Riches You Could Never See: Sarah Slean’s “Society Song” (Music Video)

In early January, 2012, Pop Heaven’s own Sarah Slean posed a question to her fans on Twitter:

I, being a vessel placed on this earth solely to spread the good word of the Pop Gods, immediately received a divine communication that despite each and every track on the brilliant two-disc opus “Land & Sea” truly being worthy of a video treatment, their divine will was that her next visual masterpiece should be the sassy stomper “Society Song.” (Whoa, tongue twister!)

As is my duty, I immediately passed this information on to Slean via Twitter. To my delight, she responded – rather appropriately with:

“SWEET HEAVEN” indeed! Pop Heaven! Based on her enthusiasm it was nearly a certainty that I was about to become the hot new commodity in Canadian music video art direction. As such, I patiently awaited a phone call from Sarah, or from her people.

Popologist Panel: Justin Bieber, Fiona Apple, Diplo, Katy Perry (July 2012)

Check out the all-new second installment of the Popologist Panel on Vertigo Shtick, of which I am honored to be a part of!

This month, we tackle the latest releases from Justin Bieber, Fiona Apple & Diplo, music videos by Katy Perry & Sky Ferreira and singles by Alexandra Stan, Esthero, NERVO and Carly Rae Jepsen!

READ MORE…

Wise Men Learn to Love: Sarah Slean’s “The Devil & The Dove”

Shot in Pouch Cove, Newfoundland, The Devil & The Dove is the latest single/video released from Slean’s 2011 masterpiece Land & Sea. The double-disc set found Slean exploring the two most prominent aspects of her material to date: a delightful pop sensibility and lush, gorgeous and theatrical compositions. The second of the two discs: Sea is a collection of orchestral arrangements which focus on life, love and quantum physics. exploring the magic that can be found in merely contemplating our existence as we experience the varying pleasures and pains of daily life.

Judgement Day: Pop Heaven or Hell? Darren Hayes – Stupid Mistake (Music Video)

“Stupid Mistake”, the fourth single from Darren Hayes 2011 album: “Secret Codes and Battleships”, would not have been an obvious single candidate in my opinion. While I do adore the track, I expected the perkier sounding “Don’t Give Up” or the stunning “Cruel Cruel World” would be the more likely choices. That being said, any amount of new Darren singles is a wonderful thing in my opinion and once the news set in I realized that the truly confusing question is why this exquisite body of work has yet to receive any promotion in North America (I can’t even find a hard copy of this album in our record stores here in Eastern Canada. Check out my album review!), but I digress.

On Monday, April 9th, 2012 the video for “Stupid Mistake”, directed by Hayes’ husband Richard under the moniker of Pixelfink, debuted on Hayes’ official YouTube channel. The clip takes and transforms a song that seems at first like an admission and acceptance of guilt in retrospect of a betrayal and reveals that sometimes the deeper betrayal may be an internal one.

Judgement Day: Pop Heaven or Hell – Adam Lambert, Better Than I Know Myself (Music Video)

“To be a star, you must shine your own light, follow your own path, and don’t worry about the darkness, for that is when the stars shine brightest”
- Unknown