B-Sides: Video Dance Party!

As much as I adore music videos at dance parties, watching choreographed dance moves on a giant screen in public typically does one of two things to me: infuses my limbs with rhythmic possibilities (rare), or yanks the slippery beat from under my dance shoes (less rare). Sometimes if I’m not in a dancing mood (or able to shake it in my current location) watching someone else dance provides a kind of psychic fulfillment. I hope Austra and CocknBullKid’s new singles give you just that! Directly after sits a sedentary vogue-free video by Planningtorock. Apart from inviting you to a video dance, this B-Sides provides hope for the swarms of PTR fans who, like myself, have been chewing their nails impatiently for five years on the edge of the dance floor, staring at an empty screen, waiting for her sophomore release!

CocknBullKid, “Hold On To Your Misery”

CocknBullKid is the work of English singer-songwriter Anita Blay first showcased on B-Sides last year. Released in Febuary 2011, “Hold On To Your Misery” is a triumphant soul-pop hit from her full-length debut Adulthood out in April—think Betty Everett (voice) meets Morrissey (lyrics). CocknBullKid’s new video features young girls—some ten years old (the same age as Blay when she started writing music)—in matching age-appropriate party dresses sashaying, stomping, and smiling. That when combined with Blay’s self-affirming lyrics, makes it pretty much impossible to heed the chorus’ call. When is the last time you saw girls look this wholesome in a music video?!

Austra, “Beat and the Pulse” (warning: nudity and erotic images)

Crestfallen fans of former Toronto, ON based female-trio Galaxy (along with New Wave fans far and wide) will be pleased to see/hear Katie Stelmanis new project Austra. Expressing queer desire with webbed appendanges, Stelmanis and her friends entice one another in a vogue-induced ceremony. Austra’s first full-length release Feel It Break will be out on Domino this May!

Planningtorock, “Doorway”

Planningtorock is the one-woman work of Berlin-based musician, programmer and videographer Janine Rostron. Rostron in fact never performs live without her own self-made films in accompaniment (providing a sophisticated video dance party indeed) or her signature sculptural helmets. The tension stacked waiting for PTR’s sophomore release is acceuntuated in “Doorway” with the muted bass, tethered beat and Rostron’s kaleidoscopic mouth left ajar in the final frame … 10 more weeks until W!

What have you been listening to and watching this week?