St. Vincent showed up in my video round-up last year with ‘Cruel,’ a video in which she was kidnapped by a family, forced to serve them and then buried alive in the front yard.
This year she returns as a giant museum exhibit who breaks free from her bonds before literally falling to pieces.
I think the woman has some issues. Fortunately she’s working them out through compelling short films for our enjoyment.
Every video I’m featuring this week deals with either gender issues or sexual orientation.
Today’s clip, by English band Spiritualized, is more like a short film than a music video. Directed (quite well) by A.G. Rojas, it follows a day in the life of a transgender prostitute, including his interactions with two small children he’s raising. (I believe ‘transgender’ is the appropriate term for the man in this video, who seems to identify as a woman though he doesn’t have female parts).
The song that came up most often in my Web research on the best videos of 2012 was this one — M.I.A.’s ‘Bad Girls.’
The combination of excellent cinematography and the sociopolitical statement of depicting Muslim women driving proved irresistible for many critics.
1991’s Laughter & Lust was the last “traditional” album Joe Jackson released, and it was my first exposure to him (apart from knowing ‘Steppin’ Out’ and ‘Breaking Us in Two’ from the radio).
I remember buying the album because the cover and general vibe reminded me of Elvis Costello’s Spike, and having recently discovered Mr. Costello, I thought maybe I’d luck into another great discovery.
It’s funny that, for a guy who isn’t a fan of Joni Mitchell, I own four of her albums.
I bought Court and Spark and Blue somewhere along the way in my quest to own all of the albums a person should own. I never listen to them, but I gave them a shot.
I also own Hits (courtesy of my sister, a Mitchell fan) and Both Sides Now, a 2000 covers album which might have spontaneously generated on my CD shelf, because I have no recollection of how it got there.
Meet Me In Montauk 