Ten Rapid: New music videos from Converge, Com Truise and Factory Floor

A week in music videos, with a classic from punk legends Converge, retro-future computer loving from Com Truise, television dreams with Factory Floor, Atmosphere taking on rap behemoth Kanye, and much more

Article | 18 Apr 2014

This week we showcase videos from hardcore punk legends Converge, Ghostly International mainstay and retro-futuristic synth-botherer Com Truise, analgue techno power trio Factory Floor, and Rhymesayers hip-hop troublemaker Atmosphere taking on Kanye West. We pogo to a blast of punk from Brooklyn punks Parquet Courts and LA hardcore mob OFF!, and feature two recent Skinny premieres from Lady North and Blood Relatives, plus we check out the new singles from Charlatans front-man and Oh Genesis label boss Tim Burgess, and get cheeky with Norwegian house supremo Todd Terje.

We begin with a classic track from Salem, Mass. hardcore punks Converge – formed in 1990, their legacy to punk and hardcore is absolutely indisputable, and the new video for All We Love We Leave Behind, taken from 2012's album of the same name, features some stunning scenery and heart-stopping visual trickery courtesy of director Craig Murray. It's the perfect showcase for their high-intensity power-riffage.

We stay on a punk tip with Brooklyn noiseniks Parquet Courts, whose video for Sunbathing Animal takes a fairly literal approach to the theme suggested by the title, in a clip directed by Andy Capper and Parquet Courts singer-guitarist Andrew Savage. Given the dominance of cats in the world of internet videos, we're sure this will be a hit for the band, who release the follow-up to 2012's Light Up Gold later this year.

Next up, the hilarious new video from OFF!, whose recent clips have been a regular feature on our playlists - this time out, Danny Carey (Tool), Dale Crover (Melvins), David Yow (Jesus Lizard), and Jack Grisham (TSOL) get involved, lending cameo appearances in a glorious choreographed fight scene pitting OFF! as the bar staff at a Nazi-themed gig, who take on their far-right guest stars in an epic swedge-fest.  

After that, it's the turn of Edinburgh's Lady North, with Bum Jiggy – a frenetic dose of psychedelic post-rock with acid-tinged visuals courtesy of Alex Mitchell Enterprises. This premiered on The Skinny's YouTube channel this week, and we are very excited to see what this intense three-piece do next.

Another video that premiered on our channel recently was A Murder of Crows, by indie four-piece Blood Relatives, hailing from Glasgow. The single is taken from their album Deerheart, which is out now. If you like jangly indie-rock with sweet, pop-tinged melodies, this lot are ones to watch.

Next, a very strange video from Tim Burgess, as dry ice and coloured lights play across a mysterious, shadow-filled tank, looking for all the world like an empty Damien Hirst exhibit, or the Navigator's tank from David Lynch's Dune. The track itself is a dubbed-out, piano-flecked slice of pop, a million miles from The Charlatans perhaps, but showing Burgess has lost none of his songwriting chops as a solo artist. 

Com Truise is back with a video for Subsonic, from the recent Wave 1 EP. Retro-futurist synth music is in many ways the noise du jour, but nobody does it better than yer Truise, combining crisp kicks and snares with shimmering synths, and in this video, some mightily-impressive LCD-style graphics. 

Factory Floor's self-titled debut was one of the highlights of 2013, and they continue to deliver arty, abstract videos for the most killer tracks from their DFA-released long player, the latest being the infectious How You Say. Nik Void's breathy vocal loop is represented by an old-fashioned telly, with her flickering black and white visage displayed as coloured lights and projections strobe and flicker.

The penultimate video in this week's playlist comes from Noreigian house supremo Todd Terje – we follow a dissolute, drunken businessman and party animal, on a walk through the mean streets of an unnamed city, eventually watching as he finds love in a disco. The whole thing is soundtracked by Terje's sleazy electro beat, taken from the forthcoming It's Album Time

And finally, we finish up with Rhymesayers mainstay Atmosphere, who in a genius promotional move, has called his new track Kanye West, thereby ensuring that anyone who Googles celeb-marrying, ego-stroking multi-millionare Yeezy and finds Atmosphere's track instead will actually encounter some credible hip-hop. We have to say, it's a genius move!

If you want to cue up the whole playlist, see below, or visit The Skinny's YouTube channel, where you'll find our recent coverage of SxSW, not to mention regular video premieres, and exclusive live sessions with the likes of Young Fathers, Aidan Moffat & RM Hubbert, Ubre Blanca, and more. 

http://youtube.com/theskinnymag