Chosen by Monk
It’s hard to believe that it’s been seven whole days since we last awarded our coveted ‘Video Of The Week’ title, and, despite the ongoing, and some cases renewed, lockdowns in many parts of the Überverse, we are still receiving a healthy bundle of submissions for our coveted ‘Video Of The Week’ title. Many of them are produced against the background of continuing quarantine conditions in some countries, while others reflect artists being able to return and flex their creative muscles once again.
After careful consideration of the 100-plus submissions we once again received this week – and, yes, we did watch them all – our winning selection comes from someone who is no stranger to pairing music with visuals, as he has featured on more movie more movie soundtracks than perhaps any other artist. Personally, I first came across Stan Bush via ‘The Touch’, the standout moment on that for the original (and far superior), animated, ‘Transformers’ movie. He went on to contribute songs to martial arts flicks such as ‘Bloodsport’ and ‘Kickboxer’, and now you could say that he has returned to those cinematic routes with the clip to accompany his latest single, ‘Born To Fight’, which draws on two of the most successful anime franchises of recent years, ‘BAKI’ and ‘Kengan Ashura’, and features footage from both Netflix series alongside a beautifully Van Damme-esque tongue-in-cheek cameo from the singer himself. However, Bush is determined to prove that he doesn’t rely on the occasional movie-related tie-in or hand-me-down, as he releases what is incredibly his 14th studio album, ‘Dare To Dream’, this coming Friday (20 November); in the meantime, sit back and enjoy this inanely enjoyable visual treat:
We continue with the cinematic theme for our first two honourable mentions, although things take a suitably dark and gothic twist with both offerings. The first comes from Canadian duo Within Nostalgia, who are preparing to take us into a world of ‘Void And Decay’ with their forthcoming second album. They pave the way for the release with the epic closing track, ‘Desideratum’, the video for which is suitably sparse and literate, with its stark imagery and use of short, sharp visual shocks to extrapolate the song’s equally bleak, laconic and striking feel:
Next up, Halloween may have passed, albeit somewhat more quietly than we would have liked, but it cannot have escaped anyone’s attention that this past Friday was the 13th… and so, no more appropriate time for that notoriety-seeking alt-rock triumvirate of brothers by the name of Palaye Royale to deliver another stake (sic) to their claim with their most ambitious video yet – the gothic vampire-meets-James Bond treatment for ‘Tonight Is The Night I Die’. Visually stunning (which, to be honest, is more than be said for the song itself), the video features Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot and actress Amanda Steele, who also stars in the forthcoming new TV series ‘Paradise City’, which features this song in its trailer and for which Palaye Royale frontman Remington Leith recorded all the vocals for the lead character, Johnny Faust, played by Andy Biersack (yep, yer man from Black Veil Brides has had his voice overdubbed!). So, there you go now…
Friday the 13th also saw the release of the latest blood-soaked album from serial killer obsessed Macabre (who previously featured in our special Halloween edition of the Singles Club). Despite it’s gruesome theme, the latest single to be lifted from the suitably garish ‘Carnival Of Killers’ is a hysterically updated childhood singalong session, complete with an equally fun video which will leave you smiling while you remember that the driver on this particular road trip from/to hell is a certain Ted Bundy… be warned though: you might have to prove you’re of a certain age in order to enjoy the clip to its fullest:
Rounding off this week’s shenanigans, we have yet more animated antics, this time from Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons, who are proving that they are ‘Born To Roam’ in this video which harkens back to teatime children’s TV animations and serves as a very timely reminder that the band have just released their new album, the very suitably titled ‘We’re The Bastards’:
Well, there you go. That’s your lot for this week. Until next Sunday, keep ‘er lit, keep ‘er between the hedges and #StayTheFuckSafe…
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