I wholeheartedly support the MK MVP aim and general vibe: pitch us a concept for a music video and if we like it, we’ll gooi you a budget and give you a nationwide platform and significant amount of airtime to launch it.
Now I’d like you to have a think back to last year’s MK MVP winners. Can you remember any of those videos? I remember one. It was Winterstasie’s ‘Los My’ – the one with the freakish ginger kid and the milk that was directed by Tristan Holmes, but more about him later – and this time next year, I promise you there’ll only be one you remember.
But onto this year’s winners…
Moses Metro Man, ‘Samoerai’. Why are more people not talking about this video?? This song is sick. It’s the only real, ballsy rock song amongst the winners. Skeleton painted dudes and My Chemical Romance inspired band geddup aside, there’s an epic scene were the drummer hits his symbols and they burst into flames. Sexay.
Lark, ‘Brave’ (Haezer Remix). Just as this track kicks off and these Transformer-like bots start klapping each other, the screen fades to white and the words “COMING SOON…” appear. Uuuh. Okay. This is Lark we’re talking about though. So bitches will wait.
Krimineel, ‘Gebed van ‘n Reeksmoordenaar’. I feel like I’ve seen this video in 1000 other videos before. The stretcher scenes remind of Foto na Dans’ ‘Natuurlik Verlig’ and the writing scrawled on the wall is super cliché. And oh look, it’s Bouwer Bosch. Because, you know, I haven’t seen him in a video on MK in a while.
Isochronous, ‘Destiny’. The use of slow motion in the video is epic. However it’s so slow, that eventually you think you’re moving backwards. Love the flashes – that aren’t long enough to be subliminal – and the ending performance shot/pose of the guys mid-power stances.
iScreamStix, ‘Skitso’. Skitso/schizo doesn’t even begin to describe the level of insanity going on here. The band capture and torment various “noteworthy figures”, who just happen to be look-a-likes of themselves, and at the end of the video, the four captives get thrown out of a kombi and do a strange dance circa ‘Thriller’, after which the band, in the kombi, unmask themselves. ????
Duimpie Se Maat, ‘Moonshine’. 3 manic versions of Carla running around, with a voodoo-esque twist to it. It too, ends in a little dance sequence.
Goodluck, ‘Harlem’. I like this, a lot. And I get the whole next-generation concept but tell me, what country am I in? What exactly is a Harlem beat? And who does the Pantsula in Harlem? My questions aside, this’ll do very well.
Double Adapter, ‘Eat You Alive’. Hot chick chops up meat in deserted house. Zombies invade deserted house. Hot chick throws raw meat into zombie audience. Double Adapter suddenly appear. Double Adapter jump into zombie crowd. Double Adapter get eaten. The end.
Dance You’re On Fire, ‘Oh love’. I love this band because a) they make fabulous pop music and b) they know exactly what their target market is. They penned the perfect pop song in ‘Boxes of Tigers’, but I’m not too sure what went wrong with their choice of single/concept of video here. Between the foresty setting and checked shirts, I wouldn’t blame you for thinking this was a Wrestlerish music video.
Ashtray Electric, ‘Bittersweet Manipulator’. I love the concept of this video, with the theme slightly on par with what’s going on in ‘Moonshine’ (a kind of possession/manipulation narrative) but there’s just too much going on here to hold my attention for entire duration.
Mr Cat & The Jackal, ‘Try’. There’s something indescribably creepy about the naivety of a child in the hands of someone with ulterior motives. Nothing will prepare you for the dark, sinister undertones of this video. Ysterfang Puppetry take 2. Too brilliant.
But I’ve saved the best for last…
The Frown, ‘The National’. A company called Magic Factory produced this music video. Magic Factory indeed. Everything from the metonym-like chant of the tune to the makeup to the SFX – every facet of this piece of art is so superbly done that it lends a creepy, yet, ethereal quality to a video that could be playlisted on the MTVs and VH1s of this world, yesterday. TRISTAN HOLMES YOU GENIUS.
But don’t take my word for it, see for yourself below.
Watcha think? Did I miss something?
