Showing posts with label YouTube. Show all posts
Showing posts with label YouTube. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Music for the uncomplicated smile in all of us


A scathing review is a lot easier to write then a review which is full of admiration. There seems to be a lot more passion invoked by disparagement as opposed to praise. Yet to my angst there is little criticism I can serve on Okkervil River. I am a fan of the band, man. So with the risk of sounding weak or worse, indifferent, I’ll aim to shoot at Okkervil River straight and true.

I love Okkervil River for their beautifully crafted simplicity. This love was further imbedded in me when their latest album, The Stand Ins, led Okkervil on a tour which hit Brisbane’s The Zoo last Sunday. It need not be mentioned that I was there to see it. And it’s been some time since I’ve watched a gig and been totally overwhelmed with happiness to be there.

Against better judgment I am going to say that the seven piece band have a sound of their own. I would prefer not to say this for several reasons. The first being that as a music critic, to say one band has an individual sound is a very big call. Secondly, the indie-folk sound of Okkervil is not revolutionary in any form. They have been labeled alongside Wilco and Arcade Fire but I disagree. The Decemberists would be the closest musical outfit I would compare with Okkervil River.

No, Okkervil River is not progressively different like Bjork or strange like Ween. They are a self anointed ‘multilevel band’, storytelling with the aid of trumpets, keys, and all kinds of guitars. While Okkervil’s third album, Black Sheep Boy, has a darker rock base, The Stage Names and The Stand Ins have a more upbeat sound which appears simple and happy, even if the lyrics are pushing for complexity in their unvarying satire. This buoyant nature of Okkervil River has identified with somewhere deep within me so I get tremendous enjoyment out of listening to their sound.

Aesthetically this is one geeky band, but they have a fantastic liveliness which made the hour and a half set on Sunday night feel like 20 minutes. Seth Warren was striking, pounding every bit of energy into the drums from the first note played. Front man and primary songwriter Will Sheff did not tire once of lyrically heavy songs such as Singer Songwriter and Lost Coastlines (see Youtube video below).

It was on Sunday night that I discovered Okkervil’s audience is broad. I thought I was one of few who found Okkervil so completely infectious, just because none of my friends know who they are. I was mistaken, with the sold out audience including jiving 50 year old women as well as those lovable little indie kids. The entire audience had a smile like a child’s on Christmas morning.

So it seems that with five albums to their name, Okkervil River is gaining the followers to match their critical success. Well, the critical success they achieved in this blog, anyway. If it’s any compensation to those of you who were after blood, my next blog will be dedicated to Kate Miller Heidke. Just let me at her.
Posted by Joanna at 2:05 PM 6 comments
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Monday, March 23, 2009

You Choose YouTube

What is the world coming to when the most viewed clip on YouTube is Avril Lavigne's video clip Girlfriend? No this is not a hoax, or a joke, or a trick. With 117,549, 807 recorded views at the time of writing YouTube rates this video as the current most viewed of all time.

I feel ripped off for three reasons. First, I can't even view the stupid clip because "this video is not available in your country". Second, I can't embed another version of the clip here because embedding has been "disabled by request". Third, I searched for the most viewed clip on YouTube out of curiousity and this is what I got?

Was it unreasonable to expect something a little less shallow and a little more substantial? What is it with this clip that has made it the most viewed? What does it say about YouTube viewers?

I was introduced to YouTube back at the beginning of 2006, not long after it had officially launched in November 2005. Originally it represented a way for me to access tv and music videos on demand, without the lag of waiting for the Australian release and without the concern of pirating and illegal downloading. Today as the copyright and content restrictions are much more stringent (see here for example), YouTube has simply become a source of random entertainment and amusement. For me anyway.

Beyond my surprise that the most viewed video was in fact a music video, and not some slapstick Jackass-esque stunt, I was appauled that it was Avril Lavigne. I know the little Canadian pop punk princess is one of the highest selling artists in the United States, but I didn't realise her badly painted black nails had dug in to so many avenues. Sorry Avril, but your entertainment factor is not as high as a Charlie the Unicorn. Not that the other music videos in top 10 most viewed clips on YouTube are much better. The four other music entities are Chris Brown, Rihanna, Leona Lewis, and Alicia Keys (all of which have had "embedding disabled by request"), none of which are my cup of tea. In future I think I'll be sticking to the search function in YouTube and going by my own taste, especially when it comes to music.

Although there may be hope for the future of YouTube's most viewed, for the month of March at least. With last weeks most viewed video Extreme Sheep LED Art by BaaStuds:



Or this months most viewed video Fred Rescues the Neighbourhood Squirrels by Fred:
Posted by Be Silent at 12:15 PM 1 comments
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