Two of Austin’s finest instrumental acts, Explosions in the Sky and the Calm Blue Sea, both dropped new music videos this past week, begging the question: Which band provides a better soundtrack? In reality, there’s no contest (EITS would win by T.K.O.), but play along for fun.
Explosions in the Sky “Be Comfortable, Creature”
Not sure whether to laugh or cry here. For Explosions in the Sky’s second-ever music video follows a lonely wookie, strolling through Downtown Austin. “As the song unfolded so did the story, I just watched it,” prefaced director Paul Logan. “ It made me remember the fears of growing up, of feeling like an outcast in a small town, of being lonely, of wanting to be a kid again, and of being in love. A couple of months later a few friends and myself went out and over a month we filmed it. It’s homemade, personal, and like explosions in the sky, heartfelt.”
The Calm Blue Sea “Literal”
The Calm Blue Sea brought in a ringer. Local director Paul Beck, who animated Richard Linklater’s Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly turns CBS’ commanding “Literal” into a thought-provoking statement about censorship and government surveillance. “
“I wanted the viewer feeling familiar with the images yet distant,” Beck told IFC. “Under the guise of the non-blinking eye we go about our lives in our comfortable fog of reality. The video is meant to leave the viewer with the feeling of a visual wave washing the soul, then the emptiness that follows a parade.”
Winner: The Calm Blue Sea
This article appears in September 9 • 2011.