Stretching and flexing, ghostly goings on, a Bangkok kickboxing gym, a hundreds and thousands man, the story and the ink, the hunter possibly becomes the hunted, an edgy London sound, and demons on wheels.
Tag: Marcus Ringrose
October 2009: Isaac Aesili, Iva Lamkum, Jesse Sheehan, Jordan Luck Band, Julia Deans, Junipah, Kirsten Morrell
A wander around town, three faces, a nautical adventure, sleepy time, a smoky eye, and the new aesthetic,
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.
Continue reading June 2006: Aerial, Blindspott, Carly Binding, Chong Nee, Cobra Khan
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,
June 2005: 4Eulogi, Frontline, Foamy Ed, Heavy Jones Trio, Luke Thompson, Niki Ahu, Pearl
A Freudian gothic nightmare, one night at a busy hotel, a walk along the beach and one big fallacy, yo.
Continue reading June 2005: 4Eulogi, Frontline, Foamy Ed, Heavy Jones Trio, Luke Thompson, Niki Ahu, Pearl
Elemeno P “11:57”
Elemeno P returned with a new album, Trouble in Paradise, and “11:57” was its first single. In keeping with the times, the band had taken a harder, rockier sound, moving away from their poppier roots. The trouble is, lead singer Dave’s speak-singing style can’t keep pace with the power of the music. He sounds like someone doing a half-arsed singalong, while bassist Lani outshines him with her rock solid backing vocals.
But let’s get to the video. The band are dressed all in black (so emo), with a few accents of colour, including lani’s red shoes. They seem to be performing on a roof top, with a large khaki and orange target shape on the ground. It’s night time – 11.57pm, of course.
The camera has a sense of excitement and urgency, rushing about the performance area. This is no passive bystander – the camera is like a gig-goer hopped up on Red Bull. And that’s where the emphasis is – Elemeno P, rocking out. It ends up putting the spotlight on the strong rock qualities of the song, which in turn shows up the contrast of the non-rock vocals. It’s tense.
Best bit: Lani’s shoes, as always.
Director: Marcus Ringrose
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Next… wheel out the urban decay.
Blindspott “Yours Truly”
“Yours Truly” was the first single from Blindspott’s second album, End the Silence. The band had moved away from the nu metal stylings of the first album and had gone for a more traditional metal sound. And as drummer Shelton explained, “It doesn’t really fit into a genre, like the whole ’emo’ sound that’s around now.”
The non-emo “Yours Truly” opens and closes with an animated swoop around a city, where all the buildings are adorned with religious symbols: a star of David, a Dharma wheel, the star and crescent, and a cross. Completely separate from this, Blindspott are rocking out on a front lawn in front of an old villa at night.
The video is full of meaningful symbols. Inside the villa, a glass of milk bleeds, white lilies burn, and a statue of the Virgin Mary hangs out on a table. Shelton takes a nice hot bath, except he also has a mouthful of blood. Purity! Innocence! Ebola!
But that’s all basic music video stuff. Blindspott then bring out some classic Tool stylings from the ’90s. Damian finds himself with large tree branches sprouting from his back. And then there’s a bald-headed dude (dudes?) with two torsos and no legs. I’d like to see follow-up on this. What’s everyday life like when you have a tree growing out of your back? How does your girlfriend feel when you have another head instead genitals?
Blindspott have always paid a lot of attention to their music videos. “Yours Truly” isn’t anything amazing, but yet it’s still a quality Blindspott video and more ambitious than what most New Zealand metal bands of the era did.
Best bit: the two-headed dude manages to do a push-up.
Directors: Stephen Tolfrey, Marcus Ringrose
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Next… going for a drive along the beach.
DLT feat Mighty Asterix “One Love”
Despite its Bob Marley sounding title, “One Love” is an upbeat funk/soul-inspired number with an absolute killer chorus and started as a Supergroove remix.
The video has a lot going on, and it’s packed with cameos. Going by Peter McLennan’s notes on YouTube, there’s activist Tame Iti, artist Greg Semu, director Greg Riwai and music industy figure Kirk Harding, and I also spotted Joe Lonie, of Supergroove and other music videos. But it doesn’t feel like these guys are being wheeled out as super celebrity appearances (I mean, they’re not necessarily household names) – it’s more like they’re there because they were just hanging out with their friends making the video.
The video is full of people, from staunch bros hanging out down the local shops, to loving couples snuggling up together. The song has a message of unity (no surprises there) and the video does a good job of showing that without forcing it. People aren’t getting along because they’re in a music video that requires them to get along; they’re getting along cos they just do.
Even the Mighty Asterix manages a bit of self-love, with an impressive rotating shot of himself three times. This has to count as a mid-’90s digital effect that doesn’t look like a lame-arse gimmicky digital effect. It’s a fun video that nicely captures the spirit of the song.
Best bit: the store front of Otara Coffee and Takeaways.
Director: Marcus Ringrose
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
Next… silky raven tresses.
Headless Chickens “George”
When Fiona McDonald was announced as one of the judges on NZ Idol and hoardes of teens commented online that they’d never heard of her, this is what I pointed them to. The Headless Chicken’s only number one single, and indeed the first number one for a Flying Nun artist.
It’s a dark song, a reminder of how awful and self-destructive relationships can get. And when compared to the band’s more lively earlier videos, it’s a sign of how far the Fiona-era Chickens came in such a short period, and how the group didn’t have much further to go.
The video is equally dark. Fiona, never afraid to not be pretty in a video, is filmed with harsh uplighting, giving her a similar shawdow moustache to Che Fu in Supergroove’s “Can’t Get Enough” video.
A tattoed man creeps towards the camera, an old man offers a birthday cake iced with “George”, other band members stare at the camera, making it clear that they too know of the terrible thing that has happened.
I love that a song like this can make it to number one in New Zealand. Everything is OK.
Best bit: Old George holding his cake, standing by an open fridge door.
Directors: Marcus Ringrose, Gideon Keith
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
Next… the sailor boys return to their old neighbourhood.