"Stay Up Late" Talking Heads

By the release of the 1985 album Little Creatures; it was safe to say that Talking Heads had somewhat accepted their newfound mainstream popularity. Brian Eno was no longer producing their albums and it appeared that dadaism and art-rock were going to have to go on the back-burner (or should I say back-byrner omg lol rimshot) for more traditional (but still way ahead of the curve) pop music. It seemed like David Byrne realized this and came to the conclusion that filmmaking would be his new means of artistic expression. The 1980 video for Once in a Lifetime directed by and starring the man showcased his burgeoning talents behind the camera :

The video though for Stay Up Late is as equally entertaining and unique even though it comes off the far less interesting album. Being that the song is an obvious narrative about a family and its newborn baby it would've been the easy choice to frame the video as a sugary comedy. Instead Byrne chooses to depict him and his bandmates suspended in harnesses being pulleyed up and down; sometimes in slow-motion and sometimes in a squishy lens.

What struck me as truly interesting about watching this video 25 years after its release is how dated it doesn't feel. Whereas the Once in a Lifetime video is still absolutely wonderful, Byrne's dabbling in visual art throughout screams "Woah, 30 years ago!" but the Stay Up Late video still holds a unique power. Making a three-minute and forty-four-second non-sequitur that defiantly has no actual relation to the song or any real story to tell makes it inherently interesting and stand-out amongst all the INXS and Paula Abdul (okay maybe not that one where she dances with the animated cat) videos of the time. Byrne was able to pull off a tone-poem of a music video, kudos. And interestingly enough his videos contained far more visual prowess that his actual attempt at feature films; the oddly static 1986 motion picture True Stories.

"The Cell" (dir. Tarsem Singh, 2000)

Tarsem Singh, most famous for R.E.M.'s very effective Losing My Religion video made his feature film debut ten years ago with The Cell. The film serves almost as a predecessor to Christopher Nolan's Inception as it's a science-fiction thriller that deals with going inside someone's mind. Whereas the critics of Nolan's film pointed out that his straight-forward and non-surreal approach to the subconscious betrayed the very potential of the film, I would much rather see his realistic depiction of the dreamworld than Tarsem's over-designed, cliché depiction.

The Cell tries to present itself as a visionary work with its imagery and attempt at psychoanalysis but only ends up further revealing itself as one giant cliché. Take a look at this very example of Tarsem's "visionary" imagery :

There's absolutely nothing in this scene (or entire film for that matter) that I haven't seen in a Nine Inch Nails or Marilyn Manson video before. I am all for a film that revels in imagery, mood and atmosphere but you have to give me something genuinely interesting. Within a music video you can tell a story entirely through bombastic visuals (or even with the help of the actual song some times, hey) but 106 minutes of shallowness becomes incredibly grating. With his next feature, The Fall, Tarsem was at least able to mature his storytelling abilities but unfortunately his visuals remained as typically music video-ish as ever. I'm not doubting that the man has talent, because his aforementioned "Losing My Religion" video proves that. Within 4 minutes and 45 seconds Tarsem tell a more thematically compact and compelling story than either of his two features. His subversion of religious imagery actually feels interesting and powerful. I will leave you with it so as not to be a complete downer.

"Scream" Michael and Janet Jackson (dir. Mark Romanek)

Having over the weekend seen Mark Romanek's kind of masterful (I hate using that word because I'm wanting to avoid hyperbole) new film, Never Let Me Go; I felt it was appropriate to take a look at one of his most classic videos. Of course, this video has to be the absolute farthest from his ethereal and haunting third feature. It was famous for being the most expensive video of all-time at the point of its release and came only a few years after the child molestation accusations against Jackson. So what do you do to combat all the negative media coverage and potentially career-ending scandal? You go into a spaceship goddammit!

Jackson usually came up with the concepts for his videos; this time to though he left it up to emerging music video-visionary Romanek. Being what had blown everybody away from this guy was Nine Inch Nails' groundbreaking yet uber-controversial and disturbing Closer video, this had to be a risky choice. You needed something rather upbeat and feather-light to remind people of Jackson the entertainer and not the creepy potential-pedo whom was magically changing colors. The concept behind this is essentially that Jackson, to escape the media, goes up to his magical spaceship with his sister where they play pong and flippantly observe art. The video is pretty damn silly and a bit of a relic of its time; that being said though Romanek was truly onto something aesthetically.

The big accomplishment is truly that the video is pretty much aware of its own ridiculousness; its wear the fakeness and plastic feeling of its setting on its sleeve. It's understood that while being a song about the frustration that comes with dealing with the vulture-like media, at the end of the day it's still a vapid pop song. Romanek is never intending to homage 2001 : A Space Odyssey here; if anything it's a celebration of how ridiculous it really is to be a celebrity.

"Baptism" Crystal Castles

Crystal Castles, the Canadian electronic duo released their aptly-titled second album Crystal Castles II earlier this fall to much hype and excitement because well duh, Crystal Castles I was awesome and shit. Anyway, the video (the first of which comes off the new album to my knowledge) is here.

Baptism employs the whole lo-fi aesthetic that's all the rage these days, even though the band themselves would never reach a fidelity below "high". The particular style is no doubt thanks to the influence of Eric Wareheim (one half of Tim & Eric) who has slowly been taking the indie music video scene by storm with efforts such as Major Lazer's Hold the Line and MGMT's The Youth. The actual video though (unless otherwise noted) isn't directed by Wareheim but it becomes quite noticeable when you really fixate on it.

The video for Baptism clocks in at 2 minutes and 50 seconds; over a minute shorter than as the song appears on the album. Crystal Castles would never be considered a progressive electronic band; it's not as if there's no artistry within their music, it's just that they make up for lack of length with actual depth within their sound. No song may be as long or groaningly self-referentially titled as Daft Punk's Too Long but there's just as damn much going on. This applies to the video as well; it's brevity gives itself the image that its handling of strange imagery is just obligatory; but it's actually quite powerful.

The female half, Alice Glass, who seems to almost be going for a darker-Karen O. dances rapidly but not enthusiastically against projected images; some of them herself and some of her fellow bandmate. The effect is not necessarily surreal, but it is hypnotic. It doesn't try too hard to wow you or be about something but in its abbreviated form it compliments the song perfectly.