videos sometimes make the music

Since MTV and the birth of MuchMusic in Canada, music videos became the new frontier for music. Needless to say there have been numerous controversial videos from Madonna singing in front of burning crosses and Britney Spears wearing her thong on top of her jeans.

For me, music videos are another way to explore new music and hear new stuff. When I'm flipping through the television channels if I see something cool, I'll stop and look - even if I'm not feeling the music. Then if the music video is cool, the next time I see it on the TV, I'll still stop and listen ... sometimes this is slowly how I start to like the artist or their single etc. (but the music still has to sound good for me to become a fan!)

Here are a couple of music videos that have stuck with me recently:

Adele - Chasing Pavements : I love this music video, it's really adorable. I love how the people in the accident are dancing on the sidewalk while lying down. I love how when the paramedics come, they join in on the dancing. It's great, just really cute and Adele's voice is amazing!

Santigold - L.E.S. Artistes : This song is interesting as well as the video. The first few seconds are very odd...but once you get into the rest of it you'll see how cool it becomes, it's like a live art performance. Instead of using blood and getting violent or gory, this video uses colourful scarves as a replacement adding much more of a philosophical effect.

And one music video from the past!

My technique of learning about new artists through their music videos all started with this artist. Many of you might remember Jamiroquai - Virtual Insanity, the guy who wore a furry top hat and seemed to dance around on moving floors. I love this song and this video - it's crazy how he dances and weird how all the little random bugs/birds show up throughout the video and of course how the walls start to leak blood (if you look closely in the background near the end).

Interesting Fact: the floors in this video don't actually move! It's actually the stage hands who are moving the walls in and out which give the effect of a moving floor. Jamiroquai's wicked dance moves also help with this effect of the moving floors.

Wondering if there are any other recent videos that aren't just the same old girls, money, or cliche ideas of running through the streets with a huge pose.

Keep me in the know!

i'm out.

L