M.I.A Born Free - disturbing ginger material

I almost vomited while having breakfast this morning. I was checking the new M.I.A Born Free video and I havn't really seen anything as intriguing or disturbing for a long while.

First of all the song in it self is pretty cool. It's a punk rock rebel anthem with M.I.A raging against the system over a sample - Ghost Rider by no wave legends suicide. We like Suicide! The song will be featured on her album due to be released 29. june.

Second of all the video for this anthem is packed with hardcore action. And a simple message. Way too obvious. The message is like a song we heard a million times - just with an intelligent scripted twist. But it's very well executed, super intense and a bit to vivid at certain points.

So, we are supposed to be disturbed by the story and the political comment. But are we? There are people wearing USA flags in these scenes shooting and harming people who look a certain way. The redheads in the scenes could really be anyone of the people USA is harming around the world. To me it's the intense editing, the music and the twisted setup which makes the Born Free-anthem a well done experience more than the overkilled message.


For the full screen experience go to http://miauk.com - or just watch the Vimeo below



M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

Roskilde warm-op Part 2

What a sensation! One of my all-time favorites back from the teenage days - Prince - has been announced for Roskilde. He will play on the last day, and I expect an unforgetable closure to this summer's Roskilde Festival. The video is my favorite Prince tune in an Eels-edition!

It was 40 years ago today

...or last Saturday, to be precise - that Paul McCartney officially confirmed the inevitable break-up of The Beatles. That concluded an unbelievable journey that saw the fab four evolve from talented crafters of catchy, yet naive pop hits to progressive, sometimes avantgarde rock artists an in less than a decade. In the process they opened up an explosion of creative paths for future bands to explore - which they still do. Their influence on rock and pop history since then simply cannot be overestimated.

These two videos exemplify how they practically invented the music video. In a word: classic!