In today’s Music Video Monday, Sister Lucille‘s Kimberly Dill and Reba Russell are a match made in suffragette heaven. Russell wrote “Why Not You” for the Missouri band’s latest album Tell the World, which she also co-produced alongside Memphis sonic wizard Dawn Hopkins.
The song is all about female empowerment. Director Kim Lloyd took the duetting duo to Beale, where they show off their brass notes and pay a visit to the statue of Black feminist hero Ida B. Wells. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m ready for the matriarchy!
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
Memphis punk rocker Tim Prudhomme, fresh off his Crosstown Arts residency, has a new project called LeFake. The band, which Music Video Monday assures you is totally real, will make its live debut at DKDC on Saturday, April 23.
They dive headfirst into the political with “Our Pro-Ukrainian Song (O.P.U.S)”, from LeFake’s forthcoming completely real album Songs with a Shelf-Life.
“We don’t like bully brats!,” says Prudhomme. “We felt compelled to voice our displeasure with the horrid one, while showing our fan-boy support for the lovely people of Ukraine. Last month, we (Keith Cooper, Dustin Crops, Andrew Geraci, Tm. Prudhomme) began recording the song and then set about taking photos of all things gold and blue as we came across them. Fortunately, we found a kindred spirit in Kim Bledsoe Lloyd who stepped up and showed us how to stitch it all together. For those who like dance-able protest songs, unite!
The video, which riffs on the Ukrainian flag, was directed by MVM vet Kim Bledsoe Lloyd. “Hopefully it will be superfluous by the time you can fit it in,” said Prudhomme in his submission email.
Well, Tim, good news, bad news. Good news: The song’s catchy and the video is dope. Bad news: It’s still quite relevant. Here’s the world premiere of “Our Pro-Ukranian Song (O.P.U.S.)”:
It’s Christmas week, and you need to chill. Legendary Memphis songstress Susan Marshall is here to help. “Deck the Halls, Y’all” is the slow-burn comedown track on her 2015 holiday album Decorations of Red. It’s a hill country blues take on the classic yuletide carol.
Director Kim Bledsoe Lloyd made this music video for the song in 2020, which she says features Marshall and drummer Pee Wee Jackson “filmed at Phillips Recording Studio and then stuffed inside a snow globe.” Let’s just take a moment to admire the brilliance of her concept.
Susan Marshall decks the halls, y’all.
Lloyd mixed in some images from a 1949 version of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and 1959’s “Santa Claus vs. The Devil,” as well as home movie footage of Sam and Jerry Phillips’ family Christmas celebration and the Orange Mound Christmas parade. The result is a fizzing sip of holiday good cheer. Deck them halls, y’all!
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
Robert Allen Parker’s new album The River’s Invitation has already spawned one great music video, for his psychedelicized cover of the Chubby Checker deep cut “My Mind Comes From A High Place.” Director Kim Bledsoe Lloyd says the second clip “Some 1 2 Love,” which she directed, is not a cover. “The song is stellar — one of Rob’s original classics. I hope the video does it justice.”
Yubu Kazungu and Candice Ivory provide the vocals for this heartfelt rocker, and the video features appearances by keyboardist Kennard Farmer and drummer Donnon Johnson. Lloyd says the video was “shot both at Easley-Faust studio and on the streets of Memphis during COVID shutdown. It was super eerie, plus one of the windiest nights. We couldn’t have asked for a better vibe.”
Take a look, then head over to Bandcamp for your copy of the record.
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
In a city filled with guitar gunslingers, Robert Allen Parker stands out. You might have seen the veteran guitarist shredding with Hope Clayborne and Soul Scrimmage, or you might have seen his acclaimed 2016 documentary Meanwhile In Memphis: The Sound of a Revolution. But wherever you saw him, it’s likely that he rocked you to the core.
Parker is prepping a new double album of his trademark electric blues/soul called The River’s Invitation. The teaser single demonstrates the deep knowledge of the genre you expect from such a formidable talent. “My Mind Comes from a High Place” is a song by Chubby Checker, but it’s totally different from anything you associate with the guy who popularized The Twist and The Pony. In 1971, Checker abandoned his dance-party image and explored psychedelic soul with the album Chequered. Parker seized on the obscure gem and took it to the house with the assistance of vocalist Kennard Farmer, drummer Donnon Johnson, bassist Chieme Fujio, and guitarist Yubu Kazungu.
Director Kim Lloyd and Meanwhile in Memphis producer Nan Nunes Hackman created this music video for “My Mind Comes from a High Place.” Joined by cameraman Sean Faust and dancer Thais Lloyd, they shot in New School Media’s studio and “a corn field in Atoka.” Buckle your seat belts and get ready for a psychedelic ride. Then get out and vote!
Music Video Monday: Robert Allen Parker
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
Memphis music was vibrant as ever in 2018. Every week, the Memphis Flyer brings you the latest and best video collaborations between Bluff City filmmakers and musicians in our Music Video Monday series. To assemble this list, I rewatched all 34 videos that qualified for 2018’s best video and scored them according to song, concept, cinematography, direction and acting, and editing. Then I untangled as many ties as I could and made some arbitrary decisions. Everyone who made the list is #1 in my book!
10. Louise Page “Blue Romance”
Flowers cover everything in this drag-tastic pop gem, directed by Sam Leathers.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (13)
9. Harlan T. Bobo “Nadine” / Fuck “Facehole”
Our first tie of the list comes early. First is Harlan T. Bobo’s sizzling, intense “Nadine” clip, directed by James Sposto.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (11)
I used science to determine that Fuck’s Memphis Flyer name drop is equal to “Nadine”.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (12)
8. Aaron James “Kauri Woods”
The smokey climax of this video by Graham Uhelski is one of the more visually stunning things you’ll see this year.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (10)
7. Daz Rinko “New Whip, Who Dis?”
Whaddup to rapper Daz Rinko who dropped three videos on MVM this year. This was the best one, thanks to an absolute banger of a track.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (9)
6. (tie) McKenna Bray “The Way I Loved You” / Lisa Mac “Change Your Mind”
I couldn’t make up my mind between this balletic video from co-directors Kim Lloyd and Susan Marshall…
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (7)
…and this dark, twisted soundstage fantasy from director Morgan Jon Fox.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (8)
5. Brennan Villines “Better Than We’ve Ever Been”
Andrew Trent Fleming got a great performance out of Brennan Villines in this bloody excellent clip.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (6)
4. (tie) Nick Black “One Night Love” / Summer Avenue “Cut It Close”
Nick Black is many things, but as this video by Gabriel DeCarlo proves, a hooper ain’t one of ’em.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (4)
The kids in Summer Avenue enlisted Laura Jean Hocking for their debut video.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (5)
3. Cedric Burnside “Wash My Hands”
Beale Street Caravan’s I Listen To Memphis series produced a whole flood of great music videos from director Christian Walker and producer Waheed Al Qawasmi. I could have filled out the top ten with these videos alone, but consider this smoking clip of Cedric Burnside laying down the law representative of them all.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (3)
2. Don Lifted “Poplar Pike”
I could have filled out the top five with work from Memphis video auteur Don Lifted, aka Lawrence Matthews, who put three videos on MVM this year. To give everybody else a chance, I picked the transcendent clip for “Poplar Pike” created by Mattews, Kevin Brooks, and Nubia Yasin.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018
1. Lucero “Long Way Back Home”
Sorry, everybody, but you already knew who was going to be number one this year. It’s this mini-movie created by director Jeff Nichols, brother of Lucero frontman Ben Nichols. Starring genuine movie star (and guy who has played Elvis) Michael Shannon, “Long Way Back Home” is the best Memphis music video of 2018 by a country mile.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (2)
Thanks to everyone who submitted videos to Music Video Monday in 2018. If you’d like to see your music video appear on Music Video Monday in 2019, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
After a gala opening at the Halloran Centre Thursday night, Indie Memphis moves to Overton Square on Friday. The schedule is packed with great stuff beyond what I could fit into this week’s cover story about the festival.
Madeline’s Madeline (1:10 PM, Studio on the Square)is an acclaimed, visually inventive film by director Josephine Decker, who won the Craig Brewer Emerging Filmmaker Award at Indie Memphis 2014.
Indie Memphis 2018 Friday: MIA, Diana Ross, and Negro Terror
She began as a refugee from Sri Lanka, and ended up playing on the world’s biggest stages. Matangi/Maya/MIA (3:40, Studio On The Square) is a documentary about the fascinating life of political dance pop musician M.I.A.
Indie Memphis 2018 Friday: MIA, Diana Ross, and Negro Terror (2)
The festival’s first world premiere is Diego Llorente’s Entrialgo, a beautiful vérité documentary about life in rural Spain.
Indie Memphis 2018 Friday: MIA, Diana Ross, and Negro Terror (3)
The second world premiere of the day is Shoot The Moon Right Between The Eyes (6:30, Studio on the Square). It’s a musical by Austin, Texas director Graham L. Carter that sets the music of John Prine amidst a story of a pair of small-time grifters who meet their match in a strong willed widow. It’s inventive, heartfelt, and a little rough around the edges, which is totally appropriate for a film that takes inspiration from Prine’s lyrics.
Indie Memphis 2018 Friday: MIA, Diana Ross, and Negro Terror (4)
At 6:30 at Playhouse on the Square, the Hometowner Documentary Shorts bloc features films from Memphis artists, including Lauren Ready, Jason Allen Lee, and Klari Farzley. Best of Enemies director Robert Gordon and producer Kim Bledsoe Lloyd’s film “Ginning Cotton at the Dockery” tracks down the men and women who worked at the last functioning cotton plantation in Mississippi. Memphis musician Robbie Grant makes his directorial debut with “Ben Siler Gives Ben Siler Advice,” in which Memphis filmmaker and Flyer film contributor Ben Siler meets a younger Memphian named Ben Siler and tells him how the world works. It pretty much does what it says on the box, in two hilariously depressing minutes.
At 9:10, there’s a genuine only-at-Indie Memphis moment. Mahogany is a 1975 star vehicle for Diana Ross, directed by Motown impresario Berry Gordy (and a couple of ringers). Also featuring a smoking turn from Billy Dee Williams in his prime, and a smash hit number one song from Ross as a theme, it’s a 70s classic. To illustrate the depth of the Mahogany cult, the film will be proceeded by “Mahogany Too,, a short film shot on Super 8 by Nigerian filmmaker Akosua Adoma Owusu that is a lighting retelling of Ross’ film, featuring Nollywood star Esosa E.
Indie Memphis 2018 Friday: MIA, Diana Ross, and Negro Terror (5)
At 9:10 on the big stage at Playhouse On The Square, an experimental documentary about Memphis’ most radical band makes its world premiere. In Negro Terror, director John Rashmaintains a light touch, focusing on the sights and sounds of the hardcore punk band’s legendary stage show, and the words of the band’s three very different members, led by Omar Higgins, an anarchist Hari Krishna devotee who is a longtime member of Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP). In what is definitely a first for Indie Memphis and probably a first for just about anywhere, the band will provide a live soundtrack for the film about them as it premieres.
Memphis Flyer Music Editor Alex Greene has a long and distinguished musical career. As a member of Memphis bands like Big Ass Truck and the Reigning Sound, he has taken our music all over the world. These days, when he’s not hipping you to the best performances and recordings in the Bluff City or touring Europe as a supporting member of The Hellcats, the seminal punk outfit founded by his wife Lorette Velvette, he’s the head of the Rolling Head Orchestra.
“We have a history of Columbus Day shows and recording sessions,” says Greene. “It kind of captures what we’re about, questioning these mythic realities we take for granted, just by presenting them in a slightly skewed light. We actually cut the classic jazz standard ‘Christopher Columbus,’ on the holiday, with a lyrical update inspired by Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. And on the same day, we cut “Rattle the Cage (Turn on the Tube)”, which portrays the dark side of our online addictions. Though it somehow celebrates that compulsion at the same time. It’s a bit of a paradox.”
This video for “Rattle The Cage (Turn On The Tube),” is the first from the Rolling Head Orchestra’s new album American Elegy, which Greene describes as “an 11-song cycle of national devolution,” is directed by Memphis producer and filmmaker Kim Bledsoe Lloyd. Check it out, and remember to vote on November 6th.
Music Video Monday: Alex Greene and the Rolling Head Orchestra
If you would like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 19, McKenna Bray releases her debut album Once In A Blue Moon on Madjack Records with a party at Lafayette’s Music Room. The first single “The Way I Loved You” is a heartfelt call to a lover above all others.
The video was produced and directed by Kim Bledsoe Lloyd and Susan Marshall, with production assistance by Sean Faust and Josh Beckemeyer. It features McKenna and dancers Megan McCusker and Shamar Rooks. Check it out:
Music Video Monday: McKenna Bray
If you would like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
