Yeasayer - Ambling Alp

Sci-fi Music Videos Week, Day 1, Yeasayer - Ambling Alp


Yeasayer is an experimental Brooklyn band with obvious world music influences. They have just released their new record Odd Blood. It is about time. It has been nearly three years.

This video is an homage to Alejandro Jodorowsky's 1973 film, Holy Mountain. If you have never heard of it, check out the trailer here.

Holy Mountain is amazing and all sorts of messed up. Supposedly, the cast meditated together for 3 months before the shooting and were on psychedelic drugs for at least one scene. John Lennon and Yoko through in some money for production which doesn't surprise me because the movie is like a visual interpretation of one of her songs.

You could argue that this video isn't exactly sci-fi, but avant-garde or surrealist. To you I say, shut up and watch the video.

Flaming Lips - Powerless

The Flaming Lips are still making albums after over twenty-five years and they are still on the cutting edge of rock, more relevant than ever.  Any band can continue to tour and record far past their expiration date and riding their previous fame to sell a crappy new album that is forgotten after the first week.  (I am looking your way Rolling Stones, Ozzy Osbourne, and Brett Michaels.  Sure, you made good music at one time in your life, but you partied too much and you really don't have any soul left to make good music.  Stop pissing on your legacy.  You don't want to be remembered as sad old men churning out trash.)  But The Flaming Lips are still making influential albums that will one day have an effect on our unborn children.

This is a simple but effective video.  As with all Flaming Lips visuals, there is a mix of creepy and happy, absurdity and beauty, unsettling and erotic.  I love the ending.  Blind freedom.

tUnE-yArDs - Real Live Flesh

I really dig this Merrill Garbus character. She is tUnE-yArDs. She got her start in a band called Sister Suvi, but this solo project with a ukulele slays me. The album has an amazing song that is partly in Swahili called Hatari, but unfortunately there is no music video.

This new song that isn't on the album is the first official music video released by Garbus. Merrill and two friends dress up and do some poses in front of a camera in someones apartment. It is quite simple but it is cute and the song is stellar.