Video digest April 2012
Posted by tipkin
What a great month! It's interesting how the process of looking for videos has been different each time - sometimes I have to comb through Vimeo selection myself, and sometimes, like it happened last month, videos just kept falling right into my lap. I don't even know where to start, so I'm just going to present this Yuna video first as a tie-in with the previous post and just because it's such a great song.
Yuna - "Live Your Life"
A fantastic entry from Polish project Cuefx Band. Good quality video (yet with some indie "umm, wtf do we do now?" moments - dude walking through the woods - check!) and, more importantly, an awesome track, overflowing with energy and beauty. Director unknown, but there's a long list of folks who worked on the video at the end there. Can you feel this cosmic drive?
Cuefx Band - "Cosmic Drive"
Karmacoda is up next, with a suitably dark video for their single "Epic". I could have done without the intro (or outro for that matter), but the song is well worth the wait. Well-crafted (yet pretty uneventful) video directed by Luis Otavio Feldens.
Karmacoda - "Epic"
Video digest March 2012
Posted by tipkin
In the words of my favorite con-man of Russian literature, "life dictates us its stern laws". As much as I'd like to write posts daily, I'm having a really hard time balancing a (delightful but exhausting) full-time job of being a dad, an (annoying and exhausting) "real" full-time job and this little hobby of mine. So, my dear readers, don't get mad, please keep checking in even if once a month for these video compilations. I'll try to make it worth your while.
Quite a few tasty video-nuggets last month, so many in fact that I can now officially refuse to consider shots of blurry moving lights or of a static radiant CGI blob a music video. Below you'll see how talented folks use their talents (and in some cases a little bit of money) to create something worth watching to accompany something worth listening to.
First of all - Black Era is an awesome project from Italy creating the darkest and most beautiful trip-hop (think Massive Attack - Mezzanine dark and beautiful) and you should definitely check them out and download all their music (it's available for free from ...aquietbump label). Now that we got this out of the way - enjoy their new video directed by Ciro Ayala. Warning!!! Beautiful nude models! Not safe for work or your overall emotional state.
Black Era - "Court Of The Ants"
Next up - Fragile Architecture - an intriguing genre-merging project from France with a very simple but very smart, dark and well-made video by FAb. I like the approach - no bells and whistles, just let the music (and the scary digitized head) do the talking.
Fragile Architecture - "Armure"
Another dark one, urban-nightmare-graffiti-concrete-jungle abstraction from another French project - Scratch Bandits Crew. Some solid turntable skills there and nifty visuals from graffiti artist Brusk and motion designer ice©ream.
Scratch Bandits Crew - "Heart Beat"
Video digest February 2012
Posted by tipkin
Damn, February is a short month indeed! Still, I ended up with a bunch of good videos, better yet - very good songs those videos were created for. Let's enjoy both, shall we! First (and most exciting) - new track/video from Yppah featuring no other but our beloved electronica goddess Anomie Belle. The new album comes out early April and I'm sure hoping to snag a copy for review! The video is trippy, bass is killer, Anomie Belle is magnificent as always. Good stuff. Directed by Matthew F. Smith.
Yppah - "Film Burn" (feat. Anomie Belle)
Lesson learned while searching for videos - Youtube kind of sucks. Tons of search results with only a couple of actual music videos. Here's one of them - a very "old school" trip-hop from Netherlands, with a very attractive female lead with a very pleasant voice. Video by Video CAD.
Adoma - "Don't Change"
Continuing the theme of "attractive female singers walking through the woods/fields/hills" is Ella Gray. Soft, dreamy vocals, great scenery - very enjoyable song and video. Video by 2id communication (I think).
Ella Gray - "The Sun In My Arms"
Video digest January 2012
Posted by tipkin
It's time for the first Video Digest of the year! Are you excited? Well, I can't say that the month was super fruitful for music videos, but I still found a few pieces that seemed interesting enough. And some of the videos found me, like this first one - a brand new music video from a very talented group of musicians called Shine. Their new album is coming out very soon, and I was one of the lucky few to get an advanced copy. Album isn't trip-hop per se, and for the most part isn't even "trip-pop", but I'll cover it in my review later, for now just enjoy this video that sort of captures the spirit of the album - simple stories, beautifully told. Directed by Cédric Mouilleron.
Shine - "Judas And Mary"
And this one from Chinese Man appeared on my Facebook wall literally as I was editing this post. Dark, imaginative, unpredictable, very well put together, - much like their music itself. Directed by Fred & Annabelle.
Chinese Man - "Racing With The Sun"
Now here's a name I'll definitely be looking into more closely. CocoRosie meets opera meets trip-hop - can't go wrong with those ingredients in your recipe. Video (featuring all kinds of art-house strangeness) directed by Elena Evangelia.
Sequence Theory Project - "Angel's Lullaby"
Video digest December 2011
Posted by tipkin
You don't need much to make a good music video. A few very good examples from the last month of 2011 below.
Thievery Corporation didn't need anything other than their rebel-with-a-cause attitude, always ready for action MC Mr. Lif and the peaceful revolution of the Occupy movement. Funky tune, colorful video, powerful message. Directed by the people. Just kidding, I have no idea.
Thievery Corporation - "Unified Tribes" (feat. Mr. Lif)
(This one is actually from November, but I missed it in the previous digest) DJ Shadow didn't need anything but sense of humor, a cool concept and a bunch of people who can keep straight faces while doing odd things. Result is a creative funny take on trendy "one-take" music videos. Directed by Casey & Ewan.
DJ Shadow - "Scale It Back" (feat. Little Dragon)
Screenatorium didn't need anything but a couple of good looking young people (which I imagine isn't such a hard thing to find in France) and a camera. Directed by Kamikal, good looking young people are Nicolas Bérud and Céline Martinez.
Screenatorium - "How Praised"
Video digest September – November 2011
Posted by tipkin
You wanted some videos? You got 'em! Well, I don't know what you wanted since no one bothers to comment on anything (ever), but I sure wanted some, so, here you go, tipkin, do I have some treats for you tonight!
Let's start with something that is so beautiful that it's going to leave you speechless (which is good, because who the fuck talks during such song). Video for DJ Cam - "Swim" (feat. Chris James) from his latest album Seven stars an unrealistically gorgeous girl who is very sad, then very slowly sheds a tear and then gives us a breathtakingly beautiful smile. And there's the falling in slo-mo thing, too. Masterpiece. Directed by Sonia Sieff.
DJ Cam - "Swim" (feat. Chris James)
Continuing with beautiful (and with music that I've reviewed). "Machine" (feat. Mr. Lif) - one of my favorite tracks from the new Anomie Belle album The Crush, - gets an über-cool treatment by the director Bogdan Darev. Skaters, creepy make-up and chess - recipe for a great video.
Anomie Belle - "Machine" (feat. Mr. Lif)
Sky, water, old photographs and old buildings and many other things in a very creative video by Christophe Thockler "DaBrainkilla" for the track Doctor FLAKE - "Swell Line" (from his new album FLAKE UP). Probably didn't cost that much money to make but surely required lots and lots of skill.
Doctor FLAKE - "Swell Line"
More new videos!
Posted by tipkin
This delicious portion of music+video (music always comes first!) goodness is a bit more personal. Most of the videos below are from artists/bands that I talked about/with on the pages of trippin' the rift and that I keep following with great interest and pleasure.
Let's start with the trippiest of all "this is not trip-hop" projects out there. The video for "Josie's Porch Swing" by Star FK Radium, an instrumental trio from Washington DC, was shot on (gorgeous) location in Iceland. The track (as any Star FK Radium's compositions) can have as many interpretations as there are listeners (multiplied by infinity, for it may sound different depending on current mood, time of day, amount of alcohol consumed, etc., etc.), so this tragic story is just one of them, well acted and beautifully executed. Is that thing in the end really happen or is it her wishful thinking (or did her wishful thinking make it happen)? 
Star FK Radium - "Josie's Porch Swing"
A bunch of cool footage of sea shore, waves and sunrises shot at various locations across Europe accompanies the signature lush sound of Tracing Arcs. "Pebbles & Weed (submerged mix)" is a track from the duo's new album Eye See You Too (Remixes & Forbidden Fruit), which you can (and should) download for free from 23 Seconds Netlabel.
Tracing Arcs - "Pebbles & Weed (submerged mix)"
As a perfect illustration to her words about beautiful and sexy darkness, Anomie Belle shows some skin in a beautiful, sexy and dark video for her new (awesome and very catchy) single "Inky Drips". I cannot wait for the LP to come out (luckily it's going to happen very soon - September 13). Watch the video and listen to single (that includes 2 remixes of "Inky Drips" and a cover of Bill Withers "Ain't No Sunshine") here.
Anomie Belle - "Inky Drips"
Gods, millionaires and pure abstraction
Posted by tipkin
I like posting music videos - it doesn't require a whole lot of writing, it attracts a lot of readers and it's always interesting to sort of match the music and the visualizations, to see if the video complements the track or is it more like a mini-film that uses the song as soundtrack (not that there's anything wrong with that). I usually don't like when videos are too literal, but it isn't a problem with electronic music, especially when there are no vocals involved - who knows what this song is about. Yet sometimes you watch the video and go "Yep. This is exactly what this song is about." Just like this fun animated abstraction for Wagon Christ's "Chunkothy" from his latest album Toomorrow. All kinds of funky brightly colored weirdness happens, there's no point in describing. Apparently there's even a 'Mexican cat' somewhere in there, whatever the hell that means. Directed by Celyn Brazier.
Wagon Christ - "Chunkothy"
I'm not sure if I totally dig the direction Pati Yang went with her new release Wires And Sparks, but her talent is undeniable and the video for "Near To God" is pretty cool - sexy and creepy at the same time, with Pati singing in church with a double set of emotionless teenage twin sisters. Couldn't find director's name. Help?
Pati Yang - "Near To God"
Don't know how official this video is (it's definitely not on Ninja Tune channel), but it looks like it was made specifically for Amon Tobin's "Mass & Spring". I personally don't share author's ultra-dark interpretation of the track, but the video features a very attractive girl in negligee, so I'm not complaining. Created by the29nov films.
Amon Tobin - "Mass & Spring"
coldreavers – Morning In The Cafe (video)
Posted by tipkin
And here it is, Ladies and Gentlemen - TTRR's very first and very original music video. All kinds of appreciations go to Mudgeonsoul Productions and personally to Richard Paro (whose short film Fox In The Snow just won the Out There Now Short Film Competition at Kansas City Gay & Lesbian Film + Video Festival. Just BTW.) who came up with the idea and basically made the whole thing happen. And, of course to all the super-talented and selfless people involved. Enjoy, spread around and tell us what you think. Yours truly is in the video, too (hint - I am not the girl with a banjo). And while you at it, may as well subscribe to trippintheriftlabel YouTube channel, because there's gonna be more stuff coming.
coldreavers - "Morning In The Cafe"
Trip-Hop International pt.2
Posted by tipkin
It's True Love Tuesday! Yay!!! It's been a while, I know, it's just Tuesdays have been pretty shitty days for True Love lately. Anyway, here we are with the second installment of Trip-Hop International. The first one was well received and I personally loved discovering new trip-hop acts, or finding out where the ones I already knew were from. I decided to just keep going farther down the list of visitors that is located in the right column of the blog. Some shifting happened there on our little 'hit-parade' - Mexico dropped out of the Top 10 yielding its spot to the Netherlands. But let's forget the numbers and ratings, they don't matter anyway. Only music matters. And here is some great beats from Arts The Beatdoctor (Netherlands) - strangely enough could not find any actual music videos. Help?
Arts The Beatdoctor - "Decreasing Daylight"
Brazil! Some talented musicians were born there but left the country, like Amon Tobin. Others moved to Brazil and stayed there, some of them until their dying day. Like Serbian musician Mitar Subotić (aka Suba) who died in a fire in his Sao Paulo studio in 1999 leaving behind some truly amazing music. Check out this fantastic video for "Sereia":
Suba - "Sereia"
I find it hard to believe that there is only one trip-hop band in the whole Belarus. But I couldn't find any evidence to the contrary. Thankfully, this only band is really good and can proudly represent their country on this list. Meet B_Side (formerly known as Rostra):
B_Side - "Нехта"
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