Niki N. Phaser » video

“Scared to Death” Brings Sunshine for HIM

Niki N. Phaser — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:03:44 +0000

HIM have premiered the video for Scared to Death, their second single off of February’s release, Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice. After the dark and animal-filled video for Heartkiller, fans might be surprised by the overdose of daylight and sunshine in this new one. In all fairness, the song is a power ballad and a genuine trademark for the upbeat sound of the new album, so a change in lighting and setting was required. Probably, that’s one of the reasons they decided to shoot in Melbourne, Australia. If you are HIM-savvy, think of the video for Scared to Death as a combination between Gone With the Sin and Pretending. It’s frontman Ville Valo walking around with a guitar in his hand (not flowers) in an urban landscape, this time, filled with modern architecture. No fields or graves. Take a look:

SCARED TO DEATH to look here ?

Indochine Are Dining With Angels

Niki N. Phaser — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:54:18 +0000

Indochine are releasing yet another single from last year’s successful album, La Republique des Meteors, and their choice is quite good: Un Ange à ma Table. Though I was still rooting for Republika, it is great that this track received the special attention of being the fourth single. It’s a fast-paced rocky kind of tune, but it’s still the careening sounds of chorus synths that will stick to your mind. The French idols will be touring their homeland this spring, starting with March, the climax being a monster gig at Stade de France on June 26.

UN ANGE ICI

H.I.M. Resume Their Heartkilling Habits

Niki N. Phaser — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 22:22:22 +0000

HIM premiered their new video, Heartkiller, on MySpace this Friday, where it quickly became the most watched video for the day. This is the Love-Metallers first single off of their highly anticipated new album, Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, which will be released next month. Embracing a more poppy sound, Heartkiller might just do the trick Ville Valo has hoped for every first single in the past: it gives a taste of the new direction, while still comforting worried fans. A definite departure from the ‘dirty’ sound of Venus Doom, this new material features a resurrection of the more synthy nuances of Dark Light and Razorblade Romance, as Valo himself admits.

The James Copeman (Razorlight, Mystery Jets) directed video features the band in a dark setting, with some flashes of their taxidermied power animals overlapping from time to time. Of course, this is also a chance for Valo to ‘premiere’ his new tattoos, of Maya Deren and Klaus Kinski. Overall, Heartkiller is a decent song, not more, but it does the job: it states that HIM are up and running once again.

HEARTKILLER

The Gang Bang Love Song

Niki N. Phaser — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:04:37 +0000

Watching TV the other day and I saw this video for Alexandra Burke’s Bad Boys and I have to say that the plot as well as the coregraphy got my sick mind thinking about what could it all mean. You don’t have to watch too closely to realize that this video seems like a 4 minutes metaphor for a gang bang. The girl’s car breaks down in a shady neighbourhood at night and then she is slowly followed and surrounded by an army of thug looking fellows, who keep checking out her bod. They end up in a pool joint, where the guys make their move and she ends up dancing with all of them, while Flo Rida sits alone and sad outside contemplating “She so so addicted to them rougher fellas” or “get them more the merrier” and concluding “You’ll have them shawty don’t worry”. It all ends outside, where the bad boys circle the girl and one final face-off follows, leaving them big guys down on the ground. This is one faulty cautionary tale for girls walking alone at night…

WHAT D’YA THINK ?

And just so you wouldn’t think that I’m raging against The X Factor, because it’s the seasonal thing to do, I’ll focus my sick mind on a classic hit, a video which I actually saw the same day: Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl. The lyrics talk about, obviously, an uptown girl who is “getting tired of her high class toys” and I guess that because “she never had a back street guy”, she decides to look “for a downtown man”. In the video, the girl just so happens to have her chauffeur stop at a garage, where Billy and his gang of Merry Mechanics giver her the full treatment. As soon as she gets down from her car, the dancing starts. Two bikers and two breakdancers with weird tops join in and soon our uptown girl is dancing with 8 guys at once. Her chauffeur doesn’t interfere, which is very Once Upon a Time in America of him. This is a cautionary tale for all of you uptown boys, this is what happens when your girl gets tired of “living in her white bread world”.

Up WHAT Girl ?!

Massive Attack Premiere X-Rated Video For “Paradise Circus”

Niki N. Phaser — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:38:09 +0000

Massive Attack are continuing the proccess of unleashing their new album Heligoland. The latest step is the video for Paradise Circus, a track which features vocals by Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star fame. The song feels a lot like a departure for the trip hop masters, sounding quite minimal and classic, except for the claps-filled beat. Nevertheless, it’s tragic cross-bearing aura will take its toll on the listener. It certainly creates an unique product, when combined with the video, which is comprised of an interview of former porn star, Georgina Spelvin, as well as uncensored scenes of her most well-known movie, The Devil in Miss Jones. It is an interesting and original work and it’ll be no wonder if more bands start digging up aging porn stars from the 70’s for their videos. On the other hand, this lady does come off as some kind of tragic figure, philosophizing about making ‘fuck movies’ and concluding that “We are our own devils”. After all, these are just some porn scenes in slow-motion. But, maybe, this one is NOT for over analyzing. If you are +18, see for yourself:

PARADISE CIRCUS

“I’m Obsessed With The Mess That’s America”

Niki N. Phaser — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:37:15 +0000

2010 comes with the promise of new talent, as all years, for that matter. One lady we should keep an eyelid on is Marina Diamandis aka Marina And The Diamonds, whose debut album, The Family Jewels will grace us on February 15. And if you’re wondering what’s with all the excitement, just listen to Hollywood, the single which gives us a taste of what’s to come. Despite Marina’s voice sounding more suitable for 90’s feminist grunge, Hollywood is the perfect upbeat new-wavey pop pill, with plenty of wink sarcasm (“Oh, my gawwwd, you look just like Shakira”) to differentiate it from the r’n'b pop we are used to. Another omen (or is it a clue?) is the fact that Hollywood’s video is directed by Kinga Burza, who just so happens was the author of Katy Perry’s video for I Kissed a Girl. It’s also cool that Marina looks her Greek/Welsh origins, so maybe we’ll get our generation’s very own Irene Papas. It woun’t be long now till ‘we’re all obsessed with the (beautiful) mess that’s Marina’…

See What I’m Talking About

Placebo Gaze At ‘Bright Lights’

Niki N. Phaser — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:42:00 +0000

Well, I have to say I stand corrected… After complaining that Placebo have a well-defined singles M.O., I’m pleased to see that the recently EMA Best Alternative winners have decided to take a slightly new direction by choosing Bright Lights as their new single from Battle for the Sun.

It’s one of Placebo’s more (if not the most) upbeat and bright-sounding tracks and they haven’t got too many of those, at least, not in such a mainstream sense of the word. Besides being a different sounding Placebo, Bright Lights is also an interesting lyrical work for Brian Molko. Thematically, this is for him what Ashes to Ashes was to Bowie — a cynical and ironic look at his “crazy livin”’. It feels as if, for the first time, he doesn’t hide behind a character anymore and acknowledges his real life persona, expressing regret over the choices he has made (speaking a lot about his life in the early days, thus distracting the attention from the music).

The Heroes for Zeroes-directed video is also in tune with the song, as it starts with a dark setting only to end with Placebo playing on a background of blue skies — the journey from darkness to light that Battle for the Sun supposedly embodies. The single version of the song is slightly different than the album, as it features backing vocals by Val Etienne & Hazel Fernandes (Kylie Minogue, Jamiroquai).

BRIGHT LIGHTS VIDEO

Reunited Skunk Anansie Premiere New Video

Niki N. Phaser — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:39:14 +0000

There is some new material on the reunited front of 90’s alternative idols, Skunk Anansie. After an eight years break for solo efforts, the four members got together again. They are about to release a somewhat delayed best of album, entitled Smashes and Tashes, that will be promoted through a full-on European tour, which will have them rocking some of the major cities on the continent, like Berlin, Vienna, Zurich, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Madrid, as well as some familiar places in the UK. Still, they are not going to rest solely on past laurels, but are also offering some new material. After releasing a free download new song as a sign of good faith, Tear the Place Up, Skin & co. are gracing us with a new single from the aforementioned best of album. It’s called Because of You and already has a video to go along with it. For what it’s worth, this is quite a good song, which proves that Skunk Anansie are not into the reunion bussiness just to right their financial situation, but also to explore new places in their musical creativity. It’s a departure both from their Female Rage Against the Machine days of Little Baby Swastikkka and from their d’n'b flashes of Charlie Big Potato. Smashes and Tashes will also feature a third new track, Squander.

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR Because of You

“Into The Great Wide Open” Receives VMA Nomination

Niki N. Phaser — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:33:06 +0000

The MTV Video Music Awards nominations have been recently announced and, wow, what a shock, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Eminem and Kanye West have garnered the most chances. But, besides the usual superstars paraded at these shows, we find some interesting names mentioned in the “Best Video (That Should Have Won A Moonman)” category. In fact, there aren’t so many interesting names, because U2 and Foo Fighters and Beastie Boys have had their share of MTV attention, but it’s cool to see a classic and wonderful video like Into The Great Wide Open by Tom Petty And The Heartbrekers getting some hindsight spotlight. The video, directed by Julian Temple, even though Jeff Stein is nominated as the director, is practically a mini-movie, following the song’s lyrics. And who is more suitable to play a rock star named Eddie Rebel than Johnny Depp. He actually did this small role while his Arizona Dream director, Emir Kusturica, was having a nervous breakdown and shooting was on hold. Probably that is why Faye Dunaway, his co-star from that movie, is also in the video. Gabrielle Anwar stars as Eddie’s girlfriend, Matt LeBlanc’s face can be seen in the end and Terence Trent D’Arby makes cameo as himself. It was the first time, Tom Petty confesses when they actually edited the song to fit the video, as they initially had 18 minutes of material.

ALL TEN NOMINEES FOR “Best Video (That Should Have Won A Moonman)”

Placebo Ask ‘The Never-Ending Why’

Niki N. Phaser — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:45:24 +0000

Placebo’s Brian Molko has confirmed that the next single off of Battle for the Sun will be the three and a half minutes The Never Ending-Why, which is already a live favourite. The video has been shot and the official release date will be September 7. Considering that the first single from their sixth album was the dance-indie friendly For What It’s Worth, this choice sadly confirms that Placebo aren’t too brave when it comes to singles. After repeatedly stating that Battle for the Sun is a dramatic change in their evolution, more upbeat and optimistic tracks like Bright Lights or Kings of Medicine would have been an appropriate way to back those statements, singles-wise.

The Never Ending-Why, just like For What It’s Worth, will be pleasing the band’s niche, but not necessarily their faithful fanbase, as many music critics would think. The fans already own the album and for them a single is not an encounter with new material. They already have their favourites and an opinion on the whole thing. So, The Never Ending-Why, which is quite a great rock song by the way, is more about pleasing that segment which stands in between: they are acquainted with Placebo, but know only the singles (and maybe this time they’ll buy the album). In all probability, this song will not be a turning point in the band’s history and will not win them a lot of new followers. Songs like the two mentioned before or Speak in Tongues are reaching to a wider audience and could display the more complex side of Placebo, if released as singles. The future is wide open.

SEE PLACEBO PERFORM The Never-Ending Why LIVE