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Posts Tagged “videodrone”

videodrone

Radical Mormon Cult Financed By Selling Of Bob Dylan Bootlegs

Oh, wait a second—you mean that Bob Dylan's video for the 1997 track "Dreamin' Of You," which stars Harry Dean Stanton as a roving salesman of rare material from the singer, wasn't crafted from footage from the upcoming season of Big Love? My mistake. (The melancholy, piano-tinged dirge is still a pretty good song, though.) [Amazon]

10:30 AM on Mon Sep 8 2008
By Maura Johnston
112 views, Comment

videodrone

Taylor Swift May Want To Rethink Her Hierarchy Of Musical Role Models


I don't know if I'm the only one who's alarmed by fresh-faced teenage country singer Taylor Swift's latest semi-incongruous cover, in which she apparently tries to muddy up her image by covering Amy Winehouse's ode-to-inebriation "Rehab." Sure, one could take comfort in her choice to make the cover one of those "stretch out the chorus for as many times to ensure maximum singalong time, and then maybe throw in a line or two of the bridge" semi-superficial reads, but just remember, folks: If she goes down, she may take at least one Jonas with her. [YouTube via ONTD]

9:00 AM on Fri Sep 5 2008
By Maura Johnston
423 views, 1 comment

Latest by ObtuseIntolerant: Oh, I like her. And trust me, I am no easy sell...I will not hesitate to cut a girl I think will mess with my Jonas. more »

videodrone

New Kids On The Block Are Looking For Love In This Club


New Kids On The Block's collaboration with Ne-Yo, "Single," now has a video, and while the concept department is little more than the old "club stocked with hot women and lots of champagne" storyline but sorta sadder, it is kinda eye-opening as far as seeing just who sings what. I really swore that the first verse was sung by Ne-Yo, but it turns out that it's Joe McIntyre! Danny Wood and Jonathan Knight are given almost nothing to do! Someone still thinks that the middle of an economic downturn is a good time to start a song with the old "If you ain't got no money..." insult! Donnie Wahlberg is the rapper! (OK, OK, I probably should have figured that last bit out on my own, but I was really hoping for Danny to shock the world with his ability to spit.) [YouTube]

1:30 PM on Wed Sep 3 2008
By Maura Johnston
353 views, 5 comments

Latest by miss_ava: Omigod, Donnie Wahlberg is all kinds of SSSEEEXXXXYYYY!!! more »

videodrone

Kanye West Is Apparently Refashioning Himself As A Crooner


The "bandleader" part, however, needs almost as much work as his pitch control. [YouTube via Musicology 101]

12:30 PM on Wed Sep 3 2008
By Maura Johnston
63 views, Comment

videodrone

Metallica Return To The Trenches


All I can say is that the video for Metallica's "The Day That Never Comes," with its bleak fog-of-war atmosphere and its suspended tension, really does stir the imagination of what a hot, seemingly endless day on the front lines of battle is like. Of course, the part of me that had to pause the video about three times in order to slog through all of its eight minutes wonders if that's due to the song being kind of overlong. (I mean, shit, even the similarly themed, much more depressing "One" video had a radio edit for the short-attention-spanned, and that was back when our ability to focus on things hadn't been moth-eaten by the Internet, you know?) [YouTube]

12:30 PM on Tue Sep 2 2008
By Maura Johnston
348 views, 6 comments

Latest by Clevertrousers: um... I've seen more realistic battle scenes in M*A*S*H. Corny! more »

videodrone

Hinder Give Themselves Four Minutes To Save Every Butt-Rock Cliche In The Book

Scarves. Scantily clad ladies. Flashy cars. A strategically placed woman on a pool table. Andrew "Dice" Clay as a leering bouncer. Yes, Hinder's video for "Use Me" brings back all the good-time video tropes of 20 years ago—but if that description entices you, you'll have to click through to see it, since it's sprung from the bowels of Universal Music Group, which apparently needs every last bit of banner-ad revenue it can wring out from the sidebars of YouTube's pages. In an effort to provide a contextual embed, after the jump please find a clip of Skid Row performing "Big Guns" at the Moscow Music Peace Festival in 1989. Seriously, "Use Me" is little more than a slightly updated, less hooky rewrite of the opening track from that band's debut album, and I'm kind of surprised Sebastian Bach hasn't taken to the blogs to complain about this fact yet. More »

10:30 AM on Tue Sep 2 2008
By Maura Johnston
188 views, 4 comments

Latest by februarymakeup: Actually, I think this only manages to be about as gay as five guys blowing six guys, too. more »

videodrone

Young Jeezy Doesn't Melt In The Summer Sun


Sadly, the tableau of babes and bottles in the video for Young Jeezy's "Vacation" ends badly for the Snowman, with the final shot of the clip's "conceptual" side showing him being strong-armed out of a club by FBI agents. But mostly I'm impressed by how this video brings together the time-honored concepts of "scantily clad ladies on a beach" and "scantily clad ladies in a club" in a way that actually makes sense when put together with the track's lyrics—or, at least, the lyrics that weren't bleeped out in favor of letting the crisp piano hook shine through. We don't see unified vision like this often enough in pop music, and for that, I say, God bless. [YouTube]

11:00 AM on Thu Aug 28 2008
By Maura Johnston
66 views, Comment

get over yourself

"Can You Believe It? I'm Actually Flying Commercial"


For two and a half minutes, Diddy (who abuses the first third-person like he was Suede or something) laments rising gas prices by (a) flying American Airlines instead of his private jet and (b) giving "a shout out to all my Saudi Arabian brothers and sisters, and, all my brothers and sisters from all the countries that have oil—if you could please send me some oil for my jet, I would truly appreciate it. Can you believe this? I"m actually flying commercial. That's how high gas prices are, OK? So I feel you." The phrase "read it and weep" comes to mind, but Diddy's genuine incredulity that he might have to act and be treated as a normal person and not a demigod make it more like, "Watch it and vomit." [YouTube]

1:00 PM on Wed Aug 27 2008
By Michaelangelo Matos
287 views, 12 comments

Latest by Guy on the Windscreen: Gas prices...not the only thing extremely high in this video. more »

videodrone

ZZ Top: The True Idea Men Behind "What Not To Wear"


Idolator film-music critic Andy Beta places the videos for "Gimme All Your Lovin',": "Sharp Dressed Man," and "Legs" under his critical microscope: "Under such pressure, these blue-collar boys encounter their fairy godfathers, ZZ Top (who appear like a mirage in the Texas Panhandle landscape), via a set of magical car keys with the ZZ logo and 'The Eliminator' herself, a customized two-door, cherry-red 1933 Ford coupe. Attended by a triumvirate of hotties decked out in halter tops, fishnets, leather minis, studded belts, and red pumps, these modern-day Fates arrive just in time for the makeovers (seriously, in the intervening decades, how did no one at Spike TV conceive of Skank Eye for the Straight Guy?) and triumph." Andy, I hope you put a patent on Skank Eye For The Straight Guy right after you file your review, so the good people at Spike pay you the cash you deserve. [Village Voice / YouTube]

9:30 AM on Wed Aug 27 2008
By Maura Johnston
69 views, Comment

videodrone

Alejandro Escovedo Gets To Play On The Big Stage

Austin legend Alejandro Escovedo has (sadly) mostly dwelled in alt-country obscurity, despite an impressive solo catalog and a number of famous fans. Tonight, though, Escovedo will get some airtime on national TV; he's scheduled to perform "People (We're Only Gonna Live So Long)" from his Tony Visconti-produced album Real Animal as a warmup act for Hillary Clinton's appearance at the Democratic National Convention. A few clips from Alejandro's career after the cut. More »

11:00 AM on Tue Aug 26 2008
By Dan Gibson
193 views, 2 comments

videodrone

Cassie Is A Fast Sing-Talker


Cassie's new single, "Official Girl," eschews the icy minimalism that made "Me & U" such a success, and forces the poor thing to cram as many syllables as possible into each line she sings. It's a tactic that shows off just how reed-thin her voice is, a curious choice given that much ado has been made about her, shall we say, lack of vocal prowess in the past. Disappointing! At least the shot that makes it seem like Cassie's looking in a mirror when she's actually—surprise!—staring down Lil Wayne is a nice touch. [YouTube]

2:00 PM on Mon Aug 25 2008
By Maura Johnston
134 views, 1 comment

Latest by Hyperion: She looks smart. more »

videodrone

Leona Lewis: Almost As Competent As David Coverdale



I'm guessing Robert Plant got a bit of a chuckle from the Olympics' closing ceremony yesterday, which featured his former bandmate Jimmy Page performing "Whole Lotta Love" with British semi-superstar Leona Lewis in honor of China handing off ownership of the Summer Games to the UK. While Lewis' Aguilera-like run through the song was decent, if fairly predictable, one commenter on a fake YouTube clip of the event pointed out that "You have to admire the subtle genius of choosing a song about the size of Robert Plant's dick as the theme for the handover to London 2012." Although given all the speculation about Michael Phelps this year, maybe the song choice was super-appropriate? Anyway, for the fashion-conscious among you who are wondering just what on earth Lewis is wearing at the outset of the song, I've posted a better-resolution shot after the jump. More »

9:30 AM on Mon Aug 25 2008
By Maura Johnston
5,571 views, 11 comments

Latest by Kate Richardson: Glad you found a way to work Michael Phelps' huge penis into this post. That's why I love this site. more »

videodrone

Ne-Yo Is An Interoffice Male


The video for Ne-Yo's "Miss Independent" brings us to an office where women are in charge, dress codes are relaxed enough for some workers to flaunt their backless outfits next to the watercooler, and well-dressed male employees have nothing better to do than sit around and dream about the power ladies surrounding them all day. While this clip was certainly nice to look at (and the song is sumptuously great), I'm looking forward to the sequel, in which all the employees are forced to sit through what may be the awkwardest—yet most well-soundtracked, no doubt—sexual-harassment seminar of all time. [YouTube]

11:30 AM on Fri Aug 22 2008
By Maura Johnston
73 views, 1 comment

Latest by quadrophenia718: I love how each of Ne-Yo's videos for "Year of the Gentleman" are turning out to be xx decade meets 2008. Here, of course, the cinematography is very 1980s power office mode with better hair and no shoulder pads. I more »

videodrone

Pink's "Super-Literal First Single From The New Album" Route Continues


The last time Pink went down the "let's talk about my life in very plain terms over an irritating beat" road, with "Stupid Girls," things didn't go so well; the track stalled outside the top 10 on the Hot 100, and got an even cooler reception from the hot-AC stations that made later singles like "Who Knew" playlist staples long after I'm Not Dead first arrived in stores. But while driving around fiddling with the car radio last weekend, I realized that "So What" is probably going to outshine "Stupid" and be a huge, monster hit. More »

9:30 AM on Fri Aug 22 2008
By Maura Johnston
468 views, 5 comments

Latest by ObtuseIntolerant: @Captain Wrong: Wow...no I never thought that...but now this will keep me up nights. more »

videodrone

Sanjaya Brings Back The Ponyhawk


Given that this was the haircut that rocked the world (or, at least, the living room of my old apartment) nearly 18 months ago, I kind of had to post this Nationwide ad starring Sanjaya Malakar, who's following in the footsteps of luminaries like Kevin Federline and MC Hammer as a pitchman for the insurance company, and his seven-teased-ponytails 'do. Those of you who got golden tickets from American Idol's most recent crop of auditions: This could be you in about two years or so! (Take that as you will.) [YouTube]

2:45 PM on Thu Aug 21 2008
By Maura Johnston
119 views, 2 comments

Latest by TheFortHillBlues: He should eat a bag of assholes. more »

videodrone

Soulja Boy Is Not Really A Boy Of The People


In the latest video from the ceaselessly self-promoting vlogger/sometime musician Soulja Boy, the kid wakes up on Gucci sheets, blows his nose in money, and reads his YouTube comments. It's breathtaking if only because of its naked depiction of Soulja Boy as the ultimate Bubble Boy, someone who's the last person to realize his ever-growing irrelevance. I mean, here's someone whose dance is still being performed by kids in my neighborhood en masse and instead of trying to strike while the iron is hot he's unironically riding a Segway around the basement of his awkwardly designed McMansion? Sweetie Soulja, you know that the Gob Bluth character on Arrested Development was supposed to be a joke, right? [YouTube via the listenerd]

9:30 AM on Thu Aug 21 2008
By Maura Johnston
776 views, 13 comments

Latest by juiceandgin: He should eat. more »

videodrone

YACHT Gets Caught In A Freeze Frame


The electro wizardry of YACHT has found a home at DFA Records, and its first release on the label is, somewhat appropriately, "Summer Song," which is a booty-shaking love letter to the label's flagship band, LCD Soundsystem. The attached video is pretty enjoyable, too, but then again, I can always appreciate a clip that can combines the meta-tastic "making of the making of the video" plotline with some budget-conscious pyro and a shoutout to the J. Geils Band. [Vimeo via Team Yacht] More »

10:00 AM on Wed Aug 20 2008
By Maura Johnston
205 views, 5 comments

Latest by soundbitesnyc: I'm also shocked it took five hours for this to come up. more »

videodrone

An Irony-Free Moment Featuring A Cute Couple Playing Country Music


I assumed I was probably the only person on earth following CMT's pairs-skate version of American Idol Can You Duet, so there wasn't really anyone around to share my pain when Joey & Rory, an adorable married couple comprised of a farmer/songwriter husband and his restaurant-owning wife, couldn't quite pull out a victory. Thankfully, they've bounced back from their crushing defeat to release a single, and while the track doesn't quite capture what I liked about them on the show, it's still a nice flashback to the pre-Toby Keith country music era. [Joey & Rory]

1:00 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By Dan Gibson
149 views, 5 comments

Latest by Defenestrated: @dog door: For me, it's the palm-muted guitar chug during the verses that first grabbed me (that is what it is, right? not a guitar player). The production also doesn't seem to be wrung within an inch of more »