April 2014

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OFF! "Red White And Black" (The Admiral, dir.)

Comedians Dave Foley and Brian Posehn do some Nazi Rock that goes over well until a biker gang kicks down the door and knocks some sense into these fascists.

PS: Eagle-eyed rock fans should be able to spot out all the members of OFF, plus Jesus Lizard frontman David Yow, Melvins drummer Dale Crover, Tool drummer Danny Carey and TSOL singer Jack Grisham amongst the fascists.

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A Visual for Lana Del Ray "West Coast"

I daresay the age of the lyric video may be nearing the end, since the goal of most of them is not to let you learn the lyrics, but to have a cheap/quick visual to get get the song onto the world's #1 jukebox, YouTube. Also, reading sucks.

Lana Del Ray takes a different route here, presenting a loop clearly taken from the beach video she was spotted filming with director Vincent Haycock.

Call it a teaser. Or a visual. But it's definitely cooler and more evocative than most lyric videos.

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Real Estate "Crime" (Tom Scharpling, dir.)

Music video auteur Tom Scharpling (played by not Tom Scharpling) hands over the reins (not really) in a video that one-ups product placement moneygrubs by essentially auctioning off the creative process to the three highest bidders. Unfortunately, the winning bidders are Blood Lords author Jared Frenkel, ceramicist Valerie Anderson and crazy old person Fred Dombrowski, Sr. And, for extra value, we also get a celebrity cameo and an integration by Westboro Baptist Church.

Don't worry, it'll be fine. Trust him.

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First Trailer for Director David Fincher's Gone Girl

I am required by music video bylaws to post almost anything directed by David Fincher. This is not a bad thing.

The Gone Girl trailer has hit the interwebs — based upon the 2012 bestseller by Gillian Flynn — with Ben Affleck as a husband suspected of having something to do with the disappearance of his wife.

As with Fincher's last film, The Social Network, the trailer is synced to an effective and unusual piece of music. Social Network rolled with a haunting, orchestral version of Radiohead "Creep"; Gone Girl goes with Psychedelic Fur singer Richard Butler's verison of  the Charles Aznavour classic "She," which was also resurrected by Elvis Costello for the Notting Hill soundtrack.

And just so you see how my brain works, here's some quick thoughts:

  • Is it just me, or does the trailer version of "She" sound like something Pandora served up on the same automated playlist as "Creep," thus proving my theory on how to be a successful music supervision works?
  • Is the use of "She" a sly dig at Spike Jonze's Her?
  • Yes, music video fans, Emily Ratajkowski has a role in Gone Girl. You know Emily as the topless girl from "Blurred Lines". 
  • The teaser site for Gone Girl is findamazingamy.com and it's quite clever and simple.
  • The poster image uses "Don't Know What You've Got Til It's..." as the tagline, which hopefully means that the Cinderella song was likely pitched to Fincher as an end title track, which likely resulted in said person being fired.

Gone Girl opens October 3, 2014.

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