|
One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just
isn't the same.
Snog's Adventures In Capitalism and Gravity Records' second video
compilation, Video 2, occupy opposite poles of the ever-expanding
world of indie music DVD releases. While one uses the polished aluminum
surface as a slick facade for a soapbox vanity project, the other employs the
medium as a cost-effective way to allow under-the-radar,
under-funded artists to create. In the case of the former,
all the bells and whistles that consumers have come to expect of the DVD
format don't amount to much. In the case of the latter, the format is
simply a means to end in a world where VHS product is no longer worth the
tape it's recorded on.
The real problem with Adventures In Capitalism is the lack of
real variety from video to video, and this only serves to underscore the
superficial nature of the release. Snog deals in a simple, cardboard
cut-out approach to visual design that finds them trapped in a cycle of
overwrought, clichéd images, which are found in far too many videos from the
post-industrial genre.
To be fair, the very best of Snog's clips are quite stunning.
"The Human Germ" has a cold David Fincher-cum-Chris Cunningham aesthetic, and
features a sliding line-graph interface that scans the images as scrolling
type transcribes the (banal) lyrics. "Are You Normal Enough?" is
similarly creepy-cool, its digitally altered still-photography working in
contrast to crazed and kinetic motion sequences and video FX mash-ups for
the duration of the instrumental piece. "Fill My Hole" opens with fluid
animation effects, but then shifts into a gear that illustrates this project's failure: there is little in the way of variation or innovation
beyond the template quickly laid out in the opening handful of clips.
Military installations, alien imagery and "we-get-it-already" recurring
extreme close-ups of David Thrussell's mouth (or perhaps it's David Bourke's mouth, I'm not sure)
are sprinkled liberally throughout almost every video, with the odd flower
or stock-exchange pit thrown in for good measure. It's a cruel irony that
the clip for "Cliche" is the worst offender.
This is no Michael Snow video experiment -- it's not even a grad school
project with modest avant-garde gains. It simply uses a tried-and-true DVD
bonus feature platform to assign value to a collection of visual material
that even diehard fans would struggle to justify making part of their
collections. The "award-winning" short film "The Plastic Wars: Part One" is
a Snog-scored gag gone horribly (over)long, while the exclusive
interviews are a bore. In a nod to the likes of Criterion Collection (I
suppose), the DVD includes an academic thesis that only the most long-suffering
of insomniacs could ever find the time or inclination to read. Overall, I
feel safe in assuming this isn't a Metropolis Records misstep, as the label
has several notable entries in their growing DVD catalogue. Instead, Snog may have over-estimated the variety of the
various video concepts and miscalculated the number of bonuses they felt
offered a balance.
Gravity Records, meanwhile, uses the DVD platform to offer a low-priced
compilation of its former and present-day acts. There are no frills, no extras
and no drama -- just a set of six song versions unique to the videos that
present them. The low-grade film quality of the images actually speaks to
the authenticity of the performances, each of which was recorded live for
this compilation and therefore remains unavailable apart from the soundtrack CD
released in conjunction with this DVD experiment. The fact that the filmmaker
responsible for the aesthetic is Gravity label-owner Matt Anderson is a
testament to the brotherhood of artist and label, despite the fact that several of
the groups have long since moved on to greener pastures.
Despite the seemingly single-minded creative agenda, there's a great deal of variety in these clips. The Locust, captured with night-vision, play "The Half Eaten Sausage Would Like To See You In His
Office" in a concrete tunnel. Black Heart
Procession are suitably slack -- they kick it in their living room, but the
interesting thing here is the antiqued, out-of-synch silent film style that
slowly invades the clip. Men's Recovery Project aim for the future and
design a short film that either spoofs corny 1950s space features or fails
so perfectly that it achieves the same engaging earnestness. But is there a
"song" here? That's for you to decide. Tristeza is captured at first in a
frenetic visual collage featuring the saturated colour palette of a 1970s
Super 8 home movie. The mood then shifts as the melody of their
instrumental composition is properly carved out and developed to its proper
conclusion -- the group is photographed performing in a garage while images
of a sun-swept ocean front are subtly laid underneath the main image-track.
The fact that the song, "Alto Mota", cracks like whip doesn't hurt -- it's excellent stuff.
In the end, it's the heart on display in the Gravity Records disc, as
opposed to the "look-at-me" atmosphere that pervades the Snog collection,
that sets the two apart. One serves to attract viewers to the artists with
modesty and a lo-fi artistic statement, while the other dabbles in tired
retreads of been-there-done-that video art. Only tried-and-true Snog fans
need seek out Adventures In Capitalism, while Video 2 will
cement the allegiance of the existing Gravity Records army and spike the
number of new recruits.
-- Mike Baker
|
