Funky Porcini: "Atomic Kitchen" Video
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Funki Porcini: "What Are You Looking At?"
Funki Porcini produced and directed the video for this spacey tune, which takes a close look at natural symmetries. This video is from "Zen TV," a collection of videos from Ninja Tune that includes some of the biggest figures in electronic
music, paired with some of the most creative directors in the world.
Since the mid-nineties and the groundbreaking Stealth parties at the Blue Note in Hoxton Square, Ninja has been almost as well
respected for its engagement with visuals as it has for its audio. Now at last, the two come together on this massive
retrospective of almost a decade of experiment, innovation, humour and weirdness.
Let's get the spec out of the way first.
The ZenTV DVD has twice the capacity of a normal DVD, containing as it does 35 promo videos from the label, a fifteen minute
audiovisual mix and a 30 minutes audio mix from Hexstatic. And as if that wasn't enough, the DVD has a state-of-the-art menu
system which means you can watch the videos either in the order we intended, randomly, or chronologically from the oldest to the
newest or the newest to the oldest. You can also look up any specific act and check out their videos and album art. Or just leave
a gallery of some of Ninja's finest covers running in the corner of the room as a kind of ambient art installation dahlink? Mwah.
But that just scratches the surface, really, cos after all, in the kingdom of the blind content is king. Or something like that.
You know the music is going to be good (we hope you know the music is going to be good), but what about the visuals?
Well, one advantage with not having hit records (Coldcut's "Beats & Pieces" remains our one top forty for 12 years work) is that
you don't have to worry about getting your promos shown on daytime MTV or TOTP or any of those hellholes of visual mediocrity
where all the bands have to look fabulous and if they don't, well you better make sure you put some models in there who do? So
instead, you can be (whisper it) creative.
Which is why some of the top up-and-coming names in video direction and animation have worked for Ninja in the last few years.
Because they know that if they pitch an interesting, visually striking, innovative idea, they will be left to get on with it
without interference. Established directors like Alexander Rutterford (Amon Tobin, now working for Radiohead) Sam Arthur (DJ
Vadim) as well as young turks like Conkerko (Bonobo). Fizzy Eye made their first music video for Wagon Christ (the truly
excellent "Receiver") and have since gone on to do commercials for Honda, proving that a track record with Ninja doesn't ruin
your business prospects.
Beyond this, artists like Kid Koala and Jaga Jazzist often even commission their own videos, working with close associates to
find the perfect match between their sound and the director's vision. As if that wasn't enough, there are artists on the label
who are intimately involved in the creation of their own videos, whether it's the Scruff cartoons that make up the basis of his
Cosgrove Hall-animated "Sweet Smoke," the pioneering audiovisual cut-ups of Hexstatic and Coldcut, Funki Porcini's satires of
adverts or his weird, otherworldly concrete moving abstracts.
Overall, since those early audiovisual mash-ups, the driving force behind all of Ninja's visual work has been that the video is
not merely an unrelated promo item to sell a single but should be intimately related to the sounds it represents. The budgets may
be small, some results may be more effective than others, but there's no denying that the attempts to realise this ideal are
never less than interesting.
Are you sitting comfortably?
Click here for the rest of the exciting videos from this collection.
Cinematic Orchestra: "All That You Give"
This video was directed by Eba Katzenmaler and Ross Murphy. It is featured on the Ninja Tune video compilation, "Zen TV."
This short is from Ninja Tune's "Zen TV" compilation, and it features a very excited Japanese girl.
The Herbaliser: "Something Wicked"
This slickly animated video is from the Ninja Tune DVD comp "Zen TV."
This video features a tune showing off Coldcut's eerie sense of melody, with a perfectly suited video. This is from the "Zen DVD" collection, available from Ninja Tune.
Medina Green feat. Mos Def: "Yo-Yo-Yo"
Medina Green brings in Mos Def for thier latest video. From the record "Funky Fresh In the Flesh & More Vol. 2".
The Sony Cyber Shot DSC-M2 has a funky design and takes quality stills and video.
A mechanical praying mantis feasts on the tossed off body parts of humans living in post-industrial madness in this Floria Sigismondi directed video.
This video is from "Zen TV," a collection of videos from Ninja Tune that includes some of the biggest figures in electronic
music, paired with some of the most creative directors in the world.
Since the mid-nineties and the groundbreaking Stealth parties at the Blue Note in Hoxton Square, Ninja has been almost as well
respected for its engagement with visuals as it has for its audio. Now at last, the two come together on this massive
retrospective of almost a decade of experiment, innovation, humour and weirdness.
Let's get the spec out of the way first.
The ZenTV DVD has twice the capacity of a normal DVD, containing as it does 35 promo videos from the label, a fifteen minute
audiovisual mix and a 30 minutes audio mix from Hexstatic. And as if that wasn't enough, the DVD has a state-of-the-art menu
system which means you can watch the videos either in the order we intended, randomly, or chronologically from the oldest to the
newest or the newest to the oldest. You can also look up any specific act and check out their videos and album art. Or just leave
a gallery of some of Ninja's finest covers running in the corner of the room as a kind of ambient art installation dahlink? Mwah.
But that just scratches the surface, really, cos after all, in the kingdom of the blind content is king. Or something like that.
You know the music is going to be good (we hope you know the music is going to be good), but what about the visuals?
Well, one advantage with not having hit records (Coldcut's "Beats & Pieces" remains our one top forty for 12 years work) is that
you don't have to worry about getting your promos shown on daytime MTV or TOTP or any of those hellholes of visual mediocrity
where all the bands have to look fabulous and if they don't, well you better make sure you put some models in there who do? So
instead, you can be (whisper it) creative.
Which is why some of the top up-and-coming names in video direction and animation have worked for Ninja in the last few years.
Because they know that if they pitch an interesting, visually striking, innovative idea, they will be left to get on with it
without interference. Established directors like Alexander Rutterford (Amon Tobin, now working for Radiohead) Sam Arthur (DJ
Vadim) as well as young turks like Conkerko (Bonobo). Fizzy Eye made their first music video for Wagon Christ (the truly
excellent "Receiver") and have since gone on to do commercials for Honda, proving that a track record with Ninja doesn't ruin
your business prospects.
Beyond this, artists like Kid Koala and Jaga Jazzist often even commission their own videos, working with close associates to
find the perfect match between their sound and the director's vision. As if that wasn't enough, there are artists on the label
who are intimately involved in the creation of their own videos, whether it's the Scruff cartoons that make up the basis of his
Cosgrove Hall-animated "Sweet Smoke," the pioneering audiovisual cut-ups of Hexstatic and Coldcut, Funki Porcini's satires of
adverts or his weird, otherworldly concrete moving abstracts.
Overall, since those early audiovisual mash-ups, the driving force behind all of Ninja's visual work has been that the video is
not merely an unrelated promo item to sell a single but should be intimately related to the sounds it represents. The budgets may
be small, some results may be more effective than others, but there's no denying that the attempts to realise this ideal are
never less than interesting.
Are you sitting comfortably?
Click here for the rest of the exciting videos from this collection.
Dragon Fli Empire is a Calgary-based hip hop duo that has quickly gained critical acclaim across Canada and beyond. The team of Teekay (emcee) and Cosm (DJ) aim to "bring the soul back to hip hop" with funky and melodic beats, thought-provoking rhymes and killer cuts. Originally formed as a side collaboration project, the DFE released their first album "Conquest" as a local CD-R in the summer of 2002. It featured "Mount Pleasant", now a Calgary classic. The song recalls observing life while riding the bus over an infectious groove. College radio, local press and countless music lovers gave the tunes rave reviews. The buzz only continued to grow in 2003, with CBC Radio 3 naming "Mount Pleasant" one of their top twenty tracks of the year. 2004 saw even more growth for the DFE. "Conquest" was cleaned up and re-released professionally with some new tracks including the popular "D-E-F". The group continued to receive support from CBC. This included performing on the Radio 3 "Connect the Dots" tour, appearing on the New Music Canada Vol. 1 compilation CD and taping live performances for ZeD-TV. More radio stations began to spin the DFE regularly including CKUA in Edmonton. The group also began to perform more regularly, and to date have opened up for established acts like De La Soul, The Beatnuts, Lyrics Born, Aceyalone, Lyrics Born, Zion I, Afu Ra, Planet Asia, Abstract Rude, Royce da 5'9, Swollen Members and Sweatshop Union. They were also invited to perform at the WCMA Industry Awards at the Palliser Hotel in Calgary. An important detail to note is that the DFE has accomplished all of this without a record deal, distribution or management; while working full time jobs or attending college. The DFE is still going strong. They have been featured on CBC's flagship news program "The National" with Peter Mansbridge and MuchMusic's "Going Coastal" for the prestigious "MUCH does Calgary" showcase. They have also started to take their high-energy live show on the road, playing cities like Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto. Recently, DFE finished their long-anticipated second album- "Invasion". Reflecting three years of added experience, it is a step up from "Conquest" and is certain to give the group even more momentum. The album goes from fun and funky to more serious territory, taking the listener on an enjoyable and diverse journey. Special guests (including Mindbender, Ndidi Cascade, Epic, Ohmega Watts and folk-singer Tariq) plus a sprinkling of live musicians are the icing on the cake for this fantastic sophomore project.
Back in 1977 Dane disco king Tommy Seebach got funky and primal with this classic Shadows' tune, "Apache," and some buckskin-sporting vixens.Even though the peak of Tommy Seebach's fame was somewhere around the late 1970s, the Danish hitmaker has returned to a lesser limelight with the viral circulation of his campy video for "Apache." From the smooth guitar riffage to Seebach's glorious main and sunshine smile, the grooving romp through the forest with buckskin-clad sweethearts is an amazing piece of work. Seebach himself died of a heartattack in 2003, but one view of "Apache" and it's clear that his legacy will live on forever.
