Bleak and comforting, singing and flirting, a letter to a friend, and a post-apocalyptic ferret.
Streetwise Scarlet “Oh Dear, You’re All The Things That I Hate” – missing
Streetwise Scarlet videos are usually really easy to find, but there’s no sign of one for this song with a very mid-2000s long title. The funding originally went to a song called – long title alert! – “Give Me Some Liberty, Baby”, which eventually was shortened to just “Liberty”. Here’s a short clip of the band opening for My Chemical Romance in 2007.
Ted Brown “Moments More Precious”
This is Ted Brown’s final funded music video, with his first having been 16 years earlier in 1992. That’s some good going. “Moments More Precious” is based around rural New Zealand (Taranaki, by the looks of it), featuring both a classic motel and plenty of landscape. It manages to feel both bleak and comforting, in that special New Zealand way. The video occasionally throws in graphics of handwritten place names, which reminds me of OMC’s “Land of Plenty” video.
Director: Matt Palmer
The Checks “Terribly Easy”
“Terribly Easy” is a boy-girl duet, but I cannot find a credit for the girl who provides the sweet accompaniment to Ed Knowles’ melancholic growl. The video finds the Checks performing on stage at an old theatre. But it’s not a rock concert (or a faked version of one). It’s more like the Checks are playing a casual show, with their friends wandering around the theatre. And if the Checks want to flirt with a girl backstage, there’s room for that too.
The Rabble “The Battle”
Bagpipes – this song has ’em. “The Battle” is a rousing call to arms, but the music video is very music video. While the Rabble play the song in front of a bank of television sets, a guy in a spacesuit wanders about a post-apocalyptic city. He has a ferret, who joins him as he surveys the strange world of concrete, graffiti and old CRT televisions.
Director: Anthony Plant
Young Sid “My Letter”
“My Letter” is Young Sid’s message to a deceased friend, checking in with him in heaven. The video is set in a boxing gym, with Sid both rapping into the ring mic and having a go at a punching bag. The video is really nicely shot, and after all the lowres uploads of the early ’00s, it’s nice that higher quality video has started to catch up. It’s a strong depiction of an emotional song.
Director: Andrew Morton
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
By the way, the February 2008 funding round is one of the smallest in years. There were only 24 songs listed, but of those, four seem very unlikely to have had a video made.