January 2010

WATCH IT: The Happy Hollows "Death To Vivek Kemp"

If this video for L.A. trio The Happy Hollows seems to have a handmade touch, there's good reason. Director/photographer/artist Benjamin Gauvain Hoste essentially traced every frame of this performance video and then applied the watercolor splashes and animation the same way. Frame by frame by frame. 2,000+ frames, to be exact. That's dedication. --> watch "Death To Vivek Kemp" via a premiere at The Daily Swarm (note: Video is promoted by Video Static, hence the minimal use of adjectives)

WATCH IT: Jay-Z "On To The Next One"

Released on New Years Eve, Jay-Z's "On To The Next One" was a bold choice to start the year [ed: yes, I'm late to the party]. Director Sam Brown unleashes a steady stream of avant garde b&w imagery — stunner skulls, bloody shoes, rorshach tests, a Joker character and other bits that all have a threatening vibe — as Jay-Z and producer Swizz Beatz perform to the camera in an updated version of the classic "Flava In Ya Ear" style. --> watch "On To The Next One"

WATCH IT: The Old Ceremony "Til My Voice Is Gone"

If you're like me, surely you've wondered why nobody has ever cast Ed Asner in a music video. Well, wonder no more. It's here. Unlike Milton Berle's music video appearance —  in Ratt "Round And Round," no less — this isn't played for jokes. "Til My Voice Is Gone" is a meditation on the old adage "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number" (aka the '93 Aaliyah hit written by her "mentor," R. Kelly) running the gamut from the little kids who mime this song by The Old Ceremony to the elederly character played by Asner who finds purpose, love and Bingo at an old age home.

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