Videos of the Week

Here are a few new videos for the week, meshed in with some oldies but goodies.



I've been a huge PSB fan ever since they dropped "West End Girls." Up through the cd Very, each cd was more and more classic. Since then, they have had some great singles, but the whole cds themselves have been spotty to say the least. Advance word on Yes has not been favorable, but if it is at least as consistent as this first single I think it will be enjoyable. It has a very bouncy beat and killer chorus. The video is completely stunning.



Kleerup, the scraggly man in the video, is one of the most sought after producers these days. His song with Robyn, "Every Heartbeat" was a gorgeous song that was one of my singles of the year last year. Kleerup has exquisite taste when it comes to collaborators and picks Neneh Cherry's half-sister Titiyo for the song "Longing for Lullabies." The song doesn't stray much from the "Every Heartbeat" formula, lowkey drum programming, twinkling synths, and subtle orchestration, but somehow it works again. It's a very beautiful song with a sweet video.





Fever Ray is Karin Dreijer Andersson from Swedish electronic act The Knife. Although this is not much of a departure from her work with her brother, it is very distinctive. Her work as Fever Ray is more insular and haunting; nightmares given voice with subtle electronics and pitch-shifted vocals. These two videos are very well made and very sinister. "If I Had A Heart" looks like it was made from leftover footage from the movie Children of Men; and "When I Grow Up" from discarded winter scenes from The Virgin Suicides.



Patrick Wolf is bizarre, no getting around it. His first two releases were stunning laptop made electro chamber pop. His last release opened up his sonic palette but seemed to constrict rather than broadening his sound. I think he does better on a more intimate scale. His new cd The Bachelor appears, so far, to be going back to the original template. First single "The Vulture" is a Marc Almond-esque romp with a kinky, S&M bondage video. There is some partial nudity, so it may not be safe for work.



Beautifully shot video for the Kanye West song "Welcome to Heartbreak." His cd 808s & Heartbreak is such a trainwreck, but is one of the most fascinating cds from last year.

In honor of a list on Facebook for my favorite Post-Punk cds here are 5 of my favorite bands from the early 80s:



Howard Devoto left the Buzzcocks when he felt that they were not evolving. He formed his own band Magazine which is about as far from the punk roar of the Buzzcocks as you can get. Icy, minimal and jagged, Magazine plumbed the depths of relationships. Here is a live performance of one of his most caustic songs "Permafrost," which has some of the most brutal lyrics I have ever heard. I would hate to be the person he wrote this song about.



From the classic cd Entertainment. Gang of Four were one of the great socio-political bands. Socialism with a beat.



It is impossible to mention post-punk without including Joy Division. Closer is one of my all time favorite cds. This is a live performance of a b-side from the Closer sessions. For some reason I couldn't find any live perfomances of songs from the cd. Oh well. This gets the point across.



John Lydon's post-Sex Pistols band. While not as in your face as that classic punk group, Public Image Ltd's music was just as confrontational. Metal Box is a harrowing listen and not an easy thing to sit through, but it is essential.



Echo and the Bunnymen never truly crossed over the way U2 did, though without them, The Edge would not have known what to do with an effects pedal. Will Sergeant was a true innovator and the key to the band's haunting sound. Here is a live performance of "Heads Will Roll" from their classic cd Porcupine.

We end today's post with two Aphex Twin videos directed by Chris Cunningham. The first is probably the creepiest video ever made for the song "Come To Daddy." The second video for the song "Windowlicker" is a commentary on the over-the-top hip-hop videos that were prevalent at the time. It contains an enormous amount of profanity so probably not safe for work.