[3]
By
Published: Dec 15, 2010
Category: Rock [4]
If you haven't read it, heard it, or seen it, it doesn’t matter how old it is --- “new” means “new to you.”
That’s one of the few guiding principles around here.
I find that removing Time from the thrill of Novelty is really useful in cutting the signal-to-noise dilemma. Who wants to get all frothy and excited about some new movie, book or CD, only to discover --- after the 4-star blurbs and rave reviews are wrapping fish --- that the glittering praise it received might have been dictated more by the Advertising Manager than the Features Editor? Better to wait until the dust settles and you can see with clean eyes and hear with fresh ears.
Two things about my ten favorites:
1) Few of these videos date from 2010. Some have cobwebs. But they were new to me, and, surely, new to many of you.
2) The through-line here: authenticity. I do love showmanship. I saw a few minutes of the Beyoncé Thanksgiving Special and was knocked out. (Naturally, the TV network has put none of it online.) But this has been a very tough year for a lot of people, and though it’s been mostly lovely for me, I feel the general angst.
In the Great Depression, the entertainment industry mostly served up musicals and comedies, the better to distract people from their troubles. Not a bad idea, but a lot of those calories were from carbs --- which provide a false high, then a deep crash.
I prefer protein.
So “slick” and “professional” meant less to me this year than “piercing” and “moving” and that hardest of all to fake --- “authenticity.” I am well aware that a little sincerity goes a long way. But it lasts at least ten videos for me. And, perhaps, for you.
In no particular order:
Jo [5]hnny Cash: “Ain’t No Grave" [5] [5]
The most powerful video I saw all year, and you can no longer insert it directly on other screens. Bore. Remember the story? Recorded after his wife’s death and with his own looming, Cash recorded a song about faith under pressure. The CD was released in May, three days before what would have been Cash's 78th birthday. Chris Milk, a video director with a taste for interactivity, heard it and helped to create a video from the song with the help of volunteers --- professional artists, amateurs, lovers of Cash's music. He made a few templates so the video would have a loose story, launched The Johnny Cash Project and waited for artists to send in their sketches. By the end of September, 250,000 people in 17 countries had contributed drawings. [Click here [5] to watch/listen.]
Gimme Shelter
This is about 7 seconds, children, and if you go to school on them diligently, you will come to own the world. U2 is the back-up band. Will.i.am and Fergie assist. And then Mick Jagger makes his entrance. Please focus on 1:01 to 1:08. How he struts toward the band, ignoring the audience. One quick glance at Fergie. And then the turn. Watch the whole video --- how can you help it? --- but those seven seconds are it for me. Rinse. Lather. Repeat.
Josh Ritter: “Change of Time” [6]
On the CD, it sounds as if the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is singing backup. How different it is when he’s alone. On the CD, it sounds as if the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is singing backup. How different it is when he’s alone.
Once upon a time, The Yardbirds sang it. Now it’s kirtan.
Ronnie Wood recalls a tour when Hooker, then 77, performed with the Stones: “We never had any clue what key he’d be playing in. He’d look at us and say, ‘What key?’ He had no idea. Finally, before one song on the second night, he said ‘E,’ and I shouted to the band, ‘Boys, he gave us a clue! It’s in E!”
Teddy Thompson: “Separate Ways [9]” [9]
The line is: great singer, great guitarist, damn cute. Add: great writer, Like this:
Everyone and his uncle does the Leonard Cohen classic. Rufus Wainwright’s version is ranked in the top three or four. But consider what happens at 2:30, when his sister Martha takes over…
She reads from her book, then leads her audience in a group sing.
Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
“Invisibly set, the Rolex is faceless/ I'm just young, rich, and tasteless.” Far from it. More like beautiful and lacerating. [To buy the CD from Amazon, click here [3]. To download the MP3, click here [12].]
BONUS: Didier Drogba: Chelsea vs. AC Milan (Pre-Season 2009) Drogba scores this goal from 85 feet. In the real world, this doesn’t happen.