Robyn – Page 21 – 5000 Ways to Love You

Dei Hamo featuring Chong Nee “This Is My Life”

Dei Hamo teams up with Chong Nee for a declaration of his goals in life. That’s good. It helps to have goals.

Much of the video takes place in front of a CGI background. It’s pretty basic – just yellow pillars and plain red backdrops. It was likely made using the coolest technology at the time, but a decade later it ends up looking really cheap. The better scenes involve real settings, or real props in front of a CGI background .

Dei Hamo shares his wish to buy fancy cars for himself and his dad, and he goes into quite specific technical detail about the car, which takes the video into Top Gear territory. But as Dei Hamo explained to the Herald in 2005, “Kids are always asking me, ‘Where’s your big red truck?’ If I really had that much money I’d be very modest.”

There’s also a scene dedicated to technology. Dei Hamo is shown in playing a Nintendo DS, his “email address” is shown on screen (deihamo@yo.mammas.house.com, lolz). “I’ll get my lawyer to fax you back”, Dei Hamo threatens, knowing the brutal force of ’80s communication technology. Even more fierce – Dei Hamo takes a phone call on his Pocket PC phone with a flip-out keyboard and running Windows Mobile. Embarrassed 4 u, dude.

Much of the song is about how Dei Hamo is so cool because his rhymes are so fresh – and that is true. But musically the song is a bit flat (the chorus is forgettable) and the video involves so much that it ends up feeling quite unfocused.

Best bit: the parody of Eminem in 8 Mile, complete with the sign reading “8km to South Auckland” (Mt Wellington?)

Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… the brother of that guy in that band.

Dave Dobbyn “Pour The Wine”

Dave Dobbyn’s music videos are usually quite interesting, but this one is just really forgettable.

Dave is playing the song with his band in an underground bar. The video is shot with desaturated colour, so it’s virtually black and white with mild hints of red. Sometimes the footage is full screen, other times it’s split into two or three boxes on screen. It’s achingly dull.

Five years later, in 2010, Cee Lo Green released the lyric video for his song “Fuck You”. This was the first modern dynamic lyric video and it sparked the now ordinary craft of lyric videos. And it sets a benchmark: is the “Pour the Wine” video more interesting than it would be if it were a lyric video? No. I would rather see the lyrics on screen (or just listen to the song on its own) than go to the effort of watching this boring video. Or maybe the Mint Chicks could come along with their felt-tip pens and scribble over the vid.

DD’s videos don’t have to all be as bold as “Don’t Hold Your Breath”, but he’s such a legendary performer that his videos should capture at least some of that spirit.

Best bit: Dave’s satisfied smile at the end, which is nice.

Director: Tim Groenendaal
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… the importance of having goals.

Breaks Co-Op “Settle Down”

After the top 10 single “Otherside”, the Co-Operative return with “Settle Down”. It’s a bitter kiss-off to a bad friendship, someone who “did my girl a favour”. Oh, one of those situations.

The video is a montage of old American educational films, specifically a medical film and a hunting safety film. The result is footage of two young men going hunting in a wintery landscape, cut with strange, ominous medical diagrams.

The two guys split up, one wearing a bright orange jacket, the other in a more subtle beige. This choice to dress in neutrals proves to be a fatal move. The orange jacket guy mistakes his beige friend for a deer (moose? elk? antelope?) and accidentally shoots him in the arm, then runs away and drives off in his car. Has he gone for medical help or is he just freaking out and leaving the scene of the crime?

A calming doctor appears at the end to remind viewers (via subtitles) that blood is thicker than water. Though, as we saw earlier, snow is thicker than blood. As well as illustrating the lyrical theme of friendship troubles, the video also serves as a reminder of the importance of wearing bright colourful clothing when out hunting. Unless, of course, you do actually intend to shoot your friend.

Best bit: the model of a torso with a flaming heart.

Next… a man in a bar.

Baitercell & Schumacher feat. Flow On Show and Niki Ahu “Gimme”

While previous Baitercell & Schumacher songs have used guest vocals, the videos never seem to feature the singers, instead relying on sci-fi worlds created by computer graphics. Things are very different in the “Gimme” video.

The video is set in reality and stars guest vocalists Niki Ahu and Flow on Show. And who needs a grainy CGI landscape when you have the old abandoned, graffiti-covered stands of Carlaw Park?

The performers are joined by two groups of dudes – one in white, the other in black. Things seem tense, but before it erupts into a Stanley Street version of West Side Story, everyone comes together to unite in dance. Wearing both black and white together (monochrome – so 2013) everyone enjoys some fresh B-boy moves.

The CGI worlds of Baitercell & Schumacher’s earlier videos are fine, but there’s just something that much more captivating about real people, singing and dancing in a music video. Let that be a cautionary tale for any bands thinking of making an animated video.

Best bit: the concrete block that seems to have magical powers.

Other thing: the lyrics name-check Kanye West’s debut single, “Through the Wire”, only a couple of years old.

Director: Sophie Findlay
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… an educational film.

4 Corners “On the Downlow”

After previously appearing as guest vocalists on a couple of P-Money tracks, Hamilton hip hop trio 4 Corners returned with the first of their own videos. “On the Downlow” is an uplifting, soul-sampling number and the video initially emphasises the soul by using a full band. Take that, Kendrick.

But a straight performance video just isn’t enough when 4 Corners have an important announcement to make: they’re from Hamilton, y’all. The band move outside, specifically to Boyes Park in central-ish Hamilton. They rap in front of the scenic fountains, but obviously the fountains were not cool enough, as a basketball hoop has been brought along to make the pretty park look a bit gritty and urban.

Back in the central city, there’a bit of graffiti on a wall next to the polytech, then they’re down to the Ferrybank park to pose by the Bridge Street Bridge, all lit up at night. Finally the whole gang pose in front the entrance to Hamilton Central. It’s a really bold, dramatic shot, though slightly undermined when you know that Hamilton Central is a bland mall, which always seems to be 90% empty shops. But hey, it has a big sign that looks cool in a music video.

This video serves a mini tour around Hamilton and it’s again inspired me to plot the locations on a Google map.

But here’s the thing. This dorky tour of Hamilton is cool and all, but there has to be a point where Hamilton bands move from “Wahey! We’re in Hamilton” and just use the 07 location as an incidental location, not focal point of the video.

Best bit: The killer line, “Sulphur’s in the air like Rotorua and Gomorrah.”

Director: Andrew Sorenson

Next… black, white, monochrome.

Missing videos from 2005

February 2005

Strawpeople featuring Jordan Reyne “Wire”

“Wire” is the last of the the 17 videos the Strawpeople had funded. That’s a lot of videos – they’re outnumbered only by Salmonella Dub, Katchafire, Greg Johnson, The Feelers and Shihad.

Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

April 2005

Alphrisk “Guess Who’s Here”

“Guess Who’s Here” asks Alphrisk. The answer is Alphrisk. He’s joined by fellow Deceptikon Savage, and notes that the “Deceptikonz are going places”. There’s a live performance of the song on the short-lived New Zealand version of Top of the Pops.

Bennett “Stop Holding Us Back”

Bennett’s second and final funded video is the assertive “Stop Holding Us Back”.

Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Blindspott “Trevor Sue Me”

The weirdest entry in the old NZ On Air database was funding for a Blindspott song called “Trevor Sue Me”. No song (or video) with this name exists, so I assume it’s a placeholder title. That raises the question: who was Trevor and how did he earn the ire of Blindspott?

Michael Murphy “How Good Does It Feel”

I’m not sure if a video was made for NZ Idol runner-up Michael Murphy’s second single “How Good Does It Feel”, but it’s on the list. If so, it was his one and only funded video. This seems like such a luxury – a reality show contestant being allowed to release an album full of original songs. Murph’s post-Idol solo career didn’t have a future, but he will later show up with his band 5star Fallout. (Bonus: long-term readers of my online oeuvre may wish to think back to #sodamncontroversial and laugh and laugh and laugh.)

Sommerset “Magdalene”

Sommerset has the dramatically titled “Magdalene (Love Like a Holocaust)”, which sounds like the aftermath of a bad break-up. It was the final of Sommerset’s five funded videos.

Director: Andrew Morton
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

The New Trends “Five Minutes With You”

The New Trends were a high school duo from Taradale. They were finalists in the 2004 Rockquest, the same year Incursa won and Kimbra was the runner-up. But they had their most success with the song “Five Minutes with You”, which placed second at the Play It Strange songwriting awards in 2004, including a performance of the song by Michael Murphy.

Director: Paul Taylor
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Instead…

The consolation video for this month is a charity single. “Anchor Me”, the Mutton Birds’ nautical love song, was recorded by an all-star line-up to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the sole act of international terrorism in New Zealand.

Director: Tim Groenendaal
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

The Veils “The Wild Son”

When the music video funding for the Veils first song was announced back in 2005, there was a fierce debate on NZmusic.com. Were the Veils a legit New Zealand band, or were they actually an English band using the Kiwi connection of the lead singer for getting funding? Well, it turns out that Finn the Devonport kid fit the criteria (though other New Zealand/England popster Daniel Bedingfield didn’t), so all was good.

So, we find the Veils playing in a small room, crammed into a corner. Finn, wearing fur, eyeliner and a crown, locks eyes with the camera and delivers a very confident performance. When the chorus kicks in, the camera moves back to reveal a room full of revellers. It looks like the band just invited all their friends a long, because they all look like they’re genuinely having fun, in a “Woohoo! I’m in a music video!” way.

Finn rocks the room like a skinny indie prince, before eventually fleeing the confines of the house party and going for a jog along a beach. The partygoers follow their indie prince, as he leads them all into the ocean, where they mysteriously vanish, Harold Holt style.

The song has a meandering, Smiths-inspired sound which seems like it should have had a slightly more sophisticated video. But for a bunch of kids from Devonport, it’s a good debut.

Best bit: the gleeful run to the beach.

Director: Tim Groenendaal
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… shipshape.

The Phoenix Foundation “Damn the River”

After starting off with some self-funded videos, the Phoenix Foundation produced their first NZ On Air-funded video for “Damn the River”. The band are absent from the video, meaning we don’t get to see some of that “Sultans of Swing” inspired guitar work. Instead the song is illustrated with arty imagery that doesn’t dominate, letting the song stand out. And not a dam (or a river) to be seen.

An elderly man features a lot. He’s not like the wise old man who has seen it all in Trinity Roots’ “Little Things” video. Instead things get a bit surreal – he lies down, sans shoes, with ramps of a motorway rapidly constructed above him. Fortunately the codger does not complain about progress or how when he was a boy it was all fields.

It’s a short song – just over two minutes – but the video packs a lot in and goes with the tone of the song. At the end, when the song reaches its uplifting conclusion, the old man looks content as he is slowly covered with water.

Best bit: the busy digger, building those super highways.

Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… house party, beach party.

The Mint Chicks “I Don’t Want to Grow Old”

This was final Mint Chicks video before they went away and came back with the poppier album Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! “I Don’t Want to Grow Old” follows the band’s early style of crazy videos back with pop-culture infused imagery.

Video co-creator Dylan Mercer explains the idea behind the video: “The band had a love/hate fascination with the badly translated, nonsensical, garish bombardments of Asian culture in and around their lives and work in Auckland, New Zealand and wanted to translate back to Asian pop culture their own perceived reflection of itself. We just wanted to make some crazy animation.” And that vision worked. The video is a crazy mix of the Mint Chicks performing, along with commercially inspired animation.

It reminds me a lot of one of the first funded videos – “The Beautiful Things” by the Front Lawn, which also had an offbeat take on advertising. But instead of glamorous ladies and kiwifruit, the Mint Chicks have gone for golden suits and Froot Loops. And if you compared the two, it’s a nice reminder of how the technology of green screen and animated effects had improved in 14 years.

It’s a fine, fun Mint Chicks video, but it does feel like the band was at the end of one creative period, ready for something new.

Best bit: how the NZ On Air logo seamlessly fits in amongst all the other crazy logos.

Directors: Dylan Mercer, Tim Murphy, Hamish Waterhouse
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… a tribute to New Zealand’s hydroelectricity schemes.

The Checks “What You Heard”

I saw the Checks perform live in 2005, at the Grey Lynn bowling club on a Sunday afternoon. Most people had gone outside because these whippersnappers with their rock ‘n’ roll were too loud, but I stayed inside and was blown away. Even though it was a virtually empty room, they still rocked out. And there was a sense that, whoa, these guys are going to be huge.

Did they get huge? They enjoyed some successes, but I think they just kept doing what they wanted to do, and eventually that turned into the dreaded artistic differences and the Checks were no more.

But back in 2005, they were bursting onto the scene with their debut video. “What You Heard” is almost mocking vintage style, having the film look yellowed and scratched. This isn’t a band trying to emulate earlier decades; instead they’ve been trapped in amber, regenerated to bring some rock ‘n’ roll to the tail end of the early ’00s rock revival.

The song lyrics are virtually meaningless (“I feel like a motor police parade!”), but then the chorus comes along with “Drunk man’s word is what you heard” and suddenly there’s a teen totally schooling you on life. So the video just goes for style, with the band looking sharp and moving with swagger. It’s a good debut.

Best bit: the mysterious messages on the marquee sign behind the band – “Empty cans of diamond sauce”.

Directors: Summer Agnew, Dylan Pharazyn
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… special golden boy.