Category: Videos (Page 46 of 96)

From Across The Pond: Scouting for Girls, “Elvis Ain’t Dead”

February 15, 2008 / Will Harris

Might as well keep the pop love flowing, right? Last week, I spotlighted The Hoosiers, and while Scouting for Girls haven’t gone the collect-’em-all route for their self-titled debut, they’ve certainly got just as many hooks to their name. Like all the best bands these days, they found success via a substantial internet buzz – in this case, via IntoMusic – and you can easily hear why they’ve received the attention that they have. Why can’t the kids in the States get into music this good…?

Alternative, Artists, From Across the Pond, Pop, Rock, Videos

DMed’s Video of the Week: Panic at the Disco, “Nine in the Afternoon”

February 15, 2008 / David Medsker

Holy shit. I take back everything I ever said about this band.

And believe me, I said some bad, bad stuff. From the band’s name (who the hell puts an exclamation point in the middle of their band name, besides !!!, of course) to their laughable, overlong, pretentious song titles – “The Only Difference between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage,” “Lying is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have without Taking Her Clothes Off,” “There’s a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven’t Thought of It Yet,” are you fucking kidding me? – the band was a giant punch line to me from the word ‘go.’ And then, when I mistakenly found myself at their stage instead of the Eels’ stage at Lollapalooza 2006, I hated them even more. That last part wasn’t their fault, of course, but I blamed them anyway.

At the same time, there were signs that the band was not quite the hackfest that I thought they were. The Dresden Dolls – love the Dolls or hate ‘em, they’re nobody’s bitches, which is a huge plus in their favor – shot a hilarious video featuring them trying to kill each member of Panic, something they couldn’t and wouldn’t have done without a) the band’s blessing, and b) thinking they were cool guys. So the Dresden Dolls like Panic at the Disco. What do they see that I don’t?

Apparently, it is not what they had seen but what they had heard, namely “Nine in the Afternoon.”

If the members of Panic at the Disco tell you they have not heard Twelve Stops and Home, the awesome 2007 album from the Feeling, they are filthy, filthy liars. “Nine in the Afternoon,” the lead single from Panic at the Disco’s forthcoming album Pretty. Odd (the band may have removed exclamation point from their name, but they are clearly still hung up on inappropriate punctuation), is that entire Feeling album rolled into one awesome song. It’s positively bursting at the seams with ideas, odd time signatures, and harmonies, harmonies, harmonies. It’s grandiose, magnificent stuff, but it begs the question: if they were capable of doing this from the very beginning, why the hell didn’t they?

Sadly, I think I know the answer to that question: survival.

Look at the extreme makeovers we’ve seen in the last couple years. My Chemical Romance makes their name writing snotty songs about how they’re not okay, but the second the label begins to believe in them, they make a Pink Floyd record (The Black Parade). Fall Out Boy, who’s been kicked around more than anyone, actually drew comparisons to Def Leppard with their last album (fuck you if you think that’s a bad thing). Panic, clearly liberated by these bands’ ability to survive on their own terms, decided that if My Chemical Romance can be Floyd, they can be the Beatles. Or Jellyfish, or the Feeling, or all of the above rolled into one.

But here’s the scary question: are new bands afraid to be themselves for fear they won’t get signed, so they pretend to be some trendy, here-today-gone-today band for the sake of a contract, only to show their true colors once they’ve roped in an adoring fan base? Would Panic and My Chemical Romance have been showing their love for the Beatles, Queen and Pink Floyd from the very beginning had they thought it was an option? God, I hope that’s not the case, but it would certainly explain a lot.

Still, better late than never, I suppose, so huzzah to Panic at the Disco for showing us what they’re really made of. I’m now dying to hear their new record. They even shortened the song titles this time around. Will miracles never cease?

Alternative, Pop, Rock, Seen Your Video, Songs, Videos

Less Talk, More Music: Paul Anka on “The Late Show with David Letterman”

February 12, 2008 / Will Harris

Sure, it reads as a novelty – Paul Anka does swing covers of mainstream and alt-rock hits – but if you’ve ever actually heard Rock Swings, you know it holds up for the long haul as an instant party in convenient CD form. Rather than take the easy way out, most of the tracks have been dramatically rearranged to work within Anka’s concept, but if you’re convinced that he couldn’t possibly accomplish it with one of the most anthemic songs of the 1990s (if not all of music history), take a listen and enjoy being proven wrong:

Alternative, Artists, Jazz, Less Talk, More Music, Pop, Rock, Songs, Videos

From Across the Pond: The Hoosiers, “Goodbye Mr. A”

February 9, 2008 / Will Harris

You’d be well within your rights to be skeptical about the quality of music put out by a band that releases their debut album in four different color schemes. (Collect ’em all, kids!) As it happens, however, The Hoosiers – a London-based trio that’s 2/3 British and 1/3 Swedish – are writing and releasing some awesome pop music. Someone suggested that their tunes approximate what The Feeling would sound like if they actually let loose once in awhile, and I can hear that. Dig their biggest UK hit to date: “Goodbye Mr. A.” Our good friend David Medsker will, within mere seconds after hitting “play,” understand exactly why I felt obligated to avoid the formalities and offer the song immediate inclusion in the WillPop 101 syllabus…yes, it’s just that damned poppy…and to go with a superhero-inspired video to boot? Well, that’s just an extra layer of sugar-sweet icing on the WillPop cake.

(FYI, the last time I embedded the video, it was deleted from YouTube, so if the same happens with this one, then this official non-embeddable version is right here.

Artists, From Across the Pond, Pop, Songs, Videos

DMed’s Video of the Week: Rocko, “Umma Do Me”

February 8, 2008 / David Medsker

Say hello to Atlanta rapper Rocko, who has apparently spent years writing, producing and developing major label talent (though curiously, the press release does not name a single one of these artists). He makes his solo debut with a song called, no joke, “Umma Do Me.” The press release goes on to talk about how Rocko is at “the forefront of the new Southern movement in hip-hop where business acumen and consumer awareness reign supreme.”

Scene from the “Umma Do Me” video

Uh huh. So that’s why he spends the entire video throwing Monopoly money at the camera? Or up into the air at the club? Because of his business acumen? Which is it, Rocko, are you a savvy businessman and phony playa, or splashy pimp with no fiscal common sense whatsoever? You can’t have it both ways, dawg. Guys who make it rain in da club are clowns, and eventually, they’re broke clowns. As for consumer awareness, doesn’t that just mean that Rocko knows what sells, and is pandering to the lowest common denominator for a buck? In other words, he doesn’t stand for anything more than making money. That’s not an example of business savvy. It just means he’s willing to whore himself.

Now, let’s talk about the lyrics. I’m no hip-hop scholar, but I’ve heard enough to know that this is lazy, lazy shit.

“I’m from the old school, you’re from the new school / My old school costs more than your new school”
“You really like her, you might wife her / I don’t like her, so I one-night her”
“You in my rear view, yeah, you history / First to second, two seconds, I love a six speed.”

I want to call up Chuck D and read these to him, just to see how angry it makes him. Here it is, bam! Chuck would say, “God damn! This is a wack jam.”

Now for my favorite part: the following line repeats during every chorus:

“Wanna see how’s it done? Watch me do me.”

Is this song an ode to self-love? If he’s doing himself, is that slang for masturbation? Naw, dude, I don’t want to watch you do you.

Ah, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the comments on the video’s YouTube page (embedding, sadly, is disabled). Check out these gold-star props Rocko has received from his fans:

“nigga killed sayin u might wife her i one night her killin it. do what it do”

“This song is da shit! I just do me all day everyday!!Baby just rep yaself and where you from dont worry bout all des otha haters. they jus bitches”

I, on the other hand, will side with the following comment:

“haha do yaself bra! junior varsity shit nigga”

Enough of this phony gangster bullshit, already. No one’s impressed. Enjoy the moment while it lasts, Rocko, because your moment in the sun will be fleeting and unpleasant. For everyone.

To watch the video, click here.

External Music, Lyrics, Rap, Seen Your Video, Songs, Videos