YouTube: Curved Air - Back Street Luv
Broadcast - Papercuts
Your assignment today is to compare and contrast these two videos. How are the songs different? Alike? What do the differences say about the time periods in which they were made (early '70s and 2000, respectively)? How are the video styles different? Alike? Do you like the songs? Do you like the Jefferson Airplane? Are psychedelia and anomie compatible states? (hat tip to Three Rivers Online for the Broadcast).
Update, papers have been handed in and here they are, with the "teacher" getting a final word in: I would rather listen to the music without the video, in both cases.
The Broadcast singer is channeling Dorothy Moscowitz more than Sonja Kristina although after I had to use the internet to remember Dorothy Moscowitz's name, I was amused to see the Wikipedia entry on the United States of America compared them to Curved Air.
- anonymous (guest) 5-26-2006 11:32 am
A comment on video style from 20 seconds of each ... exTREME effects! What will the 2k video look like in 2030? The 70's piece has very "period" effects. The newer piece seems to draw from a broader range of influences than "what's the cool new effect."
As an aside, there are some TV shows that clearly show the production staff that created the original look-and-feel loved their brand new toys.
- mark 5-26-2006 8:43 pm
I think the Broadcast video is pretty stunning. It's meticulously organized, and I like the way the frames within frames are used rhythmically in sync with the music. It's hard to imagine it will date the way the Curved Air is dated, because it relies so much on quotation--the Austin Powers, lava lamp look gone all abstract and clinical.
I hadn't thought about Dorothy Moskowitz or the U.S.A but I should have--that group invented combining psychedelia and anomie, they were doing it in '68. (The literary version of this impulse might be Robert Stone's Dog Soldiers.) The comparisons between the U.S.A. and Curved Air are interesting, icy female singer, the use of violin and synthesizer, and not just synth but "synths that sound like synths"--that go out of tune and climb all around the scale rather than just being used as a spacy organ.
The anomie factor is pretty low with Curved Air, though, I would say they are melancholic/romantic rather than affectless/burned out. Also very ambitious musically. The main reason I liked seeing their video was that I've never actually seen the group play but have listened to Second Album and Phantasmagoria obsessively. This was a later incarnation of the band, post-Phantasmagoria, singing a song off Second Album.
- tom moody 5-28-2006 10:29 am
I would rather listen to the music without the video, in both cases.
The Broadcast singer is channeling Dorothy Moscowitz more than Sonja Kristina although after I had to use the internet to remember Dorothy Moscowitz's name, I was amused to see the Wikipedia entry on the United States of America compared them to Curved Air.
I'm at work, so I can't do the sound thing. A comment on video style from 20 seconds of each ... exTREME effects! What will the 2k video look like in 2030? The 70's piece has very "period" effects. The newer piece seems to draw from a broader range of influences than "what's the cool new effect."
As an aside, there are some TV shows that clearly show the production staff that created the original look-and-feel loved their brand new toys.
I think the Broadcast video is pretty stunning. It's meticulously organized, and I like the way the frames within frames are used rhythmically in sync with the music. It's hard to imagine it will date the way the Curved Air is dated, because it relies so much on quotation--the Austin Powers, lava lamp look gone all abstract and clinical.
I hadn't thought about Dorothy Moskowitz or the U.S.A but I should have--that group invented combining psychedelia and anomie, they were doing it in '68. (The literary version of this impulse might be Robert Stone's Dog Soldiers.) The comparisons between the U.S.A. and Curved Air are interesting, icy female singer, the use of violin and synthesizer, and not just synth but "synths that sound like synths"--that go out of tune and climb all around the scale rather than just being used as a spacy organ.
The anomie factor is pretty low with Curved Air, though, I would say they are melancholic/romantic rather than affectless/burned out. Also very ambitious musically. The main reason I liked seeing their video was that I've never actually seen the group play but have listened to Second Album and Phantasmagoria obsessively. This was a later incarnation of the band, post-Phantasmagoria, singing a song off Second Album.
The Broadcast piece is retro in every way - from the split screen to the projections (and what's being projected) the hair, clothing, make-up, and the music - whereas the Curved Air piece was contemporary for it's time.
I predict that the Broadcast piece will date us rather badly.
or should I make that sadly?
Gosh, I think that video is beautiful in every way. I like those spinning Vasarely columns, the molecules, the DNA/sound wave strip, the hair, the clothing, the use of the sampler to make that "robot organ" sound, and the chorus ("The writing for pleasure you wouldn't let me read/The things you miss out when you try to mislead...") is one of the prettiest pop hooks I've heard.
It's retro but it's full on digital which makes it now--normally I hate most of those effects but there's something that's working for me here. Something about the care and the formal way it's put together.
I should say I also like the Curved Air vid quite a bit. The effects are dated but OK. I especially like when Sonja pumps her fist after the second chorus--it seems out of character but it works. The music is pretty rockin'.
I agree that it's beautiful, and I like the song. I just don't think it's very original.
I'm psychic--a minute before you posted this I wrote "original composition" after the song of mine I just posted. I don't know what made me do that--well, self pity and ironic false humility, but also the "synchronicity genie." I need to go ride my bike.
LOL
Philip at Three Rivers Online also points up Broadcast's debt to John Barry and Bond titles via YouTube.
Having watched the Broadcast video a few times, I've come to like it a lot. The video production isn't just a hodge podge of killer effects. There's a certain fearlessness in its approach. Each technique is executed with an adept hand, and they form a balanced whole. There's a balance of grunge and crisp. Old, new. Lighting, effect. Intensity, and flat affect.
I'm a sucker for the spatial montage effect. At its best, the videographer is saying "I reject this frame -- I'll frame it however I like."
The affects of the singers of Broadcast and Curved Air are in sharp contrast to the emotional content of each song. Unlike most "rock" songs, they speak of intense interpersonal emotions. Yet, the expressions are of detachment.
On a technical note -- I'm working on adjusting to compression as a legitimate artifact of our times, as film grain and scratches are artifacts of earlier times. On a daily basis, I strive to kill those artifacts. But low bit rate video is driving a revolution in media availability. Archives can be emptied onto the web (with some really good indexing, we hope), and compression is why. I do look foward to the ubiquity of H.264 and HE AAC.
That being said, I'd love to have an HD clip of those spinning lights with the die cut shades. The combination of the continuous facial tones of a closeup, and the crisp, sharp whirling lights is torture for any compression algorithm.
I noticed that a lot of the effects in the Broadcast video came from several Brion Gysin-style "Dreamachines" that the band would stare at as if in a trance now and then.
Thanks for all the Sunday traffic man. I think Broadcast is the find of the Internets. Ditto for Jaga Jazzist. Nobody played these songs on any of the worthless cable channels I have...
Coupla quick points: The band United States of America has long been considered a primary influence on Broadcast. In fact, theres' a joke that there whole career is based on three United States of America songs. Dorothy is still singing but the guy founder had some drug problems. I don't think he's still alive. Also: if you can find the Broadcast website (not easy) you can find other vids plus three or four of their radio shows. Features the usual suspects: Morricone, USA...some Japanese soundtrack stuff...very interesting.
Curved Air: Thought that was just a so so song. I think there's a federal law against women singing jazz rock (Experiments like that ruined Zappa's Sleep Dirt and one Bill Bruford album I can't recall...). Does Jon Anderson count as a girl...? The band that Broadcast is also compared to a lot is Stereolab....
Come as you Are: This is probably my fave Broadcast song other than "Man is Not A Bird". Just love that retro beat. It looks like its the same director but with less money...!
Ah, the purpose of YouTube...to find great, lesser-known songs so others can pronounce them "so so."
Broadcast was in heavy rotation at WFMU in the 90s, so they're very familiar in this neck of the woods--just hadn't seen their vids before. I'd say their main ('90s) influence/peers are triphop/Portishead, and Stereolab for sure.
The female singer/poet on the Bruford was Annette Peacock.
The main guy in USA was Joseph Byrd. I thought he was teaching somewhere.
With all due respect, are you complaining that you don't like the answers some of us have provided to your initial questions? If so, what's your point in asking for opinions?
Yes, that was bad etiquette.
But I don't think that the Curved Air song is "so so." Or that it's "jazz rock." Or that there should be "a federal law against women singing jazz rock." And I thought Vincent Gallo made it OK to like Yes again.
Agreed that Curved Air's good, they're on my want list. And I'm gonna get some Broadcast for good measure.
But it was Christina Ricci who made me like Yes again.
Yeah, she was great in B66. I never saw that Aileen Wuornos movie.
The two Curved Airs I mentioned are good--I'd avoid the other ones. Linda didn't have such a good experience with one of the later albums and I felt bad.
Yeah, I was flattered by the link but you noticed that I didn't pipe in right away. I just didn't think the Curved Air song was, all that, you know, good....I guess. You're welcome to tell me how much you think Gino Vanelli ("people gotta move woo woo woo gotta move woo woo woo gotta move ohhhh!" now that's music...) sucks. By the way, I love early Yes. South Side of the Sky forever. And there is one jazz rock song sung by a woman that rules: The live version of 500 Miles High with Flora Purim.
I also recommend Curved Air's Second Album and Phantasmagoria to you, Steelydan. The studio versions of the songs sans the dated video effects and hippie hats might make you a believer in the group.
Mmmmm hippie hats and dated video effects. Good Times. Good Times...
I looked around YouTube and I just saw the one vid. But Miracle of the Internets: People are building their own vids for songs they like. I have a feeling that you already have those very expensive do it yourself film tools at your disposal. Or can Curved Air do worse than this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmx8D1empNk&search=black%20cat%20broadcast
Or this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?search=rape+me+nirvana&v=mYNjRc36Ydo
Or even this slideshow vid, imagine your own work being used in this case:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RfX9ShNU4Y&search=Pixeleen
YouTube has a notoriously leaky copyright watch...as long as you're not doing their money artists you're probably safe. Plus they don't even ask for your name...If you build it, then I will watch. Sounds like a job for a creative artist...
And do you believe in the magic of serendipity? Here's a Bill Bruford which features mostly the great Allan Holdsworth but also about 5 seconds of a female vocalist I made fun of (honestly: those 5 seconds weren't that bad...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mrSSX0QLh8&search=Bruford
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YouTube: Curved Air - Back Street Luv
Broadcast - Papercuts
Your assignment today is to compare and contrast these two videos. How are the songs different? Alike? What do the differences say about the time periods in which they were made (early '70s and 2000, respectively)? How are the video styles different? Alike? Do you like the songs? Do you like the Jefferson Airplane? Are psychedelia and anomie compatible states? (hat tip to Three Rivers Online for the Broadcast).
Update, papers have been handed in and here they are, with the "teacher" getting a final word in:
- tom moody 5-26-2006 5:01 pm
I would rather listen to the music without the video, in both cases.
The Broadcast singer is channeling Dorothy Moscowitz more than Sonja Kristina although after I had to use the internet to remember Dorothy Moscowitz's name, I was amused to see the Wikipedia entry on the United States of America compared them to Curved Air.
- anonymous (guest) 5-26-2006 7:32 pm
I'm at work, so I can't do the sound thing. A comment on video style from 20 seconds of each ... exTREME effects! What will the 2k video look like in 2030? The 70's piece has very "period" effects. The newer piece seems to draw from a broader range of influences than "what's the cool new effect."
As an aside, there are some TV shows that clearly show the production staff that created the original look-and-feel loved their brand new toys.
- mark 5-27-2006 4:43 am
I think the Broadcast video is pretty stunning. It's meticulously organized, and I like the way the frames within frames are used rhythmically in sync with the music. It's hard to imagine it will date the way the Curved Air is dated, because it relies so much on quotation--the Austin Powers, lava lamp look gone all abstract and clinical.
I hadn't thought about Dorothy Moskowitz or the U.S.A but I should have--that group invented combining psychedelia and anomie, they were doing it in '68. (The literary version of this impulse might be Robert Stone's Dog Soldiers.) The comparisons between the U.S.A. and Curved Air are interesting, icy female singer, the use of violin and synthesizer, and not just synth but "synths that sound like synths"--that go out of tune and climb all around the scale rather than just being used as a spacy organ.
The anomie factor is pretty low with Curved Air, though, I would say they are melancholic/romantic rather than affectless/burned out. Also very ambitious musically. The main reason I liked seeing their video was that I've never actually seen the group play but have listened to Second Album and Phantasmagoria obsessively. This was a later incarnation of the band, post-Phantasmagoria, singing a song off Second Album.
- tom moody 5-28-2006 6:29 pm
The Broadcast piece is retro in every way - from the split screen to the projections (and what's being projected) the hair, clothing, make-up, and the music - whereas the Curved Air piece was contemporary for it's time.
I predict that the Broadcast piece will date us rather badly.
- steve 5-28-2006 7:26 pm
or should I make that sadly?
- steve 5-28-2006 7:34 pm
Gosh, I think that video is beautiful in every way. I like those spinning Vasarely columns, the molecules, the DNA/sound wave strip, the hair, the clothing, the use of the sampler to make that "robot organ" sound, and the chorus ("The writing for pleasure you wouldn't let me read/The things you miss out when you try to mislead...") is one of the prettiest pop hooks I've heard.
It's retro but it's full on digital which makes it now--normally I hate most of those effects but there's something that's working for me here. Something about the care and the formal way it's put together.
- tom moody 5-28-2006 9:07 pm
I should say I also like the Curved Air vid quite a bit. The effects are dated but OK. I especially like when Sonja pumps her fist after the second chorus--it seems out of character but it works. The music is pretty rockin'.
- tom moody 5-28-2006 9:27 pm
I agree that it's beautiful, and I like the song. I just don't think it's very original.
- steve 5-28-2006 9:38 pm
I'm psychic--a minute before you posted this I wrote "original composition" after the song of mine I just posted. I don't know what made me do that--well, self pity and ironic false humility, but also the "synchronicity genie." I need to go ride my bike.
- tom moody 5-28-2006 9:51 pm
LOL
- steve 5-28-2006 9:57 pm
Philip at Three Rivers Online also points up Broadcast's debt to John Barry and Bond titles via YouTube.
- tom moody 5-28-2006 11:38 pm
Having watched the Broadcast video a few times, I've come to like it a lot. The video production isn't just a hodge podge of killer effects. There's a certain fearlessness in its approach. Each technique is executed with an adept hand, and they form a balanced whole. There's a balance of grunge and crisp. Old, new. Lighting, effect. Intensity, and flat affect.
I'm a sucker for the spatial montage effect. At its best, the videographer is saying "I reject this frame -- I'll frame it however I like."
The affects of the singers of Broadcast and Curved Air are in sharp contrast to the emotional content of each song. Unlike most "rock" songs, they speak of intense interpersonal emotions. Yet, the expressions are of detachment.
On a technical note -- I'm working on adjusting to compression as a legitimate artifact of our times, as film grain and scratches are artifacts of earlier times. On a daily basis, I strive to kill those artifacts. But low bit rate video is driving a revolution in media availability. Archives can be emptied onto the web (with some really good indexing, we hope), and compression is why. I do look foward to the ubiquity of H.264 and HE AAC.
That being said, I'd love to have an HD clip of those spinning lights with the die cut shades. The combination of the continuous facial tones of a closeup, and the crisp, sharp whirling lights is torture for any compression algorithm.
- mark 5-29-2006 1:34 am
I noticed that a lot of the effects in the Broadcast video came from several Brion Gysin-style "Dreamachines" that the band would stare at as if in a trance now and then.
- Thor Johnson 5-29-2006 2:41 am
Thanks for all the Sunday traffic man. I think Broadcast is the find of the Internets. Ditto for Jaga Jazzist. Nobody played these songs on any of the worthless cable channels I have...
Coupla quick points: The band United States of America has long been considered a primary influence on Broadcast. In fact, theres' a joke that there whole career is based on three United States of America songs. Dorothy is still singing but the guy founder had some drug problems. I don't think he's still alive. Also: if you can find the Broadcast website (not easy) you can find other vids plus three or four of their radio shows. Features the usual suspects: Morricone, USA...some Japanese soundtrack stuff...very interesting.
Curved Air: Thought that was just a so so song. I think there's a federal law against women singing jazz rock (Experiments like that ruined Zappa's Sleep Dirt and one Bill Bruford album I can't recall...). Does Jon Anderson count as a girl...? The band that Broadcast is also compared to a lot is Stereolab....
Come as you Are: This is probably my fave Broadcast song other than "Man is Not A Bird". Just love that retro beat. It looks like its the same director but with less money...!
- Steelydan (guest) 5-29-2006 4:30 am
Ah, the purpose of YouTube...to find great, lesser-known songs so others can pronounce them "so so."
Broadcast was in heavy rotation at WFMU in the 90s, so they're very familiar in this neck of the woods--just hadn't seen their vids before. I'd say their main ('90s) influence/peers are triphop/Portishead, and Stereolab for sure.
The female singer/poet on the Bruford was Annette Peacock.
The main guy in USA was Joseph Byrd. I thought he was teaching somewhere.
- tom moody 5-30-2006 10:49 am
With all due respect, are you complaining that you don't like the answers some of us have provided to your initial questions? If so, what's your point in asking for opinions?
- steve 5-30-2006 12:29 pm
Yes, that was bad etiquette.
But I don't think that the Curved Air song is "so so." Or that it's "jazz rock." Or that there should be "a federal law against women singing jazz rock." And I thought Vincent Gallo made it OK to like Yes again.
- tom moody 5-30-2006 6:04 pm
Agreed that Curved Air's good, they're on my want list. And I'm gonna get some Broadcast for good measure.
But it was Christina Ricci who made me like Yes again.
- steve 5-30-2006 6:47 pm
Yeah, she was great in B66. I never saw that Aileen Wuornos movie.
The two Curved Airs I mentioned are good--I'd avoid the other ones. Linda didn't have such a good experience with one of the later albums and I felt bad.
- tom moody 5-30-2006 7:04 pm
Yeah, I was flattered by the link but you noticed that I didn't pipe in right away. I just didn't think the Curved Air song was, all that, you know, good....I guess. You're welcome to tell me how much you think Gino Vanelli ("people gotta move woo woo woo gotta move woo woo woo gotta move ohhhh!" now that's music...) sucks. By the way, I love early Yes. South Side of the Sky forever. And there is one jazz rock song sung by a woman that rules: The live version of 500 Miles High with Flora Purim.
- Steelydan (guest) 5-30-2006 9:19 pm
I also recommend Curved Air's Second Album and Phantasmagoria to you, Steelydan. The studio versions of the songs sans the dated video effects and hippie hats might make you a believer in the group.
- tom moody 5-30-2006 9:35 pm
Mmmmm hippie hats and dated video effects. Good Times. Good Times...
I looked around YouTube and I just saw the one vid. But Miracle of the Internets: People are building their own vids for songs they like. I have a feeling that you already have those very expensive do it yourself film tools at your disposal. Or can Curved Air do worse than this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmx8D1empNk&search=black%20cat%20broadcast
Or this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?search=rape+me+nirvana&v=mYNjRc36Ydo
Or even this slideshow vid, imagine your own work being used in this case:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RfX9ShNU4Y&search=Pixeleen
YouTube has a notoriously leaky copyright watch...as long as you're not doing their money artists you're probably safe. Plus they don't even ask for your name...If you build it, then I will watch. Sounds like a job for a creative artist...
- Steelydan (guest) 5-31-2006 4:49 am
And do you believe in the magic of serendipity? Here's a Bill Bruford which features mostly the great Allan Holdsworth but also about 5 seconds of a female vocalist I made fun of (honestly: those 5 seconds weren't that bad...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mrSSX0QLh8&search=Bruford
- Steelydan (guest) 5-31-2006 10:22 am