HIPSTER RUNOFF

This is a recap of popular recent bloggy/bloghouse/conceptual/indie rock music videos.

Music Video: Futurecop! - Karate Kids

Analysis: The song is repetitive and more tolerable than you would expect for a song 'that is rlly repetitive.' The video is an aggregation of meaningful 80s movies that make me wish I was born before 1990 so that I could remember these iconic movies. Kinda sad that movies these days are sooo ghey/predictable/not THAT great. Miss times when movies were 'larger than life' and not just a gimmick that ended up costing u $40 per person after snacks + drinks. The video ends with Jon Candy in 'Uncle Buck.' laters.

Music Video: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero

Analysis: I never really listened to this song, just kind of skipped around the video for a few seconds. I remember the YYYs came out with that song about some1 'not loving u like I love u' and it was kinda catchy and good enough to be mainstream. But this video kind of seems like they are 'pretending to be a really popular band' and also 'making music that is aggressive enough to feel like you have to take it seriously, yet unidentifiable for both alternative and mainstream consumers.' Never really got my attention and just felt like generalizing it and 'hoping that I am right.' Will they sell albums? Is Karen O authentic, or just a 'cookie cutter alternative diva'?

Music Video: Calvin Harris - I'm Not Alone

Analysis: I remember when Calvin Harris was just a guy with a bloghouse single about 'having all of the girls' or something. I think this song seems like some sort of Euro-techno-bro-house music. While I could be 'impressed' with his 'epic sounds' and 'musical progression as an artist', I will probably not listen to this song again and probably enjoy a remix of the song by an authentic blogcentric remixer more than the original. The video is pretty 'whatever.'

Music Video: Winter Gloves - Let Me Drive

Analysis: I don't really 'like' this song or video or have ever heard of this band/will ever hear of them again. But it sort of just reminds me of alternative life before the internet really 'took over' the indie music landscape. I think a younger, more alternatively naive version of me would have thought that this video was 'cool' and that the song had all of the elements of an 'authentic indie band' (keyboards, bearded bro with glasses, aggressively earnest lyrics). Miss those days. Maybe we were more drawn to bands like this because there was 'less crap' to sift through, so it was less pressure on us and more time to find bands to be 'tolerable.' These days, I only want greatness.

Music Video: Bloody Beetroots (Ft Steve Aoki with original vocals) - WARP

Analysis: I think this song is a 'banger.' I think the brand of the song is supposed to be HARD. There is an angry AZN man yelling at the camera sometimes. I wonder if this new brand of bangerelectro is like the modern, niche version of 'slipknot' for kids who aren't as poor as the kids who got really into hardXcore rock. I sort of wish I lived in the greater Los Angeles area, and had the opportunity to be a slow-motion alt 'partying to this song' in the video. Feel like I probably would have twittered about how much fun I was having while I was at the video shoot. Not sure if I would put this song 'on my iPod' but might play it if I were a bangerrific DJ. For a more critical, well-informed opinion on this music video, visit Big Stereo, where the blogger uses phrases/sentences including "Slo-mo cookie cutter hipsters" and "Bloody Beetroots come off as a pale reflection of better times spent with Vitalic." One time I wrote a blog post about Steve Aoki that was 'epic.' Maybe I should read it again and react to it with my current state of mind. h8 being 's0 fickle/flighty.' just trying 2 stay relevant. but n e ways... I think this video is a 'mockumentary' or something.

Music Video: Smashing Pumpkins - Today (Morgan Freeman + VISA remix)

Analysis: Can't believe the Smashing Pumpkins 'sold out' and let VISA use their song in their commercial. jk. happy 4 them. Billy Corgan seems like a chill bro who has been through a lot [via 1979 tonight, tonight]. Kinda sad how we're all getting older and music 'that was cool during our youth' is being used to encourage us to buy stuff with money that we don't have. h8 marketing. sad on the inside. Need to buy a flat screen tv to cheer myself up. Might also buy 'a wii' and 'some marijuana/lean.'

Have yall seen n e good music videos lately?
Just trying 2 stay relevant and identify

This has been a music video recap by Carles. Carles is a full time student at a high level digital arts graduate program. He is also a Teaching Assistant for Digital Media 101:Lessons in Photoshop, InDesign, and iMovie.

Steve Aoki

Alternative Celebrity, DJ

Steve Aoki is an AZN DJ.

Lists: indie minorities, bros who love 2 party, beards, indie hunks, Record Label Owners, AZNs

Read more>>>>

Yall,

This weekend, I sacrified a lot of my time to go and see 'The Dark Knight.' It took me a while to decide whether or not I was going to see it because I couldn't tell if it was mainstream or alt, but deep down, I wanted to fit in. If it is going to be the biggest movie ever, I thought it would be a good idea for me to 'connect with the human race as a whole.' I thought it would be a rewarding experience to 'connect' with my fellow audience members as we watched a wonderful piece of art that achieved mainstream success.

I felt a lot of pressure to go. According to what I've read in blogs and newspapers, 'The Darky' is a big deal. I wanted to be able to appreciate what has been described as the most authentic-mainstream movie experience EVER.

However, after going through the process of 'going to the movies to see The Dark Knight', I have realized that I will never be able to appreciate what mainstreamers think they are supposed to appreciate.

1. Going to the Movies
DARK KNIGHT = way 2 long. Kind of like one of those bad HRO posts where Carles just 'keeps tlkng & tlkng abt stuff he doesn't know abt.' If you're going to see THE DARKIE, expect to lose 5 hours of your day. If u see it in the IMAX, a teen usher with acne will tell u to put your iPhone away when you are trying to liveblog abt how the movie is 'kinda long.' SRSLY tho... kinda wish some1 would embed the movie in youtube, or maybe I could watch it on HULU. The best solution would be for some1 to open a theatre chain where you had to pay like $40 per ticket, except u didn't have to watch previews/commercials. You can have the option of having these ads emailed to you. N e ways... I just think stuff like 'going to the movies' and 'watching baseball' are for people in their prime from the year 1989.

'OMG...POPCORN AND SODAS R SO EXPENSIVE' - old people
'OMG...I DEFAULTED ON MY MORTGAGE BC I HAD TO BUY AN ICEE AND WHOPPERS WHILE I SAW THE DARKIE' - rlly old people taking their grandkids to the movies

I thought the whole movie was going to be Heath + CBale chillin in this room.

2. Heath Ledger
Heath may or may not be dead, but his (fake) death was great for BOX OFFICE $$$$$$$. I wish some1 had told me that he was only in the movie for like 15 minutes. I went into the theatre thinking that the movie was going to be about him. I felt kinda lied to when I had to sit through a bunch of 'stuff blowing up' for so long. If I wanted to see stuff blow up, I would have gone to a Justice concert.

Remember people who thought they were 'visionaries' because they were into anarchy/punk music?

3. The movie had a bunch of ghey themes
Another thing that really bothers me was that 'The Dark Knight' had themes that were made to appeal to people who didn't-go-to-college-but-like-feeling-smart. Basically, the movie exposes the audience to themes that are so complex that smart people don't bother trying to apply the themes to our modern society but they can convey an abridged version for mainstream dummies to feel like 'they are actually thinking about important issues/philosophy.' This makes them feel deep. They went into the theatre solely looking to be entertained, but since they were also exposed to ideas that a freshman in college would have been exposed to in his Political Science 101 course, they feel like they come out of the theatre a better person. I feel like movies like 'The Matrix' or 'V for Vendetta' are some of the most popular films in this genre. They usually deal with concepts like 'why is our society so zany/capitalistic/controlled by 1 person?' or even 'what makes us human, yall?' It would have been nice if Heath Ledger just read some Foucault to me for 3 hours. I mean srsly..what's the deal with society/prisons/social systems/'the world'/'how history has altered the way things are(that's kinda unfair--especially 4 minorities)'.

4. Heath Ledger as the Voice of these 'Deep, Complex Themes'
This weekend, I was walking down the street and I saw a little Mexican kid dressed as the Joker. He had facepaint, a big red smiley, green coloring sprayed over his dark mexi-hair, and was dressed just like Heath in the movie (aka he was wearing the church clothes he used to wear before he rebelled against his ever-loving Catholic mother's dead ideologies). I'm sure last week the same kid was into identifying with Linkin Park lyrics that commented on how 'people r full of shit, there's no such thing as love, and I hate my dad, too.' Ultimately, exposing impressionable tweens to concepts that they don't really need to be aware of is bad for humanity. I understood when goth-ish people dressed like they were in 'the matrix' to seem interesting until high school administrators determined that they 'looked like they were going to shoot up the school' in the post-Trench Coat Mafia era, but I just think 'dressing up like the Joker' to let people know that you 'see the same world that he sees' is a little bit much. I wish the Joker just wore business casual so I wouldn't notice audacious little JokerMexis any more. It's sort of like the 'deep version of a little girl dressing up like Hannah Montana.'

A lot of people say that Heath Ledger killed himself because he 'couldn't pull himself out of this dark, dark role.' If that is true, then we can assume that Heath Ledger has the same mental-makeup as a 13 year old angsty kid who dresses up like the joker.

5. Christian Bale
I feel like every one is just waiting for him to turn into Patrick Bateman in American Psycho again. He did a lil Batemen with his Bruce Wayne impression, but he sounds kinda sillie when he talks with his Batman voice. Is Batman even a difficult role to play? People who have played Batman: Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney. N e ways...I hope Patrick Bateman does a good job in the new Terminator movie. I miss Edward Furlong, though. He was pretty alt when I was a kid, so I think John Connor wedge haircuts might be big in 2k9.

Remember Arnold b4 he was mainstream/conservative?

6. Morgan Freeman
Remember when he played a Black President in 'Deep Impact'? Remember that time he played 'God' in that other movie?


7. The Most Troublesome Part of going to the movies was being exposed to this commercial:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMy35Aw0bjI&hl=en&fs=1]
JC Penny is trying to appeal to ___________?
a) people over the age of 30
b) Emilio Estevez fans
c) lil alts
d) people who listen to ska/punk cover songs of 80s anthems
e) tweens who are still searching for their sexuality but identify with bands like Good Charlotte, Fall Out Boy, and Panic!@the disco.

****IN CONCLUSY (SRSLY)****
SRSLY tho... I'd rather slit my wrists with broken Criterion Collection DVDs than go 2 the movies again. It took a lot out of me. So many people, so m
any lives', so many differences, so many similarities. I mean, r we all just 'trying to make money to thrive in our society?' That would be s0 random if we were...

Theoretically we all want to fit in (be mainstream), but sometimes u just have 2 realize that ur gonna be an alt 4evr. You should surround yourself with a network of alts who understand their positions within the alt-mainstream social graph and how their social interactions from grades K thru 16 impacted their social self-perception.

Maybe I should just loosen up and 'enjoy goin out to the movies + grabbin bite 2 eat at TGIFridays.' <3333