UNKLE-Rabbit In Your Headlights directed by Jonathan Glazer

Justice-Stress directed by Romain Gavras

Jus†ice, Stress from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

M.I.A.-Born Free

The video for M.I.A.'s new song "Born Free", viewable over on her website and on Pitchfork (it has been removed from YouTube in the U.S. already, as M.I.A.'s Twitter points out.) It was directed by Romain Gavras.

WARNING: IT IS EXTREMELY GRAPHIC AND VIOLENT AND NOT SAFE FOR WORK.

Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce-Telephone

Jason Kottke has speculated that this may be "the last great music video". Whether it is or not who knows? If you add Gaga, Beyonce, Kill Bill references and a ridiculous amount of product placement then it all equals postmodern perfection.

M.I.A.-Boyz

This post links to the Rihanna Rude Boy post. Diplo's remix is a way of commenting on Rihanna's video debt to M.I.A.

Via Twitter, Mad Decent majordomo/superstar DJ Diplo kinda slammed the new video for Rihanna’s “Rude Boy” as a rip-off of his homey M.I.A’s “Boyz” clip (comparing the two, he does kinda have a point, but decide for yourself). Then, adding humor to injury, the dance-music merry prankster tweeted a download link to his new, irreverent remix of “Rude Boy” just a few hours later. It’s just amazing what that there Interweb can do!

True to this being a Diplo gag, even when he’s making an musical joke he can’t help but make it a total club banger. It’s kinda been eclipsed due to his current accomplishments, but with his Philadelphia Hollertronix crew, Diplo was one of the early innovators of mash-up culture, and that’s exactly what he’s done here, blending “Boyz” (which is also one of his productions) into “Rude Boy” in classic mash-up style. Not only does it add a punchline, but the extra element makes the Rihanna track that much hotter: the pounding carnival kick drums and “na-na-na” from the M.I.A groove give “Rude Boy” a raw, sweaty urgency that the poptastic original only hints at. The end result of this hybrid is as loud, shrill, and dancefloor-filling as those blaring rave sirens that Diplo laces nearly track wit (but, oddly, not this one). So is this remix a rude gesture? Probably, but who cares? It’s definitely essential. Stuttering, insane, and irresistible, it’s surely on its way to to a strip club near you…

From kspace.tv

Rihanna-Rude Boy

The latest single from Rihanna isn't too dissimilar to the Busy Signal track in terms of content. The remixes of the track particularly the duet with Assassin are closer to the dancehall style of Busy Signal.Interesting to note in the video how Rihanna is channeling both Keith haring and Grace Jones. The video also owes a debt to M.I.A.s work. Diplo's remix of Rude Boy refers to this.

Foals: Spanish Sahara

Foals return with Spanish Sahara.

Six minutes of arresting beauty, the song inhabits a still, dry space, with simple, understated guitar chords providing a strong and emotive melody. Yannis’s haunting vocals set a hazy, hallucinatory soundscape, climaxing into a rush of shimmering guitars and keys.

I’m the fury in your head, I’m the fury in your bed, I’m the ghost in the back of your head.

Postmodern music/ Postmodern Thought by Joseph Henry Auner, Judith Irene Lochhead

Field Music - Them That Do Nothing

Vampire Weekend-Cousins

Vampire Weekend have just released a video for their previously announced single "Cousins," following last month's release of "Horchata." The track is available from XL digitally now, and will be available on 7" December 15th. It will also appear on their highly anticipated new record Contra, available January 12th. The Garth Jennings-directed video is a low budget but creative piece filmed in what appears to be a New York City alleyway. There's a brief moment about halfway in that references Bob Dylan's classic "Subterranean Homesick Blues" cue card video clip, and the track ends on a defiant note: regular bell is the new cowbell.

Grizzly Bear-Ready,Able

As a taster to the work we will do on Warp as an institution this is the lastest video for the American indie band Grizzly Bear (who are by no means representative of Warp as a label). Stop motion is used to great effect in this video.

Lies by Fenech-Soler

Fever Ray-When I Grow Up

The Smashing Pumpkins-Tonight,Tonight & Le voyage dans la lune-George Méliès

'Tonight, Tonight' a track from the 1995 double album 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness'. The video takes its inspiration from "Le voyage dans la lune" by George Méliès. The film is the first ever example in the science fiction genre. The film is included below for your consideration. What is remarkable is that an idea thought noteworthy and groundbreaking in 1902 can find an audience through a new version, in a new setting 90 plus years later. It has a certain melancholy charm that works well with the song.

Black Lips-O Katrina

Worth including for the simplicity of the images, the editing, the use of colour and the brilliant song.

Analysing Music Video

QUESTIONS FOR CLOSE TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

Girl Talk-mashups

Gregg Michael Gillis better known by his stage name Girl Talk, is an American musician specializing in mashups and digital sampling. I've include a couple of the mashup videos for his last cd "Feed The Animals." The tracks are Play Your Part and Still Here. Still Here was one of Pitchfork.com's (influential music site-see link) top 40 videos of 2008.

The Horrors-Sheena Is A Parasite

The simplicity and starkness of the images is what i find most appealing here. The band dressed in black and white, all eyeliner and staring into space and the way the visual violence of Sheena's convulsion match the chorus add up to a visually arresting video. The lighting too is sparse yet incredibly effective.

Summary of 'The Kindest Cut' by Carol Vernallis

Carol Vernallis Summary of Article Notes

Wavves-No Hope Kids

Wavves are a lo-fi punk band from San Diego, California. Nathan Williams and Zach Hill are the current members. Together they make the scuzziest, noisiest most unselfconscious sound. They have already released two cds 'Wavves' and 'Wavvves' (can you see what they did?). The video is a great example of low budget film making.