In The Morning: You Say Party! We Say Die! "Monster"

You Say Party! We Say Die! "Monster"
dir. by Sean Wainsteim
The song begins with spooky notes of impending doom, as lead singer Becky Ninkovic's describes the frightening "nighttime" that exists in her heart. Red Riding Hood has wandered into the desolated streets of Prague searching for some light among its dark corners, but she finds fear and danger waiting there instead. Her attempts to escape are futile, and it's clear she must confront the horrors of this night sooner or later.

Yet once she turns to face the monster which haunts her, she finally understands that it's love which scares her the most. Opening herself up exposes her to the beauty of human connection, and perhaps now she notices the street lamps which illuminate the city. In the tangled mess of her own heart, she finds the strength to overcome the anxieties of the world outside.

City By The Sea: Maia Hirasawa "Gothenburg"

Maia Hirasawa "Gothenburg" [if:mv]
dir. by ?
The home movie-style camera work and flooding sunlight evoke a sense of warm nostalgia as Maia Hirasawa and crew wander through the city of Gothenburg. The singer approximates the nervous excitement of returning to a place you once knew - a meeting filled with all the emotion of confronting an ex-lover. Anywhere you live for some time is inevitably linked in your memory to the situations, feelings and people you encountered in that period. A deserted alley may remind you of childhood happiness, but then a bustling marketplace or a beautiful tree bring back long-buried heartbreak.

Yet Hirasawa approaches with new hope - a lover who enjoys R. Kelly and promises to erase all the pain of the past. She wants to hold back her joy, cautious and aware of the potential dangers in "Gothenburg," but occasionally her true emotions break through. In those moments her voice soars above the city and she embraces her happiness without a hint of doubt - in love with life in its entirety.

I Would Never Wish Bad Things: Soko "I'll Kill Her"

Soko "I'll Kill Her"
dir. by ?
It's a simple video for a simple song - a song which you either love or hate with a burning passion. We fall into the former group, so it's nice to find Soko looking rightfully sardonic in this improvised performance on the streets of Paris. People have called her the French Lily Allen, but her pouty charm initially comes off as more sincere than "Smile" (if far less catchy). The hyperbolic chorus is merely a guise behind which Soko holds her real pain, and it emerges in those moments when she briefly glimpses in the dirty mirror. Yet her sulking expression of anger is funnier than it is affecting, and the self-pity is ultimately a tool for dropping witticisms. Which, so far, is a pretty good gimmick.

Don't Look Back: Bat for Lashes "What's A Girl to Do"

An absolutely killer new video, for an old song, from the next-big-thing...


Bat for Lashes "What's A Girl To Do" (QT)
dir. by Dougal Wilson
Rolling down the street in the dark of night is akin to playing catch with butcher knives - someone is bound to get hurt. Yet Natasha Khan (a.k.a. Bat for Lashes) can't seem to stop playing Russian roulette with her heart (and his), helplessly wandering into an impending train wreck. Beautifully sinister notes accompany the singer as she moves deeper into this Donnie Darko-ish world of life-size rabbits and roadside accidents. The cinematography is excellent, and the director imbues the setting with a contrasting mix of horrific tension and images of the absurd.

Yet as Khan ignores one foreboding sign after another - repeatedly admitting her love has weakened - we begin to wonder if what keeps her going is more than an inability to let go of a previously good thing. She may look disheartened as she rides, but the costumed company she keeps is having a whale of a time. Perhaps she persists past these crossroads for more self-serving (and understandable) reasons. After all, far after the tingling inside is gone - her lust remains.

The Thrill of the Pursuit: Lisa Lindley-Jones "Step Back"

A stark and powerful new video on the oddities of attraction, from Lisa Lindley-Jones and the W.I.Z....


Lisa Lindley-Jones "Step Back"
dir. by W.I.Z.
As Lisa Lindley-Jones stands somberly in a nearby alley, holding a bright flare and only partially obscured by shadow, her police officer pursuer walks by without even a glance in her direction. The two are so close at this moment that it seems nearly impossible that he wouldn't notice her, but it appears to be the case nevertheless. Yet perhaps he doesn't really want to catch her. And even if much of the video implies that she may actually want to be caught, here she makes no move to alert him of her presence either. Is she saddened by his lack of perception? Or is the thought of capture suddenly unpleasant and scary?

Early in the video the duo seem to just barely miss each other, and at times it appears as if she is indeed after him as much as he seeks her. They crawl along the same wall, open the same doors and cross each other's shadows - but always a step behind or in the wrong direction. As Lindley-Jones runs forward, the officer literally runs backward (a stunning visual). She hides in spots that his flashlight finds, and he seems far too tentative in his hunt to be entirely sure he wants to make an arrest.

Lindley-Jones spends a lot of time running away and hiding, but if her actual intention is escape, she isn't very good at it. In one particularly memorable scene she is seen sprinting while looking back in laughter, her dress flowing in the wind and her smile illuminating the black and white tones of the shot. She carries her torch as if to keep the officer in pursuit, while it also protrudes like a weapon meant to scare him off.


The director uses a silent film style which recalls early Maya Deren and abstract film. Like those pre-talkie movies, which many consider the finest ever made, the strength of the piece relies on the power of the images to relay information. The surreal quality of the classic herky-jerky camera cuts adds a layer of mystery (and fear) which proves to be highly relevant to the themes of the work. At the same time this is a music video, which means it has the added assistance of the song and its lyrics to provide clarity.

It begins with a backwards "Fin," which is something different than the opposite of the end. It implies a strange conclusion, or a lack of real resolution. The opening of the jacket leading into the beginning of the narrative mirrors the "step back" theme of the song. Lindley-Jones walks into the frame as if she is retracing alleyways in her memory. The rooms he inspects are in fact part of a museum, with her human form standing in the corner as a marble reminder of what was. But the final movement is a regression down the alley, and underlines the inconclusive nature of the memory.

In many ways the two slowly move away from the statuesque hesitancy of those early encounters along the walls, towards a more playful open interaction. She skips along the side of the building and he begins to run feverishly - even falling at one point. The tension is mounted in this way, so that we are in constant anticipation of their meeting up and till the point where they nonchalantly pass each other.


So why didn't this work out? What is it that eventually prevents something from happening between the two? We've suggested it is the fear of commitment and expressing one's feelings which hinders the couple, but there are deeper levels to the psychologies of these characters. At one point the woman is juxtaposed with an image of flying birds, and her movements suggests an inherent need for escape and free expression. The officer on the other hand is decked in the stifling uniform of the law enforcement, holding a mechanical flashlight while she carries the more dangerous fire. The building itself almost looks like a prison with it's meager windows under the moonlight.

Yet human beings, and especially in terms of their sexual and emotional make-up, are far too complex to be labeled as having only one particular type of desire or urge. The woman rings a bell in the middle of the video, as if calling her mate to dinner, and exerts a certain amount of control over the situation herself. Simone De Beauvoir argued that we all seek to be both the object and the subject in matters of the heart. The problem may be that the man is unable to let down his guard in the same way, he is consistently presenting an image of power and enforcement. It creates an aura of fear which plays with the Gothic sensibility of the camera work, and puts a wall between the two. She often looks despairingly at him as she stands motionless for him to grab - his inability to catch her creates doubt in her own mind.

We fear taking that next step, even if it is the step we've hunted for so long. We also simply love playing the game - almost more than we love winning. The chase is a thrilling experience, even if it fails to fulfill. Lindley-Jones and her director highlight the subtle eroticism of the mating dance - "oceans flow" around the sun and hands caress stone walls. The tragedy is perhaps that there must be an end, whether positive or negative. Despite the joys of love there is something to be said for the unique pleasures of flirting - the anticipation of love. Yet we seek more, and that's why each time we revisit these memories, no matter how high the peaks, we still end up feeling dissatisfied.