VIDEO: La Femme - It's Time To Wake Up (2023)
Do people surf in France? I really don't care, but these La Femme kids seem to have the sound down, pinching a little Broadcast and the propulsive nu-kraut of early Stereolab into an organ-laced stunner. Also, the video has a lady with an eye-patch and leather jacket doing some crazy shit. It's cool.
VIDEO: Smith Westerns - Varsity
Summer love! It's a thing that happens. It inspires, makes us feel more alive, puts us on the edge of reckless obsession. On this video for "Varsity," power-poppers Smith Westerns try to nail those feelings by following an attractive two-some petting each other, hanging out and jumping on a roof. It's very sweet, and I hope their fall breakup will be the sequel.
VIDEO: Port St. Willow - Soft Light Rush
A 25-minute trip through insulated fog, vague nostalgia, personal turmoil and static morphing imagery, the Hana Tajima-directed video for Port St. Willow's "Soft Light Rush" is a hazy head-trip companion piece to the ambitious song suite. The track, which closes out the reissue of Holiday by our big brother label Downtown, presents multiple movements that, instead of summing the album up, returns back to its distinct world with a little more experience and perspective. It's like revisiting a room that consists of your entire life up to this point but still getting the chance to run away towards something new in the end.
VIDEO: DIIV - Wait
With topless women, a Sky Ferriera cameo, rainbows and direction by Sandy Kim, the (yes, NSFW) video for DIIV's "Wait" is a VHS wonder to get you all tranced-out. You can find the song on the band's still-quite-fantastic Oshin album – out now and forever via Captured Tracks.
VIDEO: Chester Watson - Phantom
Chester Watson is young – like 15-years-young – and sounds incredibly wise beyond his years. He apparently lives in Florida now, but sounds like he was raised under a bridge in Brooklyn. "Phantom" fits in nicely with the Joey Bada$$/Earl Sweatshirt rap axis, but the garbled, meta-rhyming flow that Chester rocks brings to mind a teenage DOOM more than anything. Nice move on the Grimm beat, too!
VIDEO: Rihanna - Stay (feat. Mikky Ekko)
In case you missed it, at Sunday's Grammys Rihanna performed a stellar, redeeming (remember that SNL catastrophe?) rendition of "Stay." The gut-wrenching ballad – written and assisted by Mikky Ekko, who we first introduced via Ryan Hemsworth's excellent remix of Ekko's "Pull Me Down" - was made all the more powerful by RiRi's live interpretation, with cues taken from air-traffic controllers, professional flag-dancers and Mayor Bloomberg's sign language interpreter. The visuals for the track find Rihanna back doing what she does best: being beautiful and not moving much – this time in a bathtub!
VIDEO: Houses - The Beauty Surrounds
On their new single "The Beauty Surrounds" (and throughout their upcoming album A Quiet Darkness), Houses splits the difference between ambient isolation and anthemic, can't-scream-it-loud-enough love. This new video shows this split perfectly as the duo, who are indeed a couple, find each other through a desolate, dusty western landscape. It's a real heartbreaker, and there's much more coming April 16 via our big brother label Downtown Records.
VIDEO: Beach House - Forever Still
One reason I love Beach House, besides the super dreamy aesthetics and excellent songwriting, is that they refuse to play the game like other groups. Ten boring sessions for ten boring websites? Nope, Beach House make a short film like "Forever Still,' which features four heart-ripping performances at outdoor locations around El Paso and Tornillo, Texas on their own. "The film follows the passing of one night, starting at sunset and ending at dawn," the band writes along with the premiere. A lovely new conceptual path with the songs to match.
VIDEO: The Knife - Full Of Fire
Well, I'll be. Everyone's favorite Swedish electronic warriors The Knife are back and they are nowhere near disappointment on the comeback single "Full Of Fire." Premiered with nine minutes of furious, wobbling, driving audio and an all-out video directed by Marit Östberg, The Knife are on a crushing industrial mission and we can only hope it reaches its full potential when Shaking The Habitual drops April 9 via Mute. Highest recommendation.
We Took Over AltIndieOnVEVO And Aren't Sorry About It
Our long-standing collaboration with VEVO is heating up again. It's practically an insurrection at this point as we've taken over their entire AltIndieOnVEVO channel on YouTube. Check out our full video playlist, featuring both old and new favorites from Sonic Youth, Foxygen, Sky Ferreira and much more.
