The wild west, shocking Amsterdam, a boring wander, jumping off a waterfall, and the guys that punched.
All Left Out “Leaving”
When we last saw our hero in “The Lights” video, he’d built a plane, burned down his house and was flying off into the night sky. In “Leaving”, he lands in the countryside, hitches a ride with an oldster, writes in his diary, goes for a walk and jumps off a waterfall. It’s a sweet enough video, but it’s somewhat marred by the heavy colour filter used on the footage. As if the New Zealand countryside wasn’t majestic enough.
Director: Ivan Slavov
Anika Moa “My Old Man”
“My Old Man” is an ode to Anika Moa’s father. The video sees her wandering (on foot, bike and tram) around the streets of Amsterdam. All the Dutch locals are being cool Europeans dressed in blacks and neutrals, while Anika stands out in her pea green coat and hot pink scarf, like a tropical flower colouring the grey city. The video’s ending is surprisingly poignant.
Director: Justin Pemberton
Annabel Fay “Strong”
This could be a really motivational, uplifting song, but Annabel Fay looks strangely bored in the video. Maybe she’s just not a hugely charismatic performer, but there never seems to be much connection between the camera and Annabel in her videos. “Strong” involves her walking around central Auckland at night. It looks nice enough, but Ms Fay is just not selling the message of the song.
Director: Jonathan Gerard
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Autozamm “Disco”
As the video director/Autozamm guitarist Mikee explained to Juice TV, the “Disco” video is four years of Autozamm’s life. It’s make up of the band playing live and in the studio, as well as general high jinks. There’s also an excerpt of the band’s earlier video “You Don’t Know Me”, a reminder that the band in the “Disco” video were those same guys throwing punches four years earlier. It’s not the slickest video, but Autozamm always seemed to be more a radio act than a music video band.
Director: Mikee Carpinter
Bleeders “She Screamed She Loved Me”
“She Screamed She Loved Me” was the first single from the Bleeders’ second album, and with it the band moved away from the punk-pop of earlier recordings and towards a more traditional metal sound. The song and video start with a western theme (both Americana and SH16 west), but soon enough it erupts into the bold metal number, with some Southern Gothic sex ‘n’ violence.
Director: Paul Taylor