The ultimate version of AirplayUK selects the most creative and entertaining 20 UK music videos from the previous four editions. This time around we have the best videos featuring a wide range of artists, music and visual styles, from live action band performance videos to entirely CGI-created animated wonderscapes.
<In North and East China>
AirplayUK@Hangzhou (Free!)
Date: Friday 16 October 2009 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 a.m.
Venue: Lecture Area, Hangzhou Heping International Exhibition Centre, 158 Shaoxing Road, Hangzhou
AirplayUK@Suzhou (Free!)
Date: Monday 19 October 2009 7.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m.
Venue: Dushuhu Lake Theatre, 555 Xinghu Road, Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou
AirplayUK@Dalian (Free!)
Date: Thursday, 22 October 2009 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 a.m.
Venue: 2009 Dragon Design Festival, 3F World Expo Centre, Dalian
AirplayUK@Wuhan (Free!)
Date: Friday 23 October 2009 3.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.
Venue: University of Science and Engineering, 1 Fangzhi Road, Luxiang, Wuhan
Date: Monday 26 October 2009 3.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.
Venue: Hubei Institute of Fine Arts, 374 Zhongshan Road, Wuchang, Wuhan
Date: Tuesday 27 October 2009 3.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.
Venue: Huazhong Agricultural University,1 Shizishan Street, Nanhu, Wuhan
Programme Notes:
Rupert Jones is a director who has made an eclectic range of work – sometimes dramatic, sometimes comedic and sometimes simply conceptual – since the mid-1990s. Rupert has acting in the blood – his father Freddie and his brothers Toby and Casper are all actors. Having started out studying fine art Rupert also gravitated towards the performing arts, but as he explains in our interview with him – conducted on a rooftop in London’s Soho district – his strong interest in both writing and film led him towards directing. As he explains in the interview, a video can based on a single idea. In the beautifully constructed video for El Presidente’s 100 MPH it is the single idea of squares, and in particular square slide puzzles, which Rupert explores for all its worth.
Let’s celebrate a great British institution. Rock band Kula Shaker recorded the song Drink Tea in commemoration of International Tea Drinking Day, late 2007. But London-based animation team Model Robot have cheekily appropriated the image of great British author George Orwell to explain the joys of tea-drinking and employed an animation style reminiscent of another great British institution, Monty Python.
Then we have a new video for pop-electro outfit Goldfrapp by leading British video director Dougal Wilson (whose previous video, for Bat For Lashes, was featured in the first edition of AirplayUK). Singer Alison Goldfrapp has previously opted for a sexy and glamourous image in her videos. But for A&E, the first single from the new album, she adopts a softer image, and even flirts with comedy - which is where Dougal Wilson comes in. His work invariably embraces visual humour and here is no exception as he presents Alison with some leafy dancing companions that emerge from the wood surrounding her.
The next video, for dance-indie outfit The Black Ghosts’ Some Way Through This is by a new directing team who have taken one of the staples of DIY video directing in the age of YouTube and developed it to an extraordinary level. Ben Falk and Jos Newbolt have made an animated video, mostly from Lego. It's been done before - originally and most memorably for The White Stripes' Fell In Love With A Girl by the legendary Michel Gondry – but Ben & Jos have created a whole urban landscape with the stuff, and made several homages to famous movies, and the odd famous painting, in the process.
That's followed by a new video for acoustic balladeers Turin Brakes, where the band allow full rein to the work of Karni + Saul, a directing couple who specialise in stop frame animation via live action photography. But here they are assisted by some more special effects work that provides the framework for the story of three dysfunctional relationships told through the directors stop-frame choreography. These couples live in an oddly shaped high-rise tower block - which takes on a life of its own.
We will pay attention to the directing team DIAMOND DOGS. Not that Phil Sansom and Olly Williams have been directing together for years, but they have built up a fine portfolio of work for a number of successful artists in a relatively short time, and have enjoyed a particularly productive and prolific last twelve months. That demanded a closer look – and a focus on five of their standout videos, shown here in full. They also love to dress up. Welcoming AirplayUK to their West London base on a wintry afternoon, Phil and Olly were wearing the garb of down-at-heel Victorian gentlemen. It is their way of making the point that making music videos is not always a well paid job these days - but it is rewarding in other ways. The Dogs' videos are strong on ideas, art direction, strong preparation, and having fun. For The Cribs' Mirror Kissers they made arguably the first video using a photocopier to manipulate the footage – it's certainly been done several times since.
In mid-2007 Phil and Olly had the chance to work with new pop band The Hoosiers for their first single Worried About Ray, and their video - featuring 'Ray' as a secret horror movie monster-maker (modelled on legendary movie animator Ray Harryhausen) whose creation runs amok in London – was a massive success (and it also featured in our last AirplayUK programme.) They followed this with a further flight of fancy for the band's second single Goodbye Mr A - this time turning The Hoosiers into a team of unlikely superheroes, which involved Diamond Dogs creating a cartoon title sequence, secret HQ and specially-designed costumes (with built-in muscles for the band members).
That is followed by a video for Babyshambles' French Dog Blues, features the band's iconic and controversial singer Pete Doherty is a way never before seen - in animated form. Indeed its arguably Doherty's best performance in a video thus far, as he and his band play in a real shop, full of very English curios and trinkets. There is a range of animation styles in the video by David Mullett, which includes the dog of the title who, the director says, is based partly on Snoopy, partly on Serge Gainsbourg.
Director Saam Farahmand became a big name in British music videos in 2007 due to his celebrated videos for Klaxons and others. His video for These New Puritans' Elvis is a claustrophobic, intense and visceral affair which rarely budges from the sweat-dripping faces, rippling muscles and silent screams of the band members - and is grafted to the band's edgy sound.
And then we have an animated tale (or quite possibly a parable) directed by Trunk – that's a prolific London-based animation collective – for new outfit Annuals. It features the love affair between a male and female, and the problems that are likely to arise if you convert your girlfriend to vegetarianism - if she happens to be a crocodile. But don't worry, it is only a cartoon.
We then pay attention to Minivegas, and show some examples of their excellent work over their five year career. We interviewed four members of the collective – Aoife, Chris, Grant and Dan – at their studio in Shoreditch in the London’s East End, which is renowned as a hub for artists and creativity. The Minivegas members talked about how they started in music videos, their method, and how their ideas and styles changed from job to job – all liberally illustrated by examples of their work, in part or in full. We will feature their breakthrough video for Bloc Party, which sees animated versions of the band travel through perilous sci-fi worlds.
As we approach the climax of the programme, the video for The Horrors’ She Is The New Thing could hardly be more different: it’s classic animation in a sense that its totally comprised of drawings, but the content is far from Disney: cartoon versions of the black-clad band are menaced by a variety of fearsome creatures, none more so than a female human-monster who is out for their blood – and gets it in bucketloads. It’s a remarkable achievement by director Corin Hardy – with the considerable assistance of illustrator David Lupton – but we must warn you this does contain extremely violent imagery that could shock and offend.
The next video has more animation – just as brilliant, but far less horrifying. The working relationship between dance music veterans The Chemical Brothers and Dom & Nic, the directing partnership of Nic Goffey and Dominic Hawley, goes back more than a decade. The Salmon Dance is their sixth video together, and possibly their best of all, where a young man wakes up to find that the tropical fish in his fishtank are putting on a show that makes him think he’s still dreaming. It’s entertaining, life-affirming, even educational – lots of fascinating facts about the remarkable.
Here we have Klaxons’ It’s Not Over Yet, directed by Saam Farahmand – the fifth and most recent collaboration between band and director. Saam’s videos for Klaxons over the past year have been instrumental in creating a new musical movement in the UK called ‘New Rave’, but they have also progressed from being very low budget, low-tech yet colourful affairs to a more sophisticated but equally scintillating work which portrays the band in ironically heroic poses. It’s Not Over Yet sees the three Klaxons members as sci-fi samurai, swordfighting alien darts in a triumph of special effects.
By contrast Tracey Thorn has been a recording star for more than two decades, usually as part of Everything But The Girl. It’s All True was the first single from her first solo project for years. Released a few months ago, it also inspired a brilliant video for the track, directed by experienced directing duo Simon Atkinson and Adam Townley (aka Si & Ad). A one-shot video with a dance production taking place on a huge stage, It’s All True looks absolutely stunning on the big screen.
Then comes a highly creative low-budget video for an up and coming band called Shitdisco. The video for OK is by Price James – another young director who has emerged in the past few months – where he ingeniously turns the band and the song into a pop-up book.
Then comes our director profile on Nima Nourizadeh, a Londoner of Iranian extraction, who talks at length about his work, about how he got started making music videos. We also show a number of Nima’s videos, in full or in part. Like many other video directors, his ‘career’ began when he left art school and having made some films at art school, his further experiments led him to make no-budget videos for musicians he knew – in his case, for his dance producer brother. He has since progressed to making acclaimed videos for Architecture In Helsinki, Hot Chip, Jamie T, Lily Allen, Maximo Park and others, and becoming one of the most sought-after directors in British music videos. He also changes his style to suit the artist and the track, so his breakthrough video for Hot Chip’s Over And Over has been followed by very different work for the likes of singing star Lily Allen – in LDN she dreamily walks down colourful London streets like out of Mary Poppins, followed by the grey, grim reality. The Nima Nourizadeh section ends with his latest hit video, this time with a cartoon version of Lily Allen for the Mark Ronson single Oh My God. It’s an update on the famous scene in Who Framed Roger Rabbit where Jessica Rabbit performs, and features a cameo by Kaiser Chiefs, who originally recorded the song.
And finally we have Charlotte Hatherley’s Behave, directed by Oscar Wright. Charlotte is the former lead guitarist of rock band Ash who is now going solo, and this video by Oscar – whose brother is Edgar Wright, director of hit comedy films Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz – is a witty and colourful sci-fi love story, with a twist, in the style of old fashioned video games.
What more can we say? Just relax and enjoy!
AirplayUK The Ultimate Tracklisting
1. El Presidente - 100 MPH
Director: Rupert Jones
Record co: One Records/Sony BMG
2. Kula Shaker - Drink Tea
Director: Model Robot
Prod co: Model Robot
Record co: N/A
3. Goldfrapp - A&E
Director: Dougal Wilson
Prod co: Colonel Blimp
Rec co: Mute
4. The Black Ghosts - Some Way Through This
Directors: Ben & Jos
Represented by: Agile Films
Rec co: Southern Fried
5. Turin Brakes - Something In My Eye
Director: Karni + Saul
Prod co: Flynn Productions
Rec co: Virgin Records
6. The Cribs - Mirror Kissers
Director: Diamond Dogs
Prod co: HSI London
Rec co: Wichita
7. The Hoosiers - Goodbye Mr A
Prod co: HSI London
Rec co: Sony BMG
8. Babyshambles - French Dog Blues
Director: David Mullett
Prod co: Agile Films
Rec co: Parlophone
9. These New Puritans - Elvis
Director: Saam Farahmand
Prod co: Partizan
Rec co: Angular Records
10. Annuals - Dry Clothes
Director: Trunk
Prod co: Trunk
Rec co: Virgin Records
11. Bloc Party – Helicopter
Directors: Minivegas
12. Daniel Johnston - True Love Will Find You In The End
Directors: Minivegas
13. The Horrors - She Is The New Thing
Director: Corin Hardy
Prod co: Academy
14. The Chemical Brothers - The Salmon Dance
Director: Dom & Nic
Prod co: Factory Films
15. The Klaxons – It’s Not Over Yet
Director: Saam
Prod co: Partizan
Rec co: Polydor
16. Tracy Thorn – It’s All True
Director: Si & Ad
Prod co: Academy
Rec co: Virgin
17. Shitdisco - OK
Director: Price James
Prod co: Black Dog James
Rec co: Fierce Panda
18. Lily Allen - LDN
Director: Nima Nourizadeh
Prod co: Partizan
Rec co: Parlophone
19. Mark Ronson feat. Lily Allen – Oh My God
Director: Nima Nourizadeh
Prod co: Partizan
Rec co: SonyBMG
20. Charlotte Hatherley - Behave
Director: Oscar Wright
Rec co: Little Sister Records/Vital
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