Sure, nothing compares visually/emotionally to downloading a futuristic-sounding internet browser for the purposes of shedding nostalgic tears of joy but in today’s selection of music-y videos that don’t involve reminiscing fondly about the house you grew up in, we have TWO Bruce Springsteen covers (a Bjork one too), a new slow burner from The Drums and a live collaboration between Aphex Twin and Die Antwoord.
Ben Folds, Nick Hornby and Pomplamoose – “Things You Think”
Ben Folds is clever. I mostly mean that in the smarmy, self-congratulatory sense of the word though I’m sure he’s intelligent too. Rocking The Suburbs anyone? I rest my case. Anyway, as is to be expected with any project involving Folds and a video camera, the dude’s cleverness is on full display in the video for “Things You Think”, a VideoSong which adheres to two simple rules: 1. What you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice). 2. If you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds). The track is taken from Lonely Avenue the forthcoming album that Folds penned with British author Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About a Boy, Fever Pitch).
The Cast of Glee, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Jon Hamm and Betty White – “Born To Run”
The first of the aforementioned Springsteen covers was also the best thing that happened on Emmys night, except when that deserving actor/actress received that long-overdue award?
Vampire Weekend – “I’m Going Down” (Bruce Springsteen cover)
This totally shouldn’t work because Bruce Springsteen is the working man’s everything and Vampire Weekend actually do give a fuck about an Oxford Comma and own more pastel sweaters than Kanye West and Martha Stewart combined. But you know what? The Boss transcends all. That’s probably how he got the nickname.
Robyn – Hyperballad (Bjork Cover)
As a tone deaf non-singer who possesses no stage experience whatsoever I’m more than qualified to say, without hyperbole, that this is the scariest things a vocalist can do. At the ceremony for Bjork’s Polar Music Prize win in Stockholm, Robyn covered “Hyperballad”…while Bjork was in the audience silently judging her range.
Die Antwoord & Aphex Twin Collaborate Live
This was taken from last weekend’s London Electronic Dance Festival in duh, London where Aphex Twin jammed out with jokeart-rap South Africans Die Antwoord. I have no idea what to make of this but I can’t stop nodding my head (mostly a rhythmic thing but partly as a sign of approval).
The Drums – “Down By The Water”
According to The Drums “both the video and song are a tribute to the girl groups of the 50’s and 60’s” which explains why this monochromatic slow-burner views like a circa Motown dance contest to find out how much emotion one can convey in a single hand gesture.
Via Stereogum
