Tag Archives: desert

Music, Pop Culture

Video Clip of The Week: Flights Over Phoenix, “Middle Of The World”

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Hey what’s up. I hope that you are enjoying your weekend. Now that we have done some cursory bonding, I would like to say that with today’s Video Clip of The Week, which is for the awesome song “Middle Of The World” from LA-based trio Flights Over Phoenix, it is my hope that I am exposing you to a potential ear-worm that is powerfully addictive enough to supplant Ed Sheeran’s quasi-pervy, aural seduction device, “Shape of You” — which, I am sure we will all agree, simply cannot be resisted. You’re welcome.

Filmed on location at Soggy Dry Lake, in the California desert, and visually styled in the manner of, say, a John Varvatos photo shoot, “Middle Of The World” features the band performing on an arid plane punctuated only by inflated black balloons tethered to the dry earth like bobbing, mutant cacti. And speaking of cacti, the protagonist of our story is an anthropomorphic cactus who finds a picture postcard of California and decides to take a cross-country journey to the beach  — trading one sandy environment for another, but with a few essential differences that change his world completely. In this way, “Middle of The World” serves as a powerful metaphor for breaking free from your restrictive comfort zone to find what you need in order to attain a state of true happiness, or something like that. Heavy.

Aurally, “Middle Of The World” is guilt-free ear candy. The lyrics convey a universal message of self-empowerment and lead singer Keith Longo has a voice like butter.  The band explains that, “‘Middle Of The World’ is a song that explores the feelings of isolation through imagery that one might experience in a dream of that nature. In writing the song, we wanted it to feel like a journey, and so we wanted the music to be up-tempo and have a lot of movement.” Mission accomplished.

“Middle Of The World” can be found on the band’s newly-released EP, Where I Comedown. Like them on the FaceBook at This Link! Enjoy!

Flights Over Phoenix Band
Flights Over Phoenix are Chris Santillo, Jordan Nuanez and Keith Longo.

Music, Pop Culture

Video Clip of The Week: Jonny Polonsky, “Lay Down Your Arms”

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If Trent Reznor were to endeavor to make a ‘pop’ record in the style of Paul Westerberg, the result might be an album that sounds something like The Other Side Of Midnight, from multi-instrumentalist wunderkind, Jonny Polonsky. Though he is hardly a kid anymore, Jonny’s professional journey is one of the more fascinating True Stories in the music business. He was signed to Rick Ruben’s American Recordings at 21, and his debut album, Hi My Name in Jonny released in 1996, became the most-well-reviewed album of that year (yes, that is a thing). Two decades later, Jonny continues to record and release his own original material, while writing songs for, touring with, and recording with artists as diverse as Frank Black, Neil Diamond, Reeves Gabrels of David Bowie’s Tin Machine, Pusicfer, The Dixie Chicks, and he also played on posthumous releases from Johnny Cash. Wow, Jonny Polonsky is amazing!

The Other Side of Midnight is a couple of years old now, but I just discovered this crazy-stylish video for the track “Lay Down Your Arms” last week, when Jonny sent me the link, and I think it shows a Beatles-esque growth curve not only in his sound and but also his rock persona, and so it deserves some love from the Gig. The video’s desert setting is the perfect place for this song that tells the tale of a long dead love affair from which both sides are still seeking an armistice with regard to what went down, and what needs to happen in order to move forward. Have most of us been there? I think so. Try not to fall in love with Jonny’s aching, emotionally-rich vocal delivery over a seductive, tribal beat, languid flow and a killer ’80s-reminiscent keyboard hook that is sharp enough to draw blood. I dare you.

The Other Side of Midnight (available on iTunes) was written, produced and recorded entirely by Jonny, and then mixed at David Lynch’s Asymmetrical Studios by Lynch’s longtime Collaborator/Engineer, Dean Hurley (Twin Peaks). Enjoy!

Jonny Polonsky Lay Down Your Arms

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Music, Pop Culture

Video Clip of The Week: Cosmic Gate, “am2pm”

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I propose that the ideal time to watch and groove to the video for “am2pm” by trance duo Cosmic Gate is just pre-dawn, when you are minutes away from hitting the bed hard after a night of full-on clubbing followed by a delicious, greasy breakfast at the 24-hour diner. Imagine the colorful dreams it would inspire!  It is hard to go wrong when you are presenting time-lapse video, and the shifting landscapes — from Death Valley to Los Angeles and back to the Grand Canyon — open up a magnificent headspace to just let the music sink in and do its thing. High-fives all around on this one.

Cosmic Gate is comprised of German producers Claus Terhoeven and Stefan Bossems. With a career spanning well over a decade, the duo have created some of trance’s defining singles, including classics such as “Be Your Sound,” “Fire Wire” and “Exploration of Space.” The globetrotting video was directed by Gavin Heffernan and Harun Mehmedinovic, and “am2pm,” is the first single from Cosmic Gate’s mix compilation series Wake Your Mind Sessions 002, available now via WYM Records (Black Hole Recordings). Enjoy!

AM2PM Screen Shot

Arts and Culture

Long Exposure Photography: Simply Breathtaking

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Exposure Time: 656 seconds

After a long day spent at the computer, this just renews my soul. Digital Photography School has 15 stunning examples of long exposure photography that are too amazing to miss. If you think the one above is unreal, click this link and check out the rest!

Thanks to Neatorama for the Tip!