"Looking cool" has many different meanings and interpretations for people. - One of the memoir's essential and illuminating quotes.
Imagine you’re the child of an academic, you spend your childhood around the kids of Hollywood film producers; in your teens you spent time working for someone who is now the world’s most powerful art dealer and later hung out with almost all the people who made the New York art and post punk music scene what it was and - more importantly - became.
Apparently you - and almost all of your friends - hate what New York has become. Not a moments thought is taken to consider how you and your very well-known friends might have contributed to that commercialisation whilst achieving great commercial success.
MoMais just a “giant midtown gift store” but strangely that doesn’t stop you performing there.
Gordon laments the retail fashion chains, H&M, Forever 21 etc; you know, the ones regular people can afford to shop at, unlike Marc Jacobs.
There’s plenty of talk of punk/punk rock. When used in reference to a culture and music genre, it’s appropriate. Often punk is used in the same way Sonic Youth has long referred to it in interviews and, famously, in 1991 The Year Punk Broke. A simultaneously ironic and sincere nod to aesthetics. Following the publishing of excerpts from the book, a lot of online comment latched on to the quote claiming Smashing Pumpkins weren’t punk rock. A lot of it misses the way in which the term is used - which is fair since it’s probably a little bit of an in-joke.
There’s nothing remotely punk rock about Gordon these days either.
If a girl was in a band and wrote a memoir and titled it Girl In A Band: A Memoir, take that as a cue to the level of thought and literary skill that has gone into the book. [Note: I'm only halfway through the book. These are just some thoughts I've had so far.]
I've
loved a lot of songs only to realise, when I heard the song on its
own, it was the video I actually loved. I love
music videos almost as much as I Iove music. Here are
my favourite music videos of all time. It's probably no coincidence
that they're also all among my favourite tracks; it works a bit both
ways. I won't try to explain too much and you've probably seen them
all before. Please
feel free to disagree or criticise because I left something out by
leaving a comment below. I would probably have a different ten if I did this next week.
[update: I realised I forgot my second favourite video ever, so now there is a 1.5!]
10.
Clara
Rockmore - Hebrew
Melody
OK,
I had to cheat with at least one and this may as well be no. 10. I
know it's not a music video but it's a pice of video with music being
performed and probably one of the greatest of all time. This is the
definition of an artist 'in the zone'... She's in a trance; a person
who was the greatest at what they did captured in the moment. It's
moving. It's amazing.
9. Aphex
Twin - Nannou
Another
one where the video matches the music perfectly, rhythmically and
emotionally. Beautiful. There's not much more to say.
8.
Coldcut
- Natural Rhythm
It
may seem dated now given the the extreme pace of advances in VJing, however Coldcut were at the forefront. They created their own
software to do this kind of stuff and led the way for everyone that
followed including Ninja Tune's own Amon Tobin and his absolutely
incredible Isam live show
7. Beck
- Snoozer
I find
it difficult to mention Beck these days without referring to his
Scientology but this precedes that. This video is like a Jeff Koonz
artwork minus the elitism. I'm sure the same video from Beck now
wouldn't feel the same. Those 50-something women drinking cocktails
in a dive bar feel like they're the unknowing inspiration for the
hipster/hipstamatic visuals of something like Lana Del Ray's Video Games
6.
Prince - Sign o' The Times
Apart
from being subject to one of the best covers of all time by Kode9 +Space Ape,
the original has a simple, great video which captures everything
about the song. It's definitely a video that shows the time it was
created and focusses on the great lyrics. I've always had a soft spot
for Ken Done's famous artworks depicting Australian icons; they're
great because they iconically represent an era. This track and video
do the same. Better still, it feels like a bizarre reference to Bob Dylan's Subterranean
Homesick Blues.
5. Bob
Dylan - Subterranean
Homesick Blues
Is
this one of the earliest music videos ever? I'm sure if I could be
bothered reading up on this I would know but I suspect the answer is
yes. I also suspect it's the best from the period. Great track, great
idea... And Ginsberg stands in the background.
4.
Public
Enemy - Don't Believe
The Hype
OK,
fair enough, this is one of the tracks that changed my life and
people who always programme Rage always play Fight The
power
but I fell like this is an infinitely more powerful, original
video... That whole Flavor Flav silhouette dancing across the
typewriter, awesome stuff!
This
video always reminds me of that board game Mouse Trap in the sense
that it's an ongoing number of events triggered by the previous event
(in an abstract way that totally matches the lyrics). It was a tough
choice to include a Pavement video because they have quite a few
great videos, I also particularly like Cut your Hair
2. Sonic
Youth - Teenage Riot
The
story behind this video is that it cost $20 to make... and a lot of
editing! How many great moments in counter-culture history can you
instantly recognise? [My favourite is Lou Barlow being kicked off
stage by J. Mascis.]
1.5 UNKLE - Rabbit In Your Headlights I remember seeing this video and thinking: "wow, some music videos are better than most films being released these days. This is better than most films I have ever seen.
1.
Massive Attack - Unfinished
Sympathy
Apparently
it was all done in one take. That sounds impressive; I'm just being
facetious, it is impressive. One of the few best tracks ever to have
an almost equally-as-good- music video.
