{"id":5637,"date":"2012-11-28T13:00:45","date_gmt":"2012-11-28T19:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=5637"},"modified":"2014-09-06T14:49:47","modified_gmt":"2014-09-06T20:49:47","slug":"iow-musical-menagerie-treat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=5637","title":{"rendered":"IOW: Musical Menagerie Treat!"},"content":{"rendered":"

With colder temperatures rolling in to remind us Old Man Winter is finally on his way, the best thing we can do for our dearest readers is to heat things up with the gift of song! Instead of the expected Yuletide standards, we\u2019ve brought together a few fresh compositions by the Champaign-Urbana<\/strong> music scene\u2019s younger generation who follow in the footsteps of those trailblazers featured in the documentary, OUT OF NOWHERE<\/strong><\/a>. (To quickly ramp up your knowledge of the ground covered in NOWHERE<\/strong>, be sure to check out this feature article<\/a> and this collection of rock show remembrances<\/a> published recently by the University of Illinois<\/strong>\u2019 alumni magazine.) Let\u2019s get to the A\/V action, then!<\/p>\n

Performers gracing C-U Blogfidential<\/strong> in the past via their video work have released new shorts in recent months. First up is a whimsical WIZARD OF OZ<\/strong> inspired accompaniment to the Megan Johns<\/strong><\/a> song \u201cSunday Drive<\/strong>\u201d which appears on her springtime EP release, Hey Lonely<\/span><\/strong><\/a>. After strumming an initial verse in a loft, Johns becomes a Dorothy surrounded by those amber waves of Illinois<\/strong> grain as well as new friends: the Cowardly Lion (Mikael Brackett<\/strong>), the Scarecrow (Morgan Orion<\/strong>), the Tin Man (Shannon Swords<\/strong>), and Glinda the Good Witch (Daniella<\/strong>). Even the proverbial Flying Monkey (Erin Gillis<\/strong>) catches a break and joins the fun! Video director Garrick Nelson<\/strong> unveiled SUNDAY DRIVE<\/strong> in September.<\/p>\n

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A few weeks earlier in August, The Dirty Feathers<\/strong><\/a> unleashed their second self-produced music video to go with the title track of their EP, Midnight Snakes<\/span><\/strong><\/a>, with help from globetrotting media producer Chris Green<\/strong> (who also helped with SUNDAY DRIVE<\/strong>) and Josh Black<\/strong>. The concept is simple \u2013 outlandish outfits, candy-colored lighting, gritty photography, rear-projected psychedelia \u2013 but the output is as visceral as one might expect from this band!<\/p>\n

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Returning to September, Georgia<\/strong> art students Alessandra Hoshor<\/strong> and Addison Adams<\/strong> brought the surrealism in a short set to the synth-heavy tune \u201cGonna Get Her<\/strong>,\u201d recorded by Urbana pop trio Psychic Twin<\/strong><\/a> and released as a 7-inch by Lefse Records<\/strong><\/a>. Featuring singer\/keyboardist Erin Wraight<\/strong>, the clip combines stop-motion animation, superimposition, and color saturation in a m\u00e9lange reminiscent of early Eighties lo-fi videos; we\u2019re elated Adams and Hoshor chose to shoot this with dreamy Super 8 film stock.<\/p>\n