The White Stripes
The White Stripes, a rather unique Alternative band out of Detroit -- one guitarist and one drummer and that's it -- has brought the fun of music videos back with "The Hardest Button to Button." It's kind of old school as it utilizes trick photography rather than computer animation and relentlessly synchronizes the imagery with the drum line. Some of the other videos at their site have these techniques, but are wholly unique. And check out the video for "Fell In Love With A Girl." You'll never look at Lego bricks the same way again.
The band is rather old school, too. Don't get me wrong. Their music for the most part has a fresh and modern feel, but it's obviously doesn't forget it's heritage in Rock and the Blues. In a recent interview* with Terri Gross on NPR's Fresh Air, there's a discussion in length about this aspect of the music. That's one of the reasons why I changed the genre of the first track I downloaded, "Ball and Biscuit," from Alternative to Blues. The guitar work, lyrics, and general rhythms are very straight out of the Memphis school of Blues, but the vocals are clearly Alternative.
*Click the link for the interview. It is also available on iTunes (free for a very limited time) and as an Aubible.com download.
