Robyn – Page 68 – 5000 Ways to Love You

Verlaines “Hanging By Strands”

So, it turns out this video is all about Graeme Downe’s long raven tresses, which indeed are hanging by strands.

We meet Graeme Downes wandering around a bleak coastal landscape and he has a ponytail, a long raven ponytail down to his waist. I believe that everyone should experience long hair at least once in their life (I did it when I was 12-13), so I fully support Graeme in his hairstyle choice. I also note that he has opted for a floppy fringe, which will avoid him looking like Neil from the Young Ones when he wears it down.

And he does wear it down, with the long hair dramatically blowing in the sea breeze. It makes me wonder, did he grow his hair especially so it would look cool in a music video?

There’s some live footage, where the hair is all up in Graeme’s face as he leans over to the microphone. But let’s not dwell on that.

Let’s admire the romantic Graeme wandering by the sea, low ponytail flicked to the side, over the shoulder of his white shirt. He absentmindedly plays with a piece of grass, making it all seem like he’s biding time until his heroine comes along on a white horse.

The video finishes with more of the live footage. Graeme’s hair is sweaty and sticks to his face and the audience are enjoying the show. Perhaps after the show he’ll break out the Pantene and return to the coast for a natural blow-dry.

Best bit: the zoom-out showing Graeme alone on the barren coast.

Note: Check out the header graphic before the video starts – it shows the video came from the New Zealand Music Video Awards. They were an annual competition in the ’90s, honouring the best of New Zealand music videos.

Director: Jason Kerr
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… a wander down K Road.

DLT feat Mighty Asterix “One Love”

Despite its Bob Marley sounding title, “One Love” is an upbeat funk/soul-inspired number with an absolute killer chorus and started as a Supergroove remix.

The video has a lot going on, and it’s packed with cameos. Going by Peter McLennan’s notes on YouTube, there’s activist Tame Iti, artist Greg Semu, director Greg Riwai and music industy figure Kirk Harding, and I also spotted Joe Lonie, of Supergroove and other music videos. But it doesn’t feel like these guys are being wheeled out as super celebrity appearances (I mean, they’re not necessarily household names) – it’s more like they’re there because they were just hanging out with their friends making the video.

The video is full of people, from staunch bros hanging out down the local shops, to loving couples snuggling up together. The song has a message of unity (no surprises there) and the video does a good job of showing that without forcing it. People aren’t getting along because they’re in a music video that requires them to get along; they’re getting along cos they just do.

Even the Mighty Asterix manages a bit of self-love, with an impressive rotating shot of himself three times. This has to count as a mid-’90s digital effect that doesn’t look like a lame-arse gimmicky digital effect. It’s a fun video that nicely captures the spirit of the song.

Best bit: the store front of Otara Coffee and Takeaways.

Director: Marcus Ringrose
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… silky raven tresses.

Martin Phillipps and the Chills “Surrounded”

By 1996 the Chills were known as Martin Phillipps and the Chills, but like other videos from this time, the latest incarnation of the Chills are absent, with Martin Phillipps the only star of the video.

The song has a quirky, upbeat tone with dark lyrics (bloody goths) and the video picks up on this. It starts with stage show, where Martin plays “the great Persevero”. I assume he is skilled at persevering.

He’s up on stage with some cardboard waves moving from side to side, and a cardboard sun, reminiscent of the “Sunburnt” album cover. We also see Martin in more regular guise, strumming along on his guitar, sitting amongst a pile of highly symbolic crushed cars.

There’s more fun to be had on stage, at Persevero tries hard to perform his magic tricks, only to set fire to the chain of handkerchiefs. The stage also features the only appearance of another person, whose sole purpose seems to be to comedically swing a ladder around to bump Persevero over.

Compared to the slicker efforts of previous Chills videos, “Surrounded” is obviously a much lower budget number, but it captures the dark humour at the heart of the song.

Best bit: the junkyard dog, not at all interested in the pop goings-on.

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… a three-way.

Ngaire “Can You Be Strong For Me”

Ngaire’s fourth (and possibly last NZ On Air-funded single) is a duet. She teams up with D, aka Dave Letoa, a member of her live band. It’s an unusual pairing. Ngaire is very glamorous in the video, but we don’t see her until 30 seconds into the song. Instead it kicks off with D, who isn’t much of a pop star.

For a start, he wears sunglasses throughout the entire music video. It has a weird effect, especially when Ngaire joins him and they look into each other’s eyes. Except she’s actually looking at herself reflected in his mirrored specs.

His voice isn’t anywhere near as expressive as Ngaire’s so it all comes across as a really odd pairing. How did this asymmetrical duet come about? Why does D seem to reluctant to be part of the video?

But the video itself is generally a very stylish number. It’s shot in black and white with a slight sepiatone tint. Ngaire and D are shot in close up with bright lighting, emphasising her glamour.

Also appearing in the video are a selection music video staples, including a male dancer doing the open shit/wind machine thing, a couple dancing in silhouette and fencer. But my favourite is the line-up of models, which seems to have been inspired by the Calvin Klein CK One ads.

It feels like the video wants to be really sexy and glam but D just can’t do it. It’s just not where he’s at. And that ends up being an anchor to reality. This is not New York. This is New Zealand.

Next… the great Persevero.

Lodger “Forever”

Lodger was a side project by Damon Newton of the Dead Flowers – especially a one-man band, from what I can tell. And the dramatic waltz “Forever” has a similar sound to the slower, more ballady numbers that the Flowers did.

The video, directed by Jonathan King, keeps things very simple. It’s shot in black and white, with Damon sitting in a black room. He’s surrounded by a very particular selection of items: a grandfather clock, a pocket watch, two clockwork birds in a cage, suitcases, a trunk and two sheet-draped chairs. All highly symbolic.

Actually, I would like to meet someone who actually has a house decorated with every room like something out of a music video. It’s not a fridge, it’s a symbol of a failed marriage. And the kitchen bench always has milk dribbling off it.

There’s also a woman in the room. She doesn’t seem to acknowledge Damon, which probably means she’s a ghost and/or a memory. I might have been worried about ghost lady being just a music video prop, but she actually comes across as being cooler and more interesting than Mr Lodger. While he’s hunched over in his chair being mournful and miserable, she steals the show with her awesome hair and general air of confidence.

The challenge of this minimal setting is to keep things interesting. With a melancholic song and a low-key performance from the artist, it’s up to the director to add some zip – and this is largely done with editing. The verses slouch along, with the pace picking up for the chorus, shots overlapping to create a dreamlike feeling. Quite nice.

Best bit: that the woman is more interested in the wind-up birds than the man. #symbolism

Director: Jonathan King
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… a video for a man or a woman.

Semi Lemon Kola “Otherwise”

Semi Lemon Kola had perfected the contemporary grunge rock sound of the mid-’90s. “Otherwise” absolutely sounds like an artefact of this era and even though I don’t think I’ve heard the song before, it takes me back to this era.

The video starts with an angel, a woman serenely posing with wings and looking very Catholic. There’s footage of a church, but we quickly get straight to the band. The video is shot in black and white with lots of dramatic shadows of window frames, like they’re the indoor variety angsty teen.

The action is cut very rapidly, with the only moments of reflection being given to the angel. It’s like she’s there as the calm centre of the crazy “Otherwise” universe. But despite her presence, things get even crazier as the song ramps us. Near the end, the video bursts into colour, with shots of the band performing live. It’s a manic ending, far removed from the chilled out world of the angel.

I get the feeling this song would have done quite well on Channel Z, the alterno rock radio station of the era. It’s so ’90s that I can’t quite take it on its own terms. It feels old.

Best bit: the angel’s ’90s bob.

Director: Jonathan King
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… hair and confidence.

3 The Hard Way “All Around”

Over at the Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, this video is ominously described as “LA style, basketball, moving images of cars etc projected in background”. The video does have a bit of a West Coast flavour, but there’s no mistaking its Auckland location.

“All Around” is a compass-points-themed shoutout, which also pays a fair bit of homage to A Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It?” (“You know we can!”) It made it to number 22 in the pop charts, and it’s a really upbeat track and actually had me bopping along, swept away by its infectious fun-time charms.

The video is set in various locations around central Auckland. There’s the trio in front of a pile of logs (?) with some green screens playing footage of old videos and the Auckland skyline behind that. They’re also in front of a large graffiti mural being done by DLT – and think this might be the first appearance of live graffiti in a NZOA video. (The second I’ve seen is Joint Force’s “Burntime” video, also featuring DLT.)

The video is accented with some animation – the flickery kind that was popular in the ’90s. Occasionally a compass, a globe, a cool dude playing a saxophone pops up to underscore the lyrics or music.

All this might seem influenced by LA, but this is how a lot of young Aucklanders were back then. There was a specific street culture that took its cues from America but mixed it up with its Pacific location. And this video captures a bit of that scene.

Best bit: hanging out under the Auckland Harbour Bridge, all pylons and security fencing.

Director: Clinton Phillips
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Bonus: here’s a 1994 interview with 3 The Hard Way on TV3’s New Zealand music show “Frenzy”.

Next… alterno angel.

Jordan Reyne “A Long Way to Climb”

On the Deepgrooves website, the page for this video described how the iconic record label decided to take all their video production in-house, after getting sick of being quoted exorbitant rates from music video directors who had their eyes on the $5000 NZ On Air grant.

“A Long Way to Climb” was shot at an alley next to Cafe Alba on Lorne Street, Auckland, just around the corner from Victoria Street. Alba was the setting for Sulata’s “Never” video, and apparently it was close to Deepgrooves HQ. The video is shot in black and white 16mm film, which makes the inner city location look music-video perfect.

It’s a gentle, folky song given an urban treatment. For another artist this juxtaposition might not work, but Jordan Reyne has that slightly unusual, gothic, urban style that works well with the video. Even city girls get the blues.

For much of the video, Jordan sit arounds in the alley, thinking of her lost love. Occasionally we get blue-tinted flashbacks of a shaven-headed young dude messing around in the alley.

The video is moody and mysterious. It doesn’t attempt to literally illustrate things, but does pick up on the tone of the song. And for a low-budget music video, it’s done a pretty good job.

Best bit: the mysterious metal object the dude holds up to his face. Whoa.

Note: This video is now no longer available online.

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… can I kick it?

Nathan Haines “Lady J”

Aw yeah. “Lady J” is a very cool song and the video is the dopeness. Compared to the more polite album version, the video version of “Lady J” has more of a low end, with a rap added courtesy of Sonny Sagala (aka Dei Hamo). That detail lifts the song, taking it a step away from its melodic jazz roots and making it the sort of tune that the Ice TV gang would gush over.

The spunky video is directed by Josh Frizzell and takes on a kind of scrapbook look. Shapes containing Nathan, Sonny and other band members slowly glide or fragment across the screen. It looks a bit like a DVD menu screen from the ’00s, but there’s something that makes it just that bit more sophisticated.

Nathan looks quite different to his usual appearance. He has closely shaven hair and is wearing tinted spectacles. It somehow makes him look much older the young man of 22 he was – but perhaps this was intended. And it was something that hugely appealed to me at age 19 – a video evoking a cool, sophisticated world that seemed out of reach for me in from suburban Hamilton.

In a way, a trick is being played. The video is taking a jazz track and presenting it in such a way that it crossed over to the world of teen pop, like a gateway drug to a cooler world of music.

Best bit: the side silhouette of Nathan’s trousers. Good cut.

Bonus: here’s Nathan in 1995 talking about his album “Shift Left” from TV3’s music show “Frenzy”.

Director: Josh Frizzell
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Strawpeople “Under the Milky Way”

Wikipedia lists 20 artists who’ve covered “Under the Milky Way”. But you know who got their first? Strawpeople, that’s who. Go, New Zealand!

Their version take away the ’80s post-punk sound of the original and gives it some smooth ’90s dance sounds. The video sticks with this vibe, making a sophisticated experience.

Stephanie Tauevihi is the star of the video, in an elegant black suit, big hair and bold make-up. When we see the other Strawpeople – Mark Tierney and Paul Casserly – they’re both playing guitars. This doesn’t normally happen in Strawpeople vids – they tend to lurk in the background, looking all mysterious. Here it’s like, oh, they’re just musicians. How disappointing.

But there’s plenty of oddness to make up for it. We see scenes of a nerdy woman hunched over a typewriter (like what I am doing *right now*, only with a laptop), a reprise of those fabulous Ioasa cheekbones, and a small boy with a globe of the world.

A lot of the footage is out of focus, as if we’re not quite allowed to see everything that’s going on. The rapidly panning camera isn’t going to show us everything. It feels like being a casual observer, with only a connection to Stephanie. Everything else that’s happening doesn’t quite concern us.

Strawpeople videos intrigue me. They simultaneously manage to seem very superficial and shallow, and yet also genuinely deep and meaningful. And I reckon that’s a perfect match for their music.

Best bit: the astronaut hugs nerd girl. Baby, he’ll take u 2 the milky way.

Directors: Mark Tierney and Paul Casserly
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… the finest lady.