Naked Samoans go bowling, Bic’s all-star band, a dating disaster, tranquil gardens, net curtain twitching and a walk up a hill.
Continue reading August 2005: Amber Claire, Anika Moa, Bic Runga, Breaks Co-Op, Chong Nee, Dave Yetton, Dukes
Tag: Breaks Co-op
Found videos from 1998
A high street strip, a gothic seductress, a cultural lesson, a bomb threat, a photo booth, a photo shoot, a cruise down the main street, a broadcast from outer space, a floaty necklace, a Harajuku girl and a mysterious staircase.
Continue reading Found videos from 1998
Found videos from 1997
A fluffy bra, nightclub, a prison, a derelict swimming pool, three lifts and an escalator.
Continue reading Found videos from 1997
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.
Breaks Co-Op “The Otherside”
In between Breaks Co-Op’s first album Roofers and their second album The Sound Inside, group member Zane Lowe had moved to the UK and become a BBC Radio 1 DJ. But he had not forgotten about his music project back home. Along with Hamish Clark, the duo teamed up with singer Andy Lovegrove, who brought a rootier, folkier sound to the group with his newfangled lyrics.
The video goes for a standard New Zealand music video theme – the scenic road trip. Away from the city, the lads get into an old Kingswood (it’s always an old car) and head for the coast.
Much of the video is just them driving along 90 Mile Beach. I’m assuming it’s 90 Mile Beach because the sight of a Ratana church suggests they’re in the Far North. And New Zealand doesn’t have all that many epically long beaches.
Very pointedly, Hamish and Andy are in the front, with Zane slouching in the back. It seems like a deliberate choice to downplay his presence in the video, putting the emphasis on Andy’s vocals instead of the famous UK media star in the back. If you weren’t paying attention, you might not even notice he was in the video.
A lot of videos in this style play as porn for homesick expats, but there’s something a bit different about “The Otherside”. The lyrics deal with overcoming depression and the visuals of the beach landscape sometimes feel quite lonely and isolated. Maybe this is the first New Zealand video that uses majestic scenery as more than just a pretty backdrop.
Best bit: the chilly bin in the back with Zane.
Director: Tim Groenendaal
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Next… hey, Dave! Dave!