Author: David Medsker (Page 33 of 59)

Friday Video, Academy Awards Edition – Depeche Mode, “Enjoy the Silence”

February 24, 2012 / David Medsker

Click here to listen to The Best of Depeche Mode Vol. I on Spotify

If you’re wondering what Depeche Mode has to do with the Academy Awards, the answer is: they don’t. Ah, but silence, that is another matter.

If you haven’t filled out your Oscar pools yet, take this to the bank: “The Artist” is going to win Best Picture. Not because it’s particularly the best film of the year – truth be told, the movies of 2011 are as weak a batch as we’ve seen in ages – but because it has a lot of things working in its favor, namely two captivating performances by the two leads Jean Dujardin (he’s this writer’s pick for Best Actor) and the lovely Berenice Bejo, but that’s not all. It has the advantage of being the one movie that is truly like no other nominee in any category – seriously, a black and white silent film in 2011, that takes balls of steel to make – and most importantly, it’s being distributed by the Weinstein Company, and if anyone can turn a film like this into an Oscar winner, it’s Harvey Scissorhands.

There is a great story surrounding the arrangement for “Enjoy the Silence,” which serves as the best argument anyone will ever need for why Alan Wilder was the most significant contributor to Depeche Mode’s success. (We even told him as much when we interviewed him in 2010.) As they were recording the tracks for their then-new album Violator – in a studio housed in rural Denmark – principal songwriter Martin Gore had turned in a tender ballad called “Enjoy the Silence” But they couldn’t get it off the ground; each time they tackled the track, it didn’t work. Finally, Wilder and producer Flood told the rest of the band to get out, hit the town and have some fun. We’ll figure this out. When the rest of the band came back, Wilder and Flood had taken Gore’s demo – which consisted of a vocal and a harmonium – and transformed it into a dance track. Immediately, the band realized that this was going to be massive. Flood got Gore to play that signature guitar line, and the rest was history, as “Enjoy the Silence” became the band’s biggest hit to date, hitting the Top 10 in eight countries.

For those who are curious to hear what Gore’s original version sounded like, check this out. Pretty, but holy cow, Gore should give Wilder a co-writing credit for his contributions.

Music, Videos

Academy Awards Depeche Mode Enjoy the Silence Friday Videos Happy Hour The Artist video of the week

DVD Review: Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone

February 21, 2012 / David Medsker

It makes perfect sense that a documentary about SoCal ska punkers Fishbone would follow in the wake of “Anvil! The Story of Anvil.” Both bands were far ahead of their time, proved to be wildly influential – Gwen Stefani, for one, sings Fishbone’s praises to the heavens – yet neither band could sell a record to save their lives. Slash offers a great quote about how several speed metal bands ripped Anvil off and left them for dead. Fishbone had a few more chances at the brass ring than Anvil did, but the end result proved to be the same. “Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone” explains, in often uncomfortable detail, several of the reasons why they were often their own worst enemies.

The structure of the story is not your typical ‘analyze the band’s career from album to album’ approach. Unfortunately, that turns out to be a problem. The great Laurence Fishburne narrates the band’s tale, but disappears for long segments at a time, and since the timeline jumps around a bit, the viewer never really knows when to expect his return. Also, several albums from the band’s catalog, including 1986’s In Your Face (which included minor MTV hit “When Problems Arise”), are not discussed at all, which denies anyone unfamiliar with the band any sense of momentum, or lack thereof, the band had as they soldiered on.

The first act of the film, though, is pure genius. As the band members recall the early days and their formation, the stories are backed with “Fat Albert”-style animation that both nails and works in stark contrast to the vibe of the band and the area in which they lived. David Kahne, the Columbia Records exec who produced Fishbone’s first four albums, admits that their failure to reach the next level is his greatest career disappointment. There is a wealth of live footage from the early days. Most of the content, though, is a landslide of conflict and hard times; we see lead singer Angelo Moore get evicted from his place, and worse, we see him on video laying into Norwood Fisher, the only other surviving member of the group. Even the guy shooting the video is telling Angelo to stop before he’s gone too far. Then you see Norwood talk about sharing a band with a guy who insists on being Dr. Mad Vibe on the Theremin in the middle of Fishbone gigs, and it’s suddenly easy to see why the band is exactly where it is.

But hot damn, were they awesome at times, and in an industry where the pioneers are scapled a lot more often than they’re rewarded, you can see why someone would want to pay their respects. We’re betting that even the filmmakers did not anticipate the places “Everyday Sunshine” would go, and while that would occasionally lead to an eye-opening moment, the conclusion does not instill the sense of optimism that Anvil had when their credits rolled. Pity. (Cinema Guild 2012)

Click to buy “Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone” from Amazon

Movies, Music, Videos

Angelo Moore Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone Fishbone Fishbone documentary Norwood Fisher

Friday Video – The Presidents of the United States of America, “Lump”

February 17, 2012 / David Medsker

Click here to listen to The Presidents of the United States of America on Spotify

Pretty obvious why we chose this band for this week, wouldn’t you say?

Happy President’s Day weekend, everyone. Oh, and don’t bail on this clip once “Lump” is finished, as the band follows it with their cover of the Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star.” Sweeeet.

Music, Videos

Friday Videos Happy Hour Lump Presidents of the United States of America Video Killed the Radio Star video of the week

Friday Video – OK Go, “Needing/Getting”

February 10, 2012 / David Medsker

Click here to listen to OK Go’s Of the Blue Colour of the Sky on Spotify

Their other videos may have taken more discipline in terms of getting those one-take shots right, but one could make a valid argument that this is OK Go’s most ambitious video yet. Music on wheels!

Here’s the story: OK Go teamed up with Chevrolet – funny how this used to be viewed as a sellout move, but in today’s musical climate, it’s not just survival, it’s savvy business acumen – to produce a two-mile track in the desert outside of Los Angeles where the band strategically placed instruments so that, when the band drove the new Chevy Sonic at a certain speed, it would play a bare-bones version of their song “Needing/Getting” while they sang along in headsets and wearing race car-type crash gear, of course. Once again, each member is wearing his own color, but they’re not the same colors they wore in the videos for “End Love” or “This Too Shall Pass.” Actually, guitarist Andy Ross is wearing red for a second time, but by and large, these guys have a thing about making sure they do not repeat themselves.

As a friend of ours said, they’re the hardest working band in music videos. That may not sound like much, but there is something to be said for creating something indelible. Pop music has given up on immortality, and instead focused on the now. At least someone is still looking at the long term. Don’t be surprised if nearly everything about this generation’s music is forgotten, while OK Go’s videos live on and on.

Music, Videos

chevrolet Friday Videos Happy Hour Needing/Wanting Of the Blue Colour of the Sky OK Go video of the week

Friday Video – The Chicago Bears, “The Super Bowl Shuffle”

February 3, 2012 / David Medsker

In honor of this weekend’s big game, we decided to pay tribute to one of the most indelible football songs, and videos, of all time. Deep breath, everyone, let’s get this all out at once, so we can move on.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

For anyone who wasn’t there, man (spoken like a Woodstock hippie), it’s easy to make fun of “The Super Bowl Shuffle.” Bad rhymes, dated drum tracks, a SAX SOLO (ah, the ’80s), and so on. But think about this track for a second. They recorded this in the middle of the season, well before the Big Game would ever be played. That takes some stones, you know? (And allegedly, some of the players agreed: Dan Hampton opted out of participating on the track.) Can you imagine if the New England Patriots, their AFC opponent, had actually knocked them off? Or worse, they don’t even make it to the Super Bowl? Think about what a PR nightmare that would have been.

But that’s just the thing about the 1985 Bears – they were so good that no one batted an eye at the thought of them recording a song where they declare their dominance over the rest of the league before proving it on the field, and of course, they wound up wiping the floor with the Patriots on Super Bowl Sunday, to a 46-10 score. At the same time, so what? Sure, they won the Super Bowl in 1986. This video, meanwhile, is eternal. Whoops. If only they had known about YouTube back then.

Bonus video: this one didn’t cross our radar until a few years ago, but holy cow. In 1986, the Los Angeles Dodgers decided to do a clip of their own, called “Baseball Boogie,” and there is only one word to describe it: fabulous.