Monday, May 4, 2009

its not where I am - its who I'm with

An old friend with a perpetual twang in his musical tastes showed me this video the other day. While he's usually more country-and-folk-inclined than myself, Dave may be on to something here. Watch the first bit then keep reading and let the song play.



I am enamored with the simplicity of this video - three minutes of one shot of three guys jammin in a gondola in Wyoming. The gondola is key. Close quarters begat claustrophobic camera angles that create an awkward sense of intimacy with the musicians while the background slides peacefully out behind them. The gentle and smooth motion of the gondola is perfectly in step with the rhythym of the song and carries the linear progression of the video so that after three minutes thirty seconds we've hardly noticed any time pass.

The simplicity of the video's concept allows us to focus on little things - like 1.15 where the drummer nodding his head makes it seem like he's walking the gondola up the hill Fred Flintstone style or 1.46 where the guitarist adjusts his capo and the song pauses for a thoughtful second- Rough spots that we catch our interest on as we pass.

The way I see it, everything about this video is organic - the way the harmonies sound in the gondola, the natural scenery passing behind, the minor flaws in the performance and the one thing that I can't quite put my finger on that keeps making me watch it again.

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