Added on July 22, 2024  Jef With One F

7.22.14: The Last VJ’s Top 5 Music Videos of the Week

Welcome to The Last VJ, music fans! Each week we’ll be digging the depths of the

internet to try and find music videos that prove the art form isn’t dead even if music

television totally is. This week we’ve got the one and only Weird Al, of course, who

continues an unbroken streak of hilarious song parodies. On top of that there are hippies

riding congas into darkness, some beautiful interpretive dance, and a twerkbot.

Strap in and watch, ‘cause there are some real winners to see.

 

Dry the River, “Everlasting Light”

Coming out of London we’ve got Dry the River and an awesome, low-budget video affair

from director Jake Dypka. It follows the band as the four lads in gis take on a similar

groups of women in judo displays. The song has an excellent message of picking yourself

up again and learning from your mistakes, a sentiment best described by the lyric “You

better engage your mind before you drive your mouth.”

In almost every case the women handily hand the band their asses, but even when they do

score the occasional victory it clearly comes at a painful price. I don’t think their trying to

say anything big and political in that. Merely that it’s dangerous to underestimate people

and that the world is ready to monkey flip you at a moment’s notice no matter who your

opponent it. It’s slightly heartbroken stuff, but there’s a strength, determination, and

energy to the mix that makes it fun.

 

Kiev, “Be Gone Dull Cage”

This, friends and enemies, is what Tron would have been like if it had been about hippies.

Kiev rides through a strange wasteland on flying congas powered by their beats on a

spirit quest that will ultimately displace them into a bi-located nirvana where half of their

existence is being massaged by pale hands in a shallow pit of Technicolor oyster shells

while the other half tumbles weightless towards a giant purple space vagina.

I didn’t make a single thing in that run-on sentence up. It’s a rather slow video that could

definitely use some cutting, but director Scott Peters has turned in a real trip if you’re

willing to go the extra mile.

 

Basement Jaxx ft. ETML, “Never Say Never

Now, admittedly this is a silly video that is already focused on something dated. Does

anyone really need to hear anything else about twerking at this point? Hasn’t all that must

be said already been said?

Maybe so, but “Never Say Never” is still a pretty amazing piece of work from director

Saman Kesh. More a short film than a true music video, it follows two scientists at the

Jaxx Corporation who honestly believe that the practice of dance in the world is falling,

and with it humanity’s hope for the future. So, being Japanese, they try to fix this by

building a robotic dance partner.

What follows is part montage, and part almost medical examinations of what makes us

move to music. Silly as the whole thing is, it does make you ask yourself when the last

time was you did go out and lose yourself rhythmically to a song. Maybe they’re on to

something after all.

 

Estelle, “Conqueror”

Simple, but gorgeous, “Conqueror” is a minimalist concept that gets its power from pure

beauty. Between Estelle’s one-of-a-kind voice and the fluid, perfect movements of her

male dancer performer you get a duel of physical perfections. Blacks, whites, and greys

vie for supremacy on the screen, forming a pretty good visual analogy for a song that

sings about the capriciousness of success and defeat. Stunning, beautiful, and amazing.

 

“Weird Al” Yankovich, “Word Crimes”

Well, it wouldn’t be an honest look at the week’s music videos without mentioning that

Weird Al is back an in great form. This time his music video, crafted by Jarrett Heather,

is a lyric video based on Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” that explores grammar rather

than possible date rape. Al was always a top-notch video artist in addition to being a

master parodist, and it’s good to see that he’s lost none of his enthusiasm or skill in the

last 38 years. Here’s hoping he’s aground for many more.

 

Jef has a new story, a tale of headless strippers and The Rolling Stones,

available now in Broken Mirrors, Fractured Minds. You can also connect with him on Facebook.