2004 – Page 2 – 5000 Ways to Love You

Polly Prior “Got Me On My Knees”

Polly Prior was a Wellington-based singer-songwriter and the video for “Got Me On My Knees” was another recipient of the $1500 from Positively Wellington Business for producing the video in the Wellington region.

The video starts with an intriguing premise. Polly is sitting on the roof of an old closed-down rural petrol station. She sees something coming and springs into action with her team, quickly transforming the petrol station into an open, inviting business offering “half price gas”. It’s surely a trap, like something from The Twilight Zone – but who is being trapped, and why?

It’s a middle-aged man in a fancy car. Who is he? A dad? A former lover? A boss? He’s lured into the servo’s ladies’ loos and locked in, giving Polly the chance to get in his car and go for a hoon.

And that’s it. She safely brings the car back, the man is freed from the toilet, and Polly and her gang walk away. It seems like a lot of effort to go to in order to have a ride in a fancy car.

Other videos with the $1500 Wellington grant have gone to great effort to not feature Wellington in their videos, but this is the first one where it is recognisably set in the Wellington region. Perhaps the elaborate carjacking was just done to enjoy Wellington’s coastal scenery.

Best bit: when the man is lured to the women’s toilet because plot.

Director: Ivan Slavov
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… highs and lows.

Nephew “Starshingle”

Formerly of the band Jester, Johnny Barker was a few years away from his debut as Shortland Street nurse Joey Henderson, who would turn out to be the evil Ferndale Strangler. When he wasn’t strangling, Barker was the frontman of Nephew. This was their only song to have NZOA funding.

The song “Starshingle” (that’s “star shingle”, not “stars hingle”) is has an indie ’90s Pixies inspired sound. The video puts the trio in the middle of something like a community hall. The camera never really engages with the band. Nephew are either shot in extreme close-up or from a distance, with the camera swirling around. It looks more like they let their made film a rehearsal, than a planned music video shoot.

The video that’s been uploaded to YouTube looks like it’s been filmed off a laptop screen – that old trick from the 48Hours film competition that teams use when they can’t export the completed laptop. Understandable in a furious film-making competition, but most unexpected to see on a band’s video.

“Starshingle” is a strong song, but the video seems to exist outside it. There’s the band and there’s the song but neither really feel connected.

In the end, the song wins and the video loses. Or like YouTube commenter Melted Ice Cream says:

Awesome,
love this band,
wicked album,
they should reform,
90s are cool again.

Best bit: the polished wooden floor of the hall.

Next… it’s a trap!

Heavy Jones Trio “Good to See You Again”

First, a description from the video’s director, Ivan Slavov, over at Amplifier:

“You know what it really is? It’s an anti-video. It’s a non-performance performance video. It’s Elvis Presley, lounge, Pink Flamingos. It’s Vegas. It’s nearly reality TV, but a music video. Honesty is something that New Zealand can sell to the world and this song has honesty in bucket loads.”

I read that and I thought, wow, that video sounds amazing. And then I watched it. This is what happens: the group play the song in a black studio. And that’s about it. The only other things of note: a film of an earlier performance is projected on the band, and sometimes graphics of song lyrics song float across the screen. There is no Elvisness.

The thing is, “Good to See You Again” is a really sweet folky love song. There is no loungey swagger to it, so it gets a bit lost amongst the attempted sophistication and swagger of the video.

To me, a song like this is about daylight and outdoors, not a shadowy Vegas world. The honesty might be there in the performance, but the setting is keeping it hidden.

Best bit: lead singer Kelly Horgan photographs rather well.

Director: Ivan Slavov
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… the old laptop trick.

Friends From Sweden “So Beautiful”

Friends From Sweden was the secret solo project of Mareea Paterson, who’s previously popped up in music videos as a serial session bass player for Tim Finn, Amber Claire and Jordan Luck, not to mention as part of Delta.

Friends From Sweden was Mareea’s way of having a solo project but not being the focus of it. As she told the Herald in 2006, “I’ve just got no desire to be at the front of a band. I like being the bass player.”

But along comes the “So Beautiful” video and she’s right there at the front. She’s not even competing for attention with the friends who played on the song – the rest of the band are played by mannequins, dressed in white suits and sporting Beatles haircuts. Note: this is actually more stylish than a lot of human bands manage in their videos.

Despite having a great look, the video doesn’t quite come together. Perhaps it’s because “So Beautiful” is such a lively rock song that it really needs a full band to make the some come alive. A bunch of mannequins, no matter how stylishly dressed, just aren’t rockin’.

Best bit: one of the mannequins is left-handed.

http://youtu.be/EBWPkoK-D0A

Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… Elvisness (or lack thereof).

Foamy Ed “Exhale”

From memory, I’ve only comes across two other all-female bands – the sweet melodic pop of Mary and the sneering grunge of Snort. And now here’s Foamy Ed, a bold punk-pop group, with Lani of Elemeno P on bass.

Given how few all-female bands they are (though the ratio of “acts with at least one female performer” to all-male lineups is about 1:2), it’s just really refreshing to watch a video that fully embraces that all-girl world.

“Exhale” is a fierce, angry song, performed by Foamy Ed on stage at a club. But the audience aren’t all that interested in the band – there’s a fight going on. Two fans are scrapping on the dancefloor.

There’s so much energy in this video. One thing that has become apparent from watching tons of videos is there are some bands who – for whatever reason – just come across as really boring in music videos. Director Briar March has done a brilliant job in capturing Foamy Ed’s punk-arse mania.

Best bit: lead singer Fleur wears glasses and looks super cool.

Director: Briar March
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… no dummy.

Duchess “You Buried Me Alive”

Before there was Duchess, there was Handsome Geoffrey, a trio from Hamilton Girls’ High School who won the Smokefree Rockquest in 1998. They added Jon Corker (formerly of Rubicon) on drums, dropped the Rockquest theatrics, and emerged as Duchess, still with Anna Coddington’s melodious songwriting at the heart.

The “You Buried Me Alive” video is a simple performance video, with the band set up in a black room. Anna and Aidee have really sweet vocals, but the song has slightly dark lyrics. The video goes even darker, shot in a shadowy, gothic palette. Against this gloomy setting, Anna’s vocals sound even sweeter and more innocent, which in turn adds tension when the crunch ’90s-style guitar riffs come along.

The footage is also interrupted by animated plant roots, a dark weed twisting around the scenes. This actually seems unnecessary, like an attempt to underscore how dark and gothic things are, in case Aidee’s chipper blonde style was too distracting.

But all up, it’s a good introduction to Duchess. Sweet, girly, but a lot darker and stronger than first appearances might suggest.

Best bit: Jon’s fedora, sitting at a jaunty angle.

Director: Stephen Tolfrey

Next… girl fight.

Del Rey System “NZ to the BK”

This is my test for a music video attempting a period setting: is the hair authentic? Costumes are easy; hair is hard. “NZ to the BK” is ostensibly set at a pool party in the 1980s but does it deliver hair with vintage ’80s boofiness? Yeah, pretty much. Not everyone has it, but there are a few key performers who have sufficiently giant hair.

The pool party setting seems to have been inspired by REM’s “Imitation of Life” video, which involves a poolside scene depicted with a few seconds of the same looped and reversed footage. But “NZ to the BK” isn’t as clever as “Imitation of Life”. It’s literally just a bunch of people hanging out by a pool.

There’s a vague plot involving a bit of thuggery and a man with a pistol. Going against the law of Chekhov’s Gun, the pistol is never fired, but someone does get pushed into the pool, which is close enough.

But despite all the ’80s party antics, it doesn’t actually feel like a fun party. It is more like a group of people who have been gathered together and told to look like they’re having fun at a pool party. Which is exactly what has happened.

Best bit: one of the pool chicks casually holds a confiscated pistol as she dances.

Director: Dave Garbett
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… the man with the hat.

Definite & Bling “Like That”

The Sky Tower has featured in music videos since Rikki Morris performed in front of the under-construction concrete pillar in 1995. It mainly shows up in the background of an Auckland cityscape shot, but never before has it been such a major part of the music video like it is in “Like This”.

The video opens with Base FM DJ Jason Eli giving a cool introduction to the song, then we find Definite & Bling on the streets of Auckland central at night.

Wherever they are, the Sky Tower is somewhere in the shot. Sometimes its a distant speck of light, other times they’re standing right at its base. There’s no clue in the lyrics why the Sky Tower should play such a big part in the video (it’s a generic good-time hip hop song). Given that no other humans can be seen on the empty streets of Auckland where Definite & Bling roam, maybe it’s just a declaration that they, along with the Sky Tower, own the town.

At the end of the video they leave the Sky Tower and venture indoors to a hip hop club where they rock the house. Proof, perhaps, that the lords of the Sky Tower can also mingle with the masses.

Best bit: the girl in the club who has a very concerned look on her face.

Director: Ivan Slavov
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… pool party!

Autozamm “Sweet Love”

This is like a low-budget James Bond title sequence. Much of the video involves a young woman wearing a bikini, sensually writing in a bathtub. But just to mix things up, all the footage of her is shot in negative.

It’s a strange world. Who takes a bath wearing a bikini? Er, contestants on Big Brother and girls in music videos. The film negative makes the footage seem less pervy and more psychedelic, but then there’s the undeniable fact that most of the footage focuses on her boobs and bum.

Autozamm haven’t performed as a band in their previous two videos, but “Sweet Love” actually sees them rocking out. Sort of. Footage of the band is layered with the bath girl so we only get tiny glimpses of them.

In positive - a girl in her undies in the bath. — In positive – a girl in her undies in the bath.

While the bath scenes do have that somewhat elegant, Bond-style feeling, that’s largely down to the effect of the film negative. Viewing the footage in positive and it’s just a girl in her togs sloshing around in a shallow bath. But maybe that would have made for a more interesting video.

The video was another recipient of the additional $1500 grant from Positively Wellington Business’s Made In Wellington scheme for producing the music video in Wellington.

Best bit: the random wide shot that reveals the girl alone in a suburban bathroom.

Director: Sam Buys
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… an icon of Auckland.

Alphrisk featuring Adeaze “Sunshine”

With Savage and Mareko already having released solo singles, it was only a matter of time before another of the Deceptikonz went solo. (And rounding out the quartet, Devolo’s solo work is coming as well.) “Sunshine”, a top 10 hit, is a cheerful celebration of life, with heavenly harmonies provided by Adeaze on the chorus.

The video is set at the Capitol cinema in Balmoral, a nice chance from the frequently used Crystal Palace in nearby Mount Eden. Alphrisk is alone in the cinema. He settles down into a seat and watches a slide show of photos and video from his life. It’s like a less sophisticated version of Scribe’s “Dreaming” video.

As Alphrisk looks through the moments of his life, paying respects to his loved ones, he is slowly joined by his mates who mysteriously materialise within the theatre. Maybe they snuck in the fire exit.

It’s a low-budget video and sometimes it feels a bit empty, but it generally hits all the marks it needs to. There’s Alphrisk and his posse and things are good.

Best bit: a shot of the year book where Alphrisk was voted second-equal “most likely to be famous”, with the number one slot going to fashion designer Leila Rawnsley-Mason.

Note: This video was on MySpace, but it’s since been taken down. It’s available on MTV Brazil, though.

Director: Andrew Sorenson
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… the lady and the lake.