In bed with Anika, strangers on a train, Farrah Fawcett hair, rhythm and dramatics, and attack of the fruity blobs.
Airspace “Unafraid”
The star of this video is the hair of the lead singer, looking like a bogan Limahl ‘do. The guy attached to the hair wanders around central Auckland with a woman, and then rocks out with the band atop Mount Eden. Despite the song getting support on The Rock and the relentless ambition of the music video, this was Airspace’s only funded video, with the band later seeming to have bass player issues.
All Left Out “Last Train Home”
It’s another adventure in the continuing series of All Left Out videos, which is becoming quite fulfilling to follow. Our hero with the big earrings boards a train and regales his seatmate with tales of his adventures – the time he built a plane, the time he jumped off a waterfall, the time he was involved in a Wild West gunfight. There’s some curious chemistry between the two, as if a road-trip hook-up is but a dark tunnel away. Throughout the video there’s footage of All Left Out rocking out in front of a massive crowd at the Parachute festival.
Director: Ivan Slavov
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Anika Moa “Standing In This Fire”
This video is shot in one take, but it never feels like a gimmick. Anika is lying in bed with a mostly hidden lover snoozing beside her. As the tale of heartbreak progresses, the camera zooms in on Anika, before it finally pulls out to reveals that the lover is no longer in bed. It works well. If one-take videos from the early 2000s were about novelty, the later 2000s is when things got serious.
Director: Justin Pemberton
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Batucada Sound Machine “Smoke”
Batucada Sound Machine are known for their huge live shows, something that’s not always easy to capture in a video. But there’s a sense of rhythm and dramatics and the whole video is shot beautifully. Guest vocalist Che Fu curiously makes “Smoke” seem like the sort of thing that Supergroove could have ended up doing had they not gone indie then broken up.
Director: Stephen Tolfrey
Collapsing Cities “Seriously”
This time Collapsing Cities are found in an attractive, tile-lined tunnel, which looks like a thoroughfare in a metro – maybe in Sydney. While they play, coloured blobs come hurtling towards the camera, eventually turning into a flood of blobs. The result is like full size version of the 1990s blob-filled lava lamp soft drink Orbitz. It’s nice to be reminded of snippets of ’90s awfulness amid ’00s indie pop.
Director: Tim van Dammen
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
I’m in the BSM one… A pretty weird shoot, overnight in the container yard by Morrin Rd, next to the railway. Fun though. Next morning (early) is the *only* time I’ve been to Denny’s for breakfast.