December 2009

SHOT: Usher - TAJ, director

A salacious teaser spot for the upcoming Usher album, Raymond Vs. Raymond... The story behind the spot is equally scintillating: It was shot on just a few hours notice, as the director TAJ was coming off another shoot. visit Taj's blog for the full scoop...

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WATCH IT: OK Go "WTF" vs. "HTF"

This video for OK Go's "WTF" has been out there for a minute (aka, a couple months) but now that I know about "HTF," I can't resist picking it up. "WTF" is the video, directed by the band's friend Tim Nackashi. Much like OK Go's insanely famous dancing on treadmills clip, it's seemingly off-the-cuff, simple to describe, inexpensive to make and perfectly formulated for viral success. In this case, the band members and their outfits and various other objects leave trails on the screen that remain until they get wiped away by other trails. OK, it's not so easy to describe, which is maybe why this video hasn't racked up the 48 million and counting viewcounts as the treadmill clip.

READ MORE: Lady Gaga As Pitchwoman (by Dan Neil)

L.A. Times columnist Dan Neil writes,

"My vote for Advertisement of the Year 2009 is Lady Gaga's video "Bad Romance," a five-minute self-exploitation film that sells booze, high-end audio gear and stiletto heels as hard as it rocks."

Read Lady Gaga is using her pipes for pitches, as good a treatise on the collision between art and commerce that you'll find anywhere.

READ MORE: Exposed! Why Rockers Are Baring It All (WashPost.com)

 Have you gotten the feeling lately that there's a been a whole lotta NSFW music videos out there? Even here at Videostatic, where we try to keep things classy and respectable (that's partially why we use the royal "we"), we've had a wave of naked music videos, ranging from depictions of nude bikers on a journey back to the womb to gender-bending bohemian frivolity.

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