Only VHS Tapes Can Save You in This Week’s Holy Hunter of Music Videos
Steeped in throwback synth-pop, GUNSHIP echoes eighties’ sight and sound in the Lee Hardcastle-helmed and John Carpenter-narrated claysploitation/live-action hybrid “Tech Noir”. James Cameron/Terminator enthusiasts need no introduction to the track title’s reference, but some assistance dealing with the fact that the club doesn’t actually exist. A classic tale of damsel in post-apocalyptic distress unfolds as our bionic hero battles the goon-squad by becoming the protagonist in each VHS tape he plays via his VCR tummy. Alas, one of his foes mirrors that ability and takes the shape of villains from the films as well. Delight in the shattering of the fourth wall when the one-man audience within the short film intervenes armed with video ammo of his own. Thanks for tweeting this one to me, @PhilNobileJr!
The meat in the music video sandwich this week stems from a much larger collection of slightly-scripted narrative slash live-session footage from an event I helped produce alongside The Wild Honey Pie earlier in the year. The entire series is called Welcome Campers (Season 3) and features the likes of On an On, Talib Kweli, Wild Child, The Eastern Sea and my personal favorite of the bunch Oh Land. The following was an impromptu acoustic version of her single “Doubt My Legs” sung amongst the camp petting zoo’s lovable creatures while she cuddled and charmed a sleepy baby goat. Not featured: crew drying their eyes with cardboard instruments behind the camera. Emmett Kerr-Perkinson and Taylor Washington’s co-directing debut reached its zenith here alongside the time I fed the giant pig miniature Hershey’s chocolate bars.
Harajuku superstar Kiriko Takemura aka Kyary Pamyu Pamyu has made a couple candy-coated appearances on BMD thanks to a fixed fondness for J-pop, but stick with me here because “Crazy Party Night: Pumpkin no Gyakushū” also appeals to anyone with Halloween-y sensibilities (58 DAYS). The second portion of that song title loosely translates to “Pumpkin’s Counterattack” which doesn’t at all shed light on the whole wacky affair. Yusuke Tanaka directs as the “haunted house” tour culminates in a cooking show where the pop tart herself boils a babydoll while her boom op gets zom-bitten then reanimates as a lobotomized drag clown. Capisce?!
