Cinematic Arias

For those that don’t know me, I’m a movie lover but a music junkie. That said, I just popped over to Pitchfork and checked out their Top 50 Music Videos of 2007 – I hadn’t seen a single one. Why am I so out of the music video loop?

First, I don’t get MTV in my home. Second, RES magazine used to hook me up with a quarterly DVD of cool music videos but they went under a few years back. Third, I’ve had bad experiences in the music video world.

Without divulging names, I was hired to shoot a music video for a band. I pitched them a sweet idea but it was way out of their budget range. They suggested that we do a fast and cheap performance video, the kind rock bands churned out in the 80s (think “Paradise City” by Guns N’ Roses). I shot one of their shows, delivered a cut and the band asked for some time to come up with notes. They also asked for the original tapes, to review the material. I later learned that the lead singer cut a new video and took all the credit. While it was technically his cut, were you to see both versions you’d agree that my cut was a first draft for his version. Besides that, as I was doing the job pro bono with the hope of directing a second video (a job the lead singer scored based off the performance video he cut from my footage), I felt burned. That’s the last time I dipped my toes into the music video arena.

But I digress. Prior to this Pitchfork list, I had seen exactly two music videos. The first was sent to me by BrakesBrakesBrakes for their single “Beatific Visions”.

The second is for “U.R.A. Fever” by The Kills from their new album (scheduled for a March 2008 release).

I only knew about either of those because they’re both my “friends” on MySpace.

That said, I checked out a few videos on the list by artists I was familiar with and may I suggest you watch the following:

“Smithereens (Stop Crying)” by El-P – While it’s easy to write off El-P as “unlistenable” I find his work interesting and irresistible. I can see why The New York Times featured this video.

“1 2 3 4″ by Feist – Surely you’ve seen snippets of this video in the iPod ads. Check it out in its full glory and see if you don’t break out into a smile (and yes, I have a massive crush on her).

“Don’t You Evah” by Spoon – Need I say more than dancing robots