French power pop to the max. Very cute stuff right here.

Remixes

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Empire of the Sun is a great band and despite losing half of their two (ha!) members in the past year is releasing a 5th single off their debut album “Walking on a Dream”. Notably, this is the first Empire of the Sun video not directed by Josh Logue who was known for his colorfully flamboyant cinematography. Accordingly, Nash Edgerton, the new director, gives the video a darker feel than what we are used to, but he still includes a lengthy (50 second) intro. Most notably, the video features a stunning performance by Australian actress Teresa Palmer who shows some attitude while playing cat and mouse with Emperor Luke. Let’s hope for a new album in the coming months – it’s already been a year and a half since the legendary late-Fall-but-should-be-Spring-hit “Walking on a Dream”!

The 1983 Phoebe Cates film Private School may lack technical merit, but this clip does it some major justice. The video, compiled by TNUC, features select scenes from the movie coupled with a recent Le Matos remix of a track sung by Phoebe Cates for the film. It’s yuppie-glam at its best.

80’s Bonus: Another remix video by TNUC, this time for the 1984 aerobics film Heavenly Bodies. Enjoy!

Screencap from the early stages of Grum's "Can't Shake This Feeling". Things get messy after here {youtube}

A couple of weeks late, but better than never – please watch this in 720p. I first heard Grum back in June 2008 when I discovered their remix of Anoraak’s “Nightdrive With You”. It was a fine remix, but not my favorite of that track. At the same time, I also heard various remixes of Grum’s “Go Back”. They were a bit too harsh, so I let Grum slide for a couple of months.

Finally, enter the Bestrack remix of “Woah” in October 2008. The song, although only an instrumental, had some impressive electro riffs. Needless to say, it made my monthly personal playlist.

Now, nearly 6 months later, Grum has returned with a more commercial (but more listenable) sound. Every music blog posted the video for “Can’t Shake This Feeling”. The track itself is widely acclaimed, but a fair share of reviewers disprove of the uninspiring, unoriginal, and demeaning nature of the video. I have to agree that Simian Mobile Disco’s “Hustler” video did a better job conveying the same message. Still, the women are pleasing on the eyes during the introduction.

Purchase from Beatport. Also, be sure to check out the must-have Grum Remix of Prior’s “What You Need.”

Zooey doing her thing in the video for "In The Sun"

Zooey Deschanel may have gotten on your nerves during last year’s episode of Top Chef, but here she is more adorable than ever with her band-mate M. Ward. He’s a lucky guy, but refuses to show his eyes in this video. Kind of mysterious (but then again, this is part of his character in the video). Still, such a contrast of characters reflects the actual composition the group. The energy is skewed toward Zooey, who is notoriously pleasing on the eyes and known by millions. Although, this duo may not be as harmonious as peanut butter and jelly, Zooey’s cute-as-a-kitten attitude triumphs as usual. She & Him’s new album comes out in a couple of weeks. Check out their neat website and watch the clouds lazily drift by.

Here at TKBB there is no such thing as a bad Romanian dance-pop music video. Sure, some (like this one) may seem bizarre, tacky, or tasteless, but they are remarkably different than the American, or even European norm. The Romanian beat (adopted from traditional sounds) always seems to evoke a mysterious high-class vibe and the visual narrative (often of love) matches the music perfectly. Watch it in 1080p!

The popular video for “Morena” (just released a couple of weeks ago by Roton) takes place in a classic Romanian setting at a resort. The gorgeous female vocalist, Antonia, performs for an audience, although her words are directed not at the crowd, but at her apparent female lover, Morena. The men in the audience (especially Tom Boxer himself) are smitten by Antonia. Older folks in the crowd are moved by the song as well, and dance along. The final scene of the video is a verbal confrontation between Antonia and Morena, with Antonia accusing her lover of cheating on her with a man. After an embrace or two, the women optimistically leave the resort in a Bentley. In the process we see juxtapositions of beauty and age, of motion and stillness, and of Romanian and English cultures.

Dozens of the 140,000 YouTube viewers have left comments in Romanian, but the consensus seems to be positive. Critics, however, feel the storyline is too sexist or just too unbelievable. Additionally, they find the acting forced. Others question the editing techniques. However, it is these touches that make “Morena” such a unique video. The visual shots (most notably those of Antonia’s mouth) are slowed down so they do not perfectly match the audio. Whoever made this decision is genius: the prolonged visuals better match the emotion of the backing track and allow the viewer to grasp the desperation of the singer. (An added bonus of this effect is that a male audience has more time to study the gorgeous women) Additionally, viewers need to realize the final scene is meant to be like a soap opera and that Antonia and the model playing Morena speak Romanian as a first language. Why would the director and producer create such a classy video and decide to ruin it with poor English accents? They wouldn’t. Instead, the video is intended to appeal to the global English-speaking market.

Regardless of the quality of the video, it is interesting to see how native Romanians have reacted to the themes of “Morena”. If you are interested, perform a Google Translation of Tom Boxer’s blog.

Wham! – Last Christmas

Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas?

Gunther – Christmas Song (Ding Dong)

Elton John – Step Into Christmas

Kenny G. -  Silent Night

Cheekyboy – Biggie’s Last Christmas