Video of the Day: Miike Snow, “Paddling Out”
A beer-bellied slob discovers magic dancing shoes and then is kidnapped by aliens dressed like Louis XIV courtiers and transformed into a cross between Gerard Depardieu and Cher.
Just another Monday on StaticBlog.
– Lang
Video of the Day: The Darkness, “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us”
The Darkness’ first new material in seven years is pure earworm, and a great way to forget that terrible second album. Welcome back in a big way.
– Lang
Video of the Day: Sleigh Bells, “Comeback Kid”
Don’t listen to that Lana Del Rey album that came out today. It will not help you in any way.
But this will.
– Lang
Get More: Sleigh Bells, Comeback Kid, Music, More Music Videos
Video of the Day: Flaming Lips feat. Siri and Erykah Badu, “Now I Understand”
From the sound of things, Wayne Coyne began reciting lyrics from “Instant Karma” into his iPhone 4S, and Siri was forced to ponder the meaning of the moon, the stars and the sun, as was Erykah Badu.
– Lang
Video of the Day 2: St. Vincent Pays Homage to Elvis Costello on “Conan”
Annie pines away for Carney
In his first U.S. television performance on “Saturday Night Live” in 1977, Elvis Costello famously played a few bars of “Less Than Zero” before stopping the Attractions and launching into the far more domestically topical “Radio, Radio.” This time out, Annie Clark begins with “Radio, Radio” before stopping down, mimicking Elvis’ explanation and going forward with “Cheerleader.”
A few people in the audience got the joke, but not really enough: this was a fairly famous incident in which Costello felt that a point needed to be made while the powers that be (yes, they still “be”) thought otherwise.
Elvis Costello - Radio Radio, SNL, 1977 from jmannen77 on Vimeo.
In fact, it is so well known that, on an “SNL” anniversary special, Beastie Boys and a special guest staged their own tribute/allusion to the performance.
Elvis Costello and The Beastie Boys - Radio Radio by
Video of the Day: Arcade Fire on “Austin City Limits”
Arcade Fire’s most most recent performance on “ACL” was shown by OETA this past weekend, and now it is all here. The band is doing a nice job of bookending “The Suburbs,” with the “Sprawl II” video arriving last month and now this performance to cap things off. Here’s to new things on the horizon.
– Lang
Watch Arcade Fire on PBS. See more from Austin City Limits.
Video of the Day: Charli XCX, “Stay Away” (Live from Dalston Heights)
If Florence Welch and Natasha Khan represent the revival of the powerful avant-garde female pop of Kate Bush and “Lion and the Cobra”-era Sinead O’Connoor, then Charli XCX is falling somewhere between Danielle Dax and T’Pau. Not sure if that’s particularly edifying or signifies something good or bad, but it is what it is. The studio version is much more cavernous and with layered background vocals, and is therefore much more enjoyable in its specific mid-1980s-isms.
This is one of those instances where a song is screaming out for an official video, something that reflects the song in its original recorded form, and nothing is arising as of yet. The record company appears to be doing a slow build.
– Lang
Video of the Day: Danger Mouse, Daniele Luppi and Jack White, “Two Against One”
Here’s your headtrip for the morning, essentially the prelude to a feature-length film based on the narrative of Mouse and Luppi’s “Rome” album. Lots of taffy-pull twists in this animated piece directed by Chris Milk.
– Lang
Video of the Day: Arcade Fire, “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”
Régine Chassagne gets the spotlight on this holdover from December, the final video from “The Suburbs.” Consequence of Sound aptly described the clip as evoking both “Dawn of the Dead” (Romero original) and John Carpenter’s “They Live” — certainly the imagery of decaying suburban slum and the creepy, latex-and-facepaint dancers will remind plenty of viewers of that underrated Carpenter film. Beyond that, Chassagne is having a blast with her tinsel and “Tron”-effect prom dress.
I know it’s early. I know they just finished up a tour. But I’m ready for more Arcade Fire. The initial release picture for 2012 is looking bereft. I hope there are some surprises in the offering.
– Lang
Video of the Day: Air, “Sonic Armada”
The French avant-pop duo Air recently scored a restored and retinted version of Georges Melies “Le Voyage Dans La Lune” (A Trip to the Moon), an early masterpiece of science fiction most recently featured in Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” and its source material, Brian Selznick’s “The Invention of Hugo Cabret.” Air’s new soundtrack is available Feb. 7. This marriage of modernity with pre-talkie cinema recalls Giorgio Moroder’s colorization and new wave score for “Metropolis” back in 1984, but let’s be honest: Moroder’s soundtrack has aged dreadfully — what Moroder, the electro-disco producer who scored “Midnight Express” and produced much of Donna Summer’s early disco catalog, was doing producing Loverboy, Billy Squier and Pat Benatar is the stuff of cocaine-fueled 1980s nightmares. Where was Kraftwerk when you needed them?
Air is a great fit for Melies — “Sonic Armada” bodes well for the rest.
– Lang
