Top 5 Music Videos of the Week: Airlands, Palehound + More
Here we are again looking for visual beauty and sonic paradise out there on YouTube. It ain’t just cat videos and angry guys ranting about feminists, you know. Let’s see what we’ve got this week.
5. Girlpool — “It Gets More Blue”
Sometimes you just want a good, short love story, and “It Gets More Blue,” directed by Amalia Irons, delivers exactly that. Shot on a vintage camera, it’s the story of two women falling in love and ultimately parting as one of them leaves to join the Navy. I’ll admit the phrase “amateur theatrics” did cross my mind as I watched it, but the result is still very sweet and engaging.
4. Palehound — “Flowing Over”
The second the video announced it was the Boston League of Women Wrestlers Demo Tape, I knew this was going to be a good time. “Flowing Over” is a showcase of the real sport of kings as colorful characters bust out some pretty impressive moves considering their ring is a mat taped to the floor and bounded by plastic chains. It isn’t Lucha Underground, but it’s damn fun for all that. If you can’t find joy in violence done by women called Stabatha La Kills and Swolverina while being hosted by MC G Spot, then I don’t want to know you.
3. Denitia and Sene — “Powder”
And now for something quite a bit darker. “Powder,” directed by Brian Mare, is a harsh look at a couple who a spiraling the drain as drugs destroy them. It’s an intense musical journey, where they both implore the other to remember them after they’re dead, putting them in an odd race to self-destruction. It’s something else, I’ll tell you.
Oh, there is one moment of levity near the end. Drugs are credited as “themselves” in the scroll. Hilarious.
2. AirLands — “Palisades”
I couldn’t explain what was going on in this video if my own life at stake, but I absolutely love every beautiful second of its graceful madness. A man with a rabbit head rescues a mannequin, takes it to tea, paints its portrait, and then I think the whole thing was actually a dream. See? Mere words just are not going to get the job done this time. You have to just dive right into this stunning delirium.
1. Stolen Jars — “Long New York”
Probably my favorite video from this week is this odd little creation directed by Abie Sidell. It follows a little girl as she plays in the woods with a freakish masked person. Bit by bit, it’s revealed that the person is the personification of the girl’s sense of childhood, and we watch her as she sadly drags the reminder through a terrified growing up process. It’s sad, but hopeful, and delivered with startling maturity and skill. This is just one of those videos that makes me love this job so much.
