Music Movements & Technology

1. Funk Rock - Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Song: Californication
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlUKcNNmywk

- The Red Hot Chilli Peppers when they came on into the scene revitalized the rock world with their implementation of funk inspired musicianship - the same influence can be seen in popular bands like Sublime. However, I chose this group specifically to represent the genre of Rock (or Funk Rock) because of their music video for Californication that was released in 2000 - with the song being the title track for the album. The music video implements both real footage of the band performing the song in a heaven-like atmosphere while being juxtaposed by a video game(s) that involve the band members in video game forms. The video game within the music video seemed to be modeled by the video games popular at the time on game consoles such as Playstation 1. However, the use of technology is obvious; using the vehicle of a video game to relay the message of the song has an interesting impact. At first, the concept comes off silly, but as the video continues and the song's somberness flows, the video game gains a certain gravitas. The song is about how California or Hollywood specifically sells people a number of dreams - to only fail and nothing come of it. That is why the music video took the form of a video game - your life isn't in your hands, it's in someone else's.

2. Psych Pop - Glass Animals - Song: Pools
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQYC2EfzZZw

- Glass Animals usually take risks with their music videos, however this music video isn't so much a risk as much as it is impressive. The video is entirely made from claymation. This claymation is not only intricate beyond belief, but captivating as the music video and claymation move at a pace that is equal parts smooth and quick. The technology is impressive in this because it is such a labor intensive process to create a claymation video, but even more so that the claymation differs in style. Some parts of the video are trippy - in the sense that everything blends/melts together - while there are other parts of the video where the claymation is absurdly detailed. Usually in the more pop-centered genre, music videos are an after thought to the music. This is not the case.

3. Psych Rock - Tame Impala - Song: Feels Like We're Only Going Backwards
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wycjnCCgUes

- The band lives up to its genre whenever it creates music videos. The focus is to create something wholly inventive and interesting; Tame Imapala accomplishes that goal in this music video. Using the vehicle of animation, the band chose to create a music video where none of the band members are represented in the animation. However, the main focus of the music video that is represented is that of a human head. The head undergoes many transformations by absorbing different background that eventually take the form of a head. Relying heavily on trippy animation, the music video does not have a theme rather relies on the technique of perception. Perception is the way of physical space, as the heads are either popping off the screen or dissolving into the horizon of the music video. Technology in the form of animation is quite impressive in this video as the animation seems minimalistic, but as you look closer, there are so many details to be appreciated.

4. Rap - Young Thug, Freddie Gibbs, and A$AP Ferg - Song: Old English
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=6OpdjbzTIhM

- While this song is a collaborative effort, the stop motion animation used in this music video creates a completely different but thematically accurate feeling to that of the song. Seemingly inspired by the art style of Jean Basquiat, the music video goes through each rapper by providing each with their own unique character. The spastic and colorful nature of the video gives the song so much more life; the visuals are even more impressive due to the fact that rap music videos do not usually go through the route of animation - it is beyond welcomed. While there are other music videos worthy of putting in this section, I believe this one showcases very simple, but unique vision for a genre that doesn't get enough credit in this space.

5. Virtual - Crazy Frog - Song: Axel F
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k85mRPqvMbE

- The computer generation of a figure like Crazy Frog isn't supposed to be taken seriously; they even make fun of the character in the music video! However, at over one billion views on youtube, Crazy Frog has something captivating about it. Perhaps it is the infectious while mind-numbing annoyance that is the music Crazy Frog creates, but moreso is the computer generated persona that is represented through all of the character's music videos. This differs from a virtual band such as the Gorillaz due to the fact that the Gorillaz have the virutal persona in their music videos but perform and provide interviews at themselves. However, Crazy Frog solely lives on the internet in his computer generated persona.