Category: Seen Your Video (Page 6 of 12)

Seen Your Video: Green Day, “Know Your Enemy”

April 24, 2009 / David Medsker

We proles can’t possibly fathom the kind of pressure that Green Day must have felt when they were putting the finishing touches on 21st Century Breakdown, their first album since the multi-platinum – and game-changing – American Idiot. Perhaps that is why they played around with side projects like the Foxboro Hot Tubs (which was a damn good record, by the way), because it enabled them to get their yeah yeahs out without having to worry about commercial expectations.

Ah, but they could only put the world on hold for so long, and at last, they give us “Know Your Enemy,” the debut single from Breakdown. Does it raise the stakes of American Idiot? No, but that appears to be the point. There was no sense in even trying, so instead, they deliver something more akin to their “unplugged” album Warning, which is one of my favorites of theirs. Big choruses, hand clap-ready snare drums, and a no-nonsense performance video to promote it. It’s as if they’re asking us to forget that American Idiot ever happened, and while that makes sense, it’s just not gonna happen. Still, this definitely has me excited to hear the rest of the album. Only a couple more weeks…

Green Day – New Music – More Music Videos

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

21st Century Breakdown Green Day Green Day video Know Your Enemy Know Your Enemy video Seen Your Video

Seen Your Video: Courtenay Green, “Beyond Therapy”

April 8, 2009 / David Medsker

We’ll be honest: we’re not posting the clip for “Beyond Therapy,” the debut single from Los Angeles song bird Courtenay Green, because it’s a knockout song. The song is cute enough – though it doesn’t bear even a passing resemblance to the Hollies or New Pornographers, two bands to whom she’s compared in her press release – and Green is quite the fetching lass. Nope, we’re posting the clip for “Beyond Therapy” because the video is awesome, a throwback of sorts to early ’80s clips.

In fact, it’s rather fitting that she made a throwback clip for the song, because the song itself is a the kind of song that would have stood a much better chance of climbing the charts in 1981 than it will today. Green has good pitch, and she’s not flashy (thank God for that, as we have more than enough of those kinds of singers as it is), but her voice sounds wafer-thin compared to the girls currently dominating the charts. Not her fault, of course, but it’s definitely going to pose problems for her, which is why she was very smart to make a clip that will endear her to Gen X music lovers. We see Green singing the song in one of those karaoke bars where the songs have their own videos – not sure if anyone does these anymore, but they were all the rage in the early ’90s – and the video within this video is dead perfect. Star wipe, diamond wipe, heart wipe…yes.

Props to Green for playing to her strengths. Who knows, maybe we’ll eat the words above about her commercial prospects. Wouldn’t be the first time, and we would have no problem getting this one wrong.

Artists, Pop, Rock Babes, Seen Your Video, Videos

Beyond Therapy Beyond Therapy video Courtenay Green Courtenay Green video video karaoke

Seen Your Video: The Blow Monkeys, “Travelin’ Soul”

February 13, 2009 / Will Harris

Why, yes, they are still around…although to be fair, they hadn’t been around for a very long time until recently.

The Blow Monkeys are generally remembered for their 1986 single, “Digging Your Scene,” which was their lone entry into the Billboard Top 100. That it was a one-off was a little surprising, given that it made it into the top 20, but Americans just weren’t buying what the Blow Monkeys were selling. Their ’86 album, Animal Magic, made it into the top 40, but the follow-up, 1987’s She Was Only A Grocer’s Daughter, only made it into the Top 140 (at #134), and by the time Whoops! There Goes The Neighbourhood emerged in 1989, the band no longer had a record deal in the States. After one final release (1990’s Springtime for the World), they gave up the ghost, and the band’s lead singer, Doctor Robert, dived headlong into a very enjoyable – if not necessarily all that commercially successful – solo career. (Seriously, you should check out his stuff. Just start with his debut, Realms of Gold, and if you like that one, you can’t go wrong with any of the subsequent releases.)

In November of 2007, however, it was announced that the band would be getting back together…and, in an interesting move, declared that they would record and release a new album if the fans were willing to purchase copies in advance to pay for the cost; in turn, they would not only get an autographed copy of the album but, indeed, a thank-you in the liner notes. I admit: I signed up immediately, and I reaped the benefits, just as the Blow Monkeys promised. And the album, Devil’s Tavern, finds the band offering up a more mature version of their old sound, with the good Doctor still in fine voice…as you can clearly hear when you watch the video for “Travelin’ Soul,” which is one of the album’s eleven tracks.

Artists, External Music, Seen Your Video, Songs, Videos

Animal Magic Blow Monkeys Devil's Tavern Digging Your Scene Doctor Robert She Was Only A Grocer's Daughter Whoops! There Goes The Neighbourhood

Seen Your Video: Eatliz, “Hey”

January 29, 2009 / David Medsker

These guys are apparently huge in their homeland of Israel. I’ll be honest, the tune doesn’t do much for me, but this is one of the coolest videos I’ve seen in a long time. Check ch-check check check, check it out.

Eatliz – Hey from Toolshed Media on Vimeo.

Alternative, Rock, Seen Your Video, Songs, Videos

Eatliz Eatliz video Hey Hey video

Seen Your Video: Morrissey, “I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris”

January 19, 2009 / Will Harris

Even as a longtime Morrissey apologist, I was sorely disappointed with Mozzer’s last album, 2006’s Ringleader of the Tormentors, but when I caught him in concert while he was supporting the record, I was pleasantly surprised with how much more impressive its songs sounded in a live setting. As such, I’ve found myself hopeful for his next album ever since…though, to be fair, as a Morrissey apologist, there was never any chance that I wouldn’t be hopeful…and having heard the first single from his new record, Years of Refusal (set for release on Feb. 16 on Lost Highway), I’m more excited than ever. The song might not be as tough of a first single as, say, “Irish Blood, English Heart,” but it has a very old-school Morrissey sound to it, with a jangle that captured my heart immediately. Check out the pug-happy video below, then let me know what you think about the track: