Pursuit Of Happiness.

By Kid Cudi featuring MGMT & Ratatat. Directed by Megaforce. A much better depiction of the song than the previously released video. The dizzying editing and disorienting overall concept works much better for this song than the lavish partying of the other video. Check it:

Great work.

Logos.

"Ain't A Thang Changed" directed by me. I shot this on Super 8mm about a week before graduating from SIUC in 2005. Posting just because... And check the vintage Katalyst polo I'm wearing. Katalyst became W!LD LEEK for those interested. Perhaps I'll get a chance to tell that story one day.


I just saw a full version of Oscar-award-winning animated short Logorama, but about 2 minutes after I saw it on Vimeo they took it down. I thought it was so good, so creative, I decided to post the YouTube/2 part version. Check it:

GLC.

"Momentum" by Chicago's own GLC. Directed Davy Greenberg. Good work, once again, Davy.

Mayer.

"Maybe So, Maybe No" by Mayer Hawthorne. Directed by Henry DeMaio. I effs with Mayer...

... and I really miss L.A.

Symphonies.

Remix. Dan Black featuring Kid Cudi. Not sure who directed this piece, but its good. I've seen a similar concept in other videos, and this is still dope.

The Coup.

Fat Cats & Bigga Fish. I just snatched this from The Hundreds website. Watching this reminded me how good The Coup were. I remember when my girl, Aisha, put me on this group back in the mid 90s. I wasn't really checking for west coast rap back then, but I could get with Boots Riley's political rap style. Check it:

Omen.

Terminal O. By Chicago's own Omen. Directed by Chris & Blaq of IMPAKT STUDIOS.

I never heard of this guy before today, but I'm on a hunt to find out more. Another win for the Windy.

I'm kinda feeling my one word titles. Can you tell?

Fest.

Exodus 5.1. By Rhymefest. Chicago's own.

Cudi.

Posting just cause I effs with Cudi. Cudderisback. Directed by Jason Goldwatch.

Mos.

White Drapes. Wow.

For Michael Sterling Eaton's forthcoming Mictape Vol.1.

We Can Do It Big.

By The Cool Kids featuring Stalley. Produced by Ski Beatz. Shot by the good folks at Creative Control. CC has been puttin out some pretty dope clips of the artists in their circle.

The song's cool, but I kinda dig the performance shots in front of the movie projection.

Man, I gotta get an HD joint quick...

Tires.

By Chicago's own, the Cool Kids. Behind the scenes footage shot by Decatur Dan.

This Is It.

By the insurmountable King Of Pop: Michael Jackson. Directed by Spike Lee.

There will never be another.
Never.

Spy.

By Beat Assailant. Written and directed by Nassim Maoui and Christophe Mentz.

I digs secret agent/James Bond type movies. Very clean, and well executed.

We Gone.

First off, I hope everyone is having a fantastic holiday season. Merry Chrismahanukwanzakah to all! As I look at the year in review, and the the year to come, we can only go up from here. Thank you to everyone who has been supporting the W!LD LEEK brand thus far, and I hope you continue to be apart of the family in 2010. We have a few things planned for the new year, starting with STYLIN' crewnecks dropping sometime in January. I'll keep you posted.

2010, here we come! We gone!

We do it for Chicago.

Lessons Learned.

By Matt & Kim. Directed by Taylor Cohen and Otto Arsenault (FVMMO Films).

Can't get enough of the one shot, one take film style. Basic concept and well executed. The end disturbed me though. What a crazy turn this has taken, but I guess that's the lesson learned.

Luv Deluxe

By Cinnamon Chasers. Directed by Saman Keshavarz. I believe this was entirely shot on Canon 5D Mark II. Looks great. Groovy tune.

Clear story and great execution. I come from the school of filmmaking that you should be able to tell a story with no words, so I have a special place in my heart for films that can do just that. I've watched this 3 times before posting and was thouroughly entertained, catching something different each time. Not sure if there's supposed to be a moral of any type, but its definitely a fun ride. Two things I found interesting: the guy whose point of view it is, his bank card doesn't seem to work in any scenario, and this girl turns out to be bad news even when he makes all the right decisions. Perhaps the moral is don't pick up attractive girls at gas stations.

Where did that gun come from anyway? Aren't they in his car? Probably one of the best videos I've seen all year for the simple fact it kept me engaged and had me coming back.

WTF?

By OK Go. Directed by Tim Nackashi

They made great use of this effect... and all in one take!

Giving Thanks.

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving, family! On behalf of the W!LD LEEK family I want would just like to say thank you to all our supporters... Thank You. As we continue to grow I never want to forget how we got to where we are, which is basically off of your support. First things first...

W!LD LEEK is a project I started with the hopes of building a community of people who share similar yet diverse interests. One central interest of mine is the love of films, and more specifically the art of filmmaking. When I post music videos, or short films its because I actually like the clip, I can appreciate the time and effort that went into the final product. I don't post things because it's "cool". Though other blogs may have the same videos I post (heck, I get the clips from other blogs to begin with!), I only post the ones I actually have an opinion on. With that said, I'm going to start sharing some of my own original film works. The first being a video that I directed this past August. Harold Green's "Mad Drivin'":

Not only did I direct this piece, I also produced the beat for this joint. Once again, thank you for the support, and let me know what you think of this clip, as well as the forthcoming clips. Enjoy!

Love!

Truckers Delight.

By Flairs. NSFW at all. It just gets progressively crazier, but I love the animation and the old school video game theme.

Bugged out, but still dope.

F.R.N.O.

By XO. This is my first time hearing of this cat. Good music out of DC. And I'm feeling the Hype Williams-esque video.


I finally setup a Vimeo page myself, so now I'll be posting some of my own cinematic offerings.

Mr. D's.

Both of these videos are directed by Jerome D of The Topshelf Company. I don't personally know Mr. D, but I like some of his videos. I especially like the editing in Carter's "Outta Space":

I had heard a lot about this Diz Gibran cat, and finally heard this song,"Truly Yours", over the summer. As I type this I'm downloading his free album, Soon You'll Understand, presented by Crooks & Castles. But back to the song... its dope. Plus BJ is a beast, and he has "Chicago" in his title. Love.

Obama Fried Chicken.

"Popular Demand" by The Clipse featuring Cam'ron. Directed by Rik Cordero. I'm feeling the look of this for some reason. Nothing really different, but I'm drawn in.

Til The Casket Drops drops December 8th.

Tambourines = A Good Time.

Promise Land by Joe Smooth featuring Anthony Thomas. I graabed this from the good people over at Jam Of The Day. What's up, Jeremy! If somebody is playing the tambourine in the middle of a party, you that joint is jumping! 80s style kicking it.

Chicago Love. Richard M. Daley is still the Mayor.

11, 11, 11.

Yo. I don't know too much about this BlakRoc project except Dame Dash and The Black Keys are spearheading it. This joiont is Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo):

Check the webisodes. The entire project just seems so organic, so true to the culture. 11 artists collaborated with The Black Keys, 11 days in the studio, and the album is 11 tracks. The anticipation is building.

2 Mothers.

By Harold Green (Black Orchard) from his upcoming mixtape The ORACLE KiD! and Harold Green presents... Dessert Before Dinner.

Dropping 11/20.

I Say Fever.

By Ramona Falls. Directed and animated by Stefan Nadelman.

This story line is dope to me. It seems to be a piece all about people not being what they seem. Are we all savage animals? And check the mysterious woman who seems to be working with the eagle head dude. Cool stuff all around.

Empire State Of Mind.

By Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys. Directed by Hype Williams.

I'm posting this mainly because I like the song a lot. Long before it became a single I felt it was the best song from Blueprint 3. This video is really just okay, in my opinion. It doesn't look as triumphant and resounding the way the song sounds. The black and white aspect is okay, but its over used, and the portraits weren't that striking. I think color portraits would have caputured the life of the city better. And it didn't seem to have that Hype flair to it. Just seems flat. As always, I'll stop there... dope song though.

Hey, everyones a critic I guess. Just my two cents.

The Cyphers.

Segments from BET's Hip-Hop Awards. I agree, Nana... Buddens killed it. And I kinda like Nicki's verse.

Nana, I agree once again... Black Thought murdered this! Mos (What's up, Danielle) comes in second, and Eminem takes third in my opinion.

The beauty of Hip-Hop. Long live the Culture.

Life Is Better.

By Q-Tip featuring Norah Jones. Directed by Goodtimes. Real groovy track, with smooth visuals and transitions to accompany. Plus its an ode to Hip-Hop!

Go grab The Renaissance if you don't already have it. Solid album.

Let Love Rule.

By Lenny Kravitz (JUSTICE Remix). Directed by Keith Schofield. What a dope concept!




Is that Marty McFly?

Constant Surprises.

By Little Dragon. Directed by Fredrik Egerstrand. I kinda dig this joint. The video has some cool visuals, and I especially like the editing.

Gondry Cross Country.

Just stumbled upon this little gem... "Behind" by Lacquer, a french band. This video is directed my Michel and Oliver Gondry. Check all the small subtleties:

I've been wanting to do a time lapse shot for some time. This inspires me.

Whatever You Want.

The Grammy Family (Consequence, Kanye West, & John Legend). Directed by Hype Williams.

Classic Hype intro. The crazy dancing girls are kinda funny to me. Watch that hair, lady.

Wizard Of Poetry.

Big Wu fan. Ghostface Killah is in my top 5 of all time believe it or not. One of the most consistent Wu-Tang clansmen. His latest album, Wizard Of Poetry, which drops this coming Tuesday, September 29, is kinda sorta an R&B album. Well its more like Ghost is rapping over R&B beats with R&B singers handling the hooks. Take for instance this song "Baby" featuring Raheem DeVaughn:

The album is dope by the way. Grab that Tuesday!

Blonde Fire.

By Hickey Underworld. Directed by Joe Vanhoutteghem.

God? Dope concept, and dope execution.

Steal The Show.

The homey Harold Green does a classic "gotcha" YouTube video featuring the track "Steal The Show" from his upcoming album, Dessert Before Dinner. Check the LEEK logo:

Oh, by the way, Chicago's own the ORACLE KiD produced the entire album. Whoever that is...

This video may upstage the first one.

Hilarious!

Two Weeks.

I don't know too much about Grizzly Bear, or they're latest album, Veckatimest, but I have heard its pretty good. I even have a copy of it, but have been listening to Raekwon's Cuban Linx Part II (so so good by the way), Kid CuDi's Man On The Moon (spacey, but still dope), and other hip-hop albums as of late. Even though this is not the official video for their song "Two Weeks", my interest has piqued even more now:

Dope concept. The animated puppetry is dope, and I love the movement from scene to scene. Still trying to figure out the full storyline, but I can see its a story of heartache. In any event Gabe Askew did a great job on this piece.

Body Of Work.

Jay-z has teamed up with Rhapsody Music for promo towards Jay's 11th studio album, The Blueprint 3. You can actually listen to the entire album from their site. Dope concept...

...I'm pretty far along into the album, and all I can really say is it has its moments.

Yo, remember when Rhapsody was a peer to peer download site like Napster, Limewire, Piolet, and all those joints? I actually thought Rhapsody was one of the better ones.

Succesful.

Drake featuring Trey Songz. Directed by Jake Davis.

I'm posting this mainly because I like the original, which this is not. Though this isn't a bad version (I like Trey's newly inserted verse), I just prefer the three-Drake-verses-phone interlude-Lil' Wayne-surprise-verse version better. And though I'm feeling the clean, architectural visuals, the clip is kinda just okay for an otherwise dope song. I can dig the look 'cause I feel like they definitely capture the mood of the song, but the narrative, if there is one, is confusing.

So why am I posting this? Cool video, but the Obama quote is worth the post.

Grapevine.

By Fatboyskinny (Harold & U.G.L.Y. of Black Orchard). Directed and edited by U.G.L.Y.

Nice shirt, Harold! "Mad Drivin'" is on the way... stay tuned.

Directed By Nabil.

Nabil Elderkin is an accomplished photographer who has been adding more video work to his resume. He recently uploaded this video for Jeremy Scott's ADIDAS line. The song, "Get It Up" by Esau Mwamwaya featuring M.I.A. and Santagold, fits the tribal look of the clothing perfectly. Check it:

I wonder if Nabil is part of G.O.O.D. Music. Probably not. Perhaps Kanye just likes his work, and has suggested him to direct his artists video. I especially like this John Legend clip for the 8mm work. And I really liked City Of God. Is that random?

This one is for Chicago. Dope visuals.

Run This Town.

Jay-z featuring Kanye West and Rihanna. Directed by Anthony Mandler.  I know every other hip-hop blog has posted this, but hey... I'm feeling this joint, as well as the video.    

Check the confirmed tracklist.  The anticipation is building.

A Crazy Trip In Chicago.

Though I've seen the logo, commercials, news blurbs, and unbeknownst to me have seen some of his jewelry on local Chicago artists, I never knew it was Mr. Tastees.  He screen prints his own shirts, then sells them out of either his ice cream cart or from his turquoise ice cream truck. Dope concept.  Did I mention he's from Chicago?  Mr. Tastees has put together a Visual Mixtape consisting of a few Chicago artists that he has done custom jewelry pieces for.  Check it:    

I love films that fuse live action and animation together, and this piece does not disappoint on that tip.  The graphic work and cinematography are on point as well.  Aside from all the technical stuff, I like this joint because its crazy!  Its off the wall crazy... and were those ninjas!?!? This piece also does a great job of getting sleepers up to speed on the local Chicago music scene.  I just wish it were longer... I want more!

There's no place like home.

Kanye's Heartless.

Covered by The Fray.

I'm feeling this cover, and I actually think this video is a better visual accompaniment than the one for the original song.

Make Her Say.

By Kid Cudi featuring Kanye West and Common. Produced by Kanye West. Directed by Nez Khammal.

I'm feeling this video. The soft colors and overall abstract look works for the song. And the split screen action allows for some interesting editing choices. Another cool fact is Nez Khammal shot Kanye in L.A. while Cudi and Common were shot in New York. So the spilt screen allows all the featured artists to appear on screen together despite being in different locations.

Summer Sounds.

I've been listening to a lot of pretty good music lately, seeing as how most popular/radio-played music has been overall less than stellar. Guess you gotta dig if you wanna hear some actual music nowadays rather than mindless noise.

I been bumping Wale's The Mixtape About Nothing for the past few days. Even though it came out last year, I had to throw it back in rotizzy [that's my slang for "rotation"] for the summer. I encourage you to download it if you haven't already. This video for "Nike Boots", directed by Chris Robinson, is actually the original version of the song. The remix featuring Lil' Wayne is the version on the mixtape.



I checks for Pac Div. Nana just told me they dropped a new mixtape, Church League Champions. I have yet to hear it, but I did just download it. Their video for "Mayor" dropped about a month and a half ago or so, and if this joint is any indication as to how the rest of the mixtape will be, this should be a good one.


Last night I was chillin to some Walking Sdrawkcab (thats "Backwards" backwards, obviously) by Clutchy Hopkins. Smooth Hip-Hop/Jazz type joints. The origin of this dude is unknown. A completely separate post would be needed to explain the myths surrounding this guy. I won't even begin to tackle that task, but feel free to do ur research on him. This joint is called "Song For Wolfie."

Looks like Clutchy has a new one out. Gotsta add it to these summer sounds with the quickness.

I'll stop there... for now. Enjoy these summer days, folks!

Distant Relatives.

This could be very dope.

Best I Ever Had.

by Drake. Directed by Kanye West.

Hilarious! Nice work Mr. West.

Kids.

by MGMT. I check for these dudes. I can't get enough of their latest album, Oracular Spectacular. Check out their latest video:

That kid is gonna be traumatized for life.

Paranoid.

By Kanye West. Directed By Nabil Elderkin. This song is my second favorite track from 808s And Heartbreak, yet I'm not that big a fan of the video. It does have some good elements in it though - such as the the model car scenes and the shadowy hands.

Spaceship.

Directed by Kanye West. Hands down, "Spaceship" is my favorite track from Kanye's debut album, The College Dropout. Though unfinished, Mr. West west has finally released the clip for the public. It has potential...

*SIDEBAR: The first half of the summer line will be here by the end of the week! We still have photos to shoot for the lookbook and online shop, so I'll keep you posted on the goings on...

Wrong.

By Depeche Mode

Dopeness.

Be By Myself.

Asher Roth featuring Cee-Lo, directed by John Christopher Pina.

I can appreciate the video for the the colors, and the graphics technique, but for some reason I feel like the the cuts should be much faster.  Still a dope video.  More than this video, check out his album, Asleep In The Bread Aisle.  I picked it up without hearing it first (something I have grown accustomed to doing for a few years now), and I must say it does not disappoint.  Oren Yoel did the lion's share of the production work, and he definitely did his thing.  I'll be watching for Mr. Yoel, and check out Asher if you haven't already.

Cuban Linx.

Raekwon's 1995 album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... is on of hip-hop's greatest albums of all time.  An instant classic.  The album is most noted for it's cinematic feel.  Rae has been trying to put out the sequel to the classic for some time now... and it seems to be coming to fruition finally:  

The familiar Wu formula of Raekwon, Method Man, and Ghostface Killah on one track is always magical.

Patiently waiting with high anticipation...

Making Of...

Making of 88 Keys Video "Stay Up" Viagra from kwest on Vimeo.

Geek To The Beat.

I don't know too much about Zion I, but I am a music video enthusiast, and this is dope.

It took me a minute, but... Alice in Wonderland.

Sexuality.

I first heard of Sebastien Tellier last year some time.  I saw the cover art from his latest album, Sexuality, and immediately I was intrigued.  Then I heard "Roche," and began my hunt.  Can't find it.  Now the video for "Roche" has dropped, and I must have the album.  

Did I mention this album was produced my Guy Manuel Homem-Christo, one half of Daft Punk?  I'm saving my euros so I can get this joint.  Somebody help me!  Where is it?  And if you find it, throw in his last two albums for me... thanks.

Her Morning Elegance.

By Oren Lavie.

Dope video. I've always liked stop-motion animation. Just look at the "Leeky Pipes" header background.

Leeky Pipes 100th Post.

There's nothing really significant about our 100th post... its just number 100.  

Anywaaaaays, last night I caught Jamie Foxx's video for "Blame It" featuring T-Pain for the first time, and I must say I was thoroughly entertained.  Though it is a typical club video - champagne bottles being popped, money floating around, sunglasses being worn indoors in a close to dark space - the video features some major A-list movie stars.  Is that Opie? Yes.  'Nuff said.   

I also caught Late Night with Jimmy Fallon which debuted last night.  Jimmy seemed a tad bit nervous all night, but hey, it was his first show.  The Legendary Roots Crew are his house band, which is absolutely incredible!   They add a really nice groove to the atmosphere of the show. Check the chemistry: 

I wonder what I'll say for our 200th post.  Probably, "There's really nothing significant about our 200th post..."

Carol Brown.

I don't check for Flight of the Conchords... maybe I should.  I do check for Michel Gondry though (who directed this video)... maybe you should too. 

Day N' Nite.

The W!LD LEEK team works around the clock to make our brand a reputable one.  If you haven't noticed, we've switched up the site just a tad.  We've added a link to our Karmaloop Kazbah page, our Facebook page, and we'll have a link to our MySpace page soon enough.  Stay connected!

  

Oh yeah, I may be the only one out of the team that feels Kid Cudi, and was waiting on this video to drop - which was done by SO-ME, who gave the world Justice's D.A.N.C.E. and Kanye's Good Life.  The first Day N' Nite video wasn't so bad, but this I likes more.

Hipster Jizz.

Mad late, but still hilarious!

This is for Rahman.

Pennies.

I've been waiting to see the Cool Kids video for "Pennies" since I saw the behind-the-scenes footage about 2 months ago.  Nana let me know it debuted today on their site.  Check it: 

I like the use of darkness.  It adds an interesting dramatic feel to a few scenes.  Besides that... eh.  The song is dope though.  The distorted bass and the whistling made this joint a winner for me. 

Things To Come.

Jeremy and I are working on completing our Spring/Summer line designs.  Well, Jeremy is doing all the work... I just say yes/no/let's try this.  So you'll have some goods from the LEEK fam soon enough.  I'll give you a sneak peek in the weeks to come.

Aside from W!LD LEEK, I've begun writing the treatment for a music video I'm shooting for my guy, Harold (Black Orchard).  Stay tuned for updates on that.  I've shot film projects in the past, but I'm a little rusty on my treatment writing.  While looking up sample music video treatments I stumbled upon this oldie but goodie: 

Hype Williams has always been one of my favorite video directors, primarily for his use of colors, and camera angles.  You can see the Bjork influences in the performance scenes. And the combination of NaS (spelled that way on purpose) and Lauryn Hill is a fantastic one.  

Pitchfork's 40.

If you follow the blog you may know I'm a fan of music videos.  I follow various directors' work, I'm interested in the techniques used, and Michel Gondry is a genius.  A few weeks ago Jeremy sent me a link to Pitchfork's Top 40 Music Videos of 2008.  I would say they probably missed some, and some of the ones they included weren't all that great.  Most of them I hadn't even seen before.  Their were a lot of goodies I felt everyone should check out though.  It was a little hard whittling down the list to just 10, but some were a little too crazy to post... though crazy is usually a good thing when it comes to music videos.  So here's my top 10 (in no particular order) from Pitchfork's list of 40 of the best Music Videos of 2008: 

Bjork: "Wanderlust" done by Encyclopedia Pictura

Bjork never disappoints.  Her music as well as her videos are always daring, different and good.   

The BPA f/David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal: "Toe Jam" directed by Keith Schofield

Fantastic use of those darned "censored" bars!

Buddy System: "Return To Horse Mountain" directed by Lauren Gregg & Craig Sheldon

Cartoon music videos are usually the best.  Those kids gave that unicorn the business.  Someone tell Lemar & Dauley they stole they're color palette for this joint.

Gnarls Barkley: "Who's Gonna Save My Soul Now" directed by Chris Milk

The Milk Man strikes again.

Hot Chip: "Ready For The Floor"

Intersting tests they're running.  The composition and colors of the shots are dope.  The Joker?

Justice - "Stress" directed by Romain Gravas

This some straight Project Mayhem type stuff... what does it all mean Mr. Gravas!?

She & Him: "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" directed by Ace Norton

A cartoon and live action mixture is usually dope as well.  Word to Roger Rabbit.  And I like the little ghost dudes. 

Thunderheist: "Jerk It" done by That-Go

All about the innuendo.  

Chad VanGaalen: "Molten Light" done by Chad VanGaalen

They got what they deserved.  Jerks.

Kanye West f/Dwele: "Flashing Lights" directed by Spike Jonze

This joint thoroughly disturbed me.  Its not even the full song, yet it intrigued me, mainly because its only 3 shots.  

Happy New Year!

Feist's video for I Feel It All (directed by Patrick Daughters for those that appreciate the art of music video making) has nothing to do with the new year ahead for W!LD LEEK, or anything remotely profound.  I just wanted to wish everybody a happy new year, and I didn't want to post just a picture of fireworks.

Plus I dig Feist.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! WOOHOO!!!