Der Letzte lässt das Licht an …
by Jan Schimmang on May 29th, 2009
Das Scala ist nun Geschichte. Die Erinnerung lebt weiter. Nicht nur in den Fotos von Lisa Wassmann, die auch das oben stehende Bild sowie das unten platzierte Video produziert hat. Danke an den Tip für den Tip.
Digital debugged
by Jan Schimmang on May 26th, 2009
Ziemlich versteckt auf der Website der seit jeher lesenwerten Zeitschrift für “elektronische Lebensaspekte” findet sich ein umfangreiches Archiv der bisherigen Ausgaben - kostenlos und komplett, jeweils als PDF-Download. Gut zu wissen, dass man wenigstens die aktuelle Ausgabe der De:Bug noch am Kiosk kaufen darf.
Future Islands: “Looking for something when there is nothing.”
by Andreas Boettcher & Jan Schimmang on May 22nd, 2009
Maybe one of the most exciting tracks of the last months: “Beach Foam” by Future Islands. Now the official video by Joe Stakun is released. Singer Sam Herring about the tragic story behind that song.
Patrick Longstreth: “Reality TV did not kill the music video star, it just pushed him onto the backstage for now.”
by Jan Schimmang on May 11th, 2009
He is the director of the excellent clip “One Day” by The Juan MacLean: below Patrick Longstreth gives answers about the music television today, good work in videos and his next projects.
Are there cinematic references in your work for “One day”?
“A lot of their new album is a repackaging of 70s and 80s sounds, but it still looks toward the future. Therefore, it seemed appropriate to visually reference Tron and Logan’s Run, two movies from the past that look far into the future. The narrative is losely based on a short story by Kurt Vonnegut called ´A Long Walk to Forever´. Its about a young military man who finds out that a girl he had a crush on in high school is getting married. He tries to win her back. Its a beautiful little story. You can read it here.”
What is your opinion concerning the meaning of videos for songs after the death of the classic music television these days?
“I think we’re witnessing the death of all classic television as we know it. In the next ten years everything is going to be owned by Google and we will watch everything on-demand from our computers. Content, as a reflection of our society, will continue to get more fragmented and specialized. People still want to watch and make music videos. They may never reach the mainstream peak they had in the early 90s, but they are quickly carving out a niche on the internet. Reality TV did not kill the music video star, it just pushed him onto the backstage for now.”
Please name three music videos which are brilliant.
Beck “Girl”, The White Stripes “Dead Leaves in the dirty ground”, Fatboy Slim “Weapon of choice” (starring Christopher Walken) and recent honorable mention: Chairlift “Evident utensil”.
How was it to work with Nancy and Juan - how do you come together?
“They were really great to work with! I e-mailed their band manager and we hit it off from there. They gave me a general idea of what they were looking for and then let me go wild with my vision. They came down to DC from NYC and we shot the whole thing on green screen in one day (photos here). We had a crew of about 10 people that worked really hard to get it all done. We also had a lot of fun though. Juan and Nancy gave a great performance on set. We agreed that we wanted their expressions to be sort of melancholy and mysterious, and I think they delivered perfectly.”
What are your next projects?
“I have some storyboards out there, but there’s nothing in production right now. I’m actually going to grad school for visual effects at Savannah College of Art and Design in September. I’m hoping to leave there with some pretty radical short films and music videos.”
The Juan MacLean recommends …
by Andreas Boettcher & Jan Schimmang on May 8th, 2009
Playing today at Berlin´s Berghain Club, the DFA mastermind presents his new album and his tribute to The Human League. Definitely, the future has come. In the video interview Juan MacLean talks about music which has influenced his life.
The 12″ Series (Episode 3): Q Lazzarus - Goodbye Horses
by Andreas Boettcher on May 4th, 2009
Ein großer, verloren gegangener Song der späten 80er Jahre. “Goodbye Horses” hat alles, was einen guten Popsong ausmacht. Sich erhebende Synthesizer, Unterwasser-Gitarre, Dance Beat, in einem mysteriösem Gewand, ja fast unheimlich und trotzdem überlegen sexy. Richtig Beachtung fand er erst durch seinen Einsatz auf dem Soundtrack von “Das Schweigen der Lämmer” (Buffalo Bill selbstverliebt vor dem Spiegel: ”Would you fuck me… I’d Fuck me. I’d Fuck me hard.” Dem Regisseur Jonathan Demme ist es zu verdanken, dass der Song 1991 noch einmal in einer Extended Version veröffentlicht wurde - heute ein begehrtes Sammlerstück. Die tiefer gehende Bedeutung des Titels lässt sich mittels der Hindu-Philosophie ergründen, in der “Horses” symbolisch für die fünf Sinne stehen und durch die Überschreitung ein anderes Bewusstsein erlangt wird - “Goodbye Horses, I’m flying over you”. Verlust oder Trennung? Alles was ein Popsong braucht.