Awesome Music Videos: Deciding my Top 20 on a whim

My friend asked me what my favourite music video is, and I was thinking of mentioning the Sigur Ros video I posted previously, but when he said favourite, he meant AWESOME. He wanted to watch AWESOME music videos.

He sent Pearl Jam's "Evolution" to me, which is absolutely brilliant.

That prompted me to look for my personal Top 20, which I created on a whim, sort of. If I went through all of the music videos made to date, I might die. So this Top 20 isn't the be-all and end-all of music videos, but ones that I remember and love, whether they're fresh from the 2000s, or from before I was born. Finally, here is that list:

20) M.I.A.'s "Boyz"

This video is a surefire headache if you watch it too often, but it's so colorful and crazy that I cannot discount it. Not only is the song a great dance hit, but I want every single one of M.I.A.'s outfits in it, especially the weird, pink overall onesie.

19) Dr. Dre's "Nuthin' but a G Thang"

The cars, the women, the guns – I mean, c'mon. Priceless. But this makes my list purely for the scene at 2:39 when the toddler dances perfectly in beat with the "that" and slams his hand down, and with the "this," when he slides it like a true player.

18) Missy Elliott's "Work It"

This video is full of awesome. I love the memorials for Lisa Left Eye and Aaliyah, and the little kids dancing. Some random individual scenes are great. The Prince bit is ace. The four dancers when she sings about her "ka-dunk-a-dunk-dunk" are the reason men like jiggly butts. And my favourite is the slave slapping the white out of his "mas'r." I won't lie, though. Missy's face on that kid with the dunce cap still creeps me out.

17) Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up"

This uncensored version is just fucking crazy – and hey! You weren't expecting that ending, were ya? No one was, and that's what makes it so much better.

16) Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It"

"Take that, Dad!"

15) Lordi's "Hard Rock Hallelujah"



It's the a-rock-alypse! A cute punk chick befriends the monster band and leads her cheerleader-turned-zombie gang to wreak havoc on the school. Um, awesome!

14) 2Pac and Dr. Dre's "California Love"

Big money leads to big productions. This is one of those mini-movie type music videos. How fun would have this been to film? And, I'm actually from LA, and I have to agree with them. California does know how to party.

13) Ungdomskulen's "Modern Drummer"

Just . . . what? Cool.

12) Ratatat's "Mirando"

Good song. The video plays on repetition (Hey! Just like their music!), and it's an interesting abstraction of Ratatat's music. Even better: One of the members of the band (Evan Mast) makes the videos on his own (under his pseudonym/other project, E*VAX).

11) OK Go's "Here It Goes Again"



I know, I know. Everyone has seen this video. But you can't deny that it's amazing! The coordination is flawless. This video makes me want to 1) dance with them, 2) drink with them, and 3) be in their next masterpiece.

10) RJD2's "Work It Out"

"The vid features Bill Shannon who was born with a degenerative hip condition. His legs cannot carry his own weight and so he has lived a life on crutches. He has developed a new way of moving through life on his skateboard and the crutches. Though this may look like a recreational hobby or a debilitation, it is simply how Bill maneuvers throughout the day . . . RJD2 plays several extras which you can try to spot as well." –Beggars Group

Sweet moves.

9) Bat For Lashes' "Daniel"

She is undeniably cute. The video is so enigmatic with the black things in contrast with the little lady.

8) CSS' "Alala"

The entire video is a fight scene in reverse. Check out the sweet wounds throughout. It was directed by the amazing Cat Solen, who does fantastic things with music videos. Check out other videos directed by Cat, like Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson's "Buriedfed" (which has my best friend Ashley in it), Sea Wolf's "Winter Windows," and Bright Eyes' "At the Bottom of Everything." Go Cat!

7) The Teenagers' "Homecoming"

The band that manages to make fun of indie culture while being so remarkably indie themselves. Who doesn't like indie girls in short shorts eating cupcakes and playing with pom-poms? And the fact that the video is so ego-centric (because all the girls are basically in love with the trio – Quentin, Michael and Dorian) goes along perfectly with their image. I have met these guys several times, and I just love every silly little element that pairs this lightly misogynistic video with the lightly misogynistic song. Hooray misogyny!

6) Foals' "Mathletics"

Even though the academic tinge on this video is probably prompted by the title of the song, it's entertaining to know that the lead singer, Yannis Phillipakis, once went to Oxford University in England. He dropped out for the band. They're nice fellas, too.

5) Talking Heads' "And She Was"

Reminds me so much of Monty Python, for one reason or another.

4) Metronomy's "A Thing For Me"



This video is hilarious because the band brings the bouncing ball to life. You'd think that the concept gets boring after a while, but it doesn't! They get innovative with the idea: At one point, one guy pushes the lyric over to another so he doesn't get hit in the head. And they make fun of their own lyrics: "hive goth my mind made up. you goat maya art uno."

3) Lily Allen's "The Fear"



I wish life was actually like this: balloons and cupcakes and giant presents! Lily's fantasy worlds are always amazing, like the one she creates in "LDN."

2) Hot Chip's "Ready For The Floor"



These nerds make some fucking great dance music. And the funny thing is, they suck at dancing themselves. (I know this first hand.) This video plays with colors, like when they splash paint on people you didn't know were there. The band members also play a version of Human Tetris. They're adorable, and this video belongs at the top of this list.

And, in this whim, this wonderful wonderful whim, of looking at music videos, my number one for today (because it will probably change by tomorrow) is:

1) Justice's "D.A.N.C.E."



I don't care how played out this song is. The video is glorious. The animation is perfect, and each T-shirt would actually be cool to wear.


Whew. That took a lot longer than I expected. And looking back on it, the best part is that I realized I have met/hung out with/photographed five of the groups that are in my Top 20.

But as for this Top 20, it is likely to change, especially after I attend Northern Transmissions 2 at Scandinavia House tonight. (See below.)

SPECIAL FILM EVENT
Northern Transmissions 2
Thursday, April 30, 7 pm, $9 ($6 ASF members)

Scandinavia rocks in this program of music videos from across the Nordic region. The lineup presents a cross-section of Scandinavia’s geographically, aesthetically, and aurally diverse output. From Sweden’s macabre dark-wave to upbeat Norwegian pop, and on to the pastoral digital bliss of Iceland, Finland and the next wave of indie rock exported from Denmark, these videos will delight the ears and eyes. Featuring videos by Raveonettes, Efterklang, Seabear, Leoncie, Sigur Ros, Lykke Li, El Perro del Mar, Tvarvagen, Bjorn Kleinhenz, Whitest Boy Alive, Ane Brun, Lau Nau, Eleanoora Rosenholm, and others.

Maybe I will find some new favourites!

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Ol' Dirty Bastard – Got Your Money (Featuring Kelis)

Gowanus Canal: To Superfund or Not To Superfund?

Tuesday, I spent five sweaty hours by the Gowanus Canal getting feedback from the locals on how they feel about the whole Superfund thing. It was interesting, but feeling the sweat trickle down my calf while interviewing someone in Carroll Gardens isn't my ideal image of journalism. But I did it! And my colleague wrote it up.

Story teaser:

A proposal for a federally overseen clean-up of the Gowanus Canal sounds like something that everyone can get behind, but it’s actually pitting neighbor against neighbor over facts and hearsay that are as murky as the waterway itself.

Posters clamoring for the Environmental Protection Agency to list the infamous canal as a federal Superfund site have materialized on storefront windows in Carroll Gardens and outside nearby brownstone homes almost overnight — even as anonymously written fliers have started showing up in area mailboxes claiming that such a designation would depress home values and not actually speed the clean-up of the fetid corpse of water.

While the activists fight it out, residents are caught wondering who — and what — to believe.

Read the rest of my story for The Brooklyn Paper here . . .

Above: The poster, designed by Anna Martin, that some residents and businesses are hanging in windows.

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Lou Reed – Perfect Day

Police Blotter

Read the latest (and, recently, most exciting!) Police Blotter that I wrote for The Brooklyn Paper.

One crook takes 238 packs of cigarettes, another takes diamonds, and there are some pretty horrible beatings this week . . . Enjoy?

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Foals – Hummer

Review: Ratatat at Terminal 5

Talk about moving on up. Ratatat, a band that, three years ago, was pretty fresh on a lot of people’s iPods has basically become a household name in the music world. That could be why, at their Terminal 5 show on Tuesday, April 21, there was a sea of teeny-bopper fans and frat boys. And lots of grinding.

The show itself was a spectacular display because of Ratatat’s always awesome stage production. The two main guys – Evan Mast and Mike Stroud – used to play with a third member, but they seemed to replace him with even more strobe lights, which made the concert quite literally electrifying. This was a good choice, however, because the light show was perfect: the strobe lights burst out, declaring the peaks of each song, while not distracting from the projection of videos behind the duo. (The projection works well with the group because of Stroud’s tendency to walk in front of it, leaning back or headbanging or whatever he decides to do, casting a massive shadow that mimics his movements.)

And seeing Ratatat live is spicy, like the hot sauce on the rim of your Tecate (which they were drinking onstage). Because they dropped the third stage member, Ratatat had to rely on lots of pre-recorded stuff. But the things they do live make up for it, like fast-paced drum solos lit up by a flood of red or blue light. The beats are bass heavy, with glittery synth chimes and spicy guitar riffs. Once the bass kicked in, as with any good dance music, the crowd started grooving. When the synth flickered in, the dancing intensified. But all of that is just set up. The bass and the synth combine in anticipation of something more intense and somehow abstract, and that’s Stroud’s guitar. It cuts the repetitive nature of each song with its irregularity, making it the real hot sauce to the equation. And playing classics (har har) like “Wildcat” and “Seventeen Years” interspersed with newer tracks like “Flynn” and “Shempi” ensured a pleased audience.

All photos by me

See my original article on the Washington Square News blog.

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Simian Mobile Disco – Love

Event: "Glass on Glass" at St. Ann's Warehouse

It’s a Glass family smackdown!

In this corner, weighing in at 11 operas, seven string quartets, eight symphonies and one Golden Globe award is Philip Glass, quite possibly the greatest living American composer.

In the far corner, weighing in at one comic book, one radio show and one reputation as the thinking mommy’s George Clooney is Ira Glass, host of Chicago Public Radio’s “This American Life.”

Photo by Pavel Antonov

Let the banter begin!

That’s the premise of “Glass on Glass,” a night of storytelling and music featuring the cousins Glass at St. Ann’s Warehouse on April 28.

Read the rest of my story for The Brooklyn Paper here . . .

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Micachu – Golden Phone

Event: Sakura Matsuri at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

This year, the annual cherry blossom festival isn’t just about looking at pretty flowers. And it’s not just about traditional kimonos and samurai that one might imagine, either.

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s annual celebration of all things cherry will also feature performances by Japanese pop stars and DJs, and a panel discussion with the country’s best anime voice actors. It’s a fusion of new and old, with a pretty pink-and-white background!

Read the rest of my story for The Brooklyn Paper here . . .

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The Jackson 5 – Who's Lovin' You

Pete Hamill V3.0

Remember how I said I had a photo of me with the legendary Pete Hamill? HERE IT IS HELL YES.


I reviewed his book Downtown: My Manhattan earlier this year, and also chronicled an interview my class had with the dude. He's great, and I wish he was my grandpa. Thanks for everything, Mr. Hamill!

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Damien Jurado – Desert

Second Stop should be your first stop / Meet Craig Kafton

When you go to the bathroom at Second Stop café in Williamsburg, the owner is watching you. This may sound creepy, and you may be alarmed when you first notice it, but it’s just a photograph of Owner Craig Kafton, looking particularly enthused, on the door facing the toilet. I laughed.

He is quite a character, too. He’s unmistakable in his Buddy Holly-ish glasses, with a gray ponytail hiding coyly behind his head. He busies himself with making coffee and working the register at the café, located on Lorimer and Ainslie streets, which he opened two years ago.

Kafton working behind the register at Second Stop.

Kafton is from Howard Beach in Queens, but he hasn’t always lived in New York. He lived in Holland, Berlin before the Wall came down, and he still has a house in France. But he settled down in Williamsburg, and he lives directly above the café. When he and his partner, who owned the building, finally got a rid of a bad tenant, they decided to open up a café.

“Boy, this neighborhood needs a café,” Kafton had thought.

Forming the café was the main project. “I think we saw it more as an art project, building it,” Kafton said. This is because the inspiration for the building’s restoration came from the original photos of the building at the turn of the century to the 1940s. The façade of the building, which was a grocery store owned by Kafton’s partner’s grandfather, is rebuilt from a 1929 tax photo.

“There’s a bit of every period represented in there,” Kafton said. They got that old-timey effect because the two owners are collectors of stuff. There’s a wooden carving of Abraham Lincoln (wearing an Obama pin) in the front window, many different dangling lamps, a white rusty chandelier, old wooden box speakers and a ceiling fan.

Then, during the building, Kafton became a sort of coffee aficionado, without any other café experience. Now, Second Stop features Stumptown Coffee and in-house baking. They have assorted muffins, from plain to blueberry glaze to the "donut muffin," all of which are delicious because of their home-baked goodness. The café also serves special bagel sandwiches, in which you can get avocado, turkey, cheese, and other great fillings. These items don't come cheap, as a simple iced coffee can cost you over three bucks, but the quality justifies the prices.

Kafton loves the neighborhood, and in between his busy shifts, he manages to say hello to prominent locals, like the woman who owns Hotel Delmano and Union Pool, two notable Williamsburg establishments and popular bars.


As welcoming as he is, he knows who his good customers are.

“Are you a regular?” he asked me. When I said that I’m not, he replied, “Right, I didn’t think I recognized you.”

Kafton imbues the cafe with a warmth that a lot of cafés lack. And the customers are like a community, leaving bags at tables knowing that others wouldn’t steal, and would watch out for them. And even if the customers don’t watch out, Kafton will. He’s always got his eyes out for his customers – even in the bathroom.

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Hanne Hukkelberg – Cheater's Armoury

Buy Hipster Grifter Kari Ferrell's matchbook note!

Image from Ebay

Forget Madonna's used napkin or Britney's gum; you can now buy a matchbook note written by Hipster Grifter Kari Ferrell.

Don't know who she is? Oh you should. Below is the Salt Lake City Police Department's Most Wanted Poster for the sweet swindler.
Read the original story in The Observer here.
And here is Gawker's coverage.

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Band of Skulls – I Know What I Am

Sunday Funday: British celeb news, upcoming concerts and Sigur Ros videos

Dreading the start of the week? Me too. Here are some things to distract you, at least for a little while.

Many people are now familiar with "singing sensation" Susan Boyle from Britain's Got Talent, and yeah it's a great story, blah blah blah. It's heartwarming and surprising and funny, just like a reality contest show should be. Whatever. But check out this kid, also performing on Britain's Got Talent. I mean, I have been listening to Michael Jackson all day now and this kid is spot on. He's 12!

After reading articles about those two, I got a little carried away looking at the Daily Mail Web site. I never read trashy celebrity news, but Sunday Fundays (more like Sunday hangover day) are perfect for this.

Look what else I found!
Sir Richard Branson kite surfing with a naked model on his back and Peaches Geldof, who just recently got divorced at the age of 20, plans to record an album. Ha! I feel bad for Max in this divorce – no one is quoting him! I've met him before and he's a really nice person. I have also met Peaches, but I can't say the same for her. At least his band will be opening up for Lady Sovereign soon, which is good news for Chester French.

And now, to get us out of the rut of disgusting celebrity news, here are some videos you should watch if you want to feel happy and sentimental and a little bit artsy. Here is one of Icelandic band Sigur Ros playing a Take Away Show in a cafe in France. A friend of mine who lives in Paris said the guy who makes those videos is a dick, and I believe him, but the video is still pretty good.

Also, even though this is another Sigur Ros song, it may be one of my favourite music videos ever. It always makes me happy:



If that's not your thing, check out Chew Lips, a London-based band. (Think poppy, think indie, think electro.)

To close the post, here are a list of shows in the New York area that you should try to see:
04/21 – Ratatat at Terminal 5 (Check out the photos I took of them at the Guggenheim in 2006 on the Ratatat Web site!)
04/23 – Simian Mobile Disco at Highline Ballroom OR Lou Reed at Gramercy Theatre OR Suckers at Glasslands (who will soon be opening for MGMT)
04/24 – Julie Doiron at Cake Shop OR DJs SNOB and HOMO at Sweet Ups
04/26 – Gang Gang Dance at Barnard College
04/30 – Bat For Lashes at Bowery Ballroom
05/02 – The Kills at Webster Hall OR Bat For Lashes at Music Hall of Williamsburg
05/04 – The Kills at Music Hall of Wiliamsburg
05/05 – Lady Sovereign and Chester French (Peaches Geldof's ex-hubby) at Highline Ballroom
05/06 – Patrick Wolf at le poisson rouge
05/13 – Animal Collective at Terminal 5

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Chew Lips – Twin Galexies

Bushwick Country Club and Photobooths

If you're into old-fashioned black and white photobooth photos, you should check out Bushwick Country Club at 618 Grand Street in Williamsburg. They have one in back that produces gems such as these:

This is me with one of the bartenders, Thomas.

We invited The Teenagers (famous for the song "Homecoming") to the bar. They liked it so much, that they skipped out on a Vampire Weekend party to come back to BCC. This is the resulting photobooth.

P.S. It is commonly referred to as BCC.

P.P.S. Be sure to get your hands on a basket of cheese puffs. They're like the peanuts that an ordinary bar would serve to guests as finger food, but this isn't an ordinary bar. That's part of the reason The Teenagers loved it so. Dorian from the band had never tried cheese puffs, and he became addicted.

But the best photobooths I have ever done (by far) are the ones we got in Japan. Take a look:

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Vulture Realty – The Joke

Police Blotters

Check out this week's Park Slope Police Blotter. And since I forgot to post last week's, here it is. (Last week's wasn't that great, honestly.)

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Little Boots – Meddle

A talk with Pete Hamill is serendipitous

Everyone should get the chance to see life through Pete Hamill’s eyes. His books undoubtedly give you a glimpse of it, as I mentioned in my review of his book Downtown: My Manhattan, but reading his words are nothing like listening to them. 

Today, Hamill came to talk to my Beat class at NYU and my 10 fellow students and I were engrossed by his 90-minute talk. In person, he looks just like he does on the cover of the book, but a little bit older and wiser. His eyelids sag a bit, giving him a wispy, sentimental look. 

We grilled him on his life – from his bouts with alcoholism to his divorce, from realizing he was a writer (and not a painter) to his optimism for the Internet. We each got the chance to ask him questions, but sometimes, I forgot my questions in his captivating narrative. He told us about the old journalism days and, though he never had a beat, he loved talking to musicians. This is when I stopped thinking and just turned to listen. 

“Music, to me, is the highest art,” he said. (Yes! I thought.) “The problem with musicians is that it’s hard for them to explain themselves. They don’t have a language because they don’t need one.” (Yes, yes, yes!) 

And the most fascinating person he ever interviewed was not Gloria Cardinale, as he joked (though any arts journalist would be happy to interview her, I’m sure – as would I), but Max Roach, a famous African-American drummer who worked with great jazz musicians like Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. Hamill himself talks about them as if they were here only yesterday. He manages to combine days of yore with modernity in a wonderful grandpa-esque form of storytelling. 

Now, Hamill enjoys a life split between New York and Cuernavaca, Mexico. He’s married to a Japanese writer (this being his second marriage), and he has two daughters. But he is still wed to New York. In our interview, Hamill described New York as “existential,” “a marvel,” and a city that’s about possibility, and “the remaking of self.” 

His book doesn’t cover it, so we had to ask: is there anything Pete Hamill, New York’s wonder boy, hates about the city? Definitely. Some things annoy him, from the Starbucks on every corner to women who cart around nine-year-olds in strollers (and how the strollers can be like Hummers, he said.) 

He hates not seeing children wandering around the streets of Brooklyn, getting themselves in trouble and falling in love with the wrong people. (“I just worry that they’re having virtual childhoods,” he said.)

Another one of his hates, which I felt at heart because I hate it too, is the disappearance of great bookstores and record shops. He described how marvelous it is to walk into a store for one thing (a certain book or record) and walking out with something else. You can’t do that with iTunes or Amazon.com. 

“You lose a sense of serendipity,” Hamill said. 

Man, how can he do that! He just made me fall into a whim of sentimentality – one of the things I wasn’t fond of in his book – and love it! I lost my usual cynicism in the midst of his tales. He signed a postcard that I got in Japan for me. He also was more than happy for a photo op. (Photo to come soon!) 

All I can say now is: Thank you, Mr. Hamill.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a reality

Remember the premise of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?

Check this out. Sciiiiience.

Photo from www.eternalsunshine.com

"How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd . . . "
–Alexander Pope, "Eloisa to Abelard"

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Cut Copy – Unforgettable Season

Review: Asobi Seksu at Bowery Ballroom

Last night, I went to see Asobi Seksu play at Bowery Ballroom. It was a fantastic show!

You can read my review on the New York Press blog here. Be sure to browse my other photos below the story!

I went to the show alone, since I was covering it, so the beginning was kind of boring. Me and a beer and my cell phone, at least in between bands. Then the show came on, and I was blown away. My favorite part was when the band was about to leave stage for the first time. Yuki, the lead singer, took off her necklace, placed it on the mic stand, and went to tackle the drums. She took control of them and banged out the same heavy indie-rock beats that had been playing only moments before. To put it concisely, it rocked.

And of all people for me to casually start talking to, I pick the NYU grad student who used to be in the band. After the venue cleared out, he introduced me to the current lineup, who are all so nice and humble. Yuki's boisterous laugh is completely antithetical to her small figure. Billy was really polite and interesting. James was hilarious, and I hardly spoke with him because I couldn't think of any witty retorts. I, unfortunately, did not meet the drummer.

Several of the band members' families were at the show, so people lingered around for a while. Quite a few ex-members were there as well, so it was like one big happy reunion – and me. No one opposed to my presence, though. In fact, everyone was quite welcoming. A few hours and a beer later, it was time to go home.

All in all, good night.

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Chew Lips – Solo

My latest Police Blotter for The Brooklyn Paper + Japan photo

You can read the latest from the Park Slope crime logs right here.

Tomorrow night, I will be seeing Asobi Seksu play at Bowery Ballroom! Keep an eye out for my review on the New York Press blog! (I'll most likely link to it from here . . . )

And to close this post, here is a random photo from my trip to Japan. This is an action shot of me eating takoyaki (octopus balls) for the first time ever. Thrilled Japanese schoolgirls offered it to us!

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Fleet Foxes – In The Hot, Hot Rays