5000 Ways to Love You – Page 83 – Exploring the world of NZ On Air music video funding

Upper Hutt Posse “As the Blind See”

Upper Hutt Posse turn with another protest song, this time wrapped up in a cool soul groove with an equally cool video. Directed by Rongotai Lomas, the video is shot in high-contrast black and white, emphasing the Posse’s talent as musicians in a recording studio. Dean Hapeta raps as he’s seated at a grand piano, and Emma Paki turns up about halfway through the song to add her sweet, strong vocals to the chorus.

But there’s life outside the safe bubble of the studio, and indeed it wouldn’t be an Upper Hutt Posse video without examples of the things that make the Posse angry. There’s a moody stroll past Mt Eden Prison; a visit to One Tree Hill’s summit, the damaged tree supported by guy ropes; and Dean takes a tense walk past a line of police officers still wearing the old custodian helmet style of hats.

Both the song and the video have a strong message, but unlike earlier Upper Hutt Posse videos that have been packed with symbols, this video has a more minimalist style. By keeping the visuals simple, the music and its message are the stars.

Best bit: Dean’s slow turn to the camera at 3:11, which seems to include a sigh.

Director: Rongotai Lomas
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Greg Johnson “Comet Song”

Outside a Masonic lodge, a man stands with his arms around a power pole. He looks downcast, as if the old wooden pole is the one remaining thing in the world he can turn to. Meanwhile, inside the lodge, Greg Johnson and band play the song in a large empty, carpeted room, as if offering commentary on the fellow outside.

The video is directed by Paul Casserly and has lashings of his wit and style. There’s a seperation between the two worlds. The pole-hugger is shot in black and white, while Greg indoors lives in a cool blue world.

Many passersby try to help the pole-hugger (played by Ian Hughes), which is slightly reminiscent of Radiohead’s “Just” video. A bosomy woman, a man with an important book, a bewigged lady, and a mysterious masked woman all try to shout, rant, pout and rage him out of his state of pole love.

But it doesn’t work. Just as Greg Johnson sings of one man’s troubled love for a woman, the pole-hugger only has eyes for the pole. Just try to tear them apart.

Best bit: Jodie Rimmer’s reverse wigging.

Director: Paul Casserly
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… a duck, a man, some balloons and a chicken.

Dimmer “Don’t Make Me Buy out your Silence”

This was a very early version of Dimmer, back when Shayne Carter was really still figuring out what form his new project was going to take. It was another two years before Dimmer really kicked off with the much slicker “Evolution”. This early track feels a lot less polished, almost like a demo.

Shayne Carter plays a man on a mission, purposefully striding around downtown Auckland at night, clutching a leather briefcase. He even walks past the White Lady food truck and gives it a good stare, because you never know what’s lurking in those cheeseburgers.

Directed by Steve Morrison, it’s a very moody video and it seems to be another one influenced by that Tarantino cool. Just watch the interaction between Shayne and the taxi driver who does not approve of his cigarette smoking.

The YouTube comments suggest there may be other footage, with commenter Devilscucumber asking, “Is this the censored version? I feel we are missing a homicide somewhere…” Well, perhaps it’s better to have the menace implied rather than shown.

The taxi takes Shayne to a late-night cafe. Given his earlier visit to the White Lady, perhaps that’s all he was after – some good late-night kai. I bet that cafe does good nachos.

Best bit: the White Lady, good for late-night burgers.

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Dam Native “The Son”

Che Fu teams up with Dam Native and they all look good in sharp menswear. The song combines Dam Native’s beats and rhymes with Che’s smooth vocals, and the video directed by Steve Morrison picks up on this.

But there’s another aspect to the video – it’s proudly Maori. Che and the longer-haired Dam Native guys have their haired pulled back in a traditional topknot, adorned with feathers.

It’s a more modern version of the similar style used in the group’s earlier video for “Behold My Kool Style”. Both take their inspiration from the cover art of Dam Native’s debut album, “Kaupapa Driven Rhymes Uplifted”, which sees the group positng with a tokotoko. Originally a walking stick, the tokotoko is now more commonly used as an oratory prop, and it’s this use that fits perfectly into Dam Native’s world of hip hop.

According to John Pain who worked on the video, “The Son” also takes stylish inspiration from the cover of the 1958 LP “Ramsey Lewis and his Gentlemen of Jazz“.

It’s a really handsome video. Every frame is perfectly framed, with a very photographic feel. The video is lit in rich reds and browns, with works perfectly with the uplifting lyrics of the song – the son will always shine.

Best bit: the breakdancing headspin.

Director: Steve Morrison
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… one man and his pole.

Inchworm “Come Out Come Out Wherever You Are”

Despite Hamilton having a reputation for hard-rockin’ bogan metal bands, there was actually a really good indie scene in the early-mid ’90s. Inchworm were one of the bands who regularly played around town and this song was their first funded video.

The band shared singing duties and drummer Rob is at the mic on this track. But here’s the thing – director Greg Page never made a Karen Carpenter-like demand that he come out from the drumkit. Whenever we see him sing, he’s surrounded by his rapidly flying drumsticks, concentration face in full effect.

The video looks great, set in an old hospital and lit for maximum spookiness. There’s rain, dramatic shadows and the camera takes an uneasy journey along a corridor. But there’s never any hint that something sinister might happen. At its heart, it’s just a band performing their song in a cool old location.

Despite this promising start, it wasn’t until 1997 that Inchworm received their next music video funding.

Best bit: drummer Rob’s rapidly flying drumsticks.

Director: Greg Page
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Bailter Space “Dome”

The star of the “Dome” video is “Miyata Jiro”, a performance art robotic businessman – a “corporation solider” – that crawls along the ground in his nice suit. It’s the work of New York-based Japanese performance artist Momoyo Torimitsu, who also appears in the video as the businessman’s nurse/technician.

Momoyo created the work as a commentary on the Japanese salaryman, but its new context outside the New York Stock Exchange works just as well, if not better. And 15 years later, it has even more layers of meaning, worthy of a heaving sigh at the shitness of the modern world of finance.

As Jiro-san crawls along Wall Street, the Marc Swadel-directed video cuts this with footage of Bailterspace performing, New York city life, black and white scenes from the subway, and a visit to Battery Park, previously seen in Madonna’s “Into the Groove” video.

Finally, the corportation soldier is carted off on a stretcher. Evidently the nurse’s fix-up job on his bottom was not enough to fully repair his system error.

Best bit: the nurse’s repair job on the businessman’s bottom.

Director: Marc Swadel
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… Che cuts a mean silhouette

Bike “Tears Were Blue”

“Tears Were Blue” explores similar territory to Britney Spears’ “Lucky”, albeit with a more sinister and less symapathetic tone. The song is the words of a man who realises that his attempts to make a young woman a star may have been a little too heavy-handed as – oops – she appears to have gone and tragically died.

Bike perform the song on stage in an empty theatre, lit with dry blue tones. This is cut with black and white flashes of Baby Blue, sometimes looking beautiful, other times looking messed up. This makes it clear that Miss Baby Blue is not part of Bike’s world any more.

But was she ever? We only see parts of Baby Blue, never the whole person. Is the song actually sung from the perspective of a fan, someone who never had a personal relationship with his idol, but felt like he did. Ugh, this whole mess could have been avoided if only Tumblr had been around in 1997.

Note: this video is geoblocked for New Zealand and Germany, but it should be watchable in any other region. Why don’t Warner NZ just let it play for its biggest audience?

Best bit: Baby Blue’s make-up – Audrey Hepburn delicacy with heavy ’90s makeup.

Director: Jonathan King
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… corporation soldier takes Manhattan.

Strawpeople “Love Explodes”

Thanks to NZ On Air, Strawpeople’s very first funded video is now online. On their second album, Strawpeople covered the Ted Brown song “Love Explodes”, with vocals by Stephanie Tauevihi – then a teenaged presenter of youth TV show InFocus.

The video has a simple treatment. Stephanie and Strawpeople Marke Tierney and Paul Casserly sit in a car. Stephanie is in the driver’s seat, while the producers laze in the back. A minute into the video, the Michael Ondaatje poem “Kim, at Half an Inch” is displayed on screen, a few words at a time.

It’s a very stylish video, already showing signs of the video-directing talent that both Tierney and Casserly would later demonstrate with other artists. There’s a slightly odd bit during the bridge with Mark and Paul do slow-motion jumps in front of a selection of green-screened curiosities. The trio also have moments of standing around looking cool.

The video concludes with the trouble leaping around the studio. After spending the past three minutes looking sultry, Stephanie finally gets a few moments to jump around like the teen she is.

Best bit: Mark’s yawn in the back of the car.

http://youtu.be/EZ9T3Tba49E

Director: G Smith
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

The Narcs “Leap of Faith”

Well, the “Leap of Faith” video is ok, but it’s no “Diamonds on China”. In 1997, the Narcs – possibly put into cold storage after the 1987 stock market crash – emerged from hibernation with a new album, recorded in Hamilton.

“Leap of Faith” is subdued. It’s a mild rock song based around the band performing the song in a field, along with an evening performance and footage from downtown Auckland, including the newly opened Sky Tower. All this is overlaid with graphics of the song lyrics. They’ve been handwritten in a decorative style that is all very ’90s. The graphics gently float over the video, never quite legible enough to serve as karaoke lyrics.

While “Diamonds on China” has a glorious manic mid-’80s vibe to it, “Leap of Faith” has a more relaxed, reflective feeling. It’s the ’90s and these guys are well grown up.

Best bit: the hilltop triple fist-punch. Yeah!

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… ghosts from the past.

The Mutton Birds “April”

Another video from the Mutton Birds’ London years. Don is dressed like a 1960s sex therapist (probably ready to treat “Come Around” era Don after all the love-triangle trauma going on there) and he and the band perform the song in front of a giant rotating flower. It’s all a bit Austin Powers.

And here’s the curious thing – “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery” was released in the UK in September 1997, and “April” was scheduled for release the same month but was cancelled. It makes me wonder if the film’s release suddenly threw an unintentionally groovy new perspective on the video, prompting its last-minute ditching.

Whatever the reason, it’s a pity because “April” is a good song. It’s a classic Mutton Birds song, all storytelling and wicked melody.

As well as the band’s psychedelic performance, we also get black and white glimpses of April, wandering about in an eveningwear. But she feels like a footnote in the video. More focus is put on the wheel of Don, spinning like an omnipresent, multitentacled god of pop.

Best bit: Don’s turtleneck jumper, which occasionally makes his head look like it’s floating.

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Best… the old gang together again.