Flasher‘s refinement of DC’s angular aesthetic of post-punk feels welcome and inevitable. The trio’s 2018 full length album Constant Image on Domino Recording Company is one of DC’s finest this year, spawning no less than four music videos ranging from dour to garish to inscrutable. But the big finish is “Material”, a video artfully designed to both delight and frustrate the large market segment that listen to music via YouTube. If you’re one of the lucky few who’s watching this for the first time, we’ll kindly let you enjoy director Nick Roney’s wild ride unspoiled. Congrats to Flasher for making our favorite music video of 2018, and for all their huge success in a breakout year!
And with that we’re putting the lid on 2018. See you next year DC!
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Category Archives: video
Top 5 Videos of 2018 #2: Black Masala – Trains and Moonlight Destinies
Coming in at #2 in our 2018 music video countdown is the debut vid from high-energy gypsy brass band Black Masala, the title track from their glorious new album Trains and Moonlight Destinies.
In our original post we wrote: “We’ve been fans of this high-energy group for many years now, easily recommending them for fans of Gogol Bordello and Rebirth Brass Band. This vid by Eyelum does a fantastic job of capturing both the mystery and surreality of their lyrics and the punk power of their live show. Co-signers Mike Ounallah and Kristen Long each take parallel Lynch-ian journeys, with camera jump cuts mirroring the song’s brass cadence. Bravo!”
Come to Black Masala’s Holiday Party Friday night at The Wharf’s Union Stage, and you’ll also see Philly’s Swift Technique and our own Shamans of Sound and then you will go home very happy. Pro tip: buy tix right now!
Top 5 Videos of 2018 #3: SHAED – Silver Knife
ICYMI, the polished dreampop of singer Chelsea Lee and twins Spencer and Max Ernst as SHAED is blowing up nationally. “Trampoline”, the monster new single from their 2018 EP Melt, has about 9M plays on Spotify thanks to its prominent feature in the newest MacBook Air campaign from Apple. But we have to give our #3 music video pick of 2018 to the EP’s first single “Silver Knife”. The crisp finger snaps, rolling bassline and high falsetto put us in an MJ kind of mood. The mysterious Max Haben-directed video features mesmerizing choreography from dancer Anna Pinault, who bears a startling resemblance to Lee. SHAED bring their Trampoline tour to the hometown on Saturday March 2nd at U Street Music Hall, and we’ll eat our Santa hats if this doesn’t sell out in advance.
Top 5 Videos of 2018 #4: Bacchae – Dig
Feminist punk band Bacchae had quite a year, with tons of support for their 2018 self-titled EP released on cassette on Get Better Records. The theme of its first single “Dig” is toxic relationships, so its accompanying band-directed music video sends up video dating, a horrific and real life way people used to meet before the heavenly era of smartphones and swiping. We love the video’s kitschy VHS effects, 80s-era graphics, on-point costumes and delightful cameos, while the song barrels through tough guitar riffs and catchy lyrics. Bacchae kick off 2019 with an opening slot for T-Rextasy at the Pie Shop on Wednesday January 16th, so open that Facebook event link and click Interested like you know you should.
Top 5 Videos of 2018 #5: The CrossRhodes – Praying Prayers
If you happen to be a new friend of ours, every year we count down our favorite music videos of the year. Kicking off the top 5 is this powerful and emotional video from hip-hop and R&B icons Wes Felton and Raheem DeVaughn, aka The CrossRhodes.
“Praying Prayers”, from their comeback 2017 album Footprints on the Moon, uses the familiar names of black victims of police violence as emotional punctuation marks. “When the video was shot, 667 people were reportedly murdered by police officers since January 2016”, and the number is surely higher now. As we wrote in our original post back in March, “With so many huge problems besetting Americans of all races, creeds and orientations, we crave art to show us what’s important and the consequences of inaction, even if solutions remain elusive.”
DeVaughn next headlines the Kennedy Center’s festive New Year’s Eve Show with Backyard Band, so buy your tickets now while you can!
Broke Royals – Christmas Cookie Blues
The holiday season is upon us, and Broke Royals know what’s up with heartache and festive gatherings. We featured their classy entry into the DC holiday music canon, “Christmas Cookie Blues”, on our podcast this week. But this well-dressed band went the extra mile for YOU and delivered this snazzy music video directed by Tyler Scheerschmidt. Stuff your stockings with tickets for their two night “Royal Holiday” stand at Vienna’s Jammin’ Java on Friday December 28th and Saturday December 29th.
Tired All The Time – 2 Videos
In unofficial polling when we chat with friends at shows about what resonated in DC music in 2018, Tired All The Time comes up often as the most exciting new find. The anthemic, danceable synth-rock paired with true dedication to a bleak corporate aesthetic is a winning combo. Earlier this year we featured their debut music video “Bone Dry” from their 2018 EP Be Well on Flag Day Recordings, so as the year’s end looms, let’s catch up on two more recent vids. “Little Pieces” is the dark flipside to “Bone Dry”‘s cheery optimism, questioning life as an unappreciated and failing business worker. “Only Exception”, our fave track from the EP, perks things back up with an Indian duo doing a joyous dance routine that doesn’t even attempt to sync up with the song. We love it! Complete their customer satisfaction survey to maintain close corporate ties to the band.
Sneaks – 3 Videos
There’s not many days left in 2018, so let’s catch up on music videos Eva Moolchan’s musical alias Sneaks with a 3-fer. Earlier this year Merge Records released “PBNJ”, a delightful romp with Moolchan’s quirky minimalist style shot by Emmett Kerr-Perkinson. That one was the last promotional gasp for the 2017 Sneaks album It’s A Myth. As anticipation builds for the forthcoming Highway Hypnosis in January, director Emmett Kerr-Perkinson returns with two more visual portraits, the languid “Money Don’t Grow on Trees” and global dance banger “Hong Kong To Amsterdam”. After you’re done pre-ordering the album on “Peak Vinyl”, grab tix for the DC release show on Sunday February 3rd at Songbyrd.
Broke Royals – Bad Chemicals
Perpetually well-dressed pop band Broke Royals have shown they know how to make a gorgeous music video. Now they turn their talents to deeper issues, exploring the fraught subject of PTSD in their new single “Bad Chemicals”. Inspired by the book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari, singer Philip Basnight and video director Scott Hansen present this emotional story of a military veteran’s AI-induced flashbacks of the death of his sister, also a fellow soldier. The ambition of this band in everything from production to presentation is admirable. Before the 2019 release of their sophomore album, catch the gents holding down a two night holiday extravaganza at Jammin’ Java in Vienna on Friday December 28th and Saturday December 29th.
Jax Deluca – YSGA
In addition to her prestigious role as Director of Media Arts for the National Endowment for the Arts, Jax Deluca is an accomplished visual and auditory artist herself. Her new EP Organs in the Wind is out on cassette and digital via UK label ACR, and it’s a beautiful and ambient journey through quiet stillness. The accompanying text instructs “These recordings are supposed to be listened at a low volume in a dark space. Headphones are also suitable, but still at a low volume in a dark space. A quiet cavern.” If you’re like us and prefer some visuals with your music, watch this organic, massaging music video for the song “YSGA”, created by Deluca, Hillary Hess and Colleen Marie Foley & Erin Ethridge of The Thorn Collaborative.
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