July 2010

WATCH IT: Tokyo Police Club "Boots Of Danger" (Mike Juneau, dir.)

Turns out dogs are no different than bored teens in the suburbs: They meet up, they run around, they sneak into a neighbor's yard to hit the pool. Any other connections you might make — including those of the defecatory category — are left to your imagination. Director Mike Juneau keeps it clean and just presents it as a dog day afternoon in this video for indie rockers Tokyo Police Club. (PS: You can own the video, and two remixes of the track by donating as little as $1 to the ASPCA through TokyoPoliceClub.com. All proceeds go to the ASPCA. And, of course, no dogs were harmed in the making of this video.) --> watch "Boots Of Danger (Wait Up)"

SHOT: John Legend & The Roots - Gil Green, dir.

Shot in Brooklyn Heights ... First video off Wake Up!, an album of soul covers performed by John Legend and The Roots... 

  • artist: John Legend and The Roots f/ Melanie Fiona and Common
  • song: "Wake Up"
  • label: Columbia
  • director(s): Gil Green
  • production co: Light Blue (Green is also signed with Merge @ Crossroads)
  • rep: Labuda Management
  • producer: Abdir Rahman
  • commissioner: Bryan Younce

WATCH IT: Maximum Balloon "Tiger" (Andrew Huang, dir.)

Balloons have an appropriately maximal presence in the premiere video from Maximum Balloon, a new solo-project from TV On The Radio co-founder Dave Sitek. "Tiger" is a jubilant dance grinder featuring newcomer Aku on vocals and a music video that has a Chinese Parade Dragon chasing people through a field of red balloons. (PS: Might just be me, but I think the Tiger, Dragon and Balloon stuff is all proof that Sitek has been watching way too much Ni Hao Kai Lan in his off-time) --> watch "Tiger"

WATCH IT: Broken Bells "The Ghost Inside" (Jacob Gentry, dir.)

Actress Christina Hendricks stars as a humanoid willing to trade in her appendages in order to imagine she's a starlet enjoying a relaxing life poolside in Hollywood, it turns out she's actually wistful for something much more important. (Extra kudos to director Jacob Gentry for a sight-gag involving a pair of stuffed olives that then gets reinforced by showing Hendricks in an olive-colored  jumpsuit that's set off by her red hair. Clever.) And, yes, that's Broken Bells in a cameo toward the end. --> watch "The Ghost Inside"

Pages