Music

6 new videos you might have missed, with Petra Glynt, Circuit Des Yeux and more

by Jesse Locke

Living on Video is a weekly column that unearths forgotten VHS gems, Vimeo obscurities, and YouTube oddities from the musical ether—all obsessively curated by Weird Canada music editor Jesse Locke.

Living on Video is back in full force with six new picks for the new year. This week’s rundown includes a dayglo day-rave somewhere in Toronto, zero-fi jammers from Halifax with a shout out to Edward Snowden, and a German band with a French name singing in Spanish. Dig!

 

Petra Glynt – “Sour Paradise”

This fever dream in ultraviolet is the culmination of a huge year from Toronto’s Healing Power Records crew. Petra Glynt’s powerful pipes, thunder drums and scrambled electronics may conjure otherworldly visions, yet the song’s lyrics seek action for this land we’re fighting for. Director/editor Blake McFarlane brings it all to life with smoke bombs, bedazzled costumes, a blue-painted Lido Pimienta, and so much more.

 

Circuit Des Yeux – “Lithonia”

Speaking of hair-raising voices, Chicago’s Hayley Fohr a.k.a. Circuit Des Yeux continues to send shockwaves with this subtly striking clip from director Cory Popp. In a recent interview with Rookie Mag, she explains her intentions of contrasting “the soft with the harsh and the ugly with the beautiful.” That certainly succeeds with the shot of her covered in berries, looking like Carrie after a food fight.

 

Surveillance – “That’s Not Who I Am”

Halifax’s Surveillance kick out the no-fi jams on the awesomely titled Go Fuck Yourself with an ominous cover shot of NSA HQ. The scratched reels and colourfully painted projections of this “fanvideo” (sic) by Julien Beale are a perfect match for the song’s blitzkrieg pace. If an Eric’s Trip/J Mascis supergroup with the sonics of Wreck Small Speakers On Expensive Stereos sounds appealing, this is the band for you.

 

Cass McCombs and Karen Black – “Brighter!

Shortly before her passing last year, singer/actress Karen Black—best known for roles in Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces and Hitchcock’s Family Plot—recorded this lovely, understated collab. The video by Black’s widower Stephen Eckelberry combines shots of her many performances projected onto McCombs, plus iPhone footage of an intimate living room rehearsal.

 

German Army – “Major Outlet”

The latest effort from Montreal’s Bleu Nuit Video is the stuff sepia-tone nightmares are made of. California’s German Army continue a prolific string of 2013 releases with their latest LP from Portuguese label A Giant Fern. As always, their industrial ooze is unsettling and disorienting in equal degree.

 

Liaisons Dangereuses – “Los Niños del Parque”

Speaking of Germany (how’s that for a segueway?), the classic 1981 debut from Düsseldorf’s EBM/electropunk pioneers Liaisons Dangereuses has been reissued for the first time in over a decade by Soul Sheriff Records. This 1982 live clip of their signature song (“The Little Kids In The Park”) is still a banger 30 years on. Bonus fun fact: According to a commenter, singer Krishna Goineau’s shirt reads “Donbei,” a popular Japanese instant noodle brand.