Whoever said the Internet killed the video star was talking crap. If anything, the Internet has given birth to a new kind of video star: one you actively have to seek out, rather than wait passively for them to be beamed into your goggle box.
The perfect example is SSION, all-American dance-pop chanter and video director, and originator of the unibrow-meets-mustache hairdo. SSION, aka Cody Critcheloe, is creating a video for each track on his (brilliant) album Bent as an ongoing project, and we have featured his work numerous times here on DM.
The latest SSION video release is a clip to accompany the track “High,” a bonus song from the official Bent label re-release last year (and not on the original free download release from 2011.) It’s great, needless to say, especially if you have a fetish for karaoke videos, but I’ve still not managed to post about what is probably SSION’s best video yet, the clip to accompany the track “Luvbazaar.”
Lip syncing drag queens, gum-popping schoolgirls, empty theaters, heaving parties, New York city streets, shopping interludes, the return of platform desert boots, a Tarantino-esque glowing case, and a David Lynch-style appreciation of the absurd, it’s all here.
SSION’s website has had a revamp and is well worth visiting (and don’t forget to check out the clip for “High” too) but for now here’s the bizarrely beautiful “Luvbazaar”:
I’m a big fan of SSION, but you should know that by now. SSION, aka songwriter, performer and music video director Cody Critcheloe, has just brought out the second video from last year’s dance-pop magnum opus Bent, and it’s killer.
A logical progression from its predecessor “My Love Grows In The Dark”, “Earthquake” sees an androgynous alien-boy moving through a landscape that is simultaneously pop-art bright and druggily disconnected. All the time SSION is beckoning him on, from his iPad, from his TV, from his four-by-four, all the way up to their final, honey-soaked encounter:
Last Friday I posted the new video from the band SSION called “My Love Grows in The Dark.” If you haven’t watched it yet, then go and do so right now. It’s a little bizarre and rather brilliant. The album that song is taken from, Bent, was available as a free download release for one month only last year, and it was one of my favorites. This year too in fact, as it is being given a physical re-release soon by the Dovecote label.
SSION, which has existed in various forms over the years, is essentially the brainchild of Cody Critcheloe. Cody is a visual artist and video director by day (he has directed clips for Peaches and Santigold) but by night he transforms into a gender-and-preconception bending performer whose live shows have been picking up a lot of acclaim. I spoke to Cody a short while back about SSION, and his decision to release such an excellent album for free. Here’s a little taster:
Bent is a great pop album. In fact, I’d say it is surprisingly great for a free download release. How did the idea to release it for free first come about?
I have always worked outside of labels, and the way it goes I’ll put out a record every four years. I’ll take a while to develop it and work out what I wanna do with it. At the time there’s wasn’t anyone anxious to put it out, so it seemed like the right thing to do. I thought if a label really wants to be a part of this they’ll figure out a way to go about this, because SSION is such a different kind of project. It seemed like a big FU to put it out and let people get it and listen to it, and I like the idea of people being able to get it, so people who aren’t even your fans can still get into it.
What has your fans’ reaction been to the download release?
It’s crazy ‘cos I think in the long term it’s gonna pay off. The shows we’ve played in New York have all been really amazing, and everyone knows the words to the songs already. It’s been instant, like this has already had an effect, an effect outside of any label being behind it to pump it up or publicize it. Everything that has happened to SSION is because of people who are genuinely interested and really into the music. I love the fact that there’s gonna be a physical release ‘cos I put a lot of work into the art work, but I could also take it or leave it. If it doesn’t work out I can still have a life. I still somehow survive off doing these things and other projects. I’m just into it as a very punk way of going about things.
But what about an effect on sales?
The thing about it is, the last record we had you can find it online for free, so why not make it available for everyone? And it’s crazy too because our other records are on iTunes and we still make money of them every month, even though people could easily get them for free.
