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Posted 5/7/10 12:46 pm ET by Chris Ryan in Celebrity, Music, Videos
After gazing upon the delightful new video for "Heartbeat Song," the new single from the English power-pop quartet The Futureheads (taken from their excellent album, The Chaos), I was struck with a feeling of déjà vu: The video is set at an undetermined point in the past, on a game show that loosely references "The Family Feud," complete with a cheesy, over-the-top host, chintzy set and old-school TV film stock. I've seen this video before! Of course I had. Bands have repeatedly defaulted to the retro TV music video setting. Allow me to illustrate five such examples!
1.) Nirvana, "In Bloom"
For the video for this classic off of Nevermind, Nirvana paid homage/lampooned the legendary appearance of The Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show," complete with hysterical screaming fans.
2.) Weezer, "Buddy Holly"
Weezer and Spike Jonze ingeniously inserted the band's performance into an episode of "Happy Days," with attention paid to the smallest detail, right down to the film stock. "Sit on it!"
3.) Outkast, "Hey Ya"
For Andre 3000's hip-hop power-pop anthem, the ATLiens also used an "Ed Sullivan Show"-type of setting, albeit a show hosted by Ryan Phillppe of all people. However, unlike Nirvana's clip, "Hey Ya" is set in London during the Mod heyday.
4.) The Strokes, "Last Nite"
In this Roman Coppola-directed clip, the New York band performs their classic single on a '70s-era live performance show, not unlike "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert."
5.) The Futureheads, "Heartbeat Song"
The latest in a crop of retro TV fake-outs!
Posted 3/1/10 3:15 pm ET by Leslie Simon in Celebrity, Music, Videos
With the Academy Awards airing this Sunday, March 7th, we thought it would be a great idea to give props to our film-buff brethren and take this Vault Videos opportunity to celebrate those brilliant directors who have successfully made the transition from music videos to big-screen blockbusters. Allow us to present you with the Top Videos by an Oscar-Nominated Director.
And ... Action!
"Buddy Holly" by Weezer (directed by Spike Jonze, who was nominated for Being John Malkovich): You don't have to be a Happy Days fan to appreciate the cinematic brilliance of this Jonze clip. Hell, the skateboard-loving director was even able to bring diner-owner Al Delvecchio out of storage for an unexpected cameo. Wonder if Ron Howard was busy...
"Vogue" by Madonna (directed by David Fincher, who was nominated for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button): Before directing big-screen cult classics like Se7en and Fight Club, Fincher got his start at the helm of videos for Paula Abdul ("Straight Up"), Aerosmith ("Janie's Got a Gun") and, of course, this particular Madge gem. We love the black-and-white tone, and don't get us started on the amazing dancing. You can't see us, but we're totally letting our bodies move to the music while we type this.
"Under The Bridge" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers (directed by Gus Van Sant, who was nominated for Milk): Understated yet powerful, this simple Chili Peppers clip is representative of Van Sant's signature directing style. Before "Under The Bridge" was released, the Peppers were just another wild-and-crazy L.A. band. Yet once the song and—more important—the video hit airwaves, the band became more than just keg-tapping figureheads. They became serious musicians—and inarguable rock stars.
"Fast As You Can" by Fiona Apple (directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, who was nominated for There Will Be Blood): Before hooking up with Maya Rudolph (and fathering a couple kids with the funnywoman), Paul Thomas Anderson was in a much-publicized, long-term relationship with Fiona Apple. He directed many clips for Apple, but this one has got to be our favorite because the stop-action sequence at the end might've captured the only footage we've ever seen of Apple smiling. The man's that talented.
Posted 10/29/09 4:20 pm ET by Chris Ryan in Celebrity, Must See, Videos
We Were Once A Fairytale, a short film collaboration between Kanye West and Spike Jonze, only recently came out (you can cop it on iTunes), but we're already starting to get some bonus materials.
Below, in the viral video of some behind-the-scenes action, Spike Jonze gets increasingly peeved at a text-addicted Kanye West, who's spending more time on his smart phone than listening to his director. Kanye gets slapped, and a nation of Taylor Swift fans rejoice. (Note -- We can all agree that violence is not okay, right? And that this video's just a joke? And that Kanye himself is probably in on it?)
Kansas City kids Vedera throw together a couple of different tropes for their "Satisfy" video. I will now enumerate them for you thusly:
1. The bros-hanging-out-at-the-clubhouse vibe of Paramore's awesome "That's What You Get" video.
2. The playing-twice-as-fast/filmed-at-a-slower-speed effect popularized by Spike Jonze and Weezer in the video for "Undone (The Sweater Song)."
3. The appearance of completely inappropriate footwear given the action taking place. Check singer Kristin May rocking the ankle wrap heels while on what can only be described as a hike (one is reminded of Gaga wearing stilettos while using crutches in her "Paparazzi" video).
4. The near-skinny dipping at the end, artfully rendered in R.E.M.'s "Nightswimming" video and playfully played in Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle."
5. Not so much a music video trope as just silliness: May straight chucks her cell phone while hiking. At least take the SIM card, Sis!
Posted 12/29/08 7:34 pm ET by Tamar Anitai in Celebrity, Music, Videos
Before there was Auto-Tune-obsessed, out-of-tune-crooning, American Psycho-copping, Pee Wee Herman-dressing, love-locking-down Kanye, there was, actually, for one hot second, (kinda) humble Kanye. Really. If you self-sacrifice constitutes humility. Dude barely even put himself in his "Flashing Lights" video except for the final few seconds, when he got hacked to bits (for leaving the toothpaste cap off? Mispronouncing "Murakami"? BLOGGING IN ALL CAPS?).
"Flashing Lights" -- thanks to Kanye's willingness to get wacked, singer Dwele's hook, Spike Jonze's lenswork, Playmate Rita G., and a Zippo lighter -- is one of the best, most haunting, most unexpected, and most asstacular videos of 2008.
+ Runner-up: Britney's "Circus," but three VMAs and countless comebacks seemed like enough.
+ Pop Cultured's No. 3 video: Rihanna, "Rehab"
+ MTV's Best of 2008
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