Each week, FRINGE MUSIC FIX culls the latest music video releases, carefully selecting the most bizarre, provocative, and remarkable videos from across the world.
Sit back, relax, and open your minds eye; things are about to get interesting. The following are our selections for the week ending April 20th, 2014.
Director Grant Singer once again teams up with Sky Ferreira for I Blame Myself." The video, which sees Sky partaking in some implied illegal drug activity in the hood, salutes the music videos of 90s hip hop and the choreography of Michael Jackson. While stirring up controversy, the video toys with our perception of unlikely unions, gender, and race stereotypes. The music video also draws some interesting parallels to the real life drug arrest of Sky and her boyfriend Zachary Cole Smith from DIIV. The video was produced through a collaboration with SSENSE & System Magazine, so if you like Skys outfits, you can buy them too.
Michael Venus directs the whimsical music video for The Hunt featuring actress Katja Danowski in the role of an introverted and awkward girl burdened with loneliness and isolation. To her disapproval, she is soon tormented by the presence of a musical duo, which happens to be Parasite Single, in the throes of performing the videos track. As she proceeds with her daily routine, the duo relentlessly follows her, always performing, and always wearing matching outfits. Eventually, the girl gives in, and joins the band for a climactic dance sequence which concludes in an excellent stroboscope segment. Speaking as a bit of geek myself, its a relatable and quirky outing thats underdog status only renders it all the more endearing.
The illustrations of Grace Lee are boldly brought to life in this mostly black and white animated music video directed by Domenico Bartolo. The imaginative video features a caricature of Chet Faker endlessly walking while undergoing some form of geometric metamorphosis. The style and occasional bold colours of the video are clearly infused with those of the 80s.
For their technically impressive music video for Friends Hurt," Vancouver indie rock act, We Are The City, and Amazing Factory Productions had a custom set built that would allow the band to perform while defying gravity. Due to time constraints, the cast and crew endured a 24 hour shoot thats results are exceedingly mind bending.
After last years moody 3005," director Hiro Murai and Childish Gambino have once again assembled their creative output to conceive an atmospheric and cerebral visual to accompany Sweatpants and Urn," both from Gambinos 2012 album, Because The Internet. The video sees Donald Glover (Childish Gambino) caught in a time loop that sees him re-enter a diner that gradually becomes populated with alternate versions of himself. The video concludes with a surprising outro that features Gambinos more R&B styling with Urn." The amazing sequence features a slow motion visual of Gambino crooning amongst backup dancers across an eerily glowing backlit tree. Perhaps the video is a commentary on the narcissism of celebrity as the videos premise and the songs lyrics may suggest. Regardless of its significance, the video is a humorous and engaging video.
