Tokyo Police Club - In A Cave
(Olan Rogers)

OLAN

So remember when we called out TPC for obviously not being into their latest contest to Direct Their Video? Well, here is the result of that unenthusiastic effort by the band and guess what? We like it!

Directed by University of Memphis student Olan Rogers we get a pretty cute concept that looks cheap on the outside, but has a hard working inside. With a budget of 10 grand, it’s obvious Rogers had to work with a less than limited scope, so we’ll forgive this for not being pitch perfect. You’d also think with a Solo Cup-centric shot, it wouldn’t be that much of a chore of a shoot. Look below and see if there’s anything about this idea that looks like a walk in the park:

I have no real complaints about this video, but as a reviewer critiquing this young man’s foray into the mainstream I do have a few things that I either would’ve liked to see or tips that could further enhance the lad’s work.1

Aside from the cup plot, the cup wall is probably the best prop in this video. I would’ve saved it until a little later in the clip, just to give it that extra gravitas or build it up. Also, as not everyone is the sharpest tool in the shed, so i’d have been a bit more obvious about the whole “cup-phone” idea. Love it or hate it, you could’ve used this as an opportunity to show the back of the “cupwall” with all the different wires and make some interesting shots out of it. I know you were probably strapped for time (amongst other things) so it’s no big deal.

Stick with your humor and ease off on the out-of-focus transitions. Like with cooking any decent recipe, you want to pepper the spices (or in this case, effects/tricks) throughout without taking away from the entire platter. Keep the fast cuts and location shots, as they mixed things up and kept those with short attention spans in the action.

Your humor is one of your best traits. My favorite part of the video was the guy kicking the cup instead of listening to it. Borderline genius. Watching your catalog of work it’s apparent, especially in certain episodes like Fergie, You are My Halo Game Fuel, I’m Listening To My Radio, Derrick, and Hip Hop. You’re buddies crack me up and your ideas are plentiful. Keep them coming, and you’ll fare better than most directors out there. Which brings me to Balloon Shop. Glad you’ve got your production group going and it’s good to see you give it a shoutout within your first major project.

In the end Olan, good work my friend. Sorry TPC was a little boring on the performance part of it, but that’s not your fault. Like all the great directors though, you not only managed to put yourself in your own shit, but you managed to give yourself some onscreen action in the process. Well played Rogers, well played.

  1. Call it nitpicking if you like, I’m just trying to help, not hating.
Tags: Olan Rogers, Tokyo Police Club
related posts


Death Cab for Cutie - Top 10 Songs of All Time (aka Narrow Stairs mostly sucks monkey balls)

Not sure where the internet is going to weigh in on this new DCFC album yet, but if it’s anywhere on the side of decent, I’ll be up in arms and mystified. I realized that not everyone has had the pleasure of listening to them since before this century began. A lot of people don’t even know that they have any albums besides Plans. Both of these things are a shame because most of their best music was made prior to that album. So in an attempt to help out the lazy and uniformed about DCFC’s back catalogue, I’m going to give you my ‘expert’ opinion on the Top 10 Death Cab for Cutie songs of all time. Listen up.

[In no particular order. All these songs are equally superb.]

1. Photobooth - Forbidden Love EP - 2000

I would argue that the Forbidden Love EP is probably the strongest DCFC album ever. It’s made up of 5 songs, each one superb and unstoppable. Granted, two of them are alternate versions of previous songs (’405 [acoustic]’ and ‘Company Calls Epilogue’), but it doesn’t change that the fact that the EP is solid from start to finish.

2. 405 - We Have The Facts And We Are Voting Yes - 2000

‘Misguided by the 405 ’cause it lead me to an alcoholic summer.’

Classic Death Cab for Cutie. Soft, somber and melancholy. One of the best.

3. Fake Frowns - Something about Airplanes - 1999

‘I can’t drive straight, counting your fake frowns’

Taken from their first album, one of the strongest songs they have ever written. Full of energy, Gibbard stressing his vocals, singing about his usual topics of love or the lack there of. Vintage Death Cab. One of the songs that started my interest in the band.

4. The Sound of Settling - Transatlanticism - 2003

“I’ll sit and wonder of every love that could have been, if I only thought of something clever to say.”

5. For What Reasons - We Have The Facts And We Are Voting Yes - 2000

“In the end I win every time, because ink still remains”

6. Company Calls - We Have The Facts And We Are Voting Yes - 2000

“Synapse to synapse: possibilities will thin or fade. Your wedding figurines: I’d melt so I could drink them in. and drink them in, and drink them in… ”

7. Company Calls Epilogue - We Have The Facts And We Are Voting Yes - 2000

“Crashing through the parlor doors, what was your first reaction? Screaming, drunk, disorderly: I’ll tell you mine. You were the one, but I can’t spit it out when the date’s been set. The white routine to be ingested inaccurately. ”

These two songs play back to back on the album and appropriately so, finishing the story of the relationship gone wrong, and moving to a wedding that pains him to ingest.

8. Tiny Vessels - Transatlanticism - 2003

“I wanted to believe all the words that I was speaking, as we moved together in the dark.”

This is one of the harshest songs that DCFC has ever made. With a chorus like, ‘You are beautiful but you don’t mean a thing to me’. It’s easy to see what Ben Gibbard is trying to get at. It’s not all love and longing, sometimes he doesn’t give a fuck.

9. Styrofoam Plates - The Photo Album - 2001

“Just cause he’s gone, it doesn’t change the fact he was a bastard in life, thus a bastard in death.”

An ode to a horrible father. The highlight of this album, although it had some tough competition with ‘We Laugh Indoors’ and ‘A Movie Script Ending’.

10. I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Plans - 2005

There most recent album was definitely a grower. ‘Soul Meets Body’ screamed radio single and it did a great job of garnering them new fans. ‘Crooked Teeth’ was the other single that made a splash, but I had to go with this track, for it’s quiet acoustic strumming and message of death and companionship. Ben Gibbard has never been so accessible.


—————————————————————————————————-


So I’m sure your opinion, if you have one, might differ a bit on these top songs. Death Cab have about a bill worth of awesome tracks. By my count, 31 of their current 87 songs are worth repeated listens and mix-tape inclusions. It was extremely hard picking just ten, so there were definitely a few runner ups that could have made this list, depending on the mood I was in when this was compiled. No matter your feelings though, nothing on their new album can get anywhere close to any song on this top 10. I’ve listened to Narrow Stairs a few times through and ‘No Sunlight’ feels like the only standout track to me. I’m sure there are a few other sleepers on there that will pique my interest the more I listen, but they seem kinda boring right now. People will still love Narrow Stairs when it’s released, and Death Cab will make a ton more money and good for them. They deserve it. I just want to encourage people to go check out some of their older jams because they are hands down better and deserve some love.

Here is a little video that details some insider info on the making of Narrow Stairs. Check it.

No tag for this post.
related posts

Jamie Lidell - Another Day
(Timothy Saccenti)

LIDELL

I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know much about Jamie Lidell except that his latest album just dropped and it’s called Jim which, on a side note, I think is short for his name although I wasn’t aware that Jamie’s were allowed to be Jim’s. Anyways, from the sound of it, it seems like he’d be a good opener for Maroon 5 if they were still around.1 He’s got the voice and music that radio listeners, young ladies and parents couldn’t resist, which makes me wonder about choosing good ol’ Tim S to direct his 2nd single off of the album.

It’s not a good or bad thing, but maybe a mismatch? At the very least very intriguing. Not that I don’t give TS credit for trying. Looking at his past work for Animal Collective and Battles one doesn’t get the feeling that Saccenti is a sunshine and puppy dogs mainstream kind of director. You can see that his idea is upbeat as he’s got Lidell giving some cuties the missing pieces of their own puzzle of a body. But then, that’s just it, they are actually body parts! God I love this guy.

But may I just say that no matter what you take away from this pairing and the result, let me just make one thing clear. TS can manhandle dark and/or nighttime settings. If you need to shoot something at night, fucking get his number and get him on your shit. Hell, if he’s still using Ivan Abel as his DP, then get his 411 as well. The work speaks for itself.

VIEW

  1. Wow, I just mentioned Maroon 5, dear lord.
Tags: Battles, Timothy Saccenti, animal collective, Jamie Lidell, Maroon 5
related posts

Gnarls Barkley - Going On
(Wendy Morgan)

Why are directors so scared to take credit for their work. A video for a high caliber band like Gnarls drops for their brand new, shitty-as-hell-album and no one wants to take credit for it. Not sure what the world is coming to.

Update: It’s Wendy Morgan. Way to hide yourself Wendy, sorry we found you out.

The video is a nice stylized and choreographed dance number, featuring a group of young adults in some mystery land. There is a door frame that is central to the story, and two of dancers end up jumping through it at the end, which may or may not mean something. I’m leaning towards nothing, because I really don’t see Gnarls’ music really touching on more than one level…and that level being fun. One thing is for certain, they always seem to bring something fresh to the table. Commendable.

Tags: Gnarls Barkley
related posts

TISA - Vote Obama (Kenzo Hakuta, Guy Logan, and Omari Thomas)

Sa-ra

I seriously don’t know how we missed this one a few days ago. First up it’s got Kanye West in it, and we all know SRO might as well be Kanyewest4eva.com. It’s got Shephard Fairey in it, and I’ve actually been to that guy’s studio above the Wiltern (it’s like a creepy maze up in there). The old-school flavored backing track is by Daedalus (who also makes an appearance), and everybody knows that I’ve had a huge hetero man-crush on Daedelus since forever ago 1. Honestly the worst part of the whole thing is the slightly-clanky hook TI$A (of Sa-Ra) lays on top of the thing, but he’s having so much fun with it I can let it slide.

So how does this video compare to Obama’s last music video foray? I’d say its 100x as fun, 1% as meaningful, and therefore 100000x more effective at getting the young, hip kids to get on the bus. The directing triple threat do a great job of giving a low-budget, old-school, feel good vibe to the whole affair which is a great dessert to the heavy entree that was Jesse Dylan’s shot. The core tactic is pretty much the same: people you may have heard of are going to vote for Obama and damn if they don’t look like they’re super excited about it! But we all know life is about getting the superficial support of as many people as possible (cough facebookmyspace cough) so from that vantage this video is a direct hit. There’s no doubt about the fact that Barack Obama is the P. Daughty of candidates: a music video force of nature that can’t be stopped.



  1. Seriously, have you HEARD “Denies the Day’s Demise”? Get on that.
Tags: Barack Obama, TISA, Election, Shephard Fairey, Daedelus
related posts

The Mountain Goats [ft. Aesop Rock] - “Lovecraft in Brooklyn” [Aesop Rock Remix] (dir. Sketch Theater)

Aesop and a bird

Throughout my whole life I have been envious of people who can draw. It’s been a talent that has always alluded me and I have never been able to get over it, or conquer it. So here is a video that shows someone sketching out a scene in fast-forward to the remix of a Mountain Goats song remixed by none other than Aesop Rock. I hate it.

This might seem like an odd pairing but the two collaborated before, more specifically on Aesop’s album None Shall Pass from last year. He even makes an appearance in the monster movie nightmare video for the track.

Not much else to say. The track is killer. The video is cool maybe once. The guy drawing drawing definitely has skills. I still can’t draw.

Tags: Aesop Rock, The Mountain Goats
related posts

[Trailer] The Spirit (Frank Miller)

Adapted from the legendary comic book series created by Will Eisner, The Spirit is a classic action-adventure-romance written for the screen and directed by genre-twister Frank Miller. It is the story of a former rookie cop who returns mysteriously from the dead as the Spirit (Gabriel Macht) to fight crime from the shadows of Central City. His arch-enemy, the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) has a different mission: he’s going to wipe out Spirit’s beloved city as he pursues his own version of immortality. The Spirit tracks this cold-hearted killer from Central City’s rundown warehouses, to the damp catacombs, to the windswept waterfront… all the while facing a bevy of beautiful women who either want to seduce, love or kill our masked crusader.

The news on The Spirit is that it just got bumped up to a December release date, making for a nice little Christmas present for all you comic junkies out there. I’ll admit that I’m not familiar in the least with this comic from Will Eisner but from the looks of the trailer and cast involved this is going to be an awesome movie and further the legitimacy of Frank Miller in Hollywood-land. Let’s hope for the best. I’m sure we will be inundated with The Spirit at the upcoming SD comic-con. SRO will be attendance, will you?

Tags: comics, Movies, The Spirit, Will Eisner, Frank Miller
related posts

SRO guide to VBS.tv

VBS.tv is full of awesome programming. All you really need to know is that it’s an offshoot of Vice Magazine. Enough said? Well how about their creative director being none other than Spike Jonze. Sold yet? Anyway, it’s been around for years and they have collected/commissioned some of the most informative and hilarious video material on the net. The only problem with it is that it’s become a massive collection that might be a little intimidating for the newly initiated. If you haven’t been following their programming from day one, you probably have no idea where to start or what’s good and what’s great. So, SRO has decided to help out. We will try and be your TV guide for VBS.tv and steer you in the direction of some of their best content and also give you an idea about what you are in store for.

Up first, TOXIC - Garbage Island. This is a twelve part series where a small crew of Vicers set out on a voyage into the Pacific ocean to reveal the truths behind this Garbage Island that has been floating off our coasts for years. Part 1 & 2 (below) introduce us to our team members and gives us a small glimpse into the massive amounts of waste that lie out at sea. The whole series is quite interesting and only gets critiqued on the fact that it’s a tad slow, but I honestly enjoyed the pace because secretly I wish I had been a sea captain. So anything about being out at sea for extended periods of time is great viewing.

Part 1



Part 2



If these two episodes pique any interest in you go and check out the rest of the series over at VBS.

Tags: vbs.tv, Garbage Island, vice magazine, spike jonze
related posts

We Are Scientists - Chick Lit
(???)

PROCESSION

Call us crazy, but are We Are Scientists operating in self-destruct mode? It may be us, but it seems their videos are losing steam at the same rate as their music. Their humor is waning, lord knows who directs their videos, and on top of this, they’ve already lost one of their own. We’re officially at level orange with the boys and we’re not happy about it at all. Don’t believe us, check out their song description:

Chick Lit tells the story of a young girl named Agatha who one day, while collecting fire wood to blend into an immune-system boosting power shake, encounters a magic well. She knows the well is magic because it smells like Axe, and so she nervously calls three desperate wishes into its still black depths. There isn’t a lot of room for storytelling in a three minute pop song, unless you’re Bright Eyes, so that’s where the story ends, but we definitely intend to pick it up in another song somewhere down the line. For now, try to revel in the promise of this initial set-up.

See what we mean?1 Need more proof? Check out their even loonier take on the video:

We made a video. In it, we play pirates who contemplate a change in career when they learn that they could double their salaries by driving a semi truck.

As it turns out they’re actually cowboys, or should we say “dogboys”, in the video. Looks like they’ve been watching 3:10 to Yuma or Open Range lately in our professional opinion. The shots are there, but the canine twist seems to fall flat. We’re not entirely sure what they were going for here, which we’ve never had to worry about before.

Obviously Stereogum doesn’t care, and wasn’t listening when we called everyone out on furthering the beating of the music video art, and linked to NME almost immediately.

Finally, you know things are rough when your fan’s comments are weak and practically apologetic as I leave you with SnakesRule123 words:

Good job guys! I love the video and the song is pretty cool, different from your other stuff, but good nonetheless.

  1. Actually, the well smelling like Axe and the Bright Eyes parts were kinda funny.
Tags: We Are Scientists
related posts



Subscribe

Subscribe to our RSS Feeds so the hipsters won't laugh at you

Feed (Posts)

  • Subscribe in NewsGator Online
  • Add to Technorati Favorites!
  • Add to Google
  • Subscribe in Rojo

Feed (Comments)

  • Come Visit Us in the Ghetto!


Advertisements

Links

Advertisement

Technical

Does our site look funky?
Does it take forever to load?
It's your browser's fault.




Can't watch the downloads?
Get Quicktime


QT