The Red Hot Chili Peppers have released an interactive version of the music video for their new song Look Around. You can control various aspects of the video, zoom in and out, move from room to room and discover – we kid you not – hidden Easter eggs. It’s part music video, part video game, part omigod where will the march of technology end?
Check it out and let us know what you think!
It’s Martina and Jackie versus Selena Gomez with her video for Hit The Lights on this episode of Music Video Reform School.
The nineteen-year-old Texas native is back with the third single from her third album with The Scene, When The Sun Goes Down. Both the song and the video are lighthearted and happy, with an uptempo Club feel, bright colors, pink balloons, sparklers and that ever-present Selena Gomez smile. The lyrics are about not being afraid to take chances, go with your instincts and live in the moment.
Hit the lights, let the music move you
Lose yourself tonight, come alive
Let the moment take you, lose control tonight
Hit the lights, let the music move you
Lose yourself tonight, come alive
Let the moment take you, lose control tonight
Both Jackie and Martina loved this song, as well as the video, giving it a solid A+, and noting that Selena Gomez is – yes she is – the most beautiful person in the world.
Although the lyrics and style of the song show a bit more maturity than some of Gomez’ previous work, there’s no sign here that she’s moving away from her clean cut image ala Brittney or Miley. In other words, so far she’s doing it right.
A little something to get us into the holiday spirit this week, as Music Video Reform School takes on Train’s video of Shake Up Christmas.
Train got their first big radio exposure in 1998 with the song “Meet Virginia” from their debut album “Train.” The song made the top twenty of the Billboard Charts. In 2001 the San Francisco Pop-Rockers had another massive hit with “Drops of Jupiter.”
Their latest album is called “Save Me San Francisco,” which was released in 2009, and Train had another big hit on their hands as “Hey Soul Sister” brought them back into the limelight.
This Christmas single, “Shake Up Christmas,” is included on the “Golden Gate” edition of “Save Me San Francisco.” It was also featured in Coca Cola’s Christmas commercial series last year, and rose to the #12 spot on the “Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks.”
Jackie and Martina both loved the song and the video. As they note, you’ve got to love a song that has you singing along the first time you hear it. The story is a nice expression for the season as well, with what the Germans call “Das Happyend.”
The final report card for this one? Double A.
Shake it up!
Martina and Jackie screen a spooky video from Blood On The Dance Floor this time on Music Video Reform School. It’s “Bewitched.”
Blood On The Dance Floor is an Electronica duo out of Orlando with a tendency toward mayhem. Their pal Lady Nogrady joins them for “Bewitched.” The busy and colorful video tells the story of a young couple that hook up, drive out to the country, get loaded, get naked and have an unhappy ending. Whether the spell he puts on her necklace sets things right or not is hard to tell.
The song is one of Jackie’s favorites. ”This song is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard in my life. Honestly.” Martina agrees that it’s a great song, and says that it actually changed her opinion of the band.
Both of them also agree that Jayy Von Monroe is, in a word, “beautiful.” They met he and his partner in crime, Dahvie Vanity, awhile back for an interview, and note that Jayy is beautiful even without full stage makeup.
Though the video was “weird” both of our Reform Schoolmarms awarded it an “A.”
Blood On The Dance Floor are currently on tour. Here are the upcoming dates.
Their album, “All The Rage,” was released earlier this year.
More info at http://ilovebotdf.com.
Martina and Jackie screen the latest from LIGHTS Poxleitner, “Toes,”on this episode of Music Video Reform School.
Born Valerie Anne Poxleitner to missionary parents, Canadian Synthpop artist LIGHTS set one of the Psalms to music after learning three chords on the guitar when she was only eleven. Now in her twenties, she is a Juno award-winning singer-songwriter. She had her name legally changed when she turned 18 in order to signify the start of a new chapter in her life.
This video for her new song “Toes” features locations around Toronto, including a long sequence of video taken at Dufferin Station. It alternates between that and sequences with the band in what appears to be a small rehearsal or recording space. Both of our critics liked this video, awarding it a grade of “B.” They also noted that LIGHTS is a genuinely nice person, having met her at the Warped Tour a few years back.
The song is from LIGHTS’ new album “Siberia.” Here’s the track listing.
LIGHTS is currently touring the U.S. You can find tour dates and more on her website at IAMLIGHTS.com.
Martina and Jackie take a look at the latest video from supergroup Chickenfoot in this episode of Music Video Reform School.
Chickenfoot is made up of Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony (both of Van Halen fame), Chad Smith (of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) and legendary guitarist Joe Satriani (the virtuoso who made, among other things, the classic instrumental album Surfing with the Alien). The band’s name came from the fact that they started out as a trio (sans Satriani) playing at Hagar’s club in Cabo. Three guys…three talons on a chicken’s foot.
The fact that Jackie and Martina didn’t know that in advance of screening the video makes it all the more fresh, honest and precious.
Either that or they were pretending not to know, in which case they are geniuses.
The video includes sequences of the band playing onstage, interspersed with footage (pun intended) of a guy in a giant chicken suit, wreaking havoc, stealing bicycles from kids, encountering Bigfoot in the woods, chain smoking, and ultimately finding the girl of his dreams (sort of).
Our intrepid reformers didn’t have a lot of good things to say about this one.
That guy looks like the guy from Nickelback.
Ew. That guy’s hair is really gross.
Chickens are not the most attractive animals.
Is this a KFC commercial?
This song is actually pretty bad.
In the end, Martina came around and decided that the video was enough for a B grade, while Jackie gave it a D. It would have been worse, except for the surprise ending. We won’t spoil it for you. Watch the video to find out what happens.
It’s another Music Video Reform School Rewind, with Martina, Jackie and Smash Mouth’s All Star.
It would be hard to find anybody who was around in 1999 and 2000 that couldn’t sing along to this song. Rising to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, All Star has also been featured in several film soundtracks, including Shrek, Inspector Gadget and Mystery Men. In fact, the storyline from Mystery Men inspired the video, with Steve Harwell playing superhero on a Hollywood backlot (which is now the set for Desperate Housewives, familiar to viewers as Wisteria Lane). The video also features Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria and Kel Mitchell, along with several other stars of Mystery Men.
Here are Martina and Jackie’s observations.
So this is weird. This beginning doesn’t make any sense to me.
The lead singer of Smashmouth is so gross.
He looks like Uncle Kracker, mixed with Bubba Sparxxx.
I’m kind of embarrassed to say this, but if he was skinny he’d be kind of hot, though.
Everyone knows all the words to this song!
I love this song. Radio Disney played this song all the time.
Singing along: ~~All that glitters is gold.~~
He’s Uncle Kracker with Mark Hoppus’ voice.
That’s so strange.
When I think of 90s music videos this is what I think of – lots of colors and no real point to the video.
Maybe you have to see the movie in order to get the video. Despite their confusion with the plot, both Reform Schoolers liked the video, and it should go without saying that they loved the song.
Final ratings? Watch the show to find out!
Martina and Jackie reach back to 1999 as Reform School takes on the Foo Fighters‘ video Learn to Fly.
This one is just a whole lot of fun. From their third album, There Is Nothing Left To Lose, Learn to Fly is arguably the signature song for the band that Dave Grohl formed as a follow-up to Nirvana. Grohl plays six characters in the video: himself, the pilot of the plane, the flight attendant, a teenage girl, an obese woman and an F.B.I. agent. Fellow Foos Nate Mendel and Taylor Hawkins likewise portray multiple characters in the video. The sketch also features appearances from Tenacious D members Jack Black and Kyle Gass as a drug smuggling airplane maintenance crew.
“This song is such a 90s anthem,” says Martina.
Jackie agrees. “This is one of my favorite Foo Fighters songs.”
Millions of others apparently agreed too, taking the song to #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The video features a far-fetched plotline though, with a flight crew who has been drugged and a plane tumbling out of control, and a Foo Fighters concert video as in flight entertainment all the while.
“So they landed fine. Foo Fighters saved the day.”
The girls gave this one an A because “the video is entertaining and the song is a classic.”
Entertaining though it may be, this song was once banned by Clear Channel in the wake of the September 11th attacks because of the endangered airplane theme. Now there’s a real celebration of freedom for you.
Jackie and Martina are back with another retro video. This time it’s New Kids on the Block, You Got It (The Right Stuff) on Music Video Reform School.
In 1989 it would have been hard to avoid the ubiquitous refrain of “Oh, Oh, Whoa-Oh Oh.” The New Kids on the Block had one of the biggest hits of the year with You Got It (The Right Stuff), particularly among their teenage and tweenage female fans. The video was a staple on MTV that entire year, and helped to propel the NKOTB’s sophomore release, Hangin’ Tough, to the very top of the Billboard Album Chart. The song was a #1 hit in Australia and the UK, and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States.
Martina and Jackie liked a lot of things about this video. First of all, the Kids were awfully cute in their younger days. Just look at the little leather jackets and the ripped up jeans. The choreography is also a plus, and something that is missing in a lot of today’s videos, which sometimes seem to emphasize narratives over music and dancing.
Ultimately though, the girls found this video to be, in a word, boring. “Kinda blah,” says Martina. “Sorry.”
Being rendered in black and white was also a drawback, at least for Jackie, who won’t even watch classic black and white films.
Overall grade? Solid but unspectacular C.
I guess after all these years, they just don’t have the right stuff.
Martina and Jackie take a look at Sugar Sugar, the latest video from eight-year-old rapper MattyB on this episode of Music Video Reform School.
All the girlies love me and they wanna blow a kiss
But I tell ‘em no thanks ’cause I’m just a little kid
Just a little kid, just a, just a little kid
Just a little kid with a hit like this
It turns out that these lyrics from Sugar Sugar may be true, at least if Jackie and Martina are any indication. Martina wants to adopt MattyB. “He’s only eight. When he’s 14 girls are gonna go crazy. I definitely have a MattyB crush.”
As for Jackie, she’s ready to see him in concert. “If he’d come here on tour, we would go. It would be really weird if we went, but i’d still go.”
There’s been a lot of discussion lately about kids being pushed into show business by their parents, and it seems like we’ve seen a slew of teen and pre-teen music videos in recent weeks. The girls think it’s obvious that MattyB probably didn’t have to be pushed too hard though. “I really think the kid genuinely loves to do this. Watch him. He’s got so much confidence.”
The video, filmed in a retirement home with a group of elderly extras, is high on “cute” factor.
So, what’s the Reform School rating? “We give him an A for being cute, and for having a really catchy song and for making a great video on top of that.”
