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Stegor
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1/3/2008 11:37:23 AM
Videos on IAC
I hate music videos. They are horrible and have helped to ruin mainstream music forever. But it's not video itself that killed the radio star, it's the major labels and Hollywood that took what used to be a creative third dimension to music and turned it into a huge joke. Just like the music itself. I think it was Duran Duran's Rio video that made me cringe first and it's been downhill ever since.
BUT
I don't know about you, but I really enjoy seeing videos produced by IAC artists. You get a glimpse of another dimension, and it really helps me connect to the other artists here.
So I'd like to encourage artists here to plop a video in once in a while. IAC doesn't offer the ability directly, but obviously embedding links to videos on YouTube works very well.
As for the content of the videos, it doesn't need to be a live performance at a real venue, and it doesn't need to be a produced music video. You don't have to be some wunderkind flailing your fingers on the fretboard trying to outdo some other wunderkind (I see a lot of that on YouTube). Just real, honest, passionate performances of your songs, even sloppy ones! Warts and all! Or goofy creative video productions set to your music. Or...?
Of course there's also something to be said for mystery, so let's not overdo it!
Maybe someday IAC will feature videos?
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Hop On Pop
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1/3/2008 12:04:46 PM
I have a video that I will not (and cannot) post.
But if you PM me, I can get you a link for a private performance.
And I know what you're thinking... and it's not dirty!
Me with the whole band, when we were all still together and happy!
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Chris Hance
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1/3/2008 12:16:30 PM
I hate music videos. They are horrible and have helped to ruin mainstream music forever. But it's not video itself that killed the radio star, it's the major labels and Hollywood that took what used to be a creative third dimension to music and turned it into a huge joke. Just like the music itself. I think it was Duran Duran's Rio video that made me cringe first and it's been downhill ever since.
I totally agree with this viewpoint.
Good post Steg.
ps viewers, my test vids are here; Click
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Hop On Pop
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1/3/2008 12:18:53 PM
Agreed.
Completely.
But Weird Al is still a genius. And I can watch his videos, still.
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Stegor
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1/3/2008 3:10:24 PM
There are still a few...
Data Thieves I watched and enjoyed your videos. But then I got click happy and ended up watching William Shatner doing Rocket Man. It was only 2 clicks away! I won't subject anyone to it by posting it here though.
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Hugh Hamilton
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1/3/2008 3:59:08 PM
I have never lived in a home with cable TV (call me cheap, but I'd rather buy instruments and microphones) but I've been astounded by the miserable state of music videos whenever I've snuck a peak over the years.
Don't get me wrong - I have an ever-growing collection of music DVDs, and I absolutely love lots of live performances on video...
Overall there's a kind of ridiculous obsession with tits and ass in the music video world (I remember a Lennon quote along the lines of "We never shook our asses to make it, we just ROCKED better than anybody!" - that not-so-veiled ass-shaking reference was to Mick Jagger (lol) and I believe the quote is from the Playboy interview though I can't be sure (umm...I bought it for the INTERVIEW! The IRONY!)
Anyway...there's a dude who goes by the name InverseRoom - he's a talented self-recordist and a published novelist - and I really dig his homemade videos - here's one that strikes at the core of my self-recording being, and like the video I'd like to make if I could ever get my act together on that front:
BWAH!
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Stegor
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1/3/2008 4:31:52 PM
Oh wow... right to the core, Hugh! That was inspiring. There's some gear lust involved here, but you don't need all that stuff to do it. I love how he incorporates a wire management problem that we all face way too often, fixes it, and proceeds to play his solo, not through some expensive amp emulation software, or some expensive amp, but some weird looking old tin box that looks like a toaster with a 3 inch speaker blaring into a condenser mic, and it sounds great!
Thanks - you made my day. Well, he did, but you pointed him at me!
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The Man With No Band
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1/3/2008 4:37:36 PM
Now that was COOOOOOOOL !!!!!!!!!
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Two Silo Complex
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1/3/2008 5:11:28 PM
That video kicked ass.
This was like me only he was actually good!
I wish I knew how to produce a video like that.
TSC
Ken
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Larry Killip
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1/3/2008 5:27:36 PM
Indeed Hugh, that is a great example of a "homemade/indie" video showcasing the home studio artist. Unpretentious and totally honest not to mention entertaining. Well done.
I caught a glimpse of the Les Paul Gold Top with P90 pickups, I play a '68 version of same.
Larry Killip
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No Rhythm
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1/3/2008 5:40:24 PM
Now that was entertaining. Shows the power of video though, as I didn't think much of the song at the start but by the end was singing along, due to the video keeping me glued.
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Hugh Hamilton
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1/4/2008 12:49:43 AM
Glad you liked it...I'd need some meds if I were to make a video like that, as his SMILE is a most UNNATURAL part of my facial features (lol)...
Rock on, music-making brethren...
:)
H
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Steve Ison
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1/4/2008 5:00:25 AM
I enjoyed the video too Hugh..
I love vid's-but a part of me dosn't as they crystallize the song with the images used-rather than giving space to your own imagination..II.e Yet another thing to make us all creatively lazy..
'm sure the days coming soon where every indie artist will 'expected' to have one with their new song-and people will find just listening to songs without them 'boring'
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1/4/2008 6:13:38 AM
There is a place for music videos for those who like them. However I tend to believe as society evolves it will once again embrace the purity of the completely aural experience. Mixing the various media I would say enhances the quality of video images but on the other hand diminishes the appreciation of music because you'd basically have to do something unnatural (close your eyes) in order to focus completely on what's coming into your ears.
Think about mixing other senses, why do we not have CDs that emit special fragrances, or photos that you can eat ? Because sometimes things are better if they aren't so fucking complicated. I believe that someday there will be an artistic rebellion against all that is excessive for the sake of. Is modern technology in some respects a conspiracy to make money off shallow people who like shiny things ? But I digress, my point is something I've stated many times before: the passing of time does not absolutely imply progress even though it's popular to believe it does. And there's plenty of evidence for anyone who is somewhat alert that society, at times, does occasionally (and in crucial aspects too) start moving backwards now and again.
Now that we're part of an online world where we can often witness the way many people follow trends towards their own demise heh, it's not hard to imagine a world where pure music is obsolete. Except there are people who know better and these people will inherit the spirit of the future while sheep wander in a daze and then tremble. ha. People who listen to a lot of music, if they are not happier, are just plain more enlightened than the crowd who buy a popular DVD and watch it 30 or 40 times. Movies are okay but they are disposable. Some music IS disposable but we're not talking about shitty music. We're talking about a song or a record you can play the rest of your life and enjoy, that is actually enhanced over time, not just repetitive like a movie where you not only know the plot but you can often guess it the first time you see it in the theatre. I probably heard Rain Song a thousand times before that perfect moment when I was driving in a car up the coast as the sun came up and was just in the proper place in time to finally hear it clearly.
Philosophical question, would you rather be blind or deaf ? I know which one I'd choose. Especially since now you can buy programs that read you what your internet buddy just said to you in Email. :)
While the delivery methods of music these days are more convenient, culturally 45s and albums were more soul-enriching. Listening to music just to listen to music has been recently depicted by some jackasses in the media as a dying fad but what's happened is that some people have lost their way completely, the ones that prefer Taco Bell cause they don't like real meat in their Mexican food ! It's going to hit a saturation point, when music reaches an all-time nadir in reference to the big picture. After that, cults will start to crop up where people start listening to music in secret, with no video in the room. They will also at this point start to get creative and have futuristic events like dance parties.. and somebody will pull out Dark Side of the Moon or Houses of the Holy and send the respective senses of the room reeling again. Only when there is a full-fledged death of spirit will the great songs sound as perfect as they should. In isolation. From your speakers to your ears. With nothing in between but all that is real.
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Hugh Hamilton
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1/4/2008 9:36:07 AM
Nice riff, FT! LOL! Since I got my mp3 player a couple of father's days ago I can't tell you the enoooooooormous amount of time I've spent listening...not to mention all the browsing around here I've done...I love the performance DVDs because the cinematography is getting so good and clear that you can "read" the players' fingers...they're essentially tutorials in how to make the music you enjoy...
I especially love "A Hard Day's Night" (of course) and the entire "Anthology" DVD series (including the relatively primitive videos those fab fellers did) but I do understand Mr. Ison's point as well. I think the occasional video could be both fun to do and a rewarding artistic experience for both artist and observer...it's not as though EVERY song needs to be a multi-media experience.
I am often amazed by the way I can notice a new aspect of a song after a thousand listens that I never noticed before - and that's simply listening, with no video distractions. The great music of the world deserves that kind of attention - I've said before that listening to the music I find most meaningful is a spiritual experience for me...I suspect many of the folks at this site feel the same way about that...
:)
H
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Stegor
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1/4/2008 9:47:37 AM
Some good points there, FT. I agree that video can force a visualization onto the music it's intended to enhance, rather than allowing the listener to conjure his/her own. It's a lot like movies that are based on books. The imagery you come up with in your own head is always better than the artificial imagery forced on you by the movie makers, and much more personal.
But the concept of listening to music just to listen to music is actually a pretty recent development. Before recorded music existed you couldn't listen to music without being in the presence of the musicians. Watching the musicians was part of the experience.
So now we have a medium that can destroy the magic, or it can actually help bring back some of the missing visual magic that was lost after the Edison Cylinder was invented.
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Spank Momma
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1/4/2008 9:48:53 AM
Yea but smellavison would be so cool.
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The CODE
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1/4/2008 11:02:19 AM
We have a video posted on YouTube from late 2006!
link as follows:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ2DQ-Bo3_s
May have to copy and paste to view???
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The Man With No Band
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1/4/2008 11:15:03 AM
You guys look like you were having great fun !
....Love the "Purple Haze" !
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RedRobin
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1/4/2008 1:46:24 PM
If the music is good (according to my taste), I love music live, I love music played through any system from an iPod to a club or pro studio, I love music video, I love film music, etc etc etc etc.
Some types of music are better suited to being offered to us via different media. I don't care two shits about the media if the music is good.
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Ben Elliot
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1/4/2008 3:35:28 PM
I have a video and it seems like exactly the type of video that everyone posting will hate. But I feel really fortunate that someone liked my music enough to get in touch and offer to film and edit a video. Make of it what you will.
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Stegor
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1/5/2008 7:24:23 AM
Thanks for sharing, Ben. What strikes me about this video is that it seems removed from the artist(s) who created the music. It seems like a film maker took your song and made a film to go with it and your only involvement was the lip synching. I don't know if that's the case or not, but that's the feeling I get.
I think the song has some great qualities and it makes me want to listen again. But it too feels like a producer took over and made the song less of a song and more of a production. Now, if I'm wrong and your music is all self produced then maybe I'm just jealous of your really big professional sound (I'm listening to your page now).
The video didn't add much for me, but it did get me thinking - one of the problems I have with most of today's mainstream music is that it's overproduced to the point that it's no longer an honest representation of the artist's work, it's just a product.
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Stegor
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1/5/2008 7:44:33 AM
Code - you guys have a great live sound. Very classic!
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Pulse Eternal
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1/5/2008 7:46:32 AM
Hugh....I love that Counterfeit Umbrella clip!! Awesome!
Ben, I personally really enjoyed your clip and the song.
Steg,
Here's my first shot at producing my own video clip. You may have already seen it. I have posted it in my blog here before.
I did all the cartoons myself in pencil and scanned them into my PC. The titles and editing were done in Adobe Premiere and the footage of John Howard was from a freelance news shoot I did for Channel 7 in Melbourne, Aus.
Hope you like it....
SuperPuss
 
=^.^=
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Ben Elliot
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1/5/2008 7:55:20 AM
Thanks for the comment. I didnt have a great deal to do with the making of the video so had no influence over what was in it. Having said this I think there were a few issues that affected it. Firstly the person that made it could only come to York from London on one afternoon, which kind of restricted the amount of film she shot with me in it. Also the camera and lights she brough werent the high quality she had used on the rest of the video so i guess she wanted to use less of it.
I personally don't mind it when the artist doesnt feature too much in a video but i think they should be in it at some point - I think you can add a lot with visual imagery that doesnt necessarily include the artist - take the 'emotion sickness' video by silverchair for example.
Old Tales is a one off for me. I do all my recording my self in my spare room with limited equipment. Old Tales was the first song I did where I think the production and arrangement was bigger than the song itself. It seems to catch peoples attention on the first listen but there is not enough melody and hooks to force repeated listens. I think with my music I know how to make the best of what is available to me, unfortunately this does restrict my songs writing and production.
Ben
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Hugh Hamilton
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1/6/2008 11:29:49 AM
I'll be zipping along to Ben's page after reading the above...
Wanted to share this video - it has a remote IAC connection via our absent friend Brian Booth - have a look...if you're like me you'll be constantly expecting Yoko to show up:
ROCK ON!
H
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