Music Video: “Lost In the World” By Kanye West featuring Bon Iver
Better late than never. Last week Kanye West released his music video for “Lost in the World,” featuring Bon Iver off of 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasty; better know after the Grammys as Bonny Bear. Apparently it took months to get it done, which should not be surprising if you’ve read anything about West’s recording processes - he demands perfection. I’m glad that the music video was made for this song because “Lost in the World” is such a dynamic song both in the way he uses the samples (from Bon Iver and Gil Scott-Heron) and juxtaposes it with the strong beats that almost demand for some call and response. The video is black and white and features Kanye West with some dancers leaving the clips open to interpretation.
About 4 weeks ago Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. released a music video for “We Almost Lost Detroit.” This was around the time of my birthday and hiatus but I would be doing a disservice by not posting it now. “We Almost Lost Detroit” is a cover of the powerful spoken-word musician Gil-Scott Heron but it’s probably one of the most thought-out and well-produced covers and music videos that I have seen in awhile. Gil-Scott Heron samples have popped up in a lot of rap (i.e. Drake, Common, and Kanye West), so it is refreshing to see a cover that keeps the message of the song intact (though not intended to draw comparison to Gil-Scott Heron) while adding a new musical dimension to the track. As for the video itself, it is very simple, as mentioned it keeps to the message of the song. It is just regular people going through their daily routine at work while the duo plus drummer rock out in a UPS-like truck and later on stage. I love this cover and it is one of my favorite tracks off of Something Corporate. Plus, it is currently my ringtone.
Here is Gil-Scott Heron’s “We Almost Lost Detroit” a great piece of art:
What’s the hype behind Of Monsters and Men?
I usually don’t post things that I do not like unless it is part of a live music review but for the past week I’ve been trying to understand the hype behind “Of Monsters and Men.” I have heard their debut album My Head is an Animal a few times and their current single “Little Talks,” which I like. Trust me, I really want to love them but I’m not too sure if I even like them.
Maybe it’s because there are a few other bands who do the chanting, call-response, storytelling folk sound a lot better than this band (i.e. Grouplove, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Noah and the Whale, Alexander, earlier albums of Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s, and even local Austin band, East Cameron Folklore). Maybe it’s because there is nothing captivating and lyrically, I hate to say it, it is glazed with wordy and pretentious undertones.
I love this type of music but honestly track after track they lay out not-so-memorable songs besides their single. To be blunt, they bore me into a vegetative state. Don’t get me wrong, co-singers Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar “Raggi” Þórhallsson have beautiful voices but I think I would appreciate the music more without the voices/lyrics. I know I am in the minority opinion about this group so enlighten me as to why you like them.
Music video for “Little Talks,” the one song I do like and everyone else when mentioning this band. :
Yellow Ostrich released their music video for “Marathon Runner.” I have been addicted to that song since they released it as their first single off of Strange Land, which was released in March. Lyrically, their album Strange Land is a lot darker than their debut release but it still keeps the playful side that the band brings in their records and live performances. The “Marathon Runner” music video is a perfect fit not only for the song but also the motifs that run throughout the album. It is a simple; the video has two kids running rampant causing a little chaos while having a lot of fun. I mean, who doesn’t love a little bit of “innocent” entertainment?
Flashback - Thriller by Michael Jackson
This past weekend I found Thriller by Michael Jackson while shuffling through used records at my local record restore. I was immediately filled with excitement and a lot of nostalgia. Though the video for the song “Thriller” was made a few years before I was born, it was still playing often after it was released. I must have watched the music video for it as often as the television would play it. Even now to think about the album as still one of the most sold in history is astonishing. The music video for the song Thriller was pretty innovative for a music video in the 80s. I can’t recall too many short film music videos around that time. Now it seems to be a main gimmick.
Watch the music video for “Thriller” below:
Bon Iver - Towers (Official Music Video) from Bon Iver on Vimeo.
Some people might find the music of Bon Iver to be too slow or not like Justin Vernon’s peculiar falsetto, which I find alluring, has the ability to evoke happy and sad emotions, and his music is good on a very calming and intellectual level.
Check out the video Towers from his recent self-titled LP. It’s soundscape and landscape are gorgeous.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Simple Song OFFICIAL VIDEO - The Shins
The Shins released the video for the first single “Simple Song” off of their upcoming album Port of Morrow. After watching the video, it made me like the single even more. It’s fun, malicious, and facetious. What a great video. It is currently not available on stream but you can download it for free off iTunes.
M. Ward will be releasing A Wasteland Companion in April. I’m loving the single “The First I Ran Away” and the animated short video that accompanies it. M. Ward is a beast when it comes to making soft-compelling tracks.
This video came out last week but I didn’t want to flood the social media mediums with this video again as it was being posted back to back to back. So in case you missed it, check out “You Know What I Mean” by Cults. As usual, the video is dark and mildly disturbing (like most of their music videos) but there is story to be told and it’s visually stunning.
Keeping up with Grammy-related music, here is the new video for Ni** in Paris.
I’m still kicking myself for not seeing Jay-Z and Kanye during their Watch the Throne tour in Dallas. I caught Kanye West at ACL playing off his My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy record but that just wasn’t as satisfying as seeing two kings of their genre do their thang. I guess this video will have to suffice; Love this video. Love this song.
