It's been a while since my last visual synergy post. To be honest, I'd pretty much given up on the concept. Compiling the last couple of installments turned out to be kind of a chore, which undermines the intended "lazy themed music video post" rationale.
I was driving down South Border Road this morning and marvelling at the post-snowstorm landscape. The Middlesex Fells Reservation had been recast in stark, dazzling monochrome. The forest of evergreens, the ground, the granite outcrops -- all rendered in the darkest of darks and the brightest of whites set beneath the battleship gray of an overcast sky. It got me thinking, in my usually elliptical manner, of the old school music video aesthetic where performers were plunked down before a plain white (and frequently overlit) backdrop and filmed in high contrast glory.
It's a striking effect and leaves little doubt as to where the viewers focus ought to be...and there's also the fact that it's far easier on the promotional budget than group trips to Sri Lanka or multiple JetSki rentals are. Though it's not as common a practice in these days of overpolished music video productions, the visual style still does crop up here and there every so often. And why not? It's visually compelling, cheap, and serves as a perfect bit of retrological shorthand.
Elvis Costello - Pump It Up - Back when Declan MacManus was pop music's Angry Young Man, and before his unfortunate transtion into the Adult Alternative radio format's answer to Perry Como.
Toni Basil - Mickey - I was watching Village of the Giants the other night and was once again startled by Ms. Basil's preternatural ability in avoiding time's withering clutches. I'm not discounting the effects of good lighting and heavy make-up, but those only go so far in explaining the phenomenon.
The Specials - A Message to You, Rudy - Suppose I found a magic lamp which contained a djinn who was willing to offer me three wishes. After I accidentally squandered my first two wishes by not paying proper attention to the terms of the offer, my third and final wish would be for my eyebrows to resemble Terry Hall's in Romulan-tasticness.
Missing Persons - Words - Here singer Dale Bozzio applies the minimalist aesthetic to her choice of costuming, as well. There are many reasons I love Missing Persons, but high up there on the list is the fact that Ms. Bozzio retained her distinctive Medford (Massachusetts) accent in her singing voice. "Do you heah me? Do you cay-yah?"
The Soviettes - #1 Is Number Two - Monochrome never sounded so good.
Puffy AmiYumi - Boogie Woogie No. 5 - In Japan, it's pronounced Ga-pu.
Elastica - Stutter - I remember whispers that Elastica singer Justine Frischmann's then-boyfriend Damon Albarn was the actual mastermind behind the band's first album. True or not, I do know that I find their work far more appealing than this sorry nonsense.
Marsheaux - Popcorn - We end this rather long video playlist on a transcendentally high note, with the Greek electropop duo's outstanding version of a switched on classic.
The Soviettes - #1 is Number Two (from LP II, 2004)
Elastica - Stutter (from Elastica, 1995)
Marsheaux - Popcorn (from E-Bay Queen, 2004)
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