November 2006

NEW RELEASE: Dr. Octagon "Trees"

How much peril is the earth's environment in? Even the rappers have noticed. Kool Keith aka Dr. Octagon provides "Trees," a snapshot of a bleak future of lost forests, pollution and other consequences of consumption. The symptoms of the earth's problem are mainly conveyed through skillful computer animation, while Octagon rhymes about the chemicals that threaten our existence without sounding trite or esoteric. Don't look for the former Ultramagnetic MC in the video; his vocals are lip-synced by

NEW RELEASE: Incubus "Anna Molly"

Director Jamie Thraves does a lot of things really well, but he certainly stands alone when it comes to depicting dread in a music video. This clip for Incubus — their first off new album Light Grenades — lets Thraves have at one of the most effective and universally frightening tropes in all forms of storytelling: The nightmare of seeming dead, but really being alive. Let's hope this young "Anna Molly" (she's an anomaly, get it?) wakes up before the bone saw gets her. -- watch "Anna Molly"

IN DEPTH: The Album Leaf "Always For You"

Two former and/or future lovers go about their almost synchronous lives in this artful and rather beautiful split-screen video for The Album Leaf. The two walk the same streets, visit the same bars and even read the same authors — Haruki Murakami, literature's current master of all that is offbeat, was a wise choice. "Always For You" also reaps dividends thanks to shooting in the band's San Diego hometown. Besides using their actual practice space as the performance location, the video also includes numerous well-known landmarks and hangouts — including The Turf Club, which is the city's, if not the country's finest grill-your-own-food bar.

NEW RELEASE: Beck "Nausea"

The usual paranoia that might accompany a nighttime stroll through a dodgy neighborhood gets amplified when Beck realizes that his entire reality may just be a construct for a music video set. Chalk it up as another Beck video that deals with the theme of things not being what they seem. -- watch "Nausea" at YouTube or MTV.com

NEW RELEASE: Beck "Cellphone's Dead"

This minor video masterpiece from director Michel Gondry and the ever shape-shifting musician Beck constantly unfolds like a paper toy — or more precisely, like a cubist painting come to life. The action takes place in a world that seems perfectly suited for a noir storyline. Instead, Beck and his surroundings suddenly mutate into three-dimensional, seemingly cardboard creatures. The video may be a one-trick pony, but it's a damn cool trick. -- watch "Cellphone's Dead"

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