Lawrence Rothman – Fatal Attraction

Creepy. That word is frequently used to describe Floria Sigismondi’s work but personally I think enchanting is more appropriate. Watching one of her videos is pretty similar to taking an exciting but slightly macabre trip into a twisted surrealist fairytale.

As the creative force behind some strangely unsettling music videos – Marylin Manson’s ‘The Beautiful People’ , The White Stripes ‘Blue Orchid and most recently, David Bowies ‘The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” , director Floria Sigismondi seems to thrive off making the viewer uncomfortable. Her latest offering comes in the form of Lawrence Rothman’s new video for his track Fatal Attraction where she takes a more stripped down approach to some of her previous elaborate works. Famous for her jittery camera movements, this video contains all the signature prints that we’ve come to appreciate from Floria Sigismondi’s videos. Set across a black background, we see Rothman caked up to the max in some pretty chalky looking body paint while he gracefully contorts his body in time to the music.

As the first signing to Sigismondi’s own label, Mamaroma, it seems that Floria and Lawrence were a natural pairing with the both of them seemingly taking a shine to dark surrealist themes.

For Lawrence Rothman, this track reflects his versatility as it sees him take it up a notch by singing falsetto. And after taking inspiration from film scores, R&B and citing the likes of novelist Charles Bukowski as an influence, fans can expect a rather eclectic body of work from Rothman in the future. Definitely one to watch for 2014.

Radkey – Start Freaking Out

It’s fair to say that England have taken this exhilarating three-piece from St. Joseph, Missouri, well and truly under our wing. Gaining support from The Guardian, Zane Lowe and NME, Radkey’s authentic fusion of punk and rock n roll seems to have appealed to a nation of teens starved of decent angst-ridden guitar music.

The brother’s energy is encapsulated in their new live performance video for ‘Start Freaking Out’, which was filmed during their recent UK tour.

Directed by William Rees and filmed by Chris Warsop the video follows the trio across their shows in Brighton, London, Cambridge, Manchester and Stoke.

As you would expect from any punk rock performance video, ‘Start Freaking Out’ includes plenty camera shots of crowds going wild, crowd surfing and of course the classic ‘drop to the floor on your back to play your guitar move’ which of course was made famous by Angus Young.

Although it is refreshing to see a new generation of young afro rockers, unfortunately this video and their raw guitar riffs bring nothing new to the table.

Having said this, their musicianship is well beyond their teenage years so lets just hope their talent prevents them from falling into obscurity.

The Correspondents – Fear and Delight

The song is ridiculously catchy and the visuals are stunningly executed.

It’s no wonder that video for The Corespondents’ latest single has been featured in the BBC Music Video Festival 2013.

Director Naren Wilks adopts a black and white kaleidoscope effect where we see front man Mr Bruce multiply before our eyes whilst performing some beautifully choreographed moves.

Using a new technique, which Wilks developed himself, ‘Fear and Delight’ was shot using a composited camera which broken down is multiple cameras acting as one to portray the same movement from numerous viewpoints.

Taken from their debut album ‘Puppet Loosely Strung’ which is set for release next year, ‘Fear and Delight’ tells the story of a man drawn to a destructive but also thrilling relationship – a subject matter that would undoubtedly resonate with most.

Known for their outstanding live performances and the eccentrically charismatic frontman, The Correspondents are set to close 2013 with their final gig of the year at London’s Brixton Jamm December 14^th.  And if you haven’t been fully converted after that then there’s probably no hope for you.