Sylmer - "Perdus dans le temps"

Bad bad bad (2/10) Ce troisième disque que je mets en partage est dédié à mon père disparu le 12 janvier dernier. N' hésitez pas à me critiquer où à me faire un don symbolique / Another miss. And no progress since "Ultime cri". Unfortunately... The album has been released on Jamendo and is available for downloading in mp3 encoding format.

[Artist's Website]

Let's stay in the present: Skrillex - Summit (feat. Ellie Goulding)

No big story or a common theme this time. I just like this video. Maybe I'm getting old and seeing a record of such footloose partying brings me sweet memories and a general feeling of nostalgia? Or maybe it is just fun to watch people having fun? Nevertheless, the video perfectly fits the song and is really well done by the Pilerats Collective.

Skrillex - Summit (feat. Ellie Goulding)

Tired of Pellington? Let's see this: Jigsaw Soul - "Last Train Ride"

I've never heard of the band Jigsaw Soul, until accidentally having run into this video. Wait a minute... didn't I write something like that recently? Anyhow. They come from Williamsburg, New York, US and as they say about themselves: The music is an eclectic set of rhythmic styles, propelled by a deep undulating groove and layers of atmosphere that envelopes and ultimately haunts the listener. Live performances feature stunning widescreen digital graphics and are augmented by innovative contemporary dance. You can see below one example of such graphics, in the form of the music video Last Train Ride, shot (or - in this case - drawn) by the Turkish filmmaker Gokhan Okur. A really atmospheric piece, in my humble opinion. It won several well-deserved awards at short-film festivals around the world.

Jigsaw Soul - "Last Train Ride"

A countdown to Jeremy: P.M. Dawn - "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss"

Spandau Ballet - "True"

Surprised? Oh, you shouldn't be. P.M. Dawn is a hip-hop act, right? So it should be obvious they are copycats ripping off true artists, like (almost) all rappers do. And the above song is not the only one used in the P.M. Dawn's hit. It contains samples from The Soul Searchers' Ashley's Roachclip and the main drumbeat also samples from Eric B. & Rakim's Paid in Full. Even the lyrics are heavily inspired by other songs. The opening verse is influenced by the Joni Mitchell song The Boho Dance. The original "A camera pans the cocktail hour/ Behind a blind of potted palms" becomes "The camera pans the cocktail glass/ Behind a blind of plastic plants", and the line "Subterranean by your own design" is echoed as "Subterranean by design". In the second verse, they mention two hit songs from 1985. "Careless whisper from a careless man" refers to Careless Whisper by George Michael, and "A neutron dance for a neutron fan" makes reference to Neutron Dance by The Pointer Sisters. The line "Christina Applegate, you gotta put me on" is a reference to the song Bonita Applebum by A Tribe Called Quest. But, surprisingly and contrary to the majority of their fellow "MCs" (fuck you Coolio, fuck you Puff Daddy), they happened to be talented enough to add some value to the borrowed mixture of samples. And even more - Set Adrift On Memory Bliss is much much better than the bland Spandau Ballet's song. It is a truly nice catchy pop tune. With a classy well-fitting video by Mark Pellington (you lucky bastards!), still waiting for his Jeremy. But with the great gift of YouTube, you don't have to believe my words. You can check for yourself. Just push play. Oh, one more thing. Spandau Ballet lead singer Tony Hadley made a cameo in the video, appearing near the end of it. He had to be jealous as hell, but he masked it well.

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Disclaimer: No Wikipedia articles were hurt in making of this post, but some of them were extensively used.

Yet another Pellington: Crystal Waters - "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)"

The first real hit to be filmed by Mark Pellington. It peaked at number eight on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and at number two in the UK Singles Chart, and it went to number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. It was the highest-debuting single for a new act in the UK Singles Chart at that time. A simple dance tune would not be particularly memorable, if not for the infectious "la da da" chorus - catchy for some, annoying for others. Nevertheless, those were still the good old days when even dance songs had proper lyrics. As for the video - nothing spectacular here, either. It's purely utilitarian, but it does its job of illustrating a dance tune. Pellington had to wait one year more for a song great enough as to match the size of his video-making talent - Pearl Jam's Jeremy.

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Disclaimer: No Wikipedia articles were hurt in making of this post, but some of them were extensively used.

They did not deserve this: Information Society - "Repetition"

Let's continue exploring the portfolio of Mark Pellington, a brilliant music video director. The next video is from 1989 and comes from Information Society again. This time it is not upbeat synthpop, but a bland pop ballad. Nevertheless, the video is really good, perfectly corresponding with the nostalgic feel to the song. It is truly too good for them. But little did they know that in three years Mark Pellington would help send them, along with the rest of synthpop plague, to the garbage heap of history.

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Pellington again: Information Society - "What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)"

Generic synthpop - not much to listen to here, but the video is directed by Mark Pellington. Although the song is totally missable, Mr. Pellington did a good job here. Fake instruments fit perfectly the plastic-like feel and artificial nature of synthpop and overuse of bright colors corresponds well with the pop upbeat tune. Wikipedia says that the song achieved U.S. success when released in 1988, peaking at #3 on the Billboard pop charts in October. It is so good that the '80s lasted only ten years.

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