Today, I let my iTunes choose a song, and as I played my music on shuffle, this one came on and I knew I had to review it's accompanying music video. It's a highly emotive song and effortlessly sung by the vocalist. It translated perfectly into a music video and definitely helps to inspire people globally. Released as a tribute to Paul Bäumer, one-half of Bingo Players, who died of cancer the year earlier; "Knock You Out" sees a girl train herself up to be stronger in the gym after she's had enough of her boyfriend beating her up.
Bingo Players is a one-man project consisting of DJ, Maarten Hoogstraten. Originally, a duo, Paul Bäumer died of cancer. The project continues because that was the latter's wishes. Unfortunately, this single didn't do quite as well as "Get Up (Rattle)" did, which was their last single as a duo. Even though this was released as a tribute to Paul Bäumer and even though this song is so catchy and emotive, it didn't get the recognition it definitely deserved. The vocalist on the song is Kim Viera; hailing from New York, she's building her own career. After singing a few cover songs, she has gone on to release them. The song was written by Maarten Hoogstraten, Magnus Beite, Mikkel Eriksen, Paul Bäumer, Sia Furler, and Tor Hermansen.
This narrative based music video shows a woman in an abusive relationship, attempting to make herself stronger so that she can leave him.
Relating to the song perfectly, it exactly translates the "My fight is won. Who needs a gun." lyrics, which is totally suggestive of where she is now compared to where she was back then.
Clips switch between the past and the present. In the past, we see her relationship turn abusive, where she gets knocked about. In the present, we watch her toughening up in the gym, as she learns how to fight and defend herself.
At the end, we see her meet up with a new guy, someone who takes her bag from her and clearly cares for her. We watch as they walk past her abusive ex-boyfriend. Her smirk suggests her confidence and proves that she knows he's missing out on her gorgeous self.
Full of uplifting confidence that will surely inspire many people in the world, both men and women. It really goes to show how a music video can make an inspirational impact on people globally. Might've been nice to see a performance piece cut between the scenes, but not at the loss of any of the visuals.
Since it's a week until I see Inna for the first time, I thought I'll review one of my favourite songs from her. I remember when this was released, and I loved the song so much. Not so keen on the sexualised music video, which we'll get to later, but the song is most definitely fire. Inna collaborated with Marian Hill for this catchy club song, with a fiery sexualised performance based music video.
Inna, real name Elena Apostoleanu, has had a long-lasting and worthy career to date, and it isn't stopping anytime soon. She may have disappeared from certain lights in certain countries, especially the UK, but that doesn't mean she isn't doing well for herself. She has a new album coming out, and I'm hoping she drops her new single before I set off to Ireland to see her on the 3 December 2016. This song features Marian Hill, a songwriting duo consisting of Jeremy Lloyd and Samantha Gongol. Upon release, they didn't help Inna promote the song; however, it wasn't an official collaboration, they just received featured credit because the song samples their song "Got It". The song was written by Ilsey Juber, Marcel Botezan, Radu Bolfea, and Sebastian Barac.
The video was directed by Michael Mircea, with intricate editing techniques which makes it quite artistic.
Inna performs with her usual vibes, she's definitely into the song and she works the camera. Her dancer, however, fails to give anything more to the music video. He feels more like a filler than anything else.
A few different outfits that certainly shows Inna's body. Yet the thing that steals the entire video is definitely the snake visual. A snake is tantalisingly dangerous, slithering over Inna.
The effects are intricate and artistic, from fire to smoke, from mirrored reflections to water illusions. This video attempted to make it more interesting, and yet fails to capture some of the audience. Considering Inna totally upped her game with her next music video: "Bop Bop", which is total fire; this one totally falls flat.
I have literally been waiting for this day to come, ever since Jordan Gray announced her debut single, and then later followed it up with a music video. I have refrained from reviewing it on my blog until today because I wanted it to be my New Release this week, and here it is. Jordan Gray looks amazing during a cis male-trans female love scene with Mickey Taylor; whilst performing "Platinum" in scenes including Billie Gold and Isabella Bliss.
Jordan Gray is known for being a contestant on the fifth series of The Voice UK. She made a name for herself as being the first trans to appear on The Voice in any series across the world. Unfortunately, none of the coaches turned for her, but one of Paloma Faith's acts dropped out and she had the ability to bring someone who didn't get any turns, she chose Jordan Gray. It didn't stop there, though, Jordan Gray progressed all the way to the semi-finals. This is her debut single and she is hoping for a good chart placement. It isn't doing so well, so help her out and buy "Platinum" on iTunes.
The music video is directed by Jak Kav. It features a short narrative with various performance pieces, which really showcases Jordan Gray as an artist.
The opening scene starts the narrative as we watch Jordan Gray in a love scene with male actor Mickey Taylor, who is obviously her love interest. It is the first time there has been a cis male-trans female love scene in a mainstream music video. They are tantalisingly sexy on the bed.
There are various short snippets of performance pieces, from Jordan Gray at the piano, as well as performing on a stage surrounded by blue lighting.
Later Isabella Bliss and Billie Gold sex up the video even more in a burlesque scene, which later transitions into a black and white car scene where Jordan Gray is in the front singing the song whilst Billie Gold and Isabella Bliss are passengers in the back.
If anything, this music video is extremely thought out, definitely showcasing Jordan Gray as an artist, all the while relating to the song in every way. This music video is confident, strong, and one that will be embedded in your mind so that you have to watch it again. Fierce and sexy, with an infectious voice, Jordan Gray is on her way to superstardom.
Before today, I haven't heard this song, let alone seen the music video, but since it's Thursday Revisit, I thought I'll choose Aly & AJ because it's unlikely they'll feature on my blog again, for a while at least. This is their debut single, that did all right. They were Disney stars, and I remember thinking they reminded me of Mary-Kate & Ashley, although Aly & AJ aren't twins. In this music video for "Rush", we watch Aly & AJ being gypsy-like, busking to earn money and then spending it on recording material for the song.
Aly & AJ are sister duo consisting of Alyson Michalka and Amanda Joy Michalka, they changed their name to 78violet for all of an unreleased album, before changing it back. Their biggest hit to date is "Potential Breakup Song" which became an international success. They have acted in a number of films and TV Series, mainly separately, although they have been in a few together. Their debut song hit the US Billboard Chart at number 59. It was written by Alyson Michalka, Amanda Michalka, and Carlos Tornes.
This music video is directed by Marc Webb. There is another music video out there, released by Disney, which features the sisters on stage whilst there are scenes of "Twitches" intercut throughout. I am reviewing Marc Webb's music video because it feels much more official.
We watch the girls in various scenes. Most notably Jackass Ginger, which is a local popular swimming spot near Pali Lookout, Oahu, Hawaii.
The scenes show the girls having fun with their friends, doing what they want and having a good time. To gain money, they busk, which clearly brings in a lot of money as we watch them go and buy recording equipment.
It's a simple music video, but it captures the essence of the song, and it really is quite visually interesting. On the second watch, you see things you may have missed the first time, which definitely makes this something special. Aly & AJ are currently working on a new album, so I look forward to that being released.
This is the emotional song that should've done much better in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. Romania entered Voltaj and scored 35 points placing them 15th, which isn't such a bad placement. The song is so emotional, and Voltaj easily displays the love lost of the song in the music video and studio recording, however, on the night, it just didn't go so well, and they didn't display the emotion quite the way we expected. This led to the not so great score. Voltaj's "De la capăt" is about people going to earn a living in a different country and leaving their children behind; in the video we watch a child missing his family.
Voltaj, are a five piece Romanian pop rock group consisting of Călin Goia, Gabriel "Porcus" Constantin, Adrian M. Christescu, Valeriu "Prunus" Ionescu, and Oliver Sterian. They have released many singles and albums, and have been going for many of years. They won best Romanian Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2005. Since this release, they went on to release an album. This song is full of emotion, although I totally agree that it's much better sung in Romanian. For some reason, Voltaj loses the emotion slightly when they change to the English version of the song towards the end. The song was written by Gabriel Constantin, Călin Gavril Goia, Adrian Christescu, Victor-Răzvan Alstani, Silviu-Marian Păduraru, Monica Stevens, and Andrei Leonte.
This music video totally relates to the song, and has a brilliant narrative backed up by a typical performance piece. The visual is so stunning.
The narrative is intense. You watch a lonely boy missing his parents as he goes through his life. He gets a parcel from his mother, who then he writes to before he goes and explores, possibly going on an adventure to which is a part of his memories from the time he spent with his family, that's my theory anyway.
The mother is currently living in Austria, clearly earning money to give her child a much better chance at life, who she's left behind in Romania. Unfortunately, the letter is sent back to him, which makes him pack his stuff up and take a boat trip out over the water. We presume he's trying to get to Austria, although that is a long way to go by boat.
The performance piece isn't anything new, it's a typical band performance. However, I love that there are some scenic scenes such as when they're on the cliff, as well as on the boat in the open water.
Overall, the music video is completely emotional. It has everything, from a narrative that is so sweet and that many children and adults will identify with in Romania, as well as other countries; to a performance piece that may be typical, but is scenic. The boy is so adorably cute, that it was great to choose him for the role. It's such a shame this song didn't do better at Eurovision 2015, but it all depends on the night and for some reason, the emotion didn't come across as well as previous performances.
