A couple of weeks ago, the Flyer profiled Memphis hip hop producer IMAKEMADBEATS on the occasion of the release of his new solo album Better Left Unsaid. The producer’s multimedia vision expands beyond music: He commissioned Gift Revolver Comics to create a graphic story of kung fu heroism starring a mystic warrior in IMAKEMADBEATS trademark mask. Sky 5 Productions created this music video by adapting the comic into this spectacular hybrid of live action and animation.
Music Video Monday: IMAKEMADBEATS
If you would like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
It’s Music Video Monday, and you need to chill out.
Six.oh.xis is the chillwave project from Memphian Christopher Osborne, who describes his approach as “lofi”, using only a “clunky 2GB RAM 250GB Dell wielding Windows XP” to create dreamy musical pastiches. The first song from his new album Antichronicles, “Hiding Place”, samples Inception, and comes with a video that is similarly assembled from cut up anime images. If you’re having a stressful Monday, take three minutes of this.
Music Video Monday: Six.oh.xis
If you would like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
Memphis musician Graham Burks has clearly been watching too much TV. For the latest release from his solo project Infinity Stairs, he has taken the endless parade of talking heads on TV and created a song that would be at home on My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts. “Alternative Facts” samples Kellyanne Conway’s smug denial of reality catchphrase and the one word analysis it deserves in true cable news splitscreen style. It is the truthy anthem for our time.
Music Video Monday: Infinity Stairs
If you would like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
Find a friend and settle in for Music Video Monday.
To soften the blow of the post-Super Bowl Monday morning, here’s “Ferris and Effie”, the first video from Memphis dream rockers Pillow Talk. Directed by lead singer Joshua Cannon—who, it just so happens, is a Flyer staffer— with Sam Leathers and Nate Packard shooting and editing, “Ferris and Effie” is all about hanging around with that special someone, even if she’s inanimate. Pillow Talk will celebrate the release of their new LP This Is All Pretend at the Hi Tone on Friday, March 31.
Music Video Monday: Pillow Talk
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
Today’s Music Video Monday brings you a message from space.
This is the world premiere of “Not Of This Earth”, the solo debut from former Strengths frontwoman Alyssa Moore, who wrote, recorded and produced the chewy chunk of space prog. She was joined by Strengths shredder Will Forrest. Legendary Memphis underground filmmaker John PIckle played drums on the track and directed this mind-pounding video. Call it Close Encounters of the Metal Kind.
Music Video Monday: Alyssa Moore
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day from Music Video Monday!
Singer/songwriter Valerie June developed her chops in the coffee shops of Midtown before moving to New York and finding international success with her album Pushing Against A Stone. Now the songstress is getting prepped for the release of her new album The Order Of Time with sold-out shows in London and Paris, and a new music video. Steve “Flip” Lipman directed this aces studio performance video for Valerie’s hill country stomper “Shakedown”. It’s sure to get your juices flowing as you march towards freedom.
Music Video Monday: Valerie June
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
Merry Christmas (observed)! It’s Music Video Monday.
Memphis’ own multitalented, underground backpaker Don Lifted (aka Lawrence Matthews) played to a packed house at Crosstown Arts earlier this month, creating revealing takes on songs from his new album Alero. He recently teamed up with Memphis filmmaker Kevin Brooks for “It’s Your World”, a video piece which skirts the divide between music video and short film. Brooks, a Sundance Ignite Fellow whose short “Keep Pushing” was awarded by the jury at this year’s Indie Memphis Film Festival, shoots Don wandering through suburban bleakness in his beloved, broken down domestic sedan. The car acts as both symbol of teenage freedom and aimlessness, as the rapper tries to come to terms with a breakup. Suddenly, you can go anywhere, but you don’t know where to go.
Music Video Monday: Don Lifted
We’ll be back at the end of the week with our 10 best videos of 2016. As always, if you would like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
Today’s Music Video Monday is fired up, ready to go!
When she’s not busy speaking truth to power, activist P. Moses spends her time dropping sick beats. For the Memphis rapper, marching for Black Lives Matter and cutting hip hop anthems are all a part of the same work of waking up the sleeping populace. Her latest, “We Rockin We Ain’t Stoppin” dropped late last month. The video includes footage of last summer’s BLM protests downtown, and serves as a rousing call to action in troubled times.
Music Video Monday: P. Moses
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
You’ll have to excuse this Music Video Monday, because it’s been at the film festival all weekend, and it’s tired.
At the awards ceremony on Saturday night, the Indie Memphis film festival gave trophies to two music videos. The Hometowner Music Video award went to director Ben Siler for “Memphis Beach” by Chackerine. The video won the jury over with its sheer sense of fun, but the climactic pterodactyl attack probably helped too.
Music Video Monday: Indie Memphis Winners Chakcerine and Video Age (2)
The general music video competition winner was “Dance Square” by Video Age, directed by Harry Bartle. Here’s a picture of the New Orleans-based filmmaker and band at the moment they found out they had won.
Music Video Monday: Indie Memphis Winners Chakcerine and Video Age
Indie Memphis concludes tonight with several screenings, including Kallen Esperian: Vissi d’arte and encores of narrative feature winner AWOL and documentary feature winner Jackson. Tickets are available on the Indie Memphis website.
Today’s MVM is NSFW. Unless you work at the Flyer, that is.
“I’ve wanted to be in a punk band since I was a teenager,” says Hormonal Imbalance’s Susan Mayfield. “Thought I’d be the guitarist for it if it ever happened, but life happened with kids and shitty relationships that kept me from it. In 2001 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and a friend sold me his drum kit cheap to cheer me up. I started learning. After yet another failed relationship, I was on my own with no life at all. Having already dealt with a deep depression, I knew I was headed that way and didn’t want to feel that again. I had always loved comedy bands like Green Jelllo, Mega Smegma, Butt Trumpet, and The Dead Milkmen just to name a few. So I decided to start my own band.”
Mayfield recruited Ivy Miller of Midtown punk provocateurs SVU for guitar and Adam Richards on bass. “I couldn’t have wished for better band mates because they loved the same music I did and loved my vision just as much as I did so it was a perfect fit,” she says.
The band recorded their first album at Rocket Science Audio in December, 2015, and got Rising Fyre Productions’ Jamie Hall and J. Lazarus Hawk to create the video for their first single “The Chick’s Boyfriend.”
“We were trying to produce a music video that wasn’t just a bunch of random quick clips of the band,” says Hall, who directed. “We as a production company want to tell a story of what the songs writer put on paper. It is important to tell the story that the song portrays. Truly, the song itself was our inspiration. Hormonal Imbalance is a fun group of people. there songs are your typical ‘punk’ songs, not the political kind of punk it is more of The Butthole Surfers or Dead Milkman kind of vibe, and with that we wanted to have fun with the video and the band.”
“The video is a perfect representation of the band,” says Ivy “dinosaur” Miller. “When Susan approached me about playing I was already in another band, and not sure I’d have time, but this is one of the most fun projects I’ve been a part of. The costumes and tongue in cheek vulgarity are key to our stage persona. Like…we’re gross and in your face, but funny about it, as opposed to being super aggressive and testosterone-y.”
Get ready for some dildo assault. Starring SVU’s Tyler Miller as “The Boyfriend” and Vicki Esmond as “That Chick”, here’s “That Chick’s Boyfriend”:
Music Video Monday: Hormonal Imbalance
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
