My Music Video of the Week: "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne

Many music videos are useless or unnecessary. But there are also the music videos that define their song. This is an example of the latter.

I was reintroduced to this gem of a song last week while I was playing Guitar Hero: Van Halen. In addition to the multitude of obligatory Van Halen stuff (which was an excellent collection of their work, I might add), these themed Guitar Hero games typically feature a mix of additional artists. Some of these are supposed influences to the title band, others may be descendants with a similar sound and artistic style. I do not feel that Fountains of Wayne are either of these, but I'm not going to complain about their inclusion in the game. Not with this song.

This is definitely one of those songs that stands to be enhanced by a good music video. There are many, many music videos out there these days that are little more than various action shots of the band rocking out to the featured song ("Let's stick them in a cool room, on a rooftop, or in an abandoned house! Then What? Special effects, that's what! Perfection!"). This is a waste of the potential and purpose of a music video, and whether or not this can be taken as a reflection on the quality of the song's contents is a matter for an entirely separate debate. But on rare occasions a song provides the band with the source material necessary to accomplish something truly worthwhile.

The results for this particular video are hilarious which, while predictable, should still be commended for the successful interpretation and execution. I especially enjoy the perverted masseuse, the exploding pop bottle, and the highly controversial and somewhat unclear conclusion.

See Also: An interesting interview with the band from 2004. I especially appreciate the acknowledgment by the band that a great music video can launch a song.

My Music Video of the Week: "Her Words Destroyed My Planet" by Motion City Soundtrack

Motion City Soundtrack band members terrorize, then dominate a grade school science fair.

Remember those science fairs in school? The ones where you'd make vinegar and baking soda volcanoes and an accompanying tri-fold in the hopes of winning a prize ribbon? Well, just be thankful that you didn't grow up in the same community as the guys from Motion City Soundtrack. This music video of the song "Her Words Destroyed My Planet" off of their recently released album, My Dinosaur Life, has a lot going on. There is a gymnasium invasion, a variety of over the top science projects (including my favorite, the "Theory of Everything"), and even a little surprise in the final 30 seconds or so.

As a band, Motion City Sound Track is somewhat of an acquired taste. Featuring punk-pop guitars, some synth elements, and a healthy dose of pop culture references, their style is very eclectic. Still, I have heard mostly good things about this latest album (Produced by Mark Hoppus). And having seen them put on a good show live, I have a good amount of personal respect for them. I always respect a band or artist that can perform well live. You know, as opposed to this.       

Music Video of the Week: 'Fireflies' by Owl City covered by Yoonha85

Nearly 20 million views of the video on YouTube suggests that you've probably seen the original. So here's something a little different.

Owl City has been gaining a lot of popularity over the last half of a year, and this song off of the album "Ocean Eyes" is one of the biggest reasons why. This fellow plays a piano rendition of the song without any sort of score or accompaniment, which both impresses me and makes me regret for about the thousandth time never having any piano lessons as a kid. You can view the actual music video for Owl City's original here, but since they have disabled video embedding for some reason, I felt it was a better idea to feature this talented performer instead.

The pace and sound both differ from the source material significantly, but there is certainly nothing wrong with a tasteful personal rendition of something that you admire. I feel like Yoonha does the original justice. As I was listening to his performance, it sounded to me like a version of the song that you might hear if you were at a fancy hotel or dining establishment. You know, the kind with that grand piano in the reception area that features live music every night of the week. And that made me wonder: why don't you ever hear anything this cool or original at these kinds of places? It always seems to be the same old standbys. I'd stay at a place that had their piano man playing music like this anytime.

Music Video of the Week: 1901 by Phoenix

Video attempts to blind you, yet still you'll thank them  

Under most circumstances, synthetic sounds and flashing lights are a recipe for overdone disco-style videos. But this is not the case with this excellent video by Phoenix. Featuring one of the best songs from the band's recent album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, this video hooks you with clean guitar and catchy synth melodies. The light show is clever and plays off of the music in a very creative way. But the highlight of this band, in my opinion, are the unique vocals of lead singer Thomas Mars, which apparently are achieved through the use of a vocal pedal. In the linked interview, Mars says this about the vocal effect:

“It sounds like two voices on top of each other, which is something that is a bit of a trademark on this record,” Mars said. “It has this candy effect, a very sweet, treated voice underneath the natural voice, so I can see how people get confused by all of it but we really played it live!”

Sounds good to me.

Give it a quick look and you'll probably find yourself coming back for more. If nothing else, it's something different and it accompanies a very catchy song.


See Also:
-- A pretty impressive performance this past summer on The David Letterman Show. I always appreciate a band that performs well live.

Listen to this: Review of Qu by Sherwood

Sherwood brings soothing melodies and catchy hooks to your ears with this California throwback

"Listen to This" are featured reviews of some of my favorite new music (within the last 1-2months, generally). By virtue of being featured in this section, this album has impressed me enough that I would recommend buying it to almost anyone.

The latest effort from this California band is without a doubt my favorite to date. While I have enjoyed pretty much every Sherwood offering, many fans of the album Sing, But Keep Going felt a bit of a disconnect with the bands last album, A Different Light . Featuring greater amounts of production and stronger guitar, A Different Light was a more radio-friendly attempt. Long time Sherwood fans will be happy to know that Qu returns to the bands simple, sunshine-in-California roots. The best way to describe it would be to say that Sherwood advances their musical mastery in this album while getting back to the basics.

That's not to say that the album is not without depth. In fact, be sure to listen to this one on a good sound system. The subtleties in the musical progression of the tracks on Qu are what makes the album so enchanting, and these can easily be lost if you are not attentive. Songs such as "Maybe This Time," "Hit The Bottom" and "What Are You Waiting For" are great examples of how Sherwood starts with a soft and simple beginning and then masterfully adds layers as the song progresses and matures. Songs like "Worn," which features a duet with Molly Jenson and "No Better," a heartbreaking song about divorce, demonstrate Sherwood's maturity and increased range. All of the tracks are supported by Nate Henry's strong, soothing and consistent vocals.

Qu is one of those rare albums that can be listened to from start to finish without need of the skip button. The sound is reminiscent of The Beach Boys, and the musical composition harkens back to The Beatles' subtle-yet-complex formula. I'm not going to go so far as to say that Sherwood has equaled either of those legendary bands with this latest album, but this is certainly a worthy rendition of the overall effect.

You'll like this album if:
-- You appreciate subtle harmonies and musical progressions
-- You enjoy upbeat and pleasant melodies and mostly major musical chords
-- You are a fan of pop-rock music (the good kind)

This album probably isn't for you if:
-- You are a fan of stronger guitar rifts and more frenetic vocals (A more aggressive sound)

My Favorite Tracks:
"Ground Beneath My Feet"
"Around You"
"Not Gonna Love"

Final Verdict:
4.6/5 (Go get it now!)

Some other good reviews:
Absolute Punk
The Album Project
Sputnikmusic

Track List:

1. Shelter (Terrific harmonies)
2. Maybe This Time
3. Hit the Bottom
4. Make it Through
5. You Are
6. Ground Beneath My Feet
7. Around You
8. What Are You Waiting For?
9. Not Gonna Love (Steel drums!)
10. Worn
11. Free
12. No Better (Not for easy listening)