When television attacks, Spock ‘n’ roll, smoky desire, a recurring dream, the leisure club vs the egg, down by the water, serious rock, double disco ball delights, and back down by the water.
Tag: The Phoenix Foundation
June 2010: The Phoenix Foundation, Timmy Schumacher, Tyree, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Vince Harder, We Are Romans, Young Sid
The flooded underground, snacks and guns, straight hair and big glasses, the rock format, and working for the man.
March 2010: Pieter T, Shapeshifter, Shotgun Alley, Steriogram, The Jury & The Saints, The Naked and Famous, The Phoenix Foundation
Tiny town, the god of earthquakes is annoyed again, down at the club, finger pops, an intense house party, island fans, huge and thrilling, and underwater adventures.
Continue reading March 2010: Pieter T, Shapeshifter, Shotgun Alley, Steriogram, The Jury & The Saints, The Naked and Famous, The Phoenix Foundation
June 2008: Tahuna Breaks, The Black Seeds, The Phoenix Foundation, The Transistors, Tono and the Finance Company, Tyna, Zeisha
A backing band, steampunk workings, a jog along the beach, nanny cam rock, a modern apartment and channelling Britney.
Continue reading June 2008: Tahuna Breaks, The Black Seeds, The Phoenix Foundation, The Transistors, Tono and the Finance Company, Tyna, Zeisha
October 2007: Salmonella Dub, Tahuna Breaks, The Black Seeds, The Brunettes, The Phoenix Foundation, Tiki Taane
Sunny Vanuatu, alluvial planes, epic littering, alien love, a Hadlee shrine, and a one-man show.
Continue reading October 2007: Salmonella Dub, Tahuna Breaks, The Black Seeds, The Brunettes, The Phoenix Foundation, Tiki Taane
June 2007: Steve Abel, The Black Seeds, The Braxton Hicks, The Electric Confectionaires, The Phoenix Foundation, The Rabble, Young Sid
DeLorean drama, the Seeds on tour, loneliness, painful context, split-level adventures, and North Island gold mining history.
Continue reading June 2007: Steve Abel, The Black Seeds, The Braxton Hicks, The Electric Confectionaires, The Phoenix Foundation, The Rabble, Young Sid
October 2005: Sophie Moleta, Streetwise Scarlet, Tha Feelstyle, The Phoenix Foundation, The Sneaks, Tyna & JB
Best use of $5000 video funding ever, a punk house, petrol crimes, at the movies with the boys, and an ode to a girl.
August 2005: Pluto, Recloose, Sarah Brown, Sola Rosa, Steriogram, The Checks, The Phoenix Foundation, The Rabble, Tyree
Racing car action, flaming flames, a marionette, animated bands, extreme close-ups, and some punks.
Continue reading August 2005: Pluto, Recloose, Sarah Brown, Sola Rosa, Steriogram, The Checks, The Phoenix Foundation, The Rabble, Tyree
The Phoenix Foundation “All in an Afternoon”
This video is animated, but it took me a while to work out what exactly was going on. It involves simple doodles and line drawings, in black on a curious honeycomb-shaped grid. There was something strangely familiar about all of it, but it wasn’t until near the end of the video that it becomes obvious – it’s in the style of a Magna Doodle.
As it happens, the animation has been made in a much higher resolution than the pixelly magnetic cells of an actual Magna Doodle, but the video takes inspiration from the random stuff that kids create on such toys. There’s optical illusions, chunky lettering, and 3D backgrounds.
It’s almost a bit disappointing when likenesses of the band appear, as it’s obviously based on actual video footage and not a drawing. I think I’d enjoy this video more if it looked like it had been made on a Magna Doodle. (BTW, it can be done – I found this video that was animated using actual Magna Doodle sketches.)
But as things are, it’s still a delightfully quirky video. The only thing missing – the video didn’t end with the image being wiped across.
Best bit: Luke Buda cutting shapes with the autoharp.
Director: Luke Savage
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Next… the man makes everything ok.
The Phoenix Foundation “Damn the River”
After starting off with some self-funded videos, the Phoenix Foundation produced their first NZ On Air-funded video for “Damn the River”. The band are absent from the video, meaning we don’t get to see some of that “Sultans of Swing” inspired guitar work. Instead the song is illustrated with arty imagery that doesn’t dominate, letting the song stand out. And not a dam (or a river) to be seen.
An elderly man features a lot. He’s not like the wise old man who has seen it all in Trinity Roots’ “Little Things” video. Instead things get a bit surreal – he lies down, sans shoes, with ramps of a motorway rapidly constructed above him. Fortunately the codger does not complain about progress or how when he was a boy it was all fields.
It’s a short song – just over two minutes – but the video packs a lot in and goes with the tone of the song. At the end, when the song reaches its uplifting conclusion, the old man looks content as he is slowly covered with water.
Best bit: the busy digger, building those super highways.
Next… house party, beach party.