October 2010: Kora, Lindon Puffin, Lisa Crawley, Maitreya, Miriam Clancy, North Shore Pony Club, P-Money

Own private universe, the streets of Lyttelton, waterproof mascara, long-distance love, the family band, bits and pieces, and authentic product placement.

Kora “Galaxy Express”

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“Galaxy Express” is a dreamy, spacey love song and the video creates a sci-fi world. In a Blade Runner-like futuristic city, a guy is drawn to a girl. All the action is slow-motion, creating a dream-like feeling. When they finally meet, they’re transported to their own universe, which lasts only for the moment of a kiss. So romantic. The video can’t be embedded, so you’ll have to watch it here. And there’s also a pre-visualisation of the video, with the story plotted out via rough, blocky animations.

Director: Preston McNeil

Lindon Puffin “Outta Reach”

“Outta Reach” was filmed around Lyttelton, which would make it the first funded music video to have been shot in Christchurch after the start of earthquakes. It captures the charm of Lyttelton, the tunnel, the busy port, the steep streets and the chilled out live music scene. There are a few signs of the destruction the quake hath wrought – an empty section, bracing, temporary fencing and rubble. The song – which was long-listed for a Silver Scroll in 2012 – has a hopeful feeling, some positivity amid the rubble.

Director: Farmer Clark

Lisa Crawley “Leaving”

The “Leaving” video styles Lisa Crawley with smudges of black mascara running down her cheeks, the makeup apparently dislodged by her plentiful tears. The video starts with Lisa in a beachy setting, all looking very ordinary. But as it progressed, Lisa is found in a dreamy setting of sparkling pyrotechnics and rain. And her smudged mascara has turned into glitter. It all works really well, with the considerable emotional heft of the song underscored by the dramatic and sparkling conclusion.

Director: Nicola Castle

Maitreya “CHur to the CHur”

Bilingual MC Matreya has “CHur to the CHur”, his ode to Ōtautahi. Surprisingly, though, the video wasn’t filmed in the Garden City. Rather, it was shot in Hong Kong, while Maitreya and his team were there to shoot the non-funded “LOTALUV” video. “CHur to the CHur” was filmed in a nightclub, and is just a simple performance video. The single was released just weeks after the first Christchurch earthquake in September 2010, as a tribute to the city. There’s also a version in te reo Maori.

Director: Digger T Mesch, Victor Pena

Miriam Clancy “Life Extraordinary”

“Life Extraordinary” was the theme song from the film The Hopes and Dreams of Gazza Snell. The video teams Miriam Clancy with the cast of the film (sans Gazza) acting as her band. It’s an odd combination, with the teens of the film and mum Robyn Malcolm looking like something from an 1980s kidsult TV series. The song is notable for featuring the millennial whoop, the vocal hook that didn’t start to become ubiquitous in pop until around 2012.

Director: Brendan Donovan

North Shore Pony Club “Quickdraw”

The “Quickdraw” video is like a Tumblr feed in music video form, all gifs and clips and memes. Much of it is centred around ’80s culture (cassettes, boomboxes, Max Headroom, Jem and the Holograms), but the video happily steals borrows from much of the second half of the 20th century. The video ends up being a fun pop culture explosion, and a perfect example of it being easier to ask forgiveness than ask permission.

P-Money featuring PNC, Vince Harder, Meryl Cassie & Mz J “Dance With You”

P-Money and friends deliver the feelgood track “Dance With You”, which has a sort of 1990 party feeling to it. The video gathers and performers and their friends for a rooftop party, and most of the time it genuinely feels like a party and not a group of performers awkwardly pretending to have fun for the camera. The video also features some quality product placement in the form of a pizza delivery from the cool pizza joint – an authentic touch.

Director: James Barr

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