February 2012

R.I.P. Davy Jones of The Monkees

Davy Jones, singer for The Monkees, has passed away at age 66 from a heartattack.

The Monkees ran on TV from 1966 - 1971, but lived on in reruns for decades. Whether considered as a seies tribute to The Beatles, a hybrid mating of scopitones and surf movies, or the precurser to the Golden Age of Pop  Music Video, there's no denying the importance of the show (especially for kids of the '70s who probably watched it everyday after school).

WATCH IT: Gorillaz/Andre 3000/J. Murphy "DoYaThing" (Jamie Hewlett, dir.)

The Gorillaz/Converse collaboration "DoYaThing" — featuring Andre 3000, LCD Soundsystem mainman James Murphy and a line of limited edition Gorillaz Chuck Taylors — has a video that also mashes things up, placing 3D depictions of director/cartonist Jamie Hewlett's characters within the real world confines of a band house that's certainly messy, but nowhere near as depraved as you might expect. --> watch "DoYaThing" plus a making-of that's as coolk as the video itself

WATCH IT: Gotye "Easy Way Out" (Darcy Prendergast, dir.)

Any video about the the monotony of daily life needs to be visually exciting, which is certainly the case in this video directed by Darcy Prendergast for  fellow Australian Gotye. Even as his day to day cycle remains largely the same — wake, shower, eat, work, etc, etc —  everything around him spirals into chaos as he gets less and less amused by his humdrum routines. --> watch "Easy Way Out"

WATCH IT: David Choi "Missing Piece" (Ross Ching, dir.)

A lovestory on a jigsaw puzzle gets complicated when a gust of wind sends the pieces scattering, with one "Missing Piece" never to be found. Luckily, the artistic puzzle owner is able to sketch in what's missing so singer David Choi and his love interest can get together once again. (Also notable here is the lengthy postroll and intergration with Asian fashion site yesstyle.com) --> watch "Missing Piece" plus a making-of

WATCH IT: Beni "Someone Just Like You" (Jared Eberhardt, dir.)

Don't get hypnotized by those introductory kaleidoscopes, because director Jared Eberhardt keeps taking this Beni clip to unexpected places. The motif is actually a troupe of nearly naked women — festooned with what looks like fawn-tail merkin and various projection/video treatments. There's also a recurring skull image that makes sense in an ending sequence that discofies Dali's naked lady skull. --> watch "Someone Just Like You"

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