After the Snowden leaks and the extent of the NSA's privacy violations were revealed, the world beganto question how governments collect, store, and handle data, as well as the scale of these operations. But like many her age, experimental producer Holly Herndon found herself reevaluating how she lives online. From her statement to Pitchfork:
"I entrusted so much in my device. To learn this intimacy had been compromised felt like a grand betrayal. Is everything done privately on my laptop to be considered a public performance?
In 'Home', I address that invisible audience. It is a love song for prying eyes (an agent / a critic), and also a break up song with the devices with which I shared a naive relationship. There is something dramatic, teenage and vulnerable to this sensation our relationships with these interconnected devices are still so young, so naive."
The video from Dutch design firm Metahaven uses framing and mattes to articulate Herndon's new role as the voyeured. She stands observed by a silhoutte and his camera, a portrait that never ends and is out of her control. Cascading NSA logos, pinholes, resembling a telephone mouthpiece and more abstract imagery obscure her. Similarly, her tragicandgossamer vocals get lost in the production's junkyard. She is, of course, totally aware of what's happening, and with hesitant, deflated sighs echoes thepredicament ofmassive data gathering: "I know you know me better than I know myself."
Awash in floating Britpop melodies with Damon McMahon's scraggly voice desperate to hang on, "Splits are Parted" reaches for a dazed and splendid strain of intimacy. In thte video, directed by McMahon andJesse Hlebo, a strobe light punctates the images (dancing children, McMahon himself) with spots of black, and gives it the feeling ofayear's worth of recurring dreams condensed into a few minutes.
"Flowers" may be the hardest video of the year to watch, depending on how much you like feet. Because a disembodied pair stars in Cecil Frena's latest video for his monthly singles series No Sorrow. Our hero(es?) go on a walkabout across parties, beaches and living roomsto the tune of some breathless pop. Now to go and try to eat lunch!
You might already miss the gloomy prog pop of the recently divorced Darkside; Montreal's Uaxyacac are here for you. Maybe you miss playing Super Nintendo RPGs and trying to watch scrambled pay-per-view movies on cable? Chelsea Sweetin's video has got that part covered.
The ex-Girls frontman continues his (musical and aesthetic) androgynous cowboy bit, this time with painted backdrops and a bit of knifeplay.
FULL SCREEN: Holly Herndon confronts the NSA, Born Gold love feet, and more music videos by Chart Attack | Chart Attack.
