Video of the Day: M83, “Midnight City”
Anthony Gonzalez, the French synth-pop mastermind of M83, releases the much-awaited “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming” tomorrow. Much like the clips for “Kim & Jessie” and “We Own the Sky” from “Saturdays = Youth,” “Midnight City” feels like a fully realized feature film distilled into five minutes. In this story, telekinetic kids from a group home are drawn to a curious disturbance in the sky. Much as M83′s singles recall the synth-driven chart hits of the early 1980s, “Midnight City” brings to mind classic Spielberg.
– Lang
M83 - Midnight City (Clip Officiel) by Spi0n
Video of the Day: Gruff Rhys, “Whale Trail”
Our Super Furry hero rocks a Rascal on a fanciful ride over the clouds — psychedelia as filtered through “Yo Gabba Gabba.” This looks to be a standalone track — “Whail Trail” was not on “Hotel Shampoo,” which was released in February.
– Lang
Video of the Day: Ryan Adams, “Lucky Now”
While the standard gap between releases for major artists is around three years, fans of Ryan Adams must feel as though he pulled a Peter Gabriel or something — the man was releasing two albums per year at one point. “Ashes and Fire,” his first album since 2008, is not full of surprises, but it makes up for it by being beautifully crafted all around and sustaining a mood. Three more listens, and I’ll be ready to pass judgment.
– Lang
Video of the Day: Beyonce, “Countdown”
Director Adria Petty (daughter of a Wilbury) packs about a dozen amazing video ideas into one clip. A contender for Video of the Year.
– Lang
Get More: Beyoncé, Music, More Music Videos
Video of the Damned: T-Pain, “5 O’Clock” (feat. Lily Allen and Wiz Khalifa)
The good news: T-Pain owes Lily Allen pound notes by the pound for sampling copious amounts of “Who’d Have Known” from 2009′s “It’s Not Me, It’s You.” The bad news: Lily does not show up in the video, and her part is lip-synched by a generic model. More bad news: T-Pain is wearing a sweater that would embarrass Cliff Huxtable. Even more bad news: Lily still does not show up in the video.
By the way, St. Lily of StaticBlog is currently working on the songs for the West End production of “Bridget Jones’ Diary,” which is about the only way that something so potentially atrocious could be amazing.
– Lang
Video of the Day 2: Florence + the Machine, “Shake It Out”
Like “Lungs” and most of Adele’s “21,” Florence + The Machine’s second album, “Ceremonials,” is produced by Paul Epworth, who has both a great sense of art-pop drama and an uncommon facility with “northern soul,” so the guess is that “Ceremonials” is going to open big for Florence Welch. The album is due on Halloween morning, which means that while October just began, I can hardly wait for it to end.
– Lang
Flaming Lips to Release Six-Hour Song, “Found a Star on the Ground”
In a benefit for the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma and the Central Oklahoma Humane Society, the Flaming Lips have recorded “Found a Star on the Ground,” which clocks in at a whopping 360 minutes, or roughly 100 times the length of the average radio song, or the amount of sleep I usually get every night — perfect for my headphones-under-the-pillow “NightPod” listening, but only if I want to wake up feeling like I have lizards crawling on my face. The song will be included in a new illusion toy called The Strobo Trip, which Coyne, in a prepared statement, described as a great way to spend several hours in a safe place.
“The Strobo Trip by itself is fascinating,” Coyne said. “I wouldn’t be a surprised to hear about some people taking LSD or something, while listening to “Found A Star On The Ground,” and playing with The Strobo Trip for hours and hours. We hope you’ll enjoy them anyway you like.”
The Strobo Trip will soon be available at the band’s Web site for all your hallucinogenic stocking stuffer needs.
“Arrested Development” movie to be preceded by 10-episode miniseason
Start your final countdown now. Read the glorious details here.
Video of the Day: The Nghiems, “Dum Dum Dah Dah”
Static videographer Kyle Roberts directed this amazing video game-centered clip, using Oklahoma City locations such as New World Comics and featuring a special appearance by LOOKatOKC’s Lacey Lett. Watch it now, watch it again in five minutes. Lather, rinse, repeat.
– Lang
Video of the Day: Pearl Jam Performs Pink Floyd’s “Mother” on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”
Pink Floyd week ends on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” with Pearl Jam’s version of “Mother” from “The Wall.”
One question about this week: Why no Lips? They’ve got “The Dark Side of the Moon” ready to go.
– Lang
