I love music videos. They are a fantastic medium for artists to develop beyond their sound and live shows, and can ground an artist’s mood or message for the new or perplexed listener. In recent years they have certainly fallen out of favor with big media, and while I miss them being a staple of popular television I will not fool myself into thinking I would tune in nowadays to watch the latest Top 40 videos if they were more prevalent.
Like everyone of my generation and before, my first exposure to music videos was through MTV. When I think of MTV, I think of the Carson Daly TRL years – when millions of faux rebellious, nu-metal weirdoes (like I was) would tune in after school to see if Korn or Limp Bizkit beat out N’Sync or Brittney Spears for the number one video spot. This was also before the internet had taken over my life, so if I wanted to see the videos for the bands I liked this was my option. Well, I discovered one other option – waking up at 5:30AM before school to watch the early morning MTV video roll, hoping to catch ‘Freak on a Leash’ before I had to run for the bus. While I only watched TRL for one or two years tops and don’t look forward to the next Fred Durst release any longer, what I found on these early morning video rolls has stuck with me and exposed quite a few gateway-artists for me. These include:
- Aphex Twin – Come to Daddy
- Death in Vegas - Dirt
- Radiohead – Karma Police
- Reel Big Fish – Sell Out
- Unsane – Scrape
Not especially ‘underground’, but being in an agricultural community in Central Washington with one top 40 radio station, this was a pretty out-there mix. In the case of the songs above, it was my first exposure to the artist.
I quit watching MTV almost entirely around 2002, but I still got my music video kick through other methods; mainly, p2p networks like Scour or Kazaa. I remember almost getting suspended for downloading Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Into the Void’ video during my high school typing class (what a trouble maker!). I would also buy complete video releases by artists (Marilyn Manson’s comes to mind) – but while I loved targeting videos for artists I already enjoyed, I did miss the random discovery aspect of watching early morning MTV.
I soon discovered a new source for music videos, and where all my part-time job money went: VHS compilations put together by record labels – especially the punk rock ‘Cinema Beer Nuts’ and ‘Cinema Beer Belly’ compilations from Hopeless Records. This was my first exposure to music videos that were not approved by MTV for content or capital - and the off-beat themes, DIY production, and riotous concert footage won my heart immediately. Below are a couple of my favorites from the Cinema Beer Nuts series:
- AFI – He Who Laughs Last
- Goober Patrol – The Biggest Joke
- Horace Pinker – Pop Can Park
- Lunachicks – Don’t Want You (more produced, still great)
And then I went to college. My tastes have certainly expanded, to nearly an eclectic-meets-schizophrenic extent, but with virtually no influence from music videos.
Recently, thanks to Youtube and unemployment, I have been digging for much more ‘new’ music than usual. I came upon the soulfully lo-fi How to Dress Well, and his spectacular video for ‘Ready for the World’ a couple of weeks ago and it has completely turned me back on to the effect a music video can have on a song. Another of my favorite recent discoveries, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti also really brings on the uncomfortable with their videos for ‘For Kate I Wait’ and ‘Politely Declined’. My greatest inspirations, however, have been fan videos like this one for the Sunn O))) track ‘Hunting & Gathering (Cydonia)’.
Two projects come to mind with this newfound interest in music videos. First, a basic compilation of fan produced or low budget videos based around certain genres/ themes. Not too innovative but possibly a fun collection.
The next idea is a bit more ambitious. I was thinking it would be interesting to put together a short or feature length film of artists collaborating over one theme or story. The songs would flow from artist to artist, song to song – but the story structure and form could be abstract or linear, depending on the project. One manifestation of this could be one artist finishes their song and part of the video and then passes it on to a different artist to elaborate upon. The new videos could be released periodically on a website, and the website could have a variety of themes. This could be a very interesting ‘living art’ project that could cross many genre and subject boundaries.
The other manifestation could be a completed film that is divided into parts for interested bands to interpret. This form would be most interesting to me with a more abstract theme/story, and would also probably require communication among the artists to achieve the best result.
Or, a combination of both ideas: short, serialized, soundless videos are produced and sent off to different interested parties to interpret musically. Either way, I'll look into my own fan video for something to recruit others for this project. We’ll see.
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