It's time for your dose of new Canadian videos, and this week there's a low-budget talk show, flying tour van and giant black hole vying for your attention. Sit back and enjoy (or sing along).
Tegan and Sara, “Closer”
Favourite Canadian pop duo Tegan and Sara step back to the days of VHS tapes and living room karaoke as teens who get closer in the video to their poppy new single, “Closer.” But seriously, where did they get that couch?
A.C. Newman, “I’m Not Talking”
Also going vintage – and travelling back to more turtleneck- and blazer-heavy times – is veteran Canadian musician and New Pornographers frontman A.C. Newman, who plays a musician appearing on a low-budget talk show with his song “I’m Not Talking.”
Zeus, "Love In a Game"
Toronto indie band Zeus get seriously animated in this playful video, which mixes hilariously dressed – and occasionally body-less – performance with floating hands, hamburgers, pipes, mountains, pizzas, forests, pink flamingos and more.
Mac DeMarco, “Ode to Viceroy”
Landing on all kinds of national and international year-end lists, Toronto artist Mac DeMarco smokes, smokes, then smokes some more – well, at one point he stops to buy cigarettes – in his comical homage to his bad habit, “Ode to Viceroy.”
Elephant Stone, “Heavy Moon”
Montreal psych rockers Elephant Stone deliver a trippy track and video to match with “Heavy Moon,” a clip that matches coloured and kaleidoscopic images of the band performing with backward-moving guitar.
White Lung, “Glue”
Vancouver punk outfit White Lung offers up a chaotic mishmash of performance scenes, crowd shots, horse images and G-rated bathtub moments for the equally frenetic track “Glue.” Why there’s a woman standing on the edge of the bathtub, we’re not sure.
Slam Dunk, "Dying Breed"
Victoria party rockers Slam Dunk deliver both a vintage look and odd moments in the bathroom in this video, which starts out with people in costume chugging beer and ends with them skydiving from a flying tour van before rolling in a field. Worth watching just to imagine how much fun they had shooting it.
Poor Young Things, “Let it Sleep”
Just how many band members and fans can you pack into a tour van? You can find out in Poor Young Things’ new clip for “Let it Sleep,” which comes decked out with balloons, streamers, Christmas lights, glow sticks and singing fans as the band belts out “We fight the war on the weekend.”
The Slakadeliqs, “Defective”
A giant black hole laps at the heels of a barely drawn girl then swallows her whole in this understatedly beautiful animation from Toronto’s Slakadeliqs, whose album The Other Side of Tomorrow was longlisted for the Polaris Prize earlier this year. So where will the artist take her?
Papermaps, “Nobody Gets It”
“Nobody’s perfect, baby. Nobody ever fits,” sings Papermaps frontman Dean Marino, as viewers gaze at a range of faces, some bearded, some bespectacled, some screaming, some smiling, some in tears and some singing along.
L CON, “In Honour Of”
Feist-flavoured indie pop and classic jazz mingle in this sweetly moody tune by Toronto songwriter L CON. Grab your candle lantern, gather 'round the campfire and warm up with a brief dose of nostalgic seaside ambiance.
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