Elephant Stone "I Am Blind" Video

Elephant Stone - I Am Blind

It's always great to see a bunch of smiling and familiar faces, impeccably shot, and it's even better if those faces are set to the music of a local band comprised of nice guys that you like. So, that's why the video above, directed by Patrick Andrew Boivin and Richmond Lam, for Elephant Stone is such a treat.

Richmond Lam is the tremendously talented master of light & shadow, who, if this video is any indication, appears to be moving into his Gregg Toland phase. Of all the photographers I can think of, he has a light humanistic touch that's completely unique to him. Up until now, I'd only seen it in his portraits, but it looks like he can move between the worlds of still and moving images with ease - his photography perfectly compliments the breezy and easy-going psychedelic charm of this song.

Shot in the confines of Korova bar Terroir (Montreal's favourite non-McGill campus Craigslist Missed Connections hotspot), the video's full of familiar faces. Outside of the band members - Richard White (who also plays in The Besnard Lakes), Bobby Fraser, Rishi Dhir, Robbie MacArthur, & Chris Wise - there are also cameos by Eve Thomas, Lorien Jones, cinematographer Bobby Shore (who shot Who Is KK Downey?, Peepers, Prom Wars, and is shooting Fubar 2), bartending nice-guy Cavan, Mikala Grant, jeweler Mercedes de la Rosa, Nicholas Robins (of Homosexual Cops), Maya Fuhr and many others.

Elephant Stone just finished recording an EP at Breakglass Studios, and they'll be joining the Brian Jonestown Massacre at the end of May/beginning of June for a number of dates. Rishi also hosts the Bollywood night at Casa every second Thursday of the month called Bombay the Hard Way!

9 Out Of 10 Movie Stars Make Me Cry

Caetano Veloso Nine Out of Ten
Brian Jonestown Massacre Feel So Good

X: I had several Boggles this weekend, and they ended up being more than
just Trivial Pursuits.
Y: My sexual experiences usually begin with and end with Sorry.

Bad Lieutenants & Air Travel

Bad Lieutenants Keitel, Sumner & Herzog

New Order Jetstream
Bad Lieutenant Sink or Swim

At a certain point in time, Bernard Sumner turned the corner as a songwriter and started writing the sort of uplifting songs that sound like they'd sync perfectly with time-lapsed images of planes landing, people streaming through night markets, and bold new companies offering us exciting advancements in consumer technology. Maybe it started with Electronic, his collaboration with Johnny Marr - I can't really pinpoint it. Certainly the non plus ultra of the Sumnerian ouevre in this regard is New Order's Jetstream, with breathy stewardess spoken bits and swooshing jet engine sounds. Or could there be nothing beyond? Now we have a new offering - Sink or Swim from his new group Bad Lieutenant's debut Never Cry Another Tear. (That jangly guitar lead sounds a bit like the Brian Jonestown Massacre, no? - Okay, fine, The Byrds).

Bad Lieutenant, is Sumner's most recent post-New Order group (they broke up in 2008). The group also features Stephen Morris & Phil Cunningham (both of New Order) and Alex James (of Blur & BBC shockumentary The Cocaine Dairies). No Peter Hook, but still, hooks. Because Mr. Sumner is English, is the band pronounced "Bad Left-enant?"

Bernard Sumner and Werner Herzog are both riding a real zeitgeist wave here, that is, people caring about the (err) classic(?) film Bad Lieutenant, a consequence of life after Grand Theft Auto, or maybe both of them finding a VHS copy in a Goodwill.

And on that note, thanks to some generous folks at the Playlist blog & the Montreal Mirror, I'll be attending the sneak preview of Mr. Herzog's film Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans tomorrow. I'll report back with details on the status of Nicolas Cage's mental health (hopefully better than his financial) and whether the iguanas are all they've been made out to be.