Sundance Channel

Tori Amos’ ‘Night of Hunters’ music video premiere

Perrin Drumm — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:00:41 +0000

On September 20th, platinum-selling singer-songwriter Tori Amos made her classical label debut with Night of Hunters (Deutsche Grammophon), a 21st century song cycle that draws on themes from Satie, Granados, Chopin and other great composers from the last 400 years. It's her twelfth studio album, and her first exclusively involving acoustic instruments. The songs are arranged for string quartet and flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bassoon and contrabassoon in various formations...

Fifty no-handed bike moves

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 21:30:04 +0000

"Golden Tree" by Martin Brooks from Ninian Doff on Vimeo.

A part of me sincerely believes that my life will be an utter failure if I never learn how to ride my bike without using my hands. I've practiced on and off since my youth, but fear of crashing and ruining my beautiful face overtakes the urge to ride sans hands. When I ride my bike up and down the West Side bike path in Manhattan, I burn with jealousy at my fellow New Yorkers who flaunt their no-hands bike riding ability...

Alternative music video for “Otis”

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:00:11 +0000

OTIS video from j lowe on Vimeo.

Last Thursday Jay Z and Kanye released the highly anticipated music video for the single "Otis" from their new collaborative album Watch the Throne (listen to the stream of the full album here). The video featuring the requisite models and a custom Maybach predictably mirrors the two rappers' lifestyle of, to quote Thorstein Veblen (and my high school economics teacher would be so proud of me for remembering this), "conspicuous consumption." As a guilty pleasure it's enjoyable, but I'm much more partial to the above alternative music video created by Justin Lowe, that stars two of my favorite childhood characters from the THE ADVENTURES OF MILO AND OTIS (nostalgic high five to those of you old enough to remember this awesome movie). But even if you're not familiar with it, The Internet should still love this alt music video because it has one thing that The Internet apparently can't get enough of: Cats.

Hey you! What song are you listening to?

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 14:15:19 +0000

Tyler Cullen stops random Manhattan pedestrians lost in their headphones and asks them what song they're listening to in this video. Conclusion: appearance is not always an indicator of musical taste.

Kanye music video animated with home-made GIFs

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 30 May 2011 15:17:46 +0000

KANYE WEST Power (Unofficial) from WE ARE FROM L.A on Vimeo. This music video for Kanye West’s “Power” by We Are From LA created with home-made animated GIF images is genius! I predict this “organic” and “grassroots” technique will be “borrowed” by a creative director for a commercial coming soon to you.

Death Cab video by Shepard Fairey

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 19 May 2011 17:45:44 +0000

Death Cab for Cutie bassist Nick Harmer reached out to the now-notable street artist and designer Shepard Fairey about creating a music video for their song “Home is a Fire.” The video piece above is the result, which unsurprisingly utilizes the artistic medium for which Shep is most well known for, and he explains the [...]

Student music video trains peers on recycling

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:00:46 +0000

Ever get frustrated when you see someone throwing away a recyclable item... right next to a recycling bin? Or throw a recyclable item in the wrong container? High school junior CJ Joseph certainly has, and has played the role of "recycling police" (or "recycling nazi" if you prefer) at Queens' The Renaissance Charter School: "If I see somebody I'm like, 'You're throwing that out in the wrong bin. Follow the signs people! I know you’ve heard it: Papers go in the blue (bins), and bottles in the green." But as many of us have learned, badgering only gets you so far... so CJ decided to apply her other passion, music, to her recycling fervor, and wrote the song "R to the E to the Cycle." If you read the lyrics, you'll see they're not much different from her "recycling police" instructions... but definitely more catchy!

Music video starring exploding cakes

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:01:55 +0000

To wake you up this Monday morning, Miles Jay and Derek Blais directed this official new music video for Autoerotique’s the electropop goodness “Turn Up the Volume” starring exploding cakes. Get those fist pumps in the air!

120 film titles, 30 friends, one-shot music video

Matthew Rodriguez — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 23:36:48 +0000

Rapper T.Shirt weaves 120 film titles into one cohesive song while wandering through the two-floors of the Angelika, my favorite theater in the City. And this video was also done in one-shot. As his t-shirt says, I think this video is MAD ILL. You can view a list of all the films name dropped in [...]

Music video: The Limousines, Very Busy People

Matthew Rodriguez — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 22:22:50 +0000

THE LIMOUSINES from Mathieu Wothke on Vimeo. Mathieu Wothke directed and produced this creative music video for The Limousines’ (catchy) song “Very Busy People.” It cleverly incorporates aspects of the multi-window technique seen popularly in Arcade Fire’s recent interactive film “The Wilderness Downtown” and this video for Japanese band Sour that I mentioned here. [Via]

Smells Like Teen Spirit casting call

Matthew Rodriguez — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 18:52:00 +0000

From the Internet Archives: the casting call for Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” music video. I like how inclusive it is (“…preppy, punk, nerd, jock…”).

Music video: Sunlight

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 23:00:09 +0000

Bag Raiders – ‘Sunlight’ from Modular People on Vimeo. Start the first year of the second decade of the 21st century off on an upbeat musical note with “Sunlight,” an awesome new song and cool music video (starring a Scarlett Johansson lookalike?) by Bag Raiders from their debut, self-titled album. This song, girl, video is [...]

A semi-alphabetical listing of Black actors with speaking roles on Friends

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 18:09:13 +0000

This rap video helpfully titled “A semi-alphabetical listing of Black actors with speaking roles on Friends” is one of the best video mash-ups I’ve seen this month. To paraphrase a YouTube commenter a version about Asian or Latino actors would be a shorter version.

Astounding Japanese online music “video”

Matthew Rodriguez — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 23:30:22 +0000

In a similar vein to “The Wilderness Downtown” which was a personalized “musical experience made specifically for the browser” in a collaboration between Google, Arcade Fire, and Chris Milk, this online music “video” (in the loosest terms) for Japanese band Sour is equally astounding. The load time is a bit tedious but the pay out [...]

Watch this: Sesame Street “Whip My Hair” mash up

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 21:36:29 +0000

I was whipping my hair back and forth when I first heard young Willow Smith’s catchy dance “Whip My Hair” some months back. This song blipped back on the radar this week and caused a buzz in the blogosphere when the official music video was released (Bradford posted it here as well). It’s good, but [...]

“Every Little Step” remake with Mike Tyson and Wayne Brady

Matthew Rodriguez — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 17:26:43 +0000

Every Little Step with Mike Tyson & Wayne Brady from Mike Tyson Apropos of nothing aside from laughter is this shot-for-shake remake starring Wayne Brady and Mike Tyson of Bobby Brown’s “Every Little Step.” One learning from this music video: for someone so quick and fleet in the ring, Mike Tyson is one terrible dancer.

Dance party song, “Barbra Streisand”

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:00:39 +0000

“Barbra Streisand” is an amazing dance song and video by D.J. duo Duck Sauce (A-Trak and Van Helden) that captures the love, with some irony and humor, the cool kids have for New York City. Watching it makes me want to put on my Reebok pump kicks, skinny jeans, Opening Ceremony shirt, and head to [...]

Watch this music video: Zowie’s Broken Machine

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 15:12:19 +0000

Zowie — Broken Machine from Special Problems on Vimeo. I’m backlogged with new music videos that I’ve been meaning to share with all y’all, but I’m trying to rectify that. Lately I’m really liking this new video directed by creative agency Special Problems for Zowie’s indie pop song “Broken Machine.” The music video has a [...]

Great “Baby Be Mine” cover by Danish duo

Matthew Rodriguez — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 22:43:22 +0000

I just recently discovered this soulful, sexytime cover of Danish R&B duo Quadron’s cover of Michael Jackson’s “Baby Be Mine.” Their low budget video’s warm and atmospheric visual fits nicely with the song. This effect was created using a Japanese Digital Harinezumi camera.

Finally! The summer jam of 2010 brought to you by Cee-Lo

Matthew Rodriguez — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:46:26 +0000

Although summer is rapidly coming to a close (thanks August rains and chilly evenings for reminding us! Note sarcasm.), Cee-Lo released what might be the summer jam of 2010 that everyone is talking about. Since its release just last Friday, this song is suddenly everywhere.

Music video: Swimsuit girls synchronized dancing. Like!

Matthew Rodriguez — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:04:52 +0000

I’m pretty obsessed right now with Mayer Hawthorne’s new and wondrous music video for his infectious song “Your Easy Lovin Ain’t Pleasin Nothin,” which I haven’t been able to get out of my head. I’d like to thank Jackson Perry & Henry DeMaio, the directors for making a Hype Williams video for the hipster set. [...]

Blue Notes jazz album covers come alive

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:26:22 +0000

Hi-Fi from bante on Vimeo. Iconic Blue Notes jazz album covers come alive in Hi-Fi, a creative music video promoting the concert season at Bellavista Social Pub in Siena, Italy. Another treat for jazz fans and aficionados can be found at a Japanese website, Vintage Vanguard where one can peruse all the covers for every [...]

OK Go’s latest video: 18 hours of dancing, 192 hours of timelapse, and 1 million frames

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:59:38 +0000

The masters of viral music video blockbusters, OK Go recently released their latest video for "End Love," directed by Jeff Lieberman and Eric Gunther, which is already rapidly approaching 1 million views on YouTube. Lieberman explains:

The fastest we go is 172,800x, compressing 24 hours of real time into a blazing 1/2 second. The slowest is 1/32x speed, stretching a mere 1/2 second of real time into a whopping 16 seconds. This gives us a fastest to slowest ratio of 5.5 million. If you like averages, the average speed up factor of the band dancing is 270x. In total we shot 18 hours of the band dancing and 192 hours of LA skyline timelapse – over a million frames of video – and compressed it all down to 4 minutes and 30 seconds! Oh and don’t forget, it’s one continuous camera shot.

Music video: Heaven can wait

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:00:23 +0000

The new music video for Charlotte Gainsbourg’s “Heaven Can Wait” in collaboration with Beck appeared to result from someone suggesting “Hey, lets throw every weird non sequitur imagery (including quite literally a stack-of-pancakes-headed man…mmm stack of buttery blueberry pancakes…) against a wall, set it to music, and call it day.” And you know what? It [...]

Music video: “LookListenFeel” featuring narration by Isabella Rossellini

Matthew Rodriguez — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:49:04 +0000

LookListenFeel from Broken Antler on Vimeo. I like this zenful music video for Maple Mountain Sunburst Triolian Orchestra’s “LookListenFeel” featuring narration by Isabella Rossellini (Sundance Channel’s Green Porno) of a poem by Laura Archera Huxley. The visuals were created in a collaboration between UK designer Broken Antler and Ben the Illustrator. [Hat tip: Christopher!]

Music video: I’ll Be Gone

Matthew Rodriguez — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:46:24 +0000

I’ll be gone from KORB on Vimeo. This great music video for Mario Basanov’s “I’ll be Gone” was directed by Rimantas Lukavicius. It begins deceptively simply, but it develops with a nice subtle “wow cool!” moment (look for it around the 1:50 mark) that also matches the song’s tone. It’s a fantastic and hypnotic concept.

An art lesson in a music video

Bradford Shellhammer — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:15:54 +0000

70 Million by Hold Your Horses ! from L'Ogre on Vimeo. “70 Million”, is a song by the Franco-American band Hold Your Horses! It takes viewers on a journey through art history reconstructing famous paintings. The look and feel is similar to our own Green Porno. It will make you smile. Mark my words.

Soft Spot’s “Half a House”

Perrin Drumm — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:51:36 +0000

SoftSpot - Half a House from Ryan Dickie on Vimeo.

In Brooklyn's independent music scene it seems like all you need to make something happen is a small group of friends working together in earnest. That's what it took for Brooklyn-based duo Soft Spot, anyhow, when Bryan Keller and Sarah Kinlaw, who are as sweet and charming as they are talented, teamed up with art director Molly Gottschalk and director Ryan Dickie to produce the music video for their new single "Half a House." Like any independent effort, the video was funded entirely by Keller and Kinlaw, who lugged lights and equipment and asked a lot of favors, like borrowing an amazing wardrobe from Malin Landaeus' Vintage Archive in Williamsburg.

Music video directed by Michel Gondry

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:52:39 +0000

Mia Doi Todd “Open Your Heart” dir. Michel Gondry from Viewers Like You on Vimeo. Michel Gondry recently directed this neat music video for LA musician Mia Doi Todd’s soulful “Open Your Heart” that features some massively color-coordinated people. It could practically be a commercial for Pantone.

Langhorne Slim, “Be Set Free”

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:50:06 +0000

Langhorne Slim – “Be Set Free” from Mog Dotcom on Vimeo. Sami Lill created and directed this awesome quirky animation set to Langhorne Slim’s hopeful song “Be Set Free.” If you’re having a tough day in the office this video and song will throw you a life line.

Music video: Small Black’s “Despicable Dogs”

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:00:48 +0000

Small Black: Despicable Dogs from Yoonha Park on Vimeo. I’m really digging this new music video for Brooklyn band Small Black’s song “Despicable Dogs” which stars the lead singer Josh Kolenik’s uncle Matt, who looks like he stepped straight out of DOGTOWN AND Z BOYS casting central. The song has a soothing and catchy tune [...]

Music video: Everything is Made in China

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:48:50 +0000

A simple, but neat music video for their song “Sleep-walking” by Russian band Everything is Made in China, or EIMIC. One blogger saw this band at the Illosaarirock Festival in Finland and recently wrote: EIMIC took the stage and absolutely mesmerized the entire crowd. 1000 people stood in perfect silence as the band fill the [...]

Music video: Music Go Music

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:10:38 +0000

Music Go Music’s sound echoes earlier pop acts, most notably ABBA, and in particular their song “Light of Love” seen performed live in this video evokes the style of that era. They’ve exploded the formulas from the inside out, sounding like a hundred others and no one else. ‘Light of Love’ is a true celebration [...]

Music Video: Land of Talk

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:47:24 +0000

Canadian duo WeWereMonkeys weren’t monkeying around in this music video they directed for Land of Talk’s hauntingly wistful “It’s Okay.” The video’s contemplative concept seems to perfectly capture the song’s pensive pace in a surprising and visually gorgeous style. Excuse me now while I manfully wipe my tears away and blow my nose. WeWereMonkeys: Land [...]

Music video: Grizzly Bears

Matthew Rodriguez — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:35:21 +0000

Brooklyn band Grizzly Bears’ (previously) latest music video for “Ready, Able” from their third album Veckatimest features some freaky stop-motion claymation. Directed by artist Allison Schulnik, the video’s intentionally raw and unrefined aesthetic reflects Schulnik’s style evident in her art. When asked about her technique, she explained: “I over-indulge. I really just make work and [...]

Music video: The Roots, “How I Got Over”

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:15:56 +0000

Legendary hip hop group The Roots remind us that they’re still a force to be reckoned with despite their mainstream-friendly daily duties backing up Jimmy Fallon as his house band. From their upcoming album of the same name, “How I Got Over” blends a socio-political message about brotherhood and lending a helping hand where “someone [...]

Music video: Beni feat. Sam Sparrow, “Maximus”

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:30:46 +0000

A fun music video directed by Warran and Rhett of Moop Jaw featuring sassy kids break dancing to this electro-pop song, “Maximus” by Beni and Sam Sparrow. [Via]

Music video: Uffie, “Pop the Glock”

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:45:32 +0000

American-born, French rapper and singer Uffie recently debuted her first music video for her catchy song “Pop the Glock.” If the song sounds familiar it might be because it received some attention when it first came out in 2006, but even three years later (eons in Internet time or “hella old” as one YouTube commentor [...]

Music video: Cinnamon Chasers, “Luv Deluxe”

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:18:46 +0000

This is one of my favorite music videos I’ve seen all week. Slightly NSFW, Saman Keshavarz directed this sexy concept for Cinnamon Chasers’ catchy song “Luv Deluxe.” Shot in HD first-person POV, watch closely as the viewer is presented with three different scenarios of a road trip, which correspond to different personalities. Cinnamon Chasers – [...]

Blitz the Ambassador

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:30:40 +0000

I've been watching on repeat lately the music video for Brooklyn rapper Blitz the Ambassador's single "Breathe" from his new album Stereotype, an iTunes Hip-Hop top ten chart (without label support! Dang, someone sign him UP! ). Before moving to the States for college at Kent State University, Blitz's musical style was strongly informed and influenced by his experience growing up in Ghana surrounded by the sounds of Afro-Beat and Highlife, as well as playing djembe in drum circles. Speaking of style, if "Breathe" is any indication, he's got that and then some. The music video and the sound, backed by his band Embassy Ensemble, is brimming with head-nodding, shoulder-shaking, foot-tapping energy. Blitz recently composed the original score to the PBS documentary, BRONX PRINCESS, which chronicles a Bronx-bred teenager, Rocky Otoo's journey from New York City to Ghana to reunite with her chief father.

Music video: Phenomenal Handclap Band, “15 to 20″

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:32:00 +0000

Check out the music video from Phenomenal Handclap Band (“a genre-breaking Manhattan/Brooklyn collective…that shifts from rock to disco to psychedelia without hitting the brakes”) for their single “15 to 20.” Director Moh Azima combines 8 split-screens in this video shot throughout New York City. Phenomenal Handclap Band “15 to 20″ Official Video from friendly fire [...]

Music video: Firefly Effect, “All The Jokes Are On Me”

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:54:52 +0000

I enjoyed the un-distilled and amateurish flickering animation in the video for Firefly Escape’s “All the jokes are on me.” It took a very dedicated and patient director David Mahler four months to illustrate the 1,640 hand drawn and water-colored frames used in the video. Firefly Effect – All The Jokes Are On Me from [...]

Music video: Kings of Convenience, “Boat Behind”

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:06:38 +0000

The video for popularly indie (no paradox there) duo Kings of Convenience’s soothing single “Boat Behind” from their new album Declaration of Dependence plays like the ultimate stereotypical hipster guy’s fantasy: Erlend and Eirik with their shaggy hair styles and requisite big frame glasses go on a road trip in an old unsexy car, a [...]

Colorful music video for Ólafur Arnalds

Matthew Rodriguez — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:47:27 +0000

Argentine Esteban Diåcono created this beautiful video of weaving ephemeral bursts of colors resembling paint brush strokes for Ólafur Arnalds’ song “Ljósið.”Arnalds saw this and liked it so much that he adopted it as the official music video. Watch it as your moment of zen today. Ólafur Arnalds – Ljósið (Official Music Video) from Erased [...]

Music video for “I Got Opinions”

Matthew Rodriguez — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:37:25 +0000

Greg Johnson’s music video for his catchy single “I Got Opinions” from Seven Day Cure takes the viewer on a fun animated “down-the-rabbit-hole journey” through a plethora of trippy and whimsical landscapes. I really enjoyed the different animation and visual styles employed throughout the video, which was the result of eight different contributing artists from [...]

They Might Be Giants teach science

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:57:30 +0000

Science class is in session with Grammy award winning band They Might Be Giants as they teach the periodic table elements in this animated music video for “Meet the Elements” which debuted on Boing Boing. This song is from their new album Here Comes Science, which is aimed at entertaining and educating (or “edumataining”) children [...]

Brasstronaut, “Old World Lies” music video

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:30:42 +0000

“Motion picture collective focusing on music videos and narrative films,” Salazar and band Brasstronaut took to the open water for three days to create this neat aquatic video for “Old World Lies.” Brasstronaut – Old World Lies from Salazar on Vimeo. [Via]

Food comes alive in this music video

Matthew Rodriguez — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:07:23 +0000

Matilda Tristram created this whimsical and playful stop-motion animated music video for band Omo. Playing with food never seemed so fun! I especially like the jump roping meatball. Omo – Oversized from LOAF on Vimeo. [Via]

Typo animation of Tom Waits’ “Eggs and Sausage”

Matthew Rodriguez — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:30:51 +0000

Jackie Lay animates the lyrics of Tom Waits “Eggs and Sausage” from his 1975 album Nighthawks at the Diner. She captures the familiar typography of the neon signs and menus that one finds in nearly all diners regardless of regions. Watching this makes me nostalgic for the Village Inn diner in Anchorage, Alaska that my [...]

Bear love: Grizzly Bear fan animates new video

Bradford Shellhammer — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:37:00 +0000

Two Weeks – Grizzly Bear from Gabe Askew on Vimeo. The gay indie rock band Grizzly Bear are darlings of the press and members of Radiohead consider them the best band in the world. While not your typical gay music, the band’s songs are layered and melodic and float in beautiful ways. It’s complex pop-rock [...]