Rendezvous
21 June 06 : 03.37 PM
Pitch Fork just released their 100 most awesome videos, compiling artists like A-ha, Grace Jones, DJ Shadow, Kraftwerk and Cee-Lo in a category that actually works. It almost reminds us that cats make great lovers, i am a material girl-just wanna have fu-un, and Busta Rhymes used to be cool once upon a time (like, ten years ago, to be precise), politics makes great satires, that the 80's lives on and on and on, and seeing children on milk cartons still forces out a tear or two.
One of the highlights (or at least, to me) has got to be David Brent's "If You Don't Know Me By Now". It features everything it takes to make a good ol' love loss themed music video; the wine, the all white outfit, staring into lover's picture (lover makes a cameo, wearing the same outfit as she does in the picture), a statue of Buddha on the set, minimalistic flower bouquet, and who can ever forget, setting a dove free in some place that looks remotely indoor? The video's a parody, without a doubt, but did this guy really release this song? I had this vague idea that this song was almost popular once.
Many of the videos there are disturbing at best, which I guess, accounts for their awesomeness. Herbie Hancock's Rockit (1983) is trippy and gave me a kind of wax museum nightmare kinda vibe, creepy but awesome still. One of his biggest hits but doesn't showcase any of his musical talents? Strange, but then again, it didn't hurt Britney.
According to the site, Jay-Z pioneered bling-flash-booty videos like those you see from 50 cent and the likes. This video took the virginity of MTV and the world will never be the same again. Don't anyone wish for Eazy-E or Nas anymore?
This video is kinda bizarre though. Do the Jackson brothers think that they're some kind of musical messiahs? What's up with the documentary-narrator-set-to-slight-echo-mode God voiceoever? Also, the sound effects remind of me of b-rated programmes like Star Trek that hog the least popular air-time in the afternoon. And the audience of bewildered faces pointing towards the divine light force which is Tito, is just so disturbing. But, having said that, it is a cool song, and it reminds us that the Jacksons are a bunch of very talented musicians. Plus, it was the eighties after all, and people then wore spandex that was unanimously considered cool.
Still I don't see (or hear) the resemblance between Kate Bush and Tori Amos, so the questionable claim that Tori ripped off Kate is douche and has the mental depth of a pool of water under the Tuscan sun. The difference between influence and rip off is not just in the euphenism, but in the commentator's cock-sucking abilities. But I digress. Anyhow, Kate is amazing in her own way, though I haven't acquired a taste for her and her music. This video is endearing in a kind of kid-sister-goes-for-first-musical-audition kind of way, and the song is hauntingly addictive.
However, I don't get My Chemical Romance's Helena being on the list. Although the choreography is great (anything synchronized looks halfway decent), doesn't the lead singer kinda look like a younger, gothic Jack Black with oily hair? Which brings its appeal down to ground zero. And it also means that this band will never be in my Music Video Hall of Fame, unless the lead singer gets a rhinoplasty or a hairstylist. And there's the Pipettes' live performance? Unless it's a music video pretending to be a live performance. I couldn't tell.
But two-thumbs up for the awesome-ness of Prince and the Smiths and Sinead O'Lesbian and the White Stripes and Snoop Dogg.
If I spent about 2 minutes on each video (although surely more for some that I watched the entire video, thrice), and there's a 100 of them, I just wasted 200 minutes = 3 hours & 20 minutes = slightly more than a quarter of a day (in which I need to sleep for 12 hours)...
Get me a life, please.
Post-Note: I think My Chemical Romance's video for "Ghost of You" reeks awesome-ness. It's a war video, right? So I'm not really biased. Plus, they've got a cute bassist that wears glasses, looking quite geeky, which is what I really like (as many people has observed).