VanLou Media

"You'll Always Be a Loser"?

2010-08-06T10:55:00.000-07:00

Titus Andronicus played "Fallon" last night. Can a Terry Gilliam-directed webcast be far behind?

Last night was a big win for the losers! As Sound of the City pointed out, "It's been a real good week for the indie zeitgeist, that weird feeling of we made it!"

Mountain Man in Hell's Kitchen

2010-06-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

We're set to film with Mountain Man next week surrounding their show at The Living Room.

This new video from Vincent Galgano has us excited+++

Titus Andronicus, "Sweater Song"

2010-04-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

We're gearing up to film Titus Andronicus this weekend. In the meantime, we're loving their rendition of Weezer's "Sweater Song." As our friend Georgia Kral points out, "anytime anyone covers Weezer, the world smiles."

An Accidental Tribute

2010-03-23T14:06:00.000-07:00

A few weeks before Alex Chilton passed away, El Perro Del Mar did an affectionate cover of "Blue Moon," a song by Chilton's band Big Star, during her show at Knitting Factory. It was the final song of the evening and Sara Assbring's eyes trembled with emotion as she belted out the song's pleading lyrics.

Our episode of Site & Sound featuring El Perro Del Mar's rendition of "Blue Moon" unexpectedly became a touching, if unintentional, tribute to the late great Chilton.

El Perro Del Mar Covers the xx

2010-02-23T11:09:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday we shot El Perro Del Mar's performance at the Knitting Factory for an upcoming episode of Site & Sound. That night, she covered the xx's "Shelter" and 4AD wondered if we'd be kind enough to share the video of this song with them. Sure thing.

Pitchfork posted the video today (below). The full Site & Sound episode should be ready next week. Enjoy!

El Perro Del Mar "Shelter" (by The XX) from The Control Group on Vimeo.

High Frequency 'Love'

2010-02-03T20:06:00.000-08:00

The episode of Site & Sound that we did with Bear In Heaven featured their thrilling song "Deafening Love." After posting the video, we stumbled upon this amazing unofficial music video for "Deafening Love" in which High Frequency Media mashes it together with a clever collection of footage from the 70s sci-fi thriller "Z.P.G" (which has since been added to our Netflix queue).

News Organizations Try on Skinny Jeans

2010-01-20T14:32:00.000-08:00

In an odd bit of cultural confluence, CNN announced this week that the venerable news network is taking on some unlikely partners. According to Fast Company, CNN has entered into content-sharing agreements with the downtown lifestyle brand Vice and the Seattle-based record label SubPop. "The two arbiters of all things rocking and youthful figuratively hoisted old man Turner atop a throng of music fans," wrote Fast Company.

Even more unlikely than this partnership (Vice has made a big commitment to documentary filmmaking that includes the critically acclaimed feature "Heavy Metal in Baghdad") is that this development is part of a growing trend of major news organizations hooking up with indie rock outfits. For whatever reason, the staid, navy suit ranks of NBC News and ABC News have also recently launched efforts at indie credibility.

In May, 2009, NBC News introduced Bri-Tunes, an online space for anchor Brian Williams' musical curiosity. Williams shares playlists (his most recent playlist includes Antony and the Johnsons, Fanfarlo, and Mos Def) as well as video interviews with some of his favoriate musicians. Bri-Tunes debuted with a video profile of Deer Tick. In introducing the series, Williams said, "Al Roker has about nine shows on the air, I think, about barbeque and food, Matt Lauer does mens clothing beautifully, and so why not talk about our hobby here?"

Ahead of the curve, ABC News debuted a new web video series fueled by Pitchfork in February, 2009. Titled "New Music Monday," the series has Pitchfork writers offering their thoughts on the best new music with an intro from the ABC anchor desk. Our friends Bear In Heaven were featured in a recent episode of "New Music Monday" and summed up this whole trend in a corresponding tweet: "Seriously... It doesn't get anymore surreal than this... ABC news. Charles Gibson laughs at our album title."

Ke$ha Equation

2010-01-08T10:11:00.000-08:00

The first break-out hit of 2010, with three consecutive weeks at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 list, is "Tik Tok," by newcomer Ke$ha. Ke$ha's debut album, "Animal," is poised to sell 100,000 copies this week and could end up at the top of Billboard's album chart. Earlier this week NPR commentator Zoe Chace criticized "Tik Tok" for having a sound that was totally derivative. "Ke$ha's reference points are a weird jumble of cultural references," she noted.

Now pop music is no stranger to the pastiche and we don't have a problem with some light artistic theft, but what makes the derivative nature of Ke$ha and "Tik Tok" so unique is how directly (and cynically) RCA and the producer Dr. Luke have cribbed from their sources.

"Tik Tok" is a pretty straightforward retread of Justice's "Tthhee Ppaarrttyy," which features the Paris-based rapper Uffie, while Ke$ha's album name points to an additional influence--Annie, the Norwegian-born pop star whose debut album was named "Anniemal."

(minus wit)

Tycho Brahe

2009-12-17T12:17:00.001-08:00

VanLou Media was essentially founded on a mutual appreciation for Tycho Brahe. Sure, there's the overriding motivation of making videos that we enjoy making and that people will enjoy watching (and sharing) but, really, we came together because both of us have a fondness for a certain 16th century Danish nobleman and astronomer.

Here's Brahe's story, via Wikipedia:
Tycho Brahe was a Danish nobleman known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations. The data that he collected through his life was eventually used by his assistant Johannes Kepler to derive the laws of planetary motion. No one before Tycho had attempted to make so many planetary observations.

His nose:
While a student, Tycho lost part of his nose in a duel with Manderup Parsbjerg, a fellow Danish nobleman. For the rest of his life, he was said to have worn a realistic replacement made of silver and gold. Some historians have speculated that he wore a number of different for different occasions.

His friends:
Tycho kept a dwarf named Jepp (whom he believed to be clairvoyant) as a court jester who sat under the table during dinner.
He also kept a tame elk who eventually met a tragic demise after drinking a lot of beer at a party and falling down a flight of stairs.

His death:
Tycho suddenly contracted a bladder ailment after attending a banquet in Prague, and died eleven days later, on 24 October 1601. According to Kepler's first hand account, Tycho had refused to leave the banquet to relieve himself because it would have been a breach of etiquette.