Midnight Man and the Okoboji Girl

Web-based video sites like YouTube and Vimeo are a god-send for audiophiles like myself. Whether it be revisiting some of your favorite music videos from childhood, checking out classic interviews from the past, or watching bands perform live that were around before your time  - these sites have it all. Despite all these unearthed, invaluable treasures, my favorite online music related video has remained the same the past few years, and it has nothing to do with Bob Dylan, Husker Du, or Archers of Loaf. In fact, the video is not even in the same vein of entertainment.

Dope Body at SXSW 2012

I didn’t have time to write a formal blog this week (my excuse: four Spurs games in five days), so I thought I’d post a video I took during my week at SXSW in Austin, Texas. I only took two videos (check out the insanity of the Supreme Dicks here), and I was fortunate enough to capture a song during Dope Body’s set at The Whiskey Bar.  Although the audience left much to be desired in the form of energy, the band made up for it with spastic-bombast that demanded your attention.  I took a spot next to the stage and became quickly mezmerized by guitarist Zach Utz’s pedal work, tweaking and fiddling with his pedals throughout the show.   Now I just need to see them in an audience of real fans (and less pretension).

Video Clip of the Week: Scott Weiland “Winter Wonderland”

Not since the birth of Christ himself has a miracle of this magnitude blessed the human race. Yes folks, that dream we’ve had since the first time our ears were graced with the sounds of “Plush” has finally come true: Scott Weiland has released a Christmas album. Oh, and it’s just as grand as we all hoped. No, this isn’t the swarthy, brooding drug-addled asshole we grew up both loving and hating at the same time; this is a gentleman’s Scott Weiland.  Imagine if Bing Crosby opted to take heroin over beating his children – yes, you’ve just reached the pinnacle of Weiland’s croon-tacular Christmas spectacular. And the video for “Winter Wonderland” offers even more hopes and dreams for all of us “Mad Men” fans. Don’t be surprised if a smooth talking Scott Weiland makes an appearance next season, upstaging Don Draper with his pure sex appeal and respectful demeanor.  Weiland is a man about town on a one horse sleigh (let’s just hope it’s not a “white horse”).

Video Clip of the Week: Me nombre es Eddie Vedder

One look at a list of this fall’s new television shows and it is once again made clear how unoriginal Hollywood is these days. “Charlies Angels”? Again? Oh, but one is black this time, so that makes it different, right? Oooh, but there’s a new Tim Allen show about a man being a man! (cue animal sounds). The critics seem to like “Pan Am”, a show about 1960s stewardesses making it in a male chauvinistic world. That’s TOTALLY different from “Mad Men” because it’s about women in the 60s…not men! Go get’em gals!

But the new show that has been overdone beyond necessity is Simon Cowell’s “X-Factor”.  He claims that it will be a completely new twist on the singing competition, but one look at the line-up of judges and it’s pretty obvious that not much has changed.  Sure, America loves a good singing competition, but why not truly do something different? Take Chile’s show “Me Nombre Es…” where Chileans step onto the stage and try imitating American music icons. Just check out this clip of Javier Diaz, some dude from Chile who wails out the best Eddie Vedder impression I’ve ever heard.

Watch out Eddie…don’t forget how easily Journey ditched Steve Perry for a Filipino kid.

Video Clip of the Week: Fucked Up at Chaos in Tejas 2011

Back in June I attended the Chaos in Tejas music festival in Austin, and needless to say, it was a blast. I saw a ton of great artists, and even the mediocre bands were fun to watch because, frankly, the festival caters to performers that throw caution to the wind. Fucked Up, a band that performed with reckless abandon (at least Pink Eye) were the highlight of the weekend for me.    My outpouring of enthusiasm led me to the front of the stage (i.e. the Pink Eye fueled pit) and as a result I didn’t film the show. Fortunately, someone did capture the event and finally posted it a few weeks ago.

For those that know what I look like, you can find me in there, especially if you’re a “Where’s Waldo?” ace:

Pink Eye has some of the best crowd interaction I’ve seen in a while out of a front-man (hugging them, bouncing off them, and at one point, pile-driving them) but one small aspect of the show seemed odd. Since he spent 97% of the show in the audience (this figure could be off by 1-3%) a guy stood on the stage holding the mic cable in the air and guiding it over the crowd, following Pink Eye’s path like it was some type of live action “Family Circus” cartoon.  I’ve seen many artists take the mic into the crowd, but never have a seen a mic chord wrangler and something about it bothered me. The rampant chord is part of the punk rock experience, choking, tripping, and clotheslining fans.  I’d hate to suggest Pink Eye go wireless, but there has to be a middle ground.

Or I could just shut up and enjoy the show.

Video Clip of the Week: Chad VanGaalen “Peace On the Rise”

Not only do I love Chad VanGaalen’s “Peace On the Rise,” but the video has become a borderline obsession in recent weeks. I find myself thinking about the scenes from the video constantly, trying to figure out exactly what is going on.

Check it out below (I have more to say after your viewing as to avoid a spoiler alert):

Pretty trippy, right? But it’s not wacked-out in the same way as J. Mascis’s recent video for “Not Enough” which seemed more about just being zany than actually conveying a message. No, I can’t help but feel these two alien’s odyssey to another planet for magical seeds/eggs has a purpose beyond simply being bizarre. VanGaalen also does all the drawings for the video, so this wasn’t some artists creating an interpretation; this is his message in visuals. If you look at some of his other videos, the storyline is pretty straightforward. In the case of “Peace On the Rise,” not so much.

“Molten Light” for example is just two rapist/murderers getting haunted by their victim. Simple enough:

The video starts with two hippie/tribal/aliens preparing for a journey to another planet in search of what we later find out to be some type of seed/egg that a craw-dad looking bug secretes. This task does not seem to be for their tribe or as part of some job because their send-off consists of just the two of them in a modest little spaceship. As they lift-off, a wide shot of the landscape exposes a bumpy, red surface that almost resembles a brain.

The two arrive at their destination and sit around a fire, a commonplace act for weary travelers throughout time.  But then, as they stare into the blue embers, one of the travelers suddenly slips into what could only be described as a trip. His eyes float out of his head and he soon transforms into a full on hallucination. This moment is punctuated by the lyrics “We can sit around this fire, and let our spirits ride on out.”  We later see them smoking some form of cigarette but I’m not so sure they are druggies. Is this some type of spirit quest?

The travelers go on to seek out the bird that happens to feed on the bug in question.  Upon finding one, they vacuum up the bugs Ghost Busters style. The next image is of the aliens next to a waterfall, with one rubbing a sonar device against the other’s head (this device is connected to their little vacuum box).  In an instant, the one receiving the cat scan transforms into a giant version of the bug they sucked up. Did this guy want to be a bug? Or is his partner tricking him in order to feast on him or the GIANT eggs/seeds he creates? Are the seeds a form of drug and the other alien runs a drug cartel?  Or is the alien like a transsexual, always feeling deep down that he was meant to be a giant bug?  Have they simply gone crazy from the “interstellar space that got broken in” to their psyche? The lyrics speak of regret, so maybe becoming a giant bug is some type of sacrificial suicide?

Then, just as you’re trying to figure out why this guy wanted to be a giant bug, the screen jumps to 40 seconds of the trippiest cartoon imagery ever assembled: a melting tree, pyramids, smoking coffee mugs, faces coming out of faces.  Has he died? Is this heaven? Hell? Or has becoming a giant bug led to the worlds greatest trip?

We’ll never know any of these answers, but I will take comfort that now you, the reader, will be haunted by “the same dream every night” the same way I have been since first viewing this video. Enjoy the torment!