So you fix a drink cause its time to drown
and the clock speeds up and then it slows right down.
The life that we have missed I think it still exists.
How can you resist?
track : No Difference
artist : Everything But The Girl
album : Temperamental
There’s a certain art to a well-executed cover. In most cases, you associate a song with the original way that you heard it performed, and anything that follows usually doesn’t measure up. The pinnacle of the form is a cover that goes in a completely new direction, or better yet, has you liking it even more than the version you’re already familiar with. For example, I was never a fan of The Police’s Roxanne, but I love George Michael’s reinterpretation of it as a jazz standard. Some of my other all-time favourites include The Lemonheads giving Mrs. Robinson a refreshing update, and Lorde taking Everybody Wants To Rule The World to a whole other planet.
I’m probably in the minority on this, but I love trailers – especially the extended-cut, cinematic ones. I always make sure I’m at the movies well before the previews start, and one of my favourite ways to waste an hour is catching up on the latest iTunes Trailers entries. I’m not an undiscerning fan, though – there are plenty of lazy, linear, abridged versions of their respective films. What I’m after is the pinnacle of this medium, where trailers are compelling enough to stand on their own as works of art. Here are three of my favourite examples in which the perfect combinations of visuals and music result in trailers that are often as good (or maybe even better) than the movies or games they were meant to promote.
The amazingly imaginative and prolific director, Spike Jonze, has a filmography that includes Being John Malkovich, Her, and Adaptation.; his mantle holds an Academy Award and a Golden Globe; and he’s proven many times over that he can make a seriously kickass music video. From the technicolor dream of Björk’s It’s Oh So Quiet, to the spot-on art direction in Weezer’s Buddy Holly, to the old-school cop show perfection that is the Beastie Boys’ Sabotage. These are some of the most iconic videos of all time, capped off by two collaborations with Fatboy Slim – an unforgettable glimpse of Christopher Walken’s dance prowess in Weapon of Choice, and the sheer brilliance and full commitment of putting himself in front of the camera for Praise You.
I know it doesn’t seem that way
But maybe it’s the perfect day
Even though the bills are piling
And maybe Lady Luck ain’t smiling
But if we’d only open our eyes
We’d see the blessings in disguise
That all the rain clouds are fountains
Though our troubles seem like mountains
track : Gold In Them Hills
artist : Ron Sexsmith
album : Cobblestone Runway
Don’t you think I’m looking older?
But something good has happened to me
Change is a stranger
You have yet to know
track : Older
artist : George Michael
album : Older
so don’t you stop being a man
just take a little look from our side when you can
track : Glory Box
artist : Portishead
album : Dummy
One of the best music videos of all time (directed by Spike Jonze), mustaches like a goddamn boss, and lyrics like this. Doesn’t get much better.
Because your crystal ball ain’t so crystal clear
So while you sit back and wonder why
I got this fucking thorn in my side
track : Sabotage
artist : Beastie Boys
album : Ill Communication
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say
track : Englishman In New York
artist : Sting
album : … Nothing Like The Sun
