Today NPR Music premiered the newest video from Beauty Pill‘s transcendent new album Beauty Pill Describes Things As They Are. “Steven & Tiwonge”, a lyrical work of speculative fiction about a transgendered person pursued by the Malawian police, thankfully did not get a literal music video interpretation, which could easily have been overwhelmingly bleak. Instead director Jeff Scheven shot more abstract, mood setting visuals along with singer Chad Clark’s mesmerizing deadpan delivery to focus the attention on the interplay between lyrics and sounds. So great to see Clark and his collaborators getting the long overdue attention this music deserves.
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Category Archives: video
Makeshift Shelters – Lighterfluid
“Nothing that makes you feel good can last”, sings Ella Boissonnault on Makeshift Shelters‘ undeniably catchy single “Lighterfluid”. Sadly that sentiment seems to have extended to the young band itself, as their recent tour seems to have put an end to their musical collaboration. Earlier the band tweeted “We aren’t a band anymore. Whatever”, leaving fans stunned and saddened. I hope you got to see them while they lasted, because they definitely had some great musical chemistry. Makeshift Shelters gives us a lovely parting gift with this music video for “Lighterfluid”, showing their violent disdain for springtime love and public displays of affection. Also, nice cameo Hole in the Sky.
Shark Week – Waste of Time
Just as stylish surf/garage rockers Shark Week wind down their tour presenting their long-awaited debut album Beach Fuzz on PaperCup Music to a wider audience, we’re treated its first music video. “Waste of Time”, a single with propulsive drums and singalong harmonies, gets extensive visual decoration from Daisy Heroin, an artistic nom de plume of Colin Dawson, guitarist of Seattle band Stickers and formerly Haunted Horses. Daisy Heroin could very well become a solo musical project for Dawson, but for now he’s bringing his Terry Gilliam-esque cutouts to music videos from Poseurs, VHS and other weird art projects. Baltimore Soundstage is the Shark Week tour’s penultimate stop on Thursday June 18th opening for The Toadies, but they’ll land back in our town in mid August at the Black Cat, opening for JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound.
EALU – Meet Again
In addition to a lengthy solo career, DC rapper Uptown XO is most well known as part of the trio Diamond District with yU and Oddisee. Like yU’s new project The 1978ers with producer Slimkat, XO has teamed up with favored producer Aleem Bilal aka AB the PRO for a new duo they call EALU, for “Everybody Ain’t Like Us”. (As as software guy I keep mistyping this as EULA “End User License Agreement”)! EALU’s simply named debut release Vol. 1 came out a month ago, as did this music video for “Meet Again”, and the production on this cut is smooth and top notch. One thing’s for sure, they have the dopest logo in the DMV.
Stronger Sex & CrushnPain – Straight Shooter
Johnny Fantastic’s evolving group of synthpop weirdness Stronger Sex recently added electronic producer CrushnPain and produced a new FREE self-titled four song EP back in March that really cements their vibrant mix of dance beats and lounge singing. This live video for “Straight Shooter” from that EP, and especially the repeated refrain at the end, is destined to get stuck in your head all weekend, so be warned. The renaissance of interesting and quality synthpop bands in DC will someday get noticed by the world at large, but for now we get it all to ourselves.
Spoonboy – Free Your Mind, Square
Pop-punk frontman David Combs retires his solo persona Spoonboy tonight at the Black Cat. While we’re sure to still see Combs perform with his band The Max Levine Ensemble, and with other collaborators as well, his extensive body of work as Spoonboy will pass into DC music history. In the buildup to tonight’s finale, Spoonboy just released his final EP Hazy, 3 quick & dirty songs recorded just in the last week. So today we’re sharing this short & sweet video for “Free Your Mind, Square” from last year’s split 7″ with Martha. Don’t miss tonight’s show!
Akoko – Front To The Back (Pump Up The Bass)
Self-described hip-pop duo Akoko throw down some fierce rhymes on their new single “Front To The Back (Pump Up The Bass)”. The track’s dubby dancefloor-menacing production by LA’s Lord Pidjeon renders into this new music video with just the right amounts of swagger and party vibes. But I must admit, those white contact lenses are a bit unsettling! If you’re new to Sloane Amelia (Irie X) and Sugg Savage’s world, grab their 2013 album CATARAPS for however much you can spare, and keep on the lookout for their next release due out this year.
Furniteur – Secret Plans video
Fiendishly cool synthpop act Furniteur just released their second music video, and it is a sight to behold. Director Andy Fernandez connected with Furniteur’s singer Brittany Sims about using the single “Secret Plans” in a documentary trailer, and Fernandez jumped at Sim’s suggestion of a music video collaboration. Fernandez and producer Miles Jackson decided to film a young DC skateboarding crew called the Shaw Boyz. The creepy white faces were from a sci-fi concept abandoned early on, but they strangely echo Sims’s face mask in the single’s cover art. I love how the sinister bassline of this song fits with the eerie, menacing skaters careening through the streets of DC, while Sims’s ethereal voice floats above it all. Grab Furniteur’s four song self-titled EP on Prince George Records digitally or on super-hip cassette.
https://vimeo.com/128503334
A MARC Train Home – Now What? video
The MARC train shuttles commuters around in Maryland, but doesn’t get any closer to Virginia than DC’s Union Station. The members of Annandale “dream rock” band A MARC Train Home can’t actually take the rail to their homes, and perhaps that’s just part of the dream. The fuzzy 90s-influenced quartet released their FREE debut full length album It’s Easier To Make A Mess back in late 2014, along with this curious music video for “Now What?”. Cynthia Sofia Cabrera’ video showcases the band rocking out in a leaf-strewn backyard while also presenting a strange narrative of a gorilla eating a banana and getting busted for drugs by Batgirl and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. What’s not to love? Catch them next at Tree House Lounge on Wednesday June 10th.
Loud Boyz – 4 The Ladies video
Like funk and go-go, hardcore punk will always be a respected part of DC’s musical DNA. Loud Boyz are a hardcore band equally well suited to screaming and fast drum beats as they are posing for dramatic photos on and off stage. Their debut LP Tough Love, Hard Feelings doesn’t come out until July 5th, but local label Cricket Cemetery teased us with a powerful track from that release, “Knives”.
Their debut track, the party anthem “4 The Ladies”, got this fun music video treatment a while back from Scott Pitocco and Jack Eddy, and is currently available on 7″ vinyl in boring black or debaucherous absinthe colors. Catch them kicking off the Beach Fuzz record release party from Shark Week this Saturday at the Dance Loft on 14th, sure to be the party of the weekend.
Hometown Sounds 
