Video jams: of Montreal, Bear Hands, Twin Sister, No Joy, Lower Dens, The Greenhornes, Wye Oak

I have a list of posts that I've been meaning to write and it's been growing quickly as of late, so I thought I'd share a slew of videos all at once. Most of these are quite new, and they're all from within the last few months (except for The Greenhornes one, which is a couple years old). Enjoy!

of Montreal / "Coquet Coquette" / False Priest [Polyvinyl] (2010)
One of the standout singles from this year's album, and it sounds like it could have easily been on an older album, like Satanic Panic In The Attic, instead of amongst all of the neo-Prince funk/rock of False Priest. I ain't complaining though; it's a rockin' little number chock full of Kevin Barnes' odd yet witty lyrics and a correspondingly bizarre video that seems like the visual interpretation of a short story that could have been written by a hybrid of Robert Louis Stevenson and George Orwell and George Romero, on Ecstasy. You'll see what I mean. I think.

Director: Jason Miller

of Montreal / "Famine Affair" / False Priest [Polyvinyl] (2010)
Another great song from this album and an interesting concept for the video: what if you were the only guy at an all-girl party? Sounds fun, right guys? Not if that party is life and you're an outcast, nobody feeding you strawberries, the door shut in your face when the "adults are playing", no one will dance with you, everyone wants you out and punches you in the face, and yet when you try to run away, they just chase you down and bring you back. Crazy. And never mind that whole thing with the yellow cup . . .

Directors: Nina Barnes & Jason Miller

Bear Hands / "Crime Pays" / Burning Bush Supper Club [Cantora] (2010)
I've been a Bear Hands fan since seeing them live back in February 2010. "What A Drag" is a great single, and their debut album finally came out in October and it's solid. This is the opening track and really captures their sound stylings. The video itself is a slowish-motion montage of various criminal acts, of sorts, kinda artsy and such but it's fun to watch. Plus, keep your eye out for a quick shot of Mike Tyson (WTF!?) and the album title on a soon-to-be-smashed window.


Twin Sister / "All Around And Away We Go" / Color Your Life EP [Infinite Best] (2010)
This band made a pretty big splash on the blogosphere this year and have a bunch of cred to their name considering they've only officially released a couple of EPs. They're both solid, though, and all the buzz is deserved, I say. They also put a bunch of demos and unreleased versions on their website, including a series of ringtones. This video is pretty cheeky, with cheesy dance moves and animation and swirling, colored lights and a camera panning across the band members with totally serious looks on their faces just barely hiding outright laughter at their own silliness.

Director: ?

Twin Sister / "Daniel"
Here's the band playing a live version of an unreleased (I think) track for the LaundroMatinee series. Look at how young (and attractive) they are!

Twin Sister - Daniel from LaundroMatinee on Vimeo.

Twin Sister / "Ginger" / Vampires With Dreaming Kids [Infinite Best] (2008)
Okay, last one from them, I swear :-) I just like this song and I only came across this video because it was made and posted by Pitchfork Reviews Reviews, one of the funniest and most interesting music blogs out there. I can't seem to find the link anywhere, but I remember reading somewhere that he was thinking of how this song reminds you of when you've been away from New York City (or whatever your home town/city is) for a while and then you're coming back and you're driving in and you see the skyline again and it reminds you of all of your memories there. Yeah, that's a nice thought.

No Joy / "Hawaii" / Ghost Blonde [Mexican Summer] (2010)
Ah the good old days, when we used to hop in the back of our friend's pickup truck, drive out to the woods, make out with each other, smear berry goop and dirt all over our naked bodies, and . . . wait, you didn't do that? Hmm, me neither. Must be some hazy drug memory that we're vicariously experiencing through this video. It's hard to imagine anything else happening during this skittery, fuzzy, psychedelic, thumping and guitar-heavy track, though, yeah? And can you feel the whole trip melting away at the end when they bathe in the river and the guitars fade out? Pretty cool.

No Joy - Hawaii from Mexican Summer on Vimeo.

Director: SALAZAR
(Note at 2:20 mark: if only my teeth could stay that white while I roll around in the mud!)

The Greenhornes [feat. Holly Golightly] / "There Is An End" / Dual Mono [Telstar] (2002)
I'm glad I found this band on eMusic earlier this year, because I've played this album so often on my walk to and from campus that I've probably worn out the mp3 files. (You'll notice that the playlist I posted last week has 2 songs from them, too, including this one.) There's not too much going on in this video, aside from the outstanding song and some slow-moving, colored lines and shapes and faded images, but it really fits, somehow. One of the top comments on YouTube for this video is "one of the greatest songs to get pissed to". Yes sir, yes it is. (Pissed = drunk, ICYDK.)


Lower Dens / "Batman" / "Batman" b/w "Dear Betty Baby" 7" single [Gnomonsong] (2011)
This song doesn't appear on Lower Dens' outstanding debut album Twin Hand Movement, but it did appear on a demo CD they sold on their tour this past spring and it will be out on a 7" single b/w "" in a month or so (order that here from Gnomonsong). It's a live show staple, though, and this is a lovely version put together in the studio for Yours Truly in San Francisco. Jana's voice is sweet as always, and Will's guitar work is super tight. This band is so good please love them now thank you very much.

Yours Truly Presents: Lower Dens "Batman" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

(Thanks to Baltimore Musically Informed for the link.)

Wye Oak / "My Neighbor" / My Neighbor, My Creator EP [Merge] (2010)
This one is from much earlier this year, but I just found it myself, so I had to share. It's fascinating to watch Andy Stack's simultaneous drumming/keyboarding, and this is one of the better tracks from this year's EP. It's got a wonderfully rough, jagged sound to it here, compared to the album version, too. This band is so good please love them now thank you very much.

Wye Oak - My Neighbor - Luxury Wafers Sessions from Luxury Wafers on Vimeo.

Playlist: A Lazy Shade Of Winter Mix (12-01-2010)

"Mixtape" is a simulatenously dated yet timeless term. I recall recording songs off the local oldies radio station (Oldies 103.3 WODS-Boston) onto cassettes in my bedroom in middle school so I could listen to stuff like "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Riders on the Storm" without waiting for the DJ to cycle through his library of 87 songs and get back to the one I wanted to hear. On the other hand, I recall the all-too-short days of Muxtape (five fucking months!) when users could create digital mixes for other users to peruse; now, the site is just a photo of cassette and nothing else, thanks to the generous folks at the RIAA. And now, it seems like cassettes are becoming more popular in some circles for the collecting/nostalgia/tangibility aspect of them, while some are just capitalizing on this feeling and incorporating it into more modern technology (see: the mixtape USB drive). So what's my point? No matter what the format, people will always be looking to share music and, specifically, music organized in a way that makes sense to them in a meaningful way, whatever meaning that may be. In my short time on earth, the only thing I can really say for certain about humankind is that we have a tendency and desire to extract order from chaos, in direct violation of the second law of thermodynamics, and musical mixes and playlists are but a small, yet immensely enjoyable, way of doing just that.

So here I present the first post in an indeterminately ongoing series of musical mixes. Every once in a while, when I feel so inclined, I'll share a playlist of songs that I've been jamming lately or just really like or feel strongly about or think you will enjoy or . . . whatever. They may or may not represent my mood and they may or may not just be great tunes, in general, so try not to read too much or too little into the songs themselves or the mix as a whole. There, vague enough for ya?

This first mix is somewhat punnily titled "A Lazy Shade Of Winter" since we seem to be reluctantly and dazedly slipping into the shallow end of the winter months here in Pittsburgh, it being December 1st already and yet the dreary, drizzling, coldish rainy weather tells me that the goddess of seasonal change is only just stepping off of the autumnal ledge and dipping her anthropomorphic toe into the pool of wintry wondrousness. I am, in fact, looking forward to flurries and hats and gloves and scarves and boots and hot chocolate and seeing my breath the minute I open the door to my apartment building even though I haven't stepped outside yet. In the meantime, I'm totally cool with hanging back with Mother Nature and saying, "Hang on a sec, Winter, I'm feelin' lazy, I'll be with you soon..."

A Lazy Shade Of Winter Mix (11-30-2010)
mixed by Brendan Sullivan
1) Tama Impala / "Solitude Is Bliss" / Innerspeaker (2010) Modular Recordings
2) The Spires / "Held" / Curved Space EP (2010) Beehouse Records
3) Beach Fossils / "Lazy Day" / Beach Fossils (2010) Captured Tracks
4) The National / "Anyone's Ghost" / High Violet (2010) 4AD
5) Lohio / "Wind and Leaves" / Family Tree EP (2010) self-released
6) The Greenhornes / "The Way It's Meant To Be" / Dual Mono (2002) Telstar Records
7) Electrelane / "To The East" / No Shouts, No Calls (2007) Too Pure
8) Neva Dinova / "Ahh" / The Hate Yourself Change (2005) Crank! A Record Company
9) Warpaint / "Undertow" / The Fool (2010) Rough Trade
10) Of Montreal / "Famine Affair" / False Priest (2010) Polyvinyl
11) Disappears / "Magics" / Lux (2010) Kranky
12) Buildings Breeding / "Emmawood" / In The Key Of Calloused Fingers (2009) Devil In The Woods
13) The Greenhornes / "There Is An End" / Dual Mono (2002) Telstar Records
14) Dandelion Snow / "The Grand Scheme Of Things" / The Grand Scheme Of Things (2010) Big Bullet Records
15) Sebadoh / "Soul and Fire" / Bubble And Scrape (1993) Sub Pop
16) Dr. Dog / "Jackie Wants a Black Eye" / Shame Shame (2010) ANTI-



(download mp3 here)

[Note: I obviously do not own any of the copyrights to the music contained herein, so if you really want to crack down, bemyfuckingguest. To the rest of you, please go out and support these artists if you like them; I've included them here because I sincerely enjoy their music and want others to experience it, too. So, basically, I want this to be shared with as many people as possible but only if I know that, somehow, it will help support the musicians represented here. Do what you can, and the rest will work itself out.]