NEW RELEASE: MGMT "Time To Pretend"

There are certain primordial needs that cannot be denied. Fire, tribalism and all that other elemental stuff are obvious. But if you're an aspiring rock 'n' roll star it really comes down to this mantra from Brooklyn band MGMT: "Let's make some music, make some money, find some models for wives." This layered little trip of a video is both enthralling and highly hallucinatory as it covers all of the above — even the questing for fire — and shows how we've always fallen prey to our base instincts. Your only hope is to follow the lead of our MGMT heroes and surf a rainbow or ride a kitty to transcendence. And I do mean that literally. I think. --> watch "Time To Pretend"

MGMT "Time To Pretend" (Columbia)
Ray Tintori, director/editor | Josh Penn, producer | Robert Leitzell, DP | Roertb Leitzell & Jordan Fish, effects

NEW RELEASE: Dead Meadow "What Needs Must Be"

Even though Jimmy McNulty's kids don't carry quite as much influence over me as Bunk or Omar, the recent showcasing of Dead Meadow on The Wire is enough of an endorsement to catch my attention. So, imagine my surprise that the little McNultys aren't into some juvenile aggro metal band, but rather a variant of stoner rock that is so sludgy and retro that it should be called Quaalude rock. This earthy and way psychedelic clip for "What Needs Must be" shows a pure heroine running for her life through the big, bad forest. It's kind of like a psychedelic combination of The Wicker Man (original, please), Evil Dead and almost any Ozzy-era Black Sabbath clip (preferably "Iron Man"). --> watch "What Needs Must Be" (YouTube)

Dead Meadow "What Needs Must Be" (Matador)
Eric Cheevers, director | Scott Mueller, producer | Parasite Films, production co | Brad Baker, DP | Nathan Duncan, editor

NEWS: Bucks Boys Productions Launches

Producing partners Jonathan Becker and Joshua Greenberg have launched L.A.-based production company, Bucks Boys Productions. The first video produced through the company is the instantly notorious Kanye West "Flashing Lights."

Directors signed to Bucks Boys include:

• Ondi Timoner — director of the feature film Dig!
• Justin Janowitz
• Zeta Brown

Gina Corona is on-board as the company's  rep. Visit BucksBoys.com for more details.

NEW RELEASE: Kanye West "Flashing Lights"

Is this Kanye West's version of Waiting For Godot, or merely a prank? Although the nihilistic vision put forth as the mysterious video for "Flashing Lights" by Kanye and co-director Spike Jonze — who has been know to enjoy a good joke, be it as Richard Koufey or with the Jackass crew —  is likely to either confound or enrapture, it's guaranteed to get noticed. And that is probably the point. So, stop worrying and just enjoy this riddle involving a booty, some fire, a kidnapped Kanye and a shovel that's decidedly not being used to dig up some treasure. To be continued? --> watch "Flashing Lights" (via MTV. Note the Viewer Discretion Warning. Nice.)

Kanye West "Flashing Lights" (Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam)
Kanye West and Spike Jonze, director | Susan Linss, executive producer | Jonathan Becker, producer | G.O.O.D Pictures/Bucks Boys Productions, production co | John Perez, DP | Derek Lee, editor

SHOT: Count & Sinden - Joey Garfield & Joseph Patel, directors

Co-directors Joey Garfield and Joseph Patel (in the background) and video producer Mark DePace on-location at famed Chicago club The Metro for The Count & Sinden clip "Beeper," featuring Kid Sister and Flosstradamus.

Joey Garfield previously directed the  RJD2 clip "Work It Out." Joseph Patel is a Sr Producer for MTV News and was the director/producer of the My Block series that has focused on such hip-hop hotspots as Atlanta, Chicago  and Miami. The complete series is up at MTV Overdrive.

artist: The Count & Sinden f/ Kid Sister & Flosstradamus
song: "Beeper"
label: Domino
director(s): Joey Garfield and Joseph Patel
production co: Ghost Robot

Photo by Clayton Hauck with plenty more to browse via EveryoneIsFamous.com

NEWS: Davy Grolton Video Offshoots By Purple Cow

Foo Fighters have always been pretty darn savvy when it comes to music videos, so it's no surprise that they realize the new economics of the music video. Why just get a music video, when you can cleverly cut and set up different elements from the shoot into different promotional tools.

In an ideal world (for the Foos), "Long Road To Ruin" would have spun off an actual, yet goofy and tongue-in-cheek soap opera like the one parodied in the video. Instead, RCA had Purple Cow Post editor Brian Kushner isolate the band's performance as the "Davy Grolton Band" at a mall for use as a viral clip, in addition to several behind-the-scenes takes and parody spots for fictional Foo Gossip features that were featured on Entertainment Tonight and Pat O'Brien's show The Insider. --> watch the Davy Grolton mall performance of "Long Road To Ruin" and the "FF Exclusive" clips "A Night On The Town" (or via PurpleCowPost.com)

SHOT: Seether - Tony Petrossian, director

artist: Seether
song: "Rise Above This"
label: Wind-Up
director(s): Tony Petrossian
production co: Rockhard Films
rep: Robin Frank Management

NEWS: Phil Griffin Goes To Rockhard & RFM

Director Phil Griffin has signed with Rockhard Films and will be repped by Robin Frank Management.

Griffin has been one of the top video directors out of the UK, largely working with such pop acts as Westlife, Dannii Minogue, Daniel Bedingfield and Girls Aloud.

Griffin is best know in the US, however, for his Amy Winehouse videos "Rehab" and "No Good." He was recently with Anonymous Content, which produced his "Good Friends And A Glass Of Wine" video for Leann Rimes.

SHOT: LeAnn Rimes - Phil Griffin, director

Shot in Nashville...

artist: LeAnn Rimes
song: "Good Friend and A Glass Of Wine"
label: Curb
director(s): Phil Griffin
production co: Anonymous Content

NEW RELEASE: The Bravery "Something To Believe"

Bravery singer Sam Endicott spends much of this video either hoisted up by the crowd like some sort of champion — or Michael Stipe in "Drive" — or floating through them unnoticed like a ghost. Rest of the time he's on stage fronting the band and performing this catchy alt rock tune. The footage has a grittiness that's reinforced by an occasional effect that highlights various moments by rendering them as monochromatic  posters. --> watch "Something To Believe" via Yahoo

The Bravery "Something To Believe" (Island Def Jam)
Goodtimes, director | Jason Valen, producer | Draw Pictures, production co | Todd Somodevilla, DP | James Duffy @ Mad River Post, editor