This Blow Will Blog Your Mind

No joke. I'm coming out with the heavy hitters on this one. For today's post I invited the living legend Johnnie to cover the visuals off todays music video. So now that you're all beaming with anticipation I leave you with Johnnie...

When my esteemed pal Kevin Stephen asked me to do a guest spot on his blog, I had no idea what I’d write about. Being primarily a movie guy, I know next to nothing about music. Being the white knight that he is, however, and in an attempt to help a proverbial brotha’ out, Kevin hooked me up with a link to a video that he thought would appeal to the pretentious cineaste in me, “Hang Me Up To Dry” by the Cold War Kids, a band my philistine ass hadn’t even heard of until now. So as you can imagine, I was coloured pretty surprised when I ended up digging the song and the video more than I ever thought I would.

The video is shot in a style reminiscent of flicks from the French New Wave movement, masquerading as a trailer for the final part of visionary (fake) director Carlos Salvador Moran’s crime trilogy, whose previous (non)films “Six Cowards” and “She Loved a Street Tough” won him massive accolades. The visuals are sumptuous and stark with the kind of lush black and white cinematography that would make a Truffaut or Kurosawa proud. While I can’t decipher exactly what the movie would be actually, you know, be about, I can’t deny that it looks gorgeous and captures a kind of cinematic essence that hasn’t been tapped for a while now.

Honestly, this is one of the most creative, beautiful videos I’ve seen in a long time. In an age where a half-conscious Britney Spears grinding against a pole for three and a half minutes can constitute a music video, it’s refreshing to see a video as artistically potent as this. And the song is pretty good, too! As a guy who lives on a steadily fibrous diet of Bowie, The Cure and Tom Waits, it’s rare that I dig new(ish) music in any way, shape and/or form but this stuff is good. Thank you for steering me in the right direction for once, Kevin Stephen. I owe you one.

And no, I won’t do that.



We'll see if a few drinks can change your mind. Did I type that aloud?

Onwards.
Hang Me Up To Dry grabs ya from the get go with a simple rhythm that is mellow at first listen but lends itself greatly to the energy of the song soon after. The singer takes this song, which uses dirty clothes as a metaphor for being in an "abusive-ish" relationship, through highs and lows with his soft singing transitioning to emotional shouting. Between all that a smooth guitar lead ties it all together and gets heads bobbing to the beat while fits of off rhythm piano key smashing adds depth to the sound.

I really like this song and band because they are so damn original. I tried to think of a category to throw them in or something to compare them to but I come up with nothing. I encourage you all to pad your Itunes library with Cold War Kids album Robbers and Cowards to give yourselves a new listening experience to break up whatever you might keep in your regular rotation.

Thanks for lending your geek brain to this post Johnnie. I look forward to mooching your talent in the future.

Peace and Love Mother Canuckers.