My general rule for music videos is as follows: if it doesn’t involve Michael Jackson dancing or a new costume for each key change or guys on treadmills, I don’t want to see it. Okay, so maybe I don’t have a rule.
My feeling is that most music videos are boring and that people looking directly into the camera while they lip sync make me uncomfortable.
Just as the high-budget stuff can be over-the-top, the low-budget videos from quirky indie bands can be dangerously precious. Every once and a while, though, it’s nice to see something sweet and a little mysterious, like this new video from Joy Kills Sorrow.
JKS is an alt-pop string band from Boston. (Or maybe they’re an indie folk-rock outfit. Or an acoustic Americana band. What? I don’t even know.) Their 2011 album This Unknown Science is a lovely piece of acoustic whimsy, a concise offering of ten pop-minded songs delivered with understated virtuosity and grace. The video for “Jason” is a delicate stop motion animation by Shutter & String, a side project of Sam Kassirer and Liam Hurley, both members of Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band. (Kassirer also produced This Unknown Science.) The video for “Jason” premiered on the Rolling Stone website today, Friday, May 11, 2012.
All in all, a good day for folky-ish music.
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