Brilliant series of adverts from Uniball which highlight the merits of sending a handwritten letter and cleverly illustrate what misused fonts say about your message. An advertising campaign which is all about communication and implicit meaning – so meta!My favourite one is ‘Pappy Is Dead‘, which makes fun of Comic Sans (the underdog of all fonts) and there is also quite a camp skit deriding the Broadway font, too. The ‘Bust You Out’ version is probably the most effective, because obviously slang sounds so ridiculous when it’s read out in the Queen’s English! It reminds me of the time when James Blunt had to read out some Sean Paul lyrics on Never Mind The Buzzcocks.
Another amazing new video from David Bowie! Once again, he’s teamed up with Floria Sigismondi - the same director who did the video for ‘The Stars (Are Out Tonight)’ - and this time Bowie plays a prophet. Gary Oldman co-stars as a priest and Marion Cotillard is the leading lady, portraying a prostitute who develops stigmata. The cinematography and styling in this video is brilliant – so many frames make amazing images in their own right.Love this demonic nun look – definitely doing something similar for Halloween this year!When I first saw it, I thought it was a bit of a shame that people are so jaded these days that it probably wouldn’t be recognised as being particularly scandalous. But then I read some headlines about how it had already pissed off some Catholics and I took comfort in the fact that of course religious zealots and Daily Mail readers are still so easy to shock! Normally I would post the video here, but to enjoy it in its full glory you should probably watch it on Vevo – then you don’t have to see an annoying logo, or watch it on a tiny screen. Enjoy!
Aww. This video for ‘Careless Teens’ by The Bilinda Butchers is really priddy and makes me yearn for a lazy sunny day where I can just do whatever I feel like. I discovered this band a couple of months ago when I first heard ‘The Lovers’ Suicide’, which also made me think of the weather. It was March and still snowing a lot in London, so it felt strangely appropriate to be listening to the lines: “Like a flower can’t bloom in the snow / We can’t hide, we can’t grow!”
Don’t you think that this video is almost like a lookbook for some kind of hipster fashion brand, like Wildfox or Cheap Monday, or something? When I saw it, I felt that it evoked a real girly ‘Tumblr’ aesthetic. Hopefully the maker of the video, Vanesa Capitaine, won’t be offended by that description – she does seem to use Tumblr a fair bit!
HAERTS are female-fronted band of four guys and one girl, who hail from Brooklyn, New York. Their first single is a beautifully tender piece of lo-fi pop, set to a montage of home video-style clips. I’ve looked for other stuff by them, but this song is the only one I can find. I’m guessing that as it’s on Vevo, they are already on the brink of mainstream success. Judging by ‘Wings’, they sound pretty great and I hope the rest of their songs live up to expectations. Lead singer Nini Fabi’s vocals are sweet, but powerful – like a mixture of Gwen Stefani and Stevie Nicks.
This song is sort of what I was hoping for when I first listened to HAIM. Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed.
If you’re into domino effect videos, or just appreciate the beauty of some meticulous physics, then you will definitely enjoy this jaw-dropping video for ‘Tuna Melt’. Not overly enamoured with the track, to be honest, but this video is just amazing. Even if you absolutely hate electro, I’d recommend watching it.
Wow. This song appears to be over a year old, but I’ve only just heard it and it’s brilliant. I was looking for the original Bauhaus version when I discovered this one and – without wanting to sound disdainful towards MGMT – I was pretty surprised at what a good job they’d done of covering it. Don’t get me wrong, I really like MGMT, but they’re not exactly the kind of band that you listen to and then think: “Yeah, I can tell they’re big fans of Bauhaus.”
Better still, this exquisite video by Ned Wenlock really complements the track and conveys the song’s melancholy lyrics.
This video for Still Corners’ new single ‘Berlin Lovers’ is lovely. It was directed by Christian Sorensen Hansen and reminds me a bit of Christiane F, but without the heroin. Imagine that Christiane F. and Detlev are a lot more innocent – just two regular teens who don’t inject smack into their veins, or give strangers handjobs for drug money – and this is pretty much it. Considering the song is called ‘Berlin Lovers’, perhaps the similarities aren’t even a coincidence. Either way, I like it.
One of my favourite UNKLE tracks has a brand new music video featuring performance artist, Miss Crash. I hadn’t heard of Miss Crash before I saw this, but her act is pretty unique! I don’t want to spoil the video, so just watch it and you’ll see what I mean. Don’t play this at work though – it’s got generous helpings of tits, latex, leather and tattoos. If any of your co-workers see you watching it, they’ll just think you’re one of those weirdos who watches porn in the office.
The video was co-directed by UNKLE frontman James Lavelle, and is part of an ongoing creative partnership between him and Black Dog Films.
I’ve been quite busy recently, so didn’t have the chance to post this when it was new. Nonetheless, it doesn’t change how brilliant this Floria Sigismondi-directed video for David Bowie’s most recent release is. Starring Bowie and Tilda Swinton as a happily ageing couple, the pair find themselves hounded and tormented by a whole host of celebrities, who also inhabit the wealthy neighbourhood. The beautiful cinematography, which is by Fight Club’s Jeff Cronenweth, reminds me so much of some of Gregory Crewdson’s most iconic photographs – that suburban veneer of affluence masking a much darker truth. The styling is by Jerry Stafford, creative director of Première-Heure and longtime stylist to Tilda Swinton. Clothes in the video are by McQueen, Lanvin, Jil Sanders, Dior, Lanvin, Pringle, Rick Owens, Saint Laurent and KTZ…so chances are, if you like any of the pieces, you’re going to have to look for a high street knock-off version!
Brilliant series of adverts from Uniball which highlight the merits of sending a handwritten letter and cleverly illustrate what misused fonts say about your message. An advertising campaign which is all about communication and implicit meaning – so meta!
My favourite one is ‘Pappy Is Dead‘, which makes fun of Comic Sans (the underdog of all fonts) and there is also quite a camp skit deriding the Broadway font, too. The ‘Bust You Out’ version is probably the most effective, because obviously slang sounds so ridiculous when it’s read out in the Queen’s English! It reminds me of the time when James Blunt had to read out some Sean Paul lyrics on Never Mind The Buzzcocks.
