6 of the best past and present videos you might have missed

by Jesse Locke

November 8, 2013

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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. 

If you’re one of those pesky millennials like me, music videos were probably a big part of your life growing up. Coming home after an especially angsty school day, few things were more fun than plunking down on the couch for a marathon of the latest offerings from Hype Williams or his Canadian equivalent (and former assistant) Little X. In fact, it’s safe to say that Much Mega Hits, RapCity, The Wedge, and Pop-Up Video provided the backdrop to a generation of Canadians’ formative years (plus Red Shoe Diaries, but that’s a whole other story).

These days, Damian Abraham from Fucked Up has taken over where Sook-Yin Lee left off, but it still feels like the glory days of the music video are behind us, despite more and more of them popping up each day. To help remedy this injustice, AUX and yours truly decided to launch a weekly feature spotlighting some of the coolest new videos that you won’t see on television, plus classics clips and other stuff that’s worthy of your eyeballs’ attention. Check this out!

 

Trans-X – “Living on Video”

This piece wouldn’t be complete without a nod to its namesake. Montreal Hi-NRG disco duo Trans-X robo-danced onto the airwaves in 1981 with this bleep-blooping blast of techno-paranoia. The accompanying video seals the deal with intense keytar action, shadowy Kraftwerk types in ponytails and piles of vintage TVs like Quebec’s answer to The Buggles. Thirty years later, the extended 12-inch still blazes up the dancefloor.

 

Jef Barbara – “About Singers”

As heir to the Hi-NRG throne, Jef Barbara is also a modern-day video star thanks to incredible no-budget productions like “Wild Boys” and the greenscreen insanity of “Flight 777.” Jef has stepped things up with the release of his sophomore album, Soft to the Touch, which has already spawned three vids including this grooving slow-burner by Jacqueline Lachance. All four band members get a chance to peacock, but guitarist Asaël Robitaille steals the show with his searing solo and golden mane waving in the wind.

 

Chevalier Avant Garde – “Killing Fields”

Montreal’s Rob Feulner is the mastermind behind Bleu Nuit Video, conjuring warped visions through VHS jump-cuts and tracking error trip-outs. (ED: Bleu Nuit, by the way, refers to softcore porn flicks that would broadcast late-night in Quebec.) His 2010 video for CFCF swiping images from Garfield and Friends is a stone-cold classic, and he’s now found another worthy muse in New Romantic duo Chevalier Avant Garde. This song’s glitching rhythms and sinister whispers gain the perfect visual accompaniment from the troubled faces of a couple watching their life go up in flames. Spooky…

 

Magik Markers – “Bonfire”

Speaking of flames, this ripping clip heralds the triumphant return of Magik Markers with the first cut from their upcoming album, Surrender to the Fantasy. The tuff gnarl trio do what they do best alongside an outdoor rager featuring a cameo from my favourite writer, Byron Coley, crushing a beer can on his forehead.

 

Bill Callahan – “Small Plane”

I’ll rep for Drag City all day long, and Bill Callahan’s latest, Dream River, is the latest in a long of masterpieces for the Chicago super label. This old timey black and white video centers around a romantic misunderstanding between a factory worker and “soup can model” Jaime McDashing. Telling the story through silent film title cards, it features lines like, “Woodcarving is hard work. Let’s look at television together!” That might sound ridiculous (because it is), but Callahan has always balanced the absurd and the beautiful, and this subtle slow jam is no different.

 

Cellphone/Soupcans – “Slap Your Mammy” / “122 Hours of Fear”

Finally, if you weren’t there for the Halloween cover band madness of Death To T.O. III, this live clip of the Cellphone/Soupcans supergroup barreling through Devo’s “Slap Your Mammy” and the Screamers’ “122 Hours of Fear” should give you a good idea of how the night went down. Two of the best Toronto bands covering two of the best bands of all time? Total no-brainer.

Tags: Music, Featured, News, Bill Callahan, Cellphone, Chevalier Avant Garde, Jef Barbara, Living On Video, Soupcans

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