Clip of the Day: The Kills Premier 10th Anniversary Video

Looks like I'm rounding out the week with, yes, yet another music clip.  I don't suppose it's exactly creative, but at the very least it's consistent.  That's gotta count for something, right?  It also seems to point to a trend that has kept me up to a generally optimistic speed this week.  After not having to put in a full work week for the past two and half months (I know, you're totally crying for me now), I'm a slave to the wage again, and it has really just sucked.  BUT, there's nothing like a little new music bath to help wash away those wistful memories of freedom - or at least distract long enough to focus on something other than work for a second.  (As if I'd ever get distracted from my all important job duties, who would ever do that? Ha!)  Another bonus?  This is a re-blog from Nowness.com, so you actually get some professionally written word smack AND an honest-to-God interview with the artists to satisfy that reading habit instead being stuck with my smoke and mirrors attempts at classic literary genius. Yay for that!  Now let's watch, read, enjoy, and then get on to the weekend please!!!   




The Kills: The Last Goodbye on Nowness.com.

The Kills: The Last Goodbye

Samantha Morton Helms an Emotive Music Video Portrait of the Rock Duo

The Kills celebrate ten years of musical partnership with this poignant and playful video, directed by Oscar nominated actress Samantha Morton. The captivating, melancholic song “The Last Goodbye” offsets the hard-edged sound Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince are known for with haunting vocals and a nostalgic piano loop. "I wanted to make it completely different from anything we'd normally do," explains Hince. "I used an octagon keyboard from the 60s which takes flexi-discs with real bands playing and mixes them together." For the video—an experience Hince and Mosshart usually find unfulfilling and frustrating—the duo enlisted the talents of Morton, who made her directorial feature debut this year with The Unloved. Shot in monochrome on crisp, silvery 35mm, the video reflects the beautiful simplicity of the track, with an old-school photo booth providing an intimate backdrop for Mosshart's intense and heart-warming opening performance followed by a series of touching to-camera poses reflecting the musicians’ longstanding, spirited friendship. "Life goes on," says Mosshart of the touching ballad. "It starts off being the end of the world but then ends up alright." Here Mosshart and Hince share their memories of their first meeting and a decade of collaboration.

Alison on Jamie:
"When I first met him I thought he was the coolest guy in the world; I was completely fascinated by him. I had an immediate desire to do something with him – it was the best decision I've ever made. We've had so much fun over the past 12 years. I'll never forget our first gig—14 February 2002 in front of 70 people. It was the scariest moment of our lives. We couldn't believe we were doing it. We'd spent six months booking the tour, by letters as it was before email. We stayed wherever we could, going on the greatest adventure of our lives. By the end of the tour the rooms were full because of word of mouth. I remember those first years so clearly because you're so involved and so in charge of your destiny. I don't take any of this for granted—it's still as exciting and interesting and there's still more to discover."

Jamie on Alison:
"In 2000, I was in another band and she was staying in the apartment below. She would sit outside my window and listen to me play guitar, a bit like a stalker. When we first met, she was painfully shy. She'd grown up in a skate scene in Florida so she wasn't really aware of any bands. It felt incredible to be able to introduce her to the music I loved. She absorbed it all and loved it all. The first time I saw her perform was like watching Patti Smith for the first time. This awkward little sparrow on stage just had so much confidence and was obviously so comfortable performing. It was fascinating. I thought if I was going to be in another band it was going to be with her. She's my best friend and has been in every aspect of my life."

Produced by Juliette Larthe through PRETTYBIRD.
Cinematography by Florian Hoffmeister.

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Holidays in Cambodia

"It's a holiday in Cambodia

It's tough kid, but it's a life

It's a holiday in Cambodia

Don't forget to pack a wife"
-The Dead Kennedys-

Thanks to a pretty severe mess upheaval catastrophe snafu of monstrous proportions change in my work environment paired with the busiest season of the year, you might have noticed that I've been pretty absent on here for the past few weeks or so.  While I won't bore you with the details now, I don't see this work thing clearing up any time soon so I might actually explode become institutionalized literally break into tiny pieces find myself in some situations which could provide for a pretty good read if things keep up.  


While I might feel a bit like I'm having a figurative holiday in Cambodia in the worst sense, one of my cousins, Aliesje, is once again off on a world adventure to the real Cambodia, and has decided to share her experiences in a new blog.  Some of you may remember hearing about her trek through the wilds of Africa in Malawi, where she scared little children with her pallid complexion yet unending need to help (thus scaring them more).  Now she is off again to strike further fear in the hearts of unsuspecting bystanders (apparently from this first post through her softball sized feet and unfortunate dry shampooed hair).  Though she refers to it as helping with women's law, juvenile justice, and assisting victims of the Khmer Rouge, I know she's really just secretly trying to take over the world.  So, if you're looking for some interesting summer reading about traveling to exotic places while you yourself are sitting in your back yard with your feet in a wading pool and your hand around a beer can with a cocktail umbrella and soggy piece of fruit perched on the edge; or if you're stuck in a crap shoot like me and just need some serious perspective then maybe you can consider giving her a visit here, at: Le Cambodge Summer!  I guarantee your slums won't have quite as much soul.  :)