Videos Zone

Archive for February, 2012

Photo: Rebecca Smeyne

The scene: An overfilled hot tub on the adults-only “Serenity” deck on the Carnival Imagination, which is making its way from Miami, FL to Nassau, the Bahamas. A girl (brown hair, bangs) is enjoying the jets as she drinks a mojito and eats a plate of cafeteria French fries. Moving over so another girl (mullet, glasses) can get in, she notices a large purple mark on the stranger’s thigh.

Girl 1: Gnarly bruise, man! How’d you get it?
Girl 2: I fell into a window last night, I think.
Girl 1: Oh no! Are you okay?
Girl 2: Yeah, I’m fine…I’m having an amazing time.
Girl 1: Oh my God, me too. Would you like a fry?

True to its name, the second annual Bruise Cruise Festival was full of scenes identical to this one, with its essential four elements: party scars, junk food, alcohol and extreme friendliness. While the people who go to garage rock shows are not exactly uptight in their normal environments, there’s nothing like being trapped in a floating neon casino with 499 fellow rock and roll fans, gallons of alcohol, some of your favorite artists and 1500 regular cruise people to create a sense of camaraderie. It’s also clear from Rebecca Smeyne’s photo gallery that bands like Thee Oh Sees, Fucked Up, and King Khan and the Shrines delivered the insanely electric kinds of performances that make the initial sticker shock of such an event worthwhile. I doubt anyone came away from this vacation feeling insufficiently entertained — relaxed is a different story.

But for all the sweaty hugs, beer showers and triumphant solos, there was also an underlying darkness to counterbalance the double rainbow of great music and nice people: sketchy Bahamian drugs, what I’d charitably call “jean jacket weather,” the uneasy way some bruisers regarded the “normals,” the uneasy feeling we were partying in a ruined (by us) paradise, the recent sexual assault of a tourist by another tourist outside Saturday night venue Senor Frog’s, and the many accusations of wrongdoing leveled at Carnival over the years. As Jello Biafra put it after one of his well-attended spoken word rants, “How weird is it to be on a cruise ship and say, ‘On to Occupy!’”

But what kind of rockers would we be if we couldn’t live with problems and contradictions, even as we hope to someday solve them? Was it possible to appreciate the irony at the same time we appreciated the 24-hour soft serve machine? Could we look at our straitlaced counterparts as fellow adventurers and not Everything Punks And Freaks Know Is Wrong With America? Furthermore, could all this strangeness form a backdrop for human connection? Because it was almost Valentine’s Day, and our ship was as close to a punk rock love boat as anything will ever be, I asked some of the festival’s performers to put on my captain’s hat and reveal their cruise crushes, as well as their feelings on the whole shebang.

Photo: Rebecca Smeyne

Jello Biafra

Directly after his talk about shitty band names and progressive politics Friday night, I approached Jello Biafra and asked him why he’d decided to join the cruise. “Just cause I’ve never been on one before and I wasn’t gonna do one otherwise,” he said. “And to see King Khan and the Dirtbombs and Neil Hamburger, and catch up with my friends and stuff.” He felt mixed about attending a cruise ship festival, too. “I looked into Carnival’s dirty deeds and it wasn’t pretty,” he explained. “But I figured what the hell? I’m probably never gonna do it again.” He donned the hat and smiled for the camera.

Photo: Rebecca Smeyne

Neil Hamburger

On Saturday, the temporary residents of the Bruise Cruise ship took a five-minute walk from the port to Senor Frog’s, a boobs-and-burritos chain bar which our snorkeling boat driver had told us earlier was the place to go if we “want[ed] to get totally wasted.” From a stage ringed with lite-up frat-isms like “Vagitarian,” retro-styled comedian Neil Hamburger regaled us with numerous music-themed jokes like “Why did Metallica cut off all their hair? Because it was matted with semen!” He also took some time to berate the normals sitting in back, cramming quesadillas in their mouths and mooching off the wristbanded people’s entertainment, accusing them of “dipping their balls in Dominos’ pizza sauce” and demanding they be “thrown in the river.” After his set, I commented on how Jonathan Toubin had practically been lynched the year before for poking fun at the people of Senor Frogs, but Neil could get away with it because he was playing a character. “I never say anything onstage I don’t believe,” he replied.

Photo: Rebecca Smeyne

The Togas

Before Neil, The Togas (a supergroup composed of Ty Segall and members of Shannon and the Clams, Strange Boys and Reigning Sound) delivered a messy set of cover songs voted on by fans. “This song is for people who are into hippie bullshit,” Segall said (or some reiteration thereof) before launching into anything even vaguely “classic rock.” I later asked Togas bassist Shannon Shaw if Segall really hated hippies. “I think it’s part of his character he plays onstage,” she said. Was there anyone not playing a character here?

Photo: Rebecca Smeyne

John Dwyer

John Dwyer, of thee always excellent Oh Sees, was confirmed to be the official cruise crush of many passengers, both male and female, Mikal Cronin included. He’s ruggedly handsome, he has tattoos, and he shreds his 12-string like a demon. But when I asked him who his own cruise crush was, he got shy. “Ironically, a photographer girl, but I don’t know who she is,” he said. “She’s cute, tan pants.” Being friendly with many of the journos aboard, I offered to help him find her. “No, I’ve seen her a bunch,” he sighed.

Photo: Rebecca Smeyne

Damian Abraham

Fucked Up’s headlining spot Saturday was for many the emotional climax of the weekend. They did some cover songs (“Breed,” “Miss World,” which us girls in front got to scream into the mic to, and, hilariously, “Jingle Bells”) before launching into their own brand of poppy, proggy, loud-as-hell hardcore punk. Once the shot girl had finished pouring syrupy fluid down his throat, Abraham declared, “This is honestly the drunkest I’ve been since I was like, 15″ before climbing up on the bar and mooning the audience.

Post-show, he identified his cruise crush as “my beautiful wife,” who was sitting close by. “She’s five months pregnant and unbelievably awesome.” His #2 crush-slash-”spirit animal”? “Ty Segall,” Abraham answered. “He and I realized that he and I would’ve done it if we were attracted to each other. Our part of the cruise is way more attractive than the rest.”

Photo: Rebecca Smeyne

Vockah Redu and Kyp Malone

Performing his own version of the queer New Orleans hip-hop subgenre called bounce, Vockah Redu makes a project of demonstrating the term “punk rock” doesn’t only belong to dudes with guitars. Despite a few too many rum punches, I fought off sleep until 3am Friday so I could see Vockah and his “Cru” of backup dancers move their bodies in unbelievable ways to an aggressive fusillade of dance beats, as well as hang from the ceiling and molest a male blowup doll borrowed from a bachelorette party. The next night at Senor Frog’s, it was Vockah who started the conga line that threatened to overtake the entire club, and Vockah who led a morning “Redu-icise” exercise class for those undeterred by hangovers. The man’s a force of nature, plus he’s got cheekbones like a runway model.

I caught up with him on the Lido deck Sunday night to ask what his favorite thing about the cruise was. “The smiles on everyone’s faces when they came to my show and my Reduicise class,” he said. “This is amazing, from getting on the boat to the performance … I couldn’t wait to perform! It just makes me bubbly like champagne inside.” And best of all, he felt at home on the Cruise. “They consider me a rocker person, so I fit in with the underground garage movement of people being themselves and not caring what other people have to say.” We switched hats with each other for a picture.

Photo: Jamie Peck (Photographer Rebecca Smeyne was seasick.)

Throughout this conversation, Vockah and I both kept glancing over at Kyp Malone, whose majestically bearded mug could be seen taking in a beer and the night air several yards away. My heart was still swollen from his gorgeously raw solo performance that morning, and I was a tiny bit nervous to meet him. I told Vockah this, and he said he felt similarly. So we agreed to go talk to him together.

What followed was the type of meeting I’m now convinced the Bruise Cruise is tailor-made to inspire. You can only stare at your rock idol at the bar for so long before you decide to stop being a creep and talk to him like a person. Malone did not seem put upon by our fandom, and returned sincere compliments to Vockah. He noted that most of what he’d performed was from his solo album Rain Machine, modestly adding, “It’s not as loose and fun as live is, but I’m working on a new one now.” And who, dare I ask, was his cruise crush? “Probably Vockah.” “Oh, I’m about to jump in the pool!” V replied, cheekbones pushing upwards in an expression of ecstasy, and I tore some pages from my notebook so they could exchange emails. Vockah told him of his upcoming show in New York. “I’m looking forward to it,” said Kyp, and V looked like he might burst. Could a Kyp Malone/Vockah Redu collaboration be in the works? If so, you heard it here first.

Like everyone, Kyp wore the hat with pride, and he was the only person who looked anything close to what I imagine a real captain looks like in it. “It’s the beard,” he said.

MTV Hive

Some recent pop auctions on eBay:

US $0.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday May-18-2012 20:15:18 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $0.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday May-18-2012 20:15:31 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

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Some cool dance images:

A video walkthough of some of the must know tips and tricks for the Samsung Galaxy S2. Details and screenshots at thehandheldblog.com Find me on Twitter – twitter.com

Image courtesy of The Guitar Collection: George Harrison

Hanging out with a musician in his own natural habitat usually morphs into a massive bout of show and tell when there are instruments at hand. He cannot ignore the siren call of his prized guitar/cymbal/synth, and, with the alacrity of a juggler, launches into a litany of band stories whilst wailing on his musical tool of choice.

Most of us have only shared such an experience with our cousin who plays drums in a Ska band — or someone of that ilk — but imagine sitting down with the likes of George Harrison and getting an intimate tour of his guitar collection. “Impossible — on so many levels,” you may say. Until you download The Guitar Collection: George Harrison to your iPad, which pretty adeptly replicates the experience of hanging with a musician, letting him wax poetic about his favorite strummers — just add a beer and some illegal substances and you’re about 85% there. The app is a complete guide to the Beatles guitarist’s extensive collection, created, in part, by his son, Dhani Harrison.

Fire up the app and you’ll be provided with a menu of information, giving you access to the collection via a variety of channels. You can surf through images of Harrison and his guitars, as well as videos featuring Dhani Harrison and the likes of Ben Harper, Josh Homme, Mike Campbell and Conan O’Brien discussing and playing the guitars at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. Sometimes video can seem like an afterthought in music apps, but in this one, it’s a highlight. Every one is a kind of jam session, allowing users to hear the guitars played by talented musicians, as well as stories about George Harrison from his own son in conversation with those musicians.

The centerpiece of the app, however, is “The Collection,” a pictorial, detailed spread of Harrison’s guitars. Tap a guitar for more details: 1). A playlist of tunes played on that guitar (you can listen to samples via iTunes, or, if you own the song, the whole jam), 2). An overview of the guitar’s history, 3). Info on its origin, 4). Facts and perspectives, 5). Info about performances it was used during, 6). Details about the manufacturer, 7). Images. Some of this information is a little repetitive, but die-hard fans will likely eat it up.

After reading up on the guitar, you can get the aforementioned playlist going — or listen to a selection of clips featuring Harrison talking about/playing the guitar — and explore the image. You can pinch to zoom in on the guitar in detail, and rotate it to inspect every curve and scratch. It’s a very cool, interactive experience — the closest you can get to wielding the guitar yourself without sullying it with your fingerprints. The 360-degree images were created by photographer and filmmaker Steven Sebring.

Once you have thoroughly explored each and every guitar in the app, your Harrison hangtime doesn’t have to end; you can look forward to more content in the coming weeks. According to The New York Times, Harrison Junior plans to add more guitars to the app, which will come as a free upgrade to those who already purchased it. He also hopes to create more apps featuring the guitar collections of people like Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshed and Angus Young — so break out some beers, guys, and tell your Ska-loving cousin you have plans.

MTV Hive

Some recent pop auctions on eBay:

US $2.99 (1 Bid) End Date: Friday May-18-2012 20:14:58 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $0.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday May-18-2012 20:15:00 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $6.95 End Date: Friday May-18-2012 20:15:13 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $6.95 Buy it now | Add to watch list

www.residualincomeformula.com

Beirut’s Eastern European-inspired folk music always sounds like it was made for an era closer to World War II — you know, when it was kosher to smoke three cigarettes at once, get loaded at a ballroom with your best soldier mates, ogle over women with eyepatches and chase live chickens around the room. So it’s fitting that Zach Condon’s new video for “Vagabond,” directed by the folks at Sunset Television, taps exactly into those moments of debauchery. Note the song’s poignant trumpets that soundtrack an exquisite moment where a nurse is huddled over a trashcan with little regret. It’s vintage partytime, Beirut style.

Read Hive’s interview with Condon, where he discusses his new dog and latest album, The Rip Tide.

MTV Hive

Check out these dance images:

In case you hadn’t noticed from the social media takeover (TRENDING TOPICS! ANIMATED GIFS! ALL CAPS EXCLAMATIONS!) that ensues whenever the Odd Future collective does anything at all, Odd Future released a new video last night. The clip for “Rella,” the lead single from their forthcoming OF Tape Vol. 2, owes a pretty heavy debt to Busta-era Hype Williams videos, particularly in regards to jittery visual rhythms and ridiculous wigs. But where Hype wisely let the chaotic pace alone provide the shock, “Rella” goes overboard with a slideshow of ugly, if playful, provocation: groin lasers that turn women into cats, slaps that turn black women into Asians, a minotaur snorting a gigantic mound of cocaine, slow motion cellulite, tar black ejaculate, a nude eunuch … a lot of shit happens, and it all happens rather quickly.

Immediately following the video’s release, director and star Tyler, The Creator patted himself on the back for the accomplishment on Twitter: “Thats How You Direct A Video … Let Your Imagination Run Free.” That’s a nice sentiment, but a free imagination doesn’t necessarily have to jump around and shoot lasers out of its dick. It can be quiet and singular too. Tyler’s “Yonkers” video, which took place almost entirely on a stool (until it took place in a noose), was successful for that very reason. Any number of “Rella”‘s visual ideas are strong enough that they could’ve been extended into a similarly incredible standalone video, but lumped together they’re just overwhelming. It’s a product of the same lack of self-editing that turned the very good album at the core of Tyler’s Goblin into an overlong mess.

Worse than that, the video serves to distract from Odd Future’s first legitimate act of subtlety in some time. Because, yes, there is a rap song attached to this vulgar display of imaginative excess, and it happens to be a pretty good one. It’s precisely the type of just-rap that Odd Future should’ve dropped at the height of all their hype to remind people that they are just as capable when it comes to making rap music as they are at making a scene. The hookless posse cut is a simple showcase for its three rappers: Hodgy Beats rasps his usual ricochet of wordplay, and the perpetually understated (and, thus, underrated) Domo Genesis has actually cranked up his energy level for once. Best of all, Tyler’s rapping like a rapper again, instead of the growling monster that consumed Goblin. If a nearly unwatchable video is a necessary byproduct of that growth, then so be it. An excess of imagination is better than the opposite.

MTV Hive