Author: Audrey Atwater

Music Videos You Should See #4: Destruction by Joywave

Audrey Atwater

Hey there and welcome back to another Music Videos You Should See! This week I’m going to be looking at Joywave’s music video for Destruction. This video is more like a short film in its story and production quality, which is why I chose it this week. Now buckle up, because you are about to be taken on an hilarious adventure. (Pro-tip, the video really ends around 4:42)

Alright, what did you think? Personally, this has quickly become a favorite of mine. The acting from the band members of Joywave is fantastic, and I think it is pretty evident that they all had a lot of fun filming this video. It begins with the band looking for a new member and seemingly holding open auditions. After going through a few unqualified individuals, a first-generation MP3 player somehow makes it up onto the stool to audition. Although they are at first apprehensive, they let the MP3 player audition and are all blown away. The video then follows the band as they get to know their new member and play shows around the country with it. But quickly, things turn south. Just like what you would expect from any film about the rise and fall of a band, the MP3 player gets a bit high-and-mighty and soon enough goes solo. My favorite part of the entire video is the very end ‘Where are they now?’ news segments. All of the ‘former’ members of Joywave have had to move on with their lives in different careers, and the whole band was replaced by other MP3 players.

I think a reason I enjoyed this video so much was because of the message that Joywave was attempting to portray. While technology seems to be taking over all of our lives and possibly our jobs, good music can still be made without it. Although this is a fun and pretty silly way to show that. The ‘destruction’ of the music industry, with the removal of real people and the inclusion of music made just by machine, doesn’t have to be. Perhaps Joywave is attempting to tell us all that man and machine can work together.

Prince: Not Only A Musician

Audrey Atwater

As I am sure you have all heard by now, the legendary musician Prince passed away Thursday morning in his home in Minnesota. Many around the world are mourning the musical genius and remembering his music. But what many people did not know was that Prince was not just a musician. This week I am taking a break from writing about music videos in order to tell you all about Prince, the philanthropist.

Prince was known as a wonderful musician who broke down boundaries separating pop and alternative music. He won and was nominated for dozens of awards, including an Academy Award. And while he was most well known for the music that he created, he also helped to create and gave to many different charities and organizations. In an interview on CNN’s Dr. Drew Show, Van Jones (a close friend of Prince), spoke out about the charitable work that Prince did, especially in reference to the #YesWeCode initiative. The initiative works “to help 100,000 low-opportunity women and men find success in the tech sector”. Van Jones mentioned that Prince did not like to talk about his charitable work and often held concerts as cover-ups for his philanthropist works. #YesWeCode paid tribute to the late musician on their website, thanking him for his help in creating the initiative.

So, as we mourn the lose of yet another legend in the music world, we must also remember that he was more than a musician. He was a giver, a friend, an a philanthropist. As Van Jones stated “When you think about how great he was as a musician, just please understand that’s a part of the greatness.”

Music Videos You Should See #3: Riptide by Vance Joy

Audrey Atwater

Hello again, KCRers (or KCR listeners? Maybe readers… I don’t know!)! Welcome to this week’s edition of Music Videos You Should See. This time around we are going to take a look at Vance Joy’s music video for his song ‘Riptide’. I will post the video below, but I will tell you now, be ready. I suggest that you listen closely to the lyrics as you watch what is happening in the video.

Finished? Good, right? But definitely an odd one. Now, if you took my suggestion you probably already noticed that the lyrics are taken pretty literally throughout the entire video. A lady, running. Then a video of a riptide. Stuff like that. When I first watched this video I noticed what was going on about half way through and couldn’t stop laughing. Now that I’ve gone back and watched it a few more times over, there are more and more little details that stand out to me.

Let me bring up the woman singing the chorus. We see her about five times throughout the video doing this and each time it gets a little bit rougher. First, she lip syncs the words perfectly. That’s alright, that’s normal, we don’t think anything of it. The next time around through her lipstick is smudged and we may notice that her lip syncing is… Well, just a little bit off. This is ironic because the lyrics that she is meant to be syncing are “I got a lump in my throat ’cause/You’re gonna sing the words wrong.” Haha, we laugh, that’s funny. But the next time we see her she looks a lot more disheveled and the lip syncing is totally off. The fourth time we see her she is covering what seems to be a bleeding gash in her neck. I assume this is meant to be a play on the “got a lump in my throat” bit in the lyrics.

If you watch the video again, you’ll notice around 2:49 the video has the lyrics at the bottom for you. But wait! They’re obviously incorrect. Yet another literal play on the lyrics of the song. I know that there is a lot more to this video that I have yet to either notice or understand yet, but I am excited to watch it more and more to get everything! If you guys notice anything I forgot here, please share this post on the social media of your choosing and let us know!

Music Videos You Should See #2: Mountain At My Gates by Foals

Audrey Atwater

Hello again, and welcome to Music Videos You Should See! I’m Audrey and I am here to introduce you to a truly magical experience of a music video. A couple weeks ago we explored alt-J’s music video for their song Breezeblocks. This week, I am focusing on Mountain At My Gates, a song by the band Foals. Where last time I looked closely at story telling within a music video, this week I will be analyzing the tech behind making Mountain At My Gates.

First, let me guide you through how to watch the video. It’s not often when one must have a tutorial for viewing a video, but Mountain At My Gates is unlike any other music video I’ve ever seen. In the video above you will notice a round (what I like to call) thingamabob. It has four arrows going in each direction. When the video begins it zooms you into this world, as if you are a bird. Once the image fills the screen and you begin to see the actual band members playing, this is where the real fun begins. Go up to the thingamabob in the upper left hand corner and click on the arrows. Like magic, you seemingly move the camera to see more and more of the video. You can go in literally every direction and fool around with this video for a long time, just watching as the band members move between frames and interact with themselves in a different angle. It’s pretty awesome.

This video was filmed using a GoPro Spherical, which is a pretty recent GoPro invention that takes video in 360 degrees. Using this camera made it possible to create a sort of virtual reality that the video is in. I can’t imagine how epic it would be to watch this video with a VR headset. Okay… Now I really want to do that… Anyone have one I can borrow for a few minutes?