Becky Black and Maya Miller play some awesome bluesy garage rock. If you like The Black Keys or The White Stripes or some other color/noun combo-named band, you'll probably dig this stuff. I found their album Funeral Mixtape a couple years ago and it became a jogging soundtrack staple. I can still remember this particular moment where I ran up a large hill near my apartment and right as I crested it and started to sail down the other side, their song "Making Gestures" hit a huge crescendo and the an absolutely slammin' guitar solo came in ... It was fanfuckingtastic. Just listen through the first minute 80 seconds of the song and you'll see what I mean. And then keep listening, because there's just more of that awesomeness.
They released We Kill Computers about a year ago, and put out a video for the chug-a-lug rocker "Cobra Matte". I wrote about that video over at Draw Us Lines a couple months ago when it came out, and you can see that description below.
The Pack a.d. / "Cobra Matte" / We Kill Computers [Mint] / dir. Jimi Cuell
The music of The Pack a.d. and the style of this video are remarkably similar. The goal of both is to make the most mess out of a few basic elements. For the band, the idea is to take a guitar and drums and make some pounding blues-rock sounds with heavy riffs and powerful vocals. For the video, the idea is to take the two band members themselves, with instruments, and film them against a drab backdrop getting slaughtered with food, beverage, silly string, and so forth, in between playing their instruments, all in one seemingly-continuous shot while maintaining the appearance of pristine black clothing. I dig their albums, myself, but even if this song isn’t your bag, try watching and figuring out how in the heck they spliced the video clips together to make it into a seamless view. Did they have to play anything backwards? Who’s tossing the shit in from the sides? Just how tall is the guitarist? And so on.
The reason I bring this all up today, though, is because some of the band's friends just made a Lego version of the video you saw above! It's an interesting idea to do, in general, and I think it works pretty well with this one. I would have liked to see the "messy" parts of the video a bit more inventive in the Lego version, but I guess you don't want to ruin your toys when you play with them, ya know? Anyway, enjoy this one, too:
Bonus video! I found this one a while ago and haven't had an occasion to share it, but now it's kinda relevant, so here it is. There's a classic video of Joy Division on the BBC playing "Transmission" (a tune I've "covered" here before, hah). It's a great song and a great performance, especially with Ian Curtis' dance moves. Someone recently made a stop-motion version with Playmobil! Man, I had so many of those toys when I was younger. They're still in my basement somewhere, hmm ... Anyway, check out the original video here, and enjoy the animated one below:
Showing posts with label Joy Division. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joy Division. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Jam of the day: "No Love Lost"
Artist: Joy Division
Song: "No Love Lost"
Album: An Ideal For Living EP
Released: June 3, 1978
Label: Enigma
What a song. I knew nothing about Joy Division or their music before college, but luckily a friend of mine shared a copy of Substance, the singles compilation, and it was eye-opening. I'm pretty sure I went around humming/whistling the guitar riff of this song, among others. But it's been a while since I've heard this one. What reminded me of it today? Why, the New York Times crossword puzzle, of course! I grabbed a paper copy on campus yesterday and finally sat down to do the puzzle tonight. The clue for 67-Across reads "Bad blood" and after hammering away at that corner, finding the crossing downs and piecing everything together, NOLOVELOST fell right into place. And I had to go find the song and play it right away. And now I will share it with you.
"Through the wire screen, the eyes of those standing outside looked in at her as into the cage of some rare creature in a zoo. In the hand of one of the assistants, she saw the same instrument which they had, that morning, inserted deep into her body. She shuddered instinctively. No life at all in the house of dolls. No love lost, no love lost."
Song: "No Love Lost"
Album: An Ideal For Living EP
Released: June 3, 1978
Label: Enigma
What a song. I knew nothing about Joy Division or their music before college, but luckily a friend of mine shared a copy of Substance, the singles compilation, and it was eye-opening. I'm pretty sure I went around humming/whistling the guitar riff of this song, among others. But it's been a while since I've heard this one. What reminded me of it today? Why, the New York Times crossword puzzle, of course! I grabbed a paper copy on campus yesterday and finally sat down to do the puzzle tonight. The clue for 67-Across reads "Bad blood" and after hammering away at that corner, finding the crossing downs and piecing everything together, NOLOVELOST fell right into place. And I had to go find the song and play it right away. And now I will share it with you.
"Through the wire screen, the eyes of those standing outside looked in at her as into the cage of some rare creature in a zoo. In the hand of one of the assistants, she saw the same instrument which they had, that morning, inserted deep into her body. She shuddered instinctively. No life at all in the house of dolls. No love lost, no love lost."
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Cover jam of the day: "Transmission"
Artist: Girl In A Coma (covering Joy Division)
Song: "Transmisison"
This is a great song. It is uniquely Joy Division and no one else can sound like this: the pounding, piston-pumping drums, the heavy, throbbing bass, the fancy but unassuming guitar solos and, of course, Ian Curtis' unmistakable voice (and dance moves, here). That's why a cover represents dangerous territory (try to mimic their style and you'll likely fail) and also why this version succeeds. In no way does it sound like the original (save for the chords and lyrics, of course) but it siphons all of the raw power and emotion from the original through this reworking of the sound. Singer Jenn Alva's voice starts out with a mere whisper, but by the time of the climactic verse in the middle (corresponding with Curtis' wild dance in the video below) she has to press her hand to her forehead and squeeze her eyes shut to keep from, presumably, becoming overwhelmed. (Or maybe she sang so loud that she gave hereself a headache. I don't know.) Meanwhile, the tambourine, finger-snaps and xylophone give the song a really neat personal touch. This is what a cover song should do.
Watch the band perform it live here:
and here's the original, filmed live on the BBC:
On a related note, I'll recommend the fantastic biopic of Ian Curtis, entitled Control. It's tasteful and artful, all b&w and with fantastic casting and acting. Sam Riley does an outstanding job portraying Curtis' inner turmoil and epilepsy. Really well-done, seriously. (And imdb tells me he's playing Jack Kerouac's persona, Sal Paradise, in the upcoming film version of On The Road!?! Gotta see that.)
Song: "Transmisison"
This is a great song. It is uniquely Joy Division and no one else can sound like this: the pounding, piston-pumping drums, the heavy, throbbing bass, the fancy but unassuming guitar solos and, of course, Ian Curtis' unmistakable voice (and dance moves, here). That's why a cover represents dangerous territory (try to mimic their style and you'll likely fail) and also why this version succeeds. In no way does it sound like the original (save for the chords and lyrics, of course) but it siphons all of the raw power and emotion from the original through this reworking of the sound. Singer Jenn Alva's voice starts out with a mere whisper, but by the time of the climactic verse in the middle (corresponding with Curtis' wild dance in the video below) she has to press her hand to her forehead and squeeze her eyes shut to keep from, presumably, becoming overwhelmed. (Or maybe she sang so loud that she gave hereself a headache. I don't know.) Meanwhile, the tambourine, finger-snaps and xylophone give the song a really neat personal touch. This is what a cover song should do.
Watch the band perform it live here:
and here's the original, filmed live on the BBC:
On a related note, I'll recommend the fantastic biopic of Ian Curtis, entitled Control. It's tasteful and artful, all b&w and with fantastic casting and acting. Sam Riley does an outstanding job portraying Curtis' inner turmoil and epilepsy. Really well-done, seriously. (And imdb tells me he's playing Jack Kerouac's persona, Sal Paradise, in the upcoming film version of On The Road!?! Gotta see that.)
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