Category Archives: video

“Let’s tip Al mad money”

As mentioned in the previous post – the quasi-review of John Vanderslice’s performance at Modified – JV was jonesing for cheese pizza. Through the miracle of YouTube, the Exact Moment of Pizza Delivery can be viewed by all.

I must admit, I felt kind of sorry for the delivery guy, Al, an older gentelman who surely didn’t expect to walk into a room of younger folks – then onto the stage – in a scene that must have felt a tad patronizing. But the guy did walk out with a grip of cash.

(Thanks to the anonymous commenter from previous post for the link.)

Also YouTubed was the outdoor singing by JV and St. Vincent of Nikki Oh Nikki to conclude the show:

Showered and blue-blazered


New video for the National’s Mistaken for Strangers at MTV. High-five to Stereogum.

Also, the group apparently released a 7″ for Mistaken for Strangers in the UK … soooooo, who in the UK wants to get that for me and ship it to Phoenix, Arizona? I’ll, like, be your best friend. Please?

Paid Dues Festival: Aug. 10

Holy hip-hop lineup … the Paid Dues Festival is hitting Mesa Amphitheatre on Aug. 10. It starts at 1:30 p.m., which poses one small problem: It’ll probably be about 115 degrees. But it’s hard to deny the lineup:

• Felt
• Atmosphere
• Sage Francis
• Living Legends
• Brother Ali
• Mr. Lif
• Zion I and Grouch
• Cage

Tickets ($35) on sale Friday via Ticketmaster.

In honor, here’s a video of Felt’s Early Morning Tony featuring art by former Phoenix homeboy Jim Mahfood.

The National: Start a War teaser

I’ve been fortunate enough to spend a good couple weeks already with the National’s Boxer, due out May 22 on Beggars. It’s too early to say if it’s better/worse/same as Alligator (a favorite two years ago). In fact, it’s probably shallow/unfair to even try to compare the two. For now, the major thing that sticks out about Boxer, to me, is its tempered approach, very few of the vocal swells we heard on Alligator, like on Abel or Mr. November (awesome songs both).

In any event, director Vincent Moon has filmed a documentary titled A Skin, A Night about the band, and it has its own little place on the Interweb. So here’s some teaser action for Start a War, a song we saw the National perform at last year’s Pitchfork Festival.

Aqueduct: Living a Lie video

Yep. Still am enjoying Aqueduct’s Or Give Me Death, in case you were wondering. I also enjoy that his MySpace page informs us that his influences include Dr. Dre and Geto Boys. (I’m always looking for the hip-hop angle.)

Anyway, I finally sat down for two minutes and 54 seconds to check out his video for Living a Lie, directed by Charles Spano. This song, in particular, seems to reflect the bittersweet tone of the album – the post-breakup avalanche of anger, regret, resent. The initial theme for the video, according to Spano, is “the microcosm of revolution and apocalypse in suburbia.” OK, that’s deep. But also, he talks of “bittersweet feelings at the fleeting nature of things.” Certainly, you could apply that to love and relationships, as David Terry’s words might suggest: “I just can’t get it / I keep on forgetting / How the last two years / of my life have been wasted.”

I love the concept of this video – it either represents a purging or piling up of emotions. I’d assume the former, because there seems to be a liberating sense to these people unloading unwanted or little-used items. Then there’s the whole tossing gasoline on the pile, so that’s a pretty good hint.

Buy Or Give Me Death.