotten while walking out the door earlier I missed Reverse Dotty and the Candy Cane Shivs. They even went on late! It woulda been my first time seeing them since they opened for the Gossip in April.
Jaguar Love:
Who I did catch after meeting up with Brendan and his friend to take my remaining two glist spots and bumping into fellow shooters Chloe and then Renee - who came down all the way from Seattle was Jaguar Love - a brand new trio made up of two members from the just broken-up Blood Brothers and a former Pretty Girls Make Graves-er. It was their second show. You can definitely hear influences of their former bands in their sound.
There was definitely more room in the venue for more people, but the good thing about the attendance level was that there was room to dance - even in front. NYPC cofounder and guitarist Andy said it was the smallest crowd they've played to during their hastily booked and shortly announced North American invasion. Tahita and her semi-confrontational dance moves spent more of her time up against the railings of the stage interacting with the crowd/her fellow dancers.
New Young Pony Club's set went by SO fast!! So fast! It felt like it was a half hour, but it was a bit more than that - still they played all of their recorded output - including their "The Bomb" b-side cover of Squeeze "Take Me I'm Yours" and a cover of Techtronics' "Pump Up the Jams." Both videos are below. "The Get Go was their one song encore.
Tahita accepted multiple items from audience members - from a heart necklace to a cap that turned them from being New Young Pony Club into New Young Jeezy Club hahaha:
The night "Decend"ed into chaos towards the end when we tried to do some portraits featuring $15 worth of balloons I'd just purchased from the Dollar Scholar on Hawthorne (officially Portland's best dollar store).
It's funny that I'd write the word chaos too because to my knowledge that is a track of theirs that remains unreleased. When I first saw them at the Vibe bar on December 19th 2005 on Brick lane in London at an open mic night (fresh from an AMAZING weekend in Berlin) that was the only track that really stood out in the way the four tracks of theirs that had already been floating around - ie "Ice Cream," "The Get Go," "Tight Fit," and "Jerk Me" did. Part of me thinks it may have been adapted into "The Bomb" as the lyrics were a bit science-y - I think they even mentioned Einstein.
Anyway - yeah - um there was VERY little focus and I now understand why their publicity shots are oh so plain - I mean their songs are full of such imagery I was always like "there are so many photo concepts that can be drawn from them," but alas I don't think NYPC are capable of holding still long enough to be shot in any other get-up than in T-shirts against a wall sans any sorts of props or the like. That in itself is huge improvement already as they used to be "too shy" for photos and the only image that existed in relation to them was a graphic of female in riding gear when I first got into them mid-2005. They didn't have a myspace, only an obscure website that played "Jerk Me." They only released music on vinyl and rarely played live.
In the end of the year I formed a myspace group for them and a live photo of them escaped proving they truly did exist (really - people were beginning to wonder).
Here's the listing I wrote for them in the paper:
[AUDIO ICE CREAM] New Young Pony Club used to be so secretive you could’ve mistaken the band for a covert government operation rather than the electro quintet it truly is. With live performances few and far between, no photos (because the gang was “too shy”) and an addictive set of tunes, this pony tale had all the makings of a fantasy on track to outlive the myth of the unicorn. Thankfully, the London quintet has broken out of its stable and is now all about showmanship—visually embodied by the group’s frontwoman, Tahita Bulmer, who leads the dance party.
Andy quoted the government operation part later having read it the day prior while hanging out at Tube - glad he enjoyed it :)
Before disbanded for the evening on that Friday we discussed how we could inspire more activity in the myspace group. I went on a member adding spree the next day hahahaha
The ponies left cackling about a creepy party invite from a couple they'd just received and declined while I made my way to Storefront.
God - I miss blogging! I just can't be bothered lately. Well, I can over at LocalCut, but just not here. I'm gonna try to get that together seeing as I'm still paying the fees and all. I'm trying not to go the way of the Swish blog in terms of indefinite hiatus, but now I see that it can be all too easy. I miss being "Nilina Not on the Guest List" rather than just Nilina hahaha :)
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