Music videos are a topic of endless chatter (at least inside my head) – at worst (and I have to admit the worst is generally in the past) they are a huge money pit into which artist’s money falls want only to indulge the (often unrelated) creative thoughts of an up and coming director dreaming of a career in movies (occasionally good) or in advertising (always bad). Whether these creative thoughts in any way mirror those of the band (or those which the band wishes to portray) is at best debatable – though to this point one of the true horrors can be a band which is keen to control its video creativity. We are not all born film makers even if we make good music. But we do all wish we’d been to film school. But most of us don’t or can’t indulge that wish.
It remains a fact however that even years after the prime of MTV when there’ s a good, simple idea there can be something in videos. A great video may only make a song occasionally, but when it does it really does. A great example was this by Dirty Vegas “Days Gone By”
The video for Jon Hopkins’new music “Open Eye Signal” is one of those clever ideas. A video that “makes you want to skateboard across America”. Non stop.
(Modern classicalist Hopkins has now made 4 albums of increasingly progressive Four Tet style electronica of which the new one “Immunity” is the best. His beats are getting better and fresher, and his tunes remain elegant and poised. But the nicest thing of all is his bewilderingly good folktronica collaboration with the Fence Collective’s King Creosote from a couple of years back. “Diamond Mine” (in both original and improved Jubilee editions the latter released last year) is exactly that (a mine full of diamonds!) and a must listen record)
