presenting Videodrome - 5 New Music Videos!

PRESS PLAY: In 1983, celebrated director David Cronenberg released the film; Videodrome. The movie was a bleak satire on the cult power of video and film. Like most of Cronenberg's warped and sometimes violent films, Videodrome has received higher praise in the years following its release than it did when in theaters. We borrow the name from Cronenberg's film to celebrate the interesting new music videos that cross our desk!

THIS IS WHERE CRONENBERG AND I DIFFER: I'm not the fatalist that Cronenberg is. The one point we probably both agree on is the latent power of video to convey emotion and carry a message. I think music videos (if done right,) kick ass. (Conversely, bad videos can ruin an otherwise great song.) The new 'Videodrome Series' on the blog will supplement the popular Viral Video series we already run, a series that takes delight in cultural phenomena that appears on film.

Without further ado, here are some of the most exciting new videos we have seen recently on the internet. Welcome to Videodrome!

The Black and White Years - "Zeroes and Ones"

Austin's Black and White Years are definitely one of my all-time favorite live bands. Their debut album made our 20 Albums from 2008 You Need to Own List. This is one band you should definitely get to know! Also: New Song from the Black and White Years!

The Avett Brothers - "Glory Days"
(Bruce Springsteen cover)

Ever since I heard that The Avett Brothers were playing the hottest show of this year's SxSW Music Festival (along with the Decemberists and Heartless Bastards) I've been on the prowl for their videos. Check it!

Black Gold - "Plans and Reveries"

This is the new band I am most excited about in 2009! Black Gold released a debut EP last year and it was just about the best thing I heard all year long. (Right up there with the EP released from New York's Jacksonknife.) Well, 2009 has begun and this dynamic duo's future is underway. Having just seen the band perform a stunning live set the other night here in Boston - all I can say is that my love for their music is well founded to say the least! Here is the video for Plans and Reveries, a song on the full-length CD rush. This one emerged first last year on that incredible EP - and it proved to be one of the best songs of the year in our eyes! Added bonus? Black Gold really digs video too and do some video blogging for their fans.

U2 - "Magnificent "
(Live at Fordham University airing on GMA)

They Say Strike When the Iron's Hot. But damn, this is ridiculous. U2 is all the rage right now (again). And never more right here in Boston with the news they are playing a secret show somewhere in the city this Wednesday. It promises to be extremely small and extremely exclusive. I have been emails from everybody and their brother the last week asking for my tickets. (I have none to give or sell!) This video is as close as most of us will ever get.

Death Cab for Cutie - "Grapevine Fires"

This is me admitting I am probably the very last (or next to last) music blogger to hold out on Death Cab for Cutie. It's taken a lot of enticed listening (encouraged by friends) for me to get to this point. Well here I am checking out the new video. This video is new new!