Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Pres; Black Sabbath & Monster Magnet

This week on my Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project; Black Sabbath and Monster Magnet.

You wouldn't normally think of Sabbath as subject for some artsy film mashups but there's a couple.

BLACK SABBATH ~ "EMBRYO";


This one uses one of the earliest short clips from Edison Studios circa 1894.

BLACK SABBATH ~ "FX";


For this little effects noodle I used some Edison Studios footage taken from the 1901 Pan-Am Expo in Buffalo which was incidentally where President Willaim McKinley was shot.

MATMOS ~ "FX";


This cover of the Sabbath song was from a Black Sabbath cover album and I used some more Edison Studios footage, this time of the aftermath of the San Fransisco earthquake and fire of 1904.

MONSTER MAGNET ~ "INTO THE VOID";


This epic cover came from yet another Sabbath tribute. Uses a Polish film based on the Gogol story "The Portrait".

MONSTER MAGNET ~ "EGO THE LIVING PLANET";


With their 1995 album "Dopes To Infinity" album Monster Magnet produced the greatest album Black Sabbath never made. More footage from the Edison Studios footage of the San Francisco Earthquake for this instrumental.

MONSTER MAGNET ~ "MASTERBURNER";


For this track I used a short art film made by Yoko Ono as part of Flux Films, a Dada art Collective in 1967.

MONSTER MAGNET ~ "KING OF MARS";


This video used another art film, by Robert Breer from 1970

BLUE CHEER ~ "MAGNOLIA CABOOSE BABYFINGER";


Before there was Black Sabbath there was Blue Cheer. This vid uses some test footage from a horror film from the British studio Hammer Films in the 1960's

Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Pres; Ramleh

Ramleh were one of the bands to emerge from the early Dada-Industrial scene of Northern England led by the likes of Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire (who also made a series of vids for to be scene here and here) and Clock DVA (ditto here). Starting in 1982 they have continued (with an ever shifting lineup) to today releasing records on various small indie labels. Ramleh differ from the other bands mentioned in that while these bands would embrace electronic and even dance music, Ramleh have continued to work within the original Noise-Rock framework of traditional guitar, bass and drums drenched in screeching feedback, distortion, droning echo, shouted vocals (if any) and long, apparently free-form jams.

RAMLEH ~ "FAG-ENDERS";


For this track off the 1994 "Homeless" I used an early silent animated film by Winsor McCay, the father of animation, who incidentally I've also written about here. Note that the "Fag" in the title probably refers to the British slang term for cigarettes but I can't be 100% sure since the vocals are completely indecipherable.

RAMLEH ~ "CHICKENHAWK";


This track from "Homeless" uses a weird early sci-fi film from the great French director Abel Gance ("Napoleon") which includes some hallucinogenic camera tricks.

RAMLEH ~ "MAGIC TIGER";


This track uses another early French film, this time from George Melies which includes some early hand-tinted colour.

RAMLEH ~ "THUMB BUSTER";


This track uses a short art film made by Yoko Ono for the Fluxus Film art collective in New York in about 1967

Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Pres; Monoton

More from my Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project. This week; Monoton.
German electro group Monoton was actually Konrad Becker who released a debut album in 1982 of dark atmospheric drones called "Monotonprodukt 07". The album was quite obscure at the time but it has since been cited as an influence on later electro-minimilists and was re-released in 2003.

MONOTON ~ "FIRE";


This video uses an early 1908 DW Griffith film "The Lonely Vila", about a home invasion. I also used this film for a Cabaret Voltaire video but couldn't decide which I liked better so I kept both.

MONOTON ~ "NEW";


This video uses one of the early Edison Studios shorts from 1898.

MONOTON ~ "WHEREAMI";


This one uses another Edison Film, "Uncle Josh In A Haunted Hotel" from 1900. Uncle Josh was a recuring character of a rural rube who has adventures in the big city as the subject of a series of Edison shorts. This one is notable in having a supernatural theme.

MONOTON ~ "SINGSANG";


This video uses an ealy french film "Arab Sorcerie".

MONOTON ~ "SOUND SEQUENCE";


This video uses a short art film by Joe Jones made for the Flux Films collective in 1966.

MONOTON ~ "VIBRATIONS";


Another art film from the Flux Collective, "Exit" by George Brecht.

MONOTON ~ "SHORT WAVE TRANSMISSION";


For this one instead of using a vintage silent film I used a modern silent short "Locked In" by Mathew Zellner that I thought needed a soundtrack.

Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Presents; Jass

The Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project presents, Jass;

I don't actually know very much about this band but their music is perfect for soundtracks. Jass were apparently a Shefield based band from the early to mid 1980's and part of the same scene as Cabaret Voltaire and Clock DVA and they tread similar ground to the Cab's circa "Three Mantras" and "Red Meca" era. Albeit in a more minimalistic and trance-like way. One of their tracks ("Trap Drip Drop") also shows some influences from Steve Reich's tape-loop works "Come Out" and "It's Gonna Rain". Their entire recorded output seems to consist of an album of demos recorded in 1985-86 and a live album from 1987 and that's it. Needless to say the videos I made are the only ones for this band. Incidentally the group's name comes from the original 1900's spelling of the of the word "jazz".

JASS ~ "OLD FILM LIFE";


For this video I used an early French Pathe film "Sculptures Moderne" which features some crude stop-action animation.

JASS ~ "FRONTIER JUSTICE";


This one uses another Pathe stop-action film.

JASS ~ "SUNKEN SOLDIER BONES";


For this track I used a 1960's silent op-art short made for the Fluxus Art Collective by George Maciunas.

JASS ~ "TRAP DRIP DROP";


This track uses another art film made in the 1960's for Fluxus, this one a series of performance art films made by Frenchman Ben Vautier

JASS ~ "UNTITLED LIVE TRACK NO.2"


This track off the live album uses another film by Ben Vautier although this one is essentially a home movie

Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Presents; Japan

The Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Presents; Japan:

Japan is another one of those bands like Simple Minds and Ultravox, who went from being a guitar-oriented Post-Punk band to a more atmospheric sound using keyboard washes, guitar arpeggios and funky basslines to make atmospheric and occasionally danceable music that seemed perfect for film soundtracks.

JAPAN ~ "LIFE IN TOKYO";


After two ablums of forgettable glam funk Japan introduced some electro-dance (via producer Georgio Moroder) as well as thier first flirtation with Asian music although at this point it's basically limited to J-Pop. Accordingly for this video I used a Segundo De Chomon film "Hombres Chinoises".

JAPAN ~ "VISIONS OF CHINA";


For this song off of the 1981 album "Tin Drum", which more deftly incorporated Asian influences, I used a 1908 French silent film

JAPAN ~ "METHODS OF DANCE";


For this song off of the 1980 album "Methods Of Dance" I used a 1962 French performance art film by Ben Vautier which basically consists of him sitting on a jetty holding a sign that says "Look At Me" while the camera records their reactions. It actually kinda works out with the "dance" theme.

JAPAN ~ "GENTLEMAN TAKE POLAROIDS";


For this track off the same album album I used a 1965 Dada German film short by Wolf Vostell, "Sun In Your Head". I also used this film for a Cabaret Voltaire track which I liked better but I thought this one still works.

JAPAN ~ "A FOREIGN PLACE";


This instrumental uses travel footage from 1950's Hong Kong

JAPAN ~ "OIL ON CANVAS";


This instrumental track is off the "Oil On Canvas" live album and uses a short film made by John Cale in 1967 as part of the Fluxus Film Dada art collective.

JAPAN ~ "TEMPLE OF DAWN";


This is another insturmental track off of "Oil On Canvas" using another Fluxus Films short, this one "OPUS 2" by Eric Anderson.

Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Pres; Killing Joke

This week on my Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project; Killing joke.

Killing Joke's 1980 first album practically invented Industrial Rock. There had been Industrial bands since the mid seventies with groups like Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire and Destroy All Monsters. But these groups largely rejected traditional rock & roll lineups, riffs and song structures, aside from a few exceptions like Cabaret Voltaire's "Nag Nag Nag" or their cover of the Seeds' "No Escape'. Killing Joke however were clearly a rock and roll band with punishing riffs and pounding drums.

KILLING JOKE ~ "CHANGE";


For this song off the second 1981 album I used footage from the end of the 1916 German Expressionist Horror film "Homunculus". Although little known now this film was one of the influences on later horror films like "Frankenstein".

KILLING JOKE ~ "BLOODSPORT";


This instrumental off the first album uses an early American film "Fire".

KILLING JOKE ~ "$0.36";


This one, also off the first album, uses an earlier fireman film, Edwin S Porter's "Life Of An American Fireman from 1903. I also used this film for a Siouxsie & The Banshess film but decided to keep both versions.

KILLING JOKE ~ "TOMORROW'S DREAM";


Another song off the first album, this time using a short art film "Bad Burns" by Paul Sharits from 1982 made of spliced together strips of over-developed film. Note I had some sound problems on this one. Note also this is not a cover of the Black Sabbath song.

KILLING JOKE ~ "THE FALL OF BECAUSE";


This song off the second album uses a French Pathe film

KILLING JOKE ~ "HARLEQUIN";


This one is off of the fourth album, "Fire Dances", and uses a British film that features some early claymation

The Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Pres; Savage Republic, pt.2

This week on my Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project; Savage Republic pt.2.
Once again we return to my favorite obscure post-punk-indie band (American division) with their unique spaghetti-western-surf-guitar and industrial-tribal drums.

SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "EXODUS";


This echo and feedback drenched track form the first 1982 "Tragic Figures" album uses Edison Studios newsreel footage from a huge fire in Berkley, California.

SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "ATTEMPTED COUP; MADAGASGAR";


Another track off the first album this time using footage from another one of Spanish film-maker Segundo De Chomon's late period actualities, this time shot in Venice in 1912.

SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "EMPTY QUARTER";


For this one I used another Edison Studios newsreel footage of a fire, this time a gas refinery in New Jersey in 1900.

SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS";


Another track off the first album and one of the bands rare vocals. This time using George Melies film "The Haunted Convent".

SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "ON THE PROWL";


For this track I used "The Hasher's Delirium", an early piece of animation.

SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "ZULU ZULU";


This short track off the first album uses a short Dada art film made by Paul Sharits for the Fluxus Film collective in 1966.