Boing Boing tv: The Herd, "2020," music video by Mike Daly (buh-bye, 2008!)

(Video embed above, and here's a direct MP4 download.)

A special treat from Boing Boing tv for your New Year's eve revelry, we're gonna sneak this one last episode in before the clock strikes 2009 here! Enjoy this music video for Sydney, Australia-based band The Herd, directed by the phenomenally talented Mike Daly. More about the band's "glam/folk/tropical" music here. Every time we played this one in the BBtv editing bay, we all ended up dancing around the Final Cut windows. Mike Daly did incredible work here, there's not a frame of this I'd do differently, and it says so much about the year we're ending tonight, don't you think? Dig it, TRY not to dance, keep the faith my fellow mutants, and Feliz Año a todos ustedes, from all of us at the Boing Boing blogs, and the Boing Boing TV team! Peace.

• [Anonymous]

  Never heard of ‘em before, but I like their sound. Well done, and happy new year, Xeni. :)

• [Anonymous]

  I interviewed The Herd a few months ago at Brisbane’s Sounds of Spring. They were a friendly, funny charming group of people. I’d post audio of the conversation, but it was done backstage and consists more or less of kick drum and bass from the band that was playing at the time…

• [barrymcw]

  Great work on that for sure. Clearly it was well storyboarded before they shot anything and the comping is tres well done.

  Happy new years all!!!

• [elNico]

  The Herd are a truly great Aussie Hip-Hop act and this video is certainly doing them justice. Thanks for posting.

  I missed them at the Woodford Folk Festival this NYE ’cause the van broke down…

  Looks like right now their site went the same way…ah well, here’s to 2009!

• [Daemon]

  Ok, as a general rule I hate rap, but I’m debating making an exception in this case. I seriously love the bass line.

• [nothing]

  the herd and their label elefant tracks do some awesome stuff.

  i have seen them before, and they know how to do live hip hop. Urthboy also seems to get around.

  Thanks for the vid, oh mighty BBTV.

• [elNico]

  Cool, in hindsight I thought my Toshiba comment was the most pointless in the entire thread, but Frau Blucher might have beat me to it.

  Here’s the vid sans Toshiba, regardless.

  @#5 Justin France
  I’ve been living in Australia for 12 years now and I can’t stop praising JJJ for what it is…I may be wrong, but I bet this combination of size/coverage/attitude/quality is fairly unique…ad free.

  It occasionally gives me a warm feeling about my taxes.

• [Takuan]

  whinnnney!

• [Justin France]

  Australian Hip-hop has come a long way, and The Herd are a great example.

  Awesome, meaningful lyrics that aren’t preachy and they’re genuinely making a sound for themselves album after album… ace that they’ve ended up on bb’s frontpage!

  The video is up for a J award, Triple J being the alternative / indie / youth station run by the publicly funded national broadcaster, so it’s getting some praise locally.

• [dr80085]

  It won the award for best Australian music video 2008.

  The other very worthy nominees are on the Triple J j award site.

• [elNico]

  After all, I’m really glad to see Toshiba supporting worthwhile stuff, since their products are such an embarrassing train wreck, with or without Xeni overdub.

• [zog]

  Wow, great stuff! Aussie hip hop has come a long way.

• [Frau Blucher]

  thnk y nd lrgr rprsnttv smpl f y thnk ths s gd msc. Pls try gn.

  #3 ths s nt ‘rp’ t s hp hp nd t’s nly hp hp n th sm wy tht Knny G s jzz, whch s t sy nt t ll, nt t ll.

• [sgnp]

  Thanks, FRENCHLEMONADE. I’d never seen that before.

• [spiregrain]

  There is one problem with this vid, excellently-executed though it is.

  The song is all about the words; and the vid is chock-full of words. I, for one, can’t take both sets in.

• [error404]

  SPIREGRAIN

  I would suggest that it would merit multiple viewings.

  When i first herd the Beatnigs song “Television” it didn’t all go in at the one sitting.

  With the addition of this densely packed visual litany of Aussie history since the end of WW2 to the chockablock density of the lyrics many many viewings will be needed.

  Not all things are easy.

  The Herd are a good mob, they did a cover version of Redgum’s song “A walk in the light green” popularly known as “I was only 19″

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns82tHhJOr0

  and to help with the density of Australiana

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Was_Only_Nineteen#Lyrics

• [lailahmorid]

  I’m not normally a huge hip hop fan, but this song made my head bob for a bit;)

• [frenchlemonade]

  Uh, I liked it the first time I saw it 3 years ago…when it was called Quicksand Under Carpet.
  http://www.singingfool.com/Title.aspx?publishedid=157626

• [pilcrow]

  If Roy Lichtenstein did political hip-hop, it would look something like this.

• [Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator]

  Frau Blucher @9 wins the prize for pointless oneupmanship.

  FrenchLemonade @13, neither the music nor the lyrics resemble “2020″. The only similarity is that the video for “Quicksand Under Carpet” also uses some daily newspaper imagery — and even then, it’s doing something quite different with it.

  That’s like saying The Fountainhead and Dahlgren are the same book because both of them have an episode where someone throws a statue down an airshaft.

• [shahryarrakeen]

  I’m expecting a mashup with Boikut and the Unpeople’s Amputate anytime now.