There are a lot of videos coming out of Austin these days, so we’ve decided to make life easier for you by compiling some of the most notable into a recurring feature called Out of Focus.
Plato III- “Natalie Portman”
This kid Plato keeps e-mailing me. He told me he hit up the site’s general e-mail, but figured he’d send me one directly because I seem to be “the rap guy at Ovrld.” Such is the struggle to get media notice as a hip hop artist in Austin that a jaded former punk lifer with an affection for hip hop is the default “rap guy” for anything. But hey, I appreciate the hustle, and by Plato’s telling he’s already made some major strides as an Austin hip hop artist, getting placement at notable NYC hip hop site Pigeons and Planes, something that he says has only been replicated locally by Eric Dingus. He got that placement via a video for “Natalie Portman,” an SEO nightmare of a title for a basically sweet bedroom R&B track with hip hop elements. It’s a light effort by design, but there are some clever touches that will make you perk up, like a late game Basquiat reference. The video is surprisingly well-shot and performed, though it’s just Plato hanging out with his girlfriend, checking out Polaroids and looking 2 cute 2 be forgotten. In “Natalie Portman,” Plato III says he doesn’t want to be a star, but I don’t believe him. This song isn’t going to be a hit and he’s got a ways to go (those auto-tune choruses are not a good look, friend), but there is a lot of potential here, and maybe next time out Dingus can throw some Drake beats to this local dude instead of going to the source because Plato’s got at least as much charm as the former Wheelchair Jimmy.
Tamarron- “68”
Before we got an e-mail from Tamarron, I had no idea there were kids out there wanting to recreate the most boring moments in the Pink Floyd ouevre. Yet here we are, with “68,” a track that might be better titled “73,” as in the year Dark Side of the Moon came out. Tamarron features members of Growl, Little Lo and dryspell and this new supergroup seems aimed at dialing back any last vestiges of more rambunctious indie and punk rock influences from any of those bands in favor of a slow, forgettable psychedelic simmer. The video just goes in circles, with the occasional ’90s high school video class effect. Maybe that’s a comment on how generations of musicians keep returning to the same tired well. Nah.
De Palma- “The Dreamer”
A far better use of repetition is present in De Palma’s “The Dreamer,” both in regards to the song itself and the video. Like a more krautrock indebted Soft Moon, De Palma are keen purveyors of groove oriented dark wave, forgoing the traditional monotone vocal delivery of the genre in order to build up a sea of menace with indiscernible radio murmurs and shouts. The video itself is a CCTV motorbike noir, shadowy figures lurking in parking lots chain smoking ciggies as splashes of tv static cut out possibly important details. It all seems so simple and effortless, but there’s a lot that goes into making minimalist electronic music seem so easy, and De Palma have got it down. “The Dreamer” is merely an early single for an upcoming album, but color me intrigued.
Nick Hanover got his degree from Disneyland, but he’s the last of the secret agents and he’s your man. Which is to say you can find his particular style of espionage here at Ovrld as well as Loser City, where he mostly writes about comics. You can also flip through his archives at Comics Bulletin, which he is formerly the Co-Managing Editor of, and Spectrum Culture, where he contributed literally hundreds of pieces for a few years. Or if you feel particularly adventurous, you can always witness his odd .gif battles with his friends and enemies on twitter: @Nick_Hanover