April 2008: Mumsdollar, Pearl, Percieve, PNC, Recloose

Cave hideaway, funeral crashers, car park party, places other than the recording studio, and a wander around K Road.
Continue reading April 2008: Mumsdollar, Pearl, Percieve, PNC, Recloose

December 2006: 48May, Autozamm, Bling, Brooke Fraser, Bruce Conlon, Chong Nee

A WWII fever dream, adventures in Sydney and London, a forced commercial song, a failed seduction attempt and a MySpace URL.
Continue reading December 2006: 48May, Autozamm, Bling, Brooke Fraser, Bruce Conlon, Chong Nee

June 2006: Aerial, Blindspott, Carly Binding, Chong Nee, Cobra Khan

A family fun day at the beach, a dystopian nightmare, a return to the brick wall, a salty romance and a daring escape.
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April 2006: The Have, The Madison Press, Tyna & JB, Tyree, Voom

Toronto booty girls, a freaky fairground, rooftop rock, grotesque cinéma, and some quite good graffiti.
Continue reading April 2006: The Have, The Madison Press, Tyna & JB, Tyree, Voom

April 2006: 4 Corners, Bleeders, Chong Nee, Connan and the Mockasins, Donald Reid,

A mob hit gone wrong, the lord of the forest goes to the seaside, artful projections, serious soul and more sensual writhing.
Continue reading April 2006: 4 Corners, Bleeders, Chong Nee, Connan and the Mockasins, Donald Reid,

February 2006: Blindspott, Chong Nee, Cobra Khan, Don McGlashan, Frontline

Of course there’s a strip club. Also urban decay, suburban angst, Manhattan and the Hokianga.
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August 2005: Amber Claire, Anika Moa, Bic Runga, Breaks Co-Op, Chong Nee, Dave Yetton, Dukes

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

Chong Nee “Thin Line”

Chong Nee has previously shown up with videos for his work with AKA Brown and Dei Hamo, but “Thin Line” was his first solo video. The song, an R&B ode to a straying lover, is underpinned by a quirky keyboard loop that starts to outstay its welcome after about a minute.

The video starts by establishing Chong Nee in a somewhat unsympathetic light. He’s spying on his girlfriend, watching her laughing with another man at a basketball game. There’s another scene where the girlfriend is attempting to relax in a candlelit bath, except Chong Nee is also in the bathroom, emoting “I don’t want to live my life this waay-ay-eee-eeee.” Dude, she’s not going to cheat on you when she’s alone in the bath.

Or is there a supernatural explanation for all this? Of course there is: Chong Nee is a ghost. The M. Night Shyamalan-style shock twist comes near the end when a club patron walks through Chong Nee. And even beyond the grave, he’s still spying on his girlfriend at the club.

I guess this is the frustration for Ghost Chong Nee: he probably doesn’t feel that his relationship has ended, so when he sees his girlfriend with other guys, it feels like she’s cheating on him. Meanwhile the girlfriend has had to deal with the death of her boyfriend, and might just be getting back into the social scene. She doesn’t need to be haunted by the jealous ghost of her ex. Where’s Bruce Willis when you need him?

Best bit: the pink and green bathroom decor.

Director: Chris Chetland
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… the inevitable emo phase.

Dei Hamo featuring Chong Nee “This Is My Life”

2005-dei-hamo-this-is-my-lifeDei 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.