Director's Label

After waiting a month for Play to send these out and then having to send one back because they'd cocked the order up (shame on you Play), I finally got my hands on the latest 4 DVDs in the Director's Label series.

For those that don't know, these DVDs compile the works of stand out video directors putting all their videos and adverts (where they've shot those too) onto a single disk along with interviews etc. A really good gift for someone into the medium of pop videos.

Last year we had the works of Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry which were superb. This year we get the works of 4 more. I'll list the videos and the ones in bold are the reasons for me buying these.

Anton Corbijn is perhaps most famous for his work with Depeche Mode, and features people prominantly in his videos. If you remember Dave Gahan dressed as a King with a deckchair under his arm, this was one of his. Perhaps the weakest of the 4 but still great.

Propaganda "Dr. Mabuse"
David Sylvian "Red Guitar"
Echo and the Bunnymen "Seven Seas"
Godlen Earring "Quiet Eyes"
Echo and the Bunnymen "The Game"
Depeche Mode "Behind the Wheel"
Joy Division "Atmosphere"
Joni Mitchell with Peter Gabriel "My Secret Place"
Depeche Mode "Enjoy the Silence"
U2 "One"
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds "Straight to You"
Depeche Mode "Walking in my Shoes"
Nirvana Heart "Shaped Box"
Henry Rollins "Liar"
Metallica "Hero of the Day"
Metallica "Mama Said"
Depeche Mode "Barrel of a Gun"
Depeche Mode "It's No Good"
Herbert Gronemeyer "Bleibt Alles Anders"
Mercury Rev "Opus 40"
Mercury Rev "Goddess on a Hiway"
Joseph Arthur "In the Sun"
Herbert Gronemeyer "Mensch"
U2 "Electrical Storm"
Travis "Re-Offender"
The Killers "All These Things That I've Done"

Jonathon Glazer is perhaps the best director of the 4 and is easily in the Cunningham/Jonze league. The stand out track video here is Rabbit in Your Headlights which features a mentally disturbed man being repeatedly run over by traffic. Definitely one of those videos that was shown post-watershed. This is also the guy who did the Guiness Surfer advert (tick follows tock), which is also on the disk.

Radiohead "Street Spirit"
Jamiroquai "Virtual Insanity"
Richard Ashcroft "A Song for the Lovers"
Nick Cave and "The Bad Seeds Into My Arms"
UNKLE "Rabbit in Your Headlights"
Blur "The Universal"
Radiohead "Karma Police"
Massive Attack "Karmacoma"

Stephane Sednaoui is another director who's stuff you've seen but are probably not aware of. If you had to pick the best videos by Red Hot Chilli Peppers or Bjork you'd probably pick Give It Away (the one where they're painted as silver demons) and Big Time Sensuality (Bjork dancing on the back of a truck through New York) and these were both directed by him.

Mirwais "I Can't Wait"
Tricky "For Real"
Red Hot Chili Peppers "Scar Tissue"
Mirwais "Disco Science"
R.E.M. "Lotus"
Bjork "Possibly Maybe"
Alanis Morisette "Ironic"
Tricky "Pumpkin"
Massive Attack "Sly"
Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry "Seven Seconds"
Bjork "Big Time Sensuality"
Black Crowes "Sometimes Salvation"
U2 "Mysterious Ways"
Red Hot Chili Peppers "Give It Away"
NTM "Le Monde de Demain"
U2 "Discotheque"

Finally we have Mark Romanek who has done some of the most spectacular videos featuring crazy walls of lights and over the top firework displays as backdrops to the acts. He is also the director of the most expensive video to date, Scream by Janet and Michael Jackson which is also here.

Jay-Z "99 Problems"
Link Park "Faint"
Red Hot Chili Peppers "Can't Stop"
Johnny Cash "Hurt"
Audioslave "Cochise"
No Doubt "Hella Good"
Mick Jagger "God Gave Me Everything"
Janet Jackson "Got 'til it's Gone"
Fiona Apple "Criminal"
Nine Inch Nails "Perfect Drug"
Beck "Devil's Haircut"
Weezer "El Scorcho"
Eels "Novocaine for the Soul"
Sonic Youth "Little Trouble Girl"
Michael and Janet Jackson "Scream"
Madonna "Bedtime Story"
R.E.M. "Strange Currencies"
G.Love and Special Sauce "Cold Beverage"
Nine Inch Nails "Closer"
David Bowie "Jump they Say"
Madonna "Rain"
Lenny Kravitz "Are You Gonna Go My Way"
Keith Richards "Wicked as it Seems"