One Moment

November 23, 2016 11:00 AM

"One Moment," A New Video From OK Go. (Facebook Link - that's the only place its currently hosted) Background notes and full credits here.
posted by Joey Michaels (32 comments total)

Because my first thought after "holy CROW" was "jeez, I too would love to have that many guitars to simply blow up for fun" there's this from the "Background notes" link:

Did you really blow up all those guitars?
Yes, but they were already being scrapped by Fender for not meeting their quality control standards, which is to say they were defects. No playable guitars were harmed in the making of this video.

Another amazing video from these guys. I couldn't even hum a single song of theirs, but I know a bunch of their videos from memory.
posted by nevercalm at 11:09 AM on November 23, 2016 [11 favorites]

Gorgeous!
posted by helmutdog at 11:11 AM on November 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

It's funny how even as their videos get more scientifically complicated to achieve, they come closer and closer to Nickolodeon's "You Can't Do That on Television" in just throwing lots of colored goop at the band members. Cool video, looks like a great cause.
posted by ejs at 11:37 AM on November 23, 2016 [5 favorites]

Another amazing video from these guys. I couldn't even hum a single song of theirs, but I know a bunch of their videos from memory.

I've watched most of them with the sound turned off so they may all have the same song as far as I know.
posted by octothorpe at 11:45 AM on November 23, 2016 [3 favorites]

Nickolodeon's CJOH's "You Can't Do That on Television"

Sorry (not actually sorry). Can't let that slimeing go. Ottawa hasn't got a lot of media history to be proud of, but cheezy kids shows from the 80's is a major part of it.
posted by bonehead at 11:48 AM on November 23, 2016 [12 favorites]

OK GO are a brilliant advertising creative team masquerading as a band.
posted by muggsy1079 at 11:59 AM on November 23, 2016 [27 favorites]

Seems like each time they do a video that amazes you with how hard they must work for that one perfect moment, they up the ante again with the next song. Well done.
posted by Metro Gnome at 12:09 PM on November 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

I save various short videos that my kids like, for them to watch while they're flossing and brushing teeth each night. If you only count professionally produced music videos (and not, say, songs with just lyrics text, or Animaniacs songs), then OK Go now makes up more than 50% of that subset of the list.

So on the one hand, I am perpetually grateful as well as amazed.

On the other hand, a Family Guy quote keeps running through my head, and I've got to wonder what the OK Go guys have to be thinking at this point. Their music is actually good, and IMHO can stand on its own, but at this point they can never just retire from the hyper-choreographed slow-motion zero-gravity trained-animal Rube-Goldberg tricks and make only average music videos (or god forbid, just make music), or for the rest of their music careers they will be hounded with criticism that they "ran out of ideas".
posted by roystgnr at 12:15 PM on November 23, 2016 [4 favorites]

they up the ante again with the next song

And this is exactly what I'm talking about. At this rate they've pretty much got to get themselves on one of the early manned Dragon missions, and even if they can wangle that you just know the reaction is going to be "Meh; zero gravity again?"
posted by roystgnr at 12:18 PM on November 23, 2016 [3 favorites]

It's available to watch on their website (if you'd like to avoid Facebook) here.
posted by Bunglegirl at 12:43 PM on November 23, 2016 [4 favorites]

Excellent - thank you Bunglegirl. Mods, if you think that's a better link, feel free to change it in the original post.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:45 PM on November 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

OK GO are a brilliant advertising creative team masquerading as a band.

Sodium Chloride Blue
posted by mach at 12:45 PM on November 23, 2016 [4 favorites]

Facebook Link - that's the only place its currently hosted

this is ominous
posted by thelonius at 1:17 PM on November 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

This is not enough to make me go back on Facebook. Too bad.
posted by kinnakeet at 1:53 PM on November 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

Here's a link to the video on the band's site.
posted by Jefffurry at 2:11 PM on November 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

but at this point they can never just retire from the hyper-choreographed slow-motion zero-gravity trained-animal Rube-Goldberg tricks and make only average music videos (or god forbid, just make music)

You never hear anyone ask "Hey, have you heard the latest OK Go single?", but you do hear them ask "Hey, have you seen the latest OK Go video?" They really are stuck.
posted by tommasz at 2:44 PM on November 23, 2016

Did You Know? Experimental film collective OK Go also creates and performs the scores for all of their popular short films.
posted by ckape at 3:01 PM on November 23, 2016 [42 favorites]

2 hours ago I posted a FB status that read "For reasons I cannot quite gauge, I find myself primally annoyed at the words "new OK Go video""

15 minutes ago the OK Go account posted the "Get Over It" video in that status's comments.

Well played, lads.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 3:06 PM on November 23, 2016 [22 favorites]

Re them hosting video on Facebook, they started this with Upside down and Inside out. Article here at adweek, with reasons.
posted by freethefeet at 3:36 PM on November 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

In case you missed it, this was OK Go's NPR Tiny Desk appearance.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:23 PM on November 23, 2016 [3 favorites]

OK GO are a brilliant advertising creative team masquerading as a band.

I mean, you can royally screw that up. Anyone remember all the flack that Pomplamoose got? All their music videos were viral-y. Now I think, "Pomplamoose", I think of my housemate's La Croix obsession.
posted by alex_skazat at 6:53 PM on November 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

I've got to wonder what the OK Go guys have to be thinking at this point.

Here's what Damian had to say two years ago:

There’s a general assumption that we, as a band, must feel ashamed by the the disproportionate attention paid to our videos, as if their success somehow disqualifies our music from being good, also. Which, if you put yourself in my shoes, is just flat-out crazy.

Think of it this way: I’m a chef, and you’re in my restaurant. We’re world-famous for having incredible desserts. And your question is: Do people have to eat the desert to enjoy the main course? From where we stand, it’s a wonderful thing that that we have such good desserts, and we feel blessed that they’re known around the world for being delicious and singular and unique and unlike anyone else’s. If millions come in for the desserts, and hundreds of thousands also find they like the main course, awesome. There are no bad customers in this restaurant.

It used to be that music and film and video games and journalism were actually very different physical objects with industries built around selling and distributing them. Now all of us make ones and zeros. I spend my time chasing my creative ideas. My process generally starts with writing songs, but it leads to a lot of other fun places. I feel bad for musicians who get trapped in the box of “music” as it was imagined 30 years ago. Some people like it in that box — their singular passion is playing guitar, say — but a lot don’t. A lot of people wish they were given license to chase all of their creative ideas, not just the ones that get encoded as sound files. We are the lucky guys who aren’t trapped in that particular box.

posted by Shmuel510 at 7:39 PM on November 23, 2016 [10 favorites]

Another amazing video from these guys. I couldn't even hum a single song of theirs, but I know a bunch of their videos from memory.

I am pretty much the same (although I probably could take a stab at "Here It Goes Again" aka The Treadmill Song). However, years ago I watched my godson meticulously arranging toy cars to recreate the recent "Needing/Getting" video. It came out when he was three. I don't think I knew any pop music when I was three, but I did have a cassette of Pop Goes The Weasel and other preschool favourites.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:52 PM on November 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

One of my oldest and dearest friends whom I've known for over 30 years who is someone I regularly share music back and forth with and have been to many concerts with saw OK Go perform live earlier this year, and he said it was one of the most amazing evenings of musical entertainment he'd ever witnessed. Lots of audience participation, taking requests, all manner of interesting performance art elements to the concert, apparently by the end it was a full-on party of music chaos instigated by the band using the audience as a communal instrument. Or something.

I've never seen them live, but based on that one recommendation by this one person, I'd totally go see them. I enjoy their videos, and have found one or two of their songs stuck in my head beyond the end of the video. Also their lyrics are better than you think they are.

For some reason, watching this video made me burst into tears. I haven't really been able to examine why yet. They weren't bad tears, just unexpected.

I found what I assume to be minimal CGI manipulation to be effective, too. Syncing up the flip-page animations some of the lip synch moments would have been impossible at 4.5 seconds. Still, very skillfully done.
posted by hippybear at 1:19 AM on November 24, 2016 [4 favorites]

Ugh, the buffering on this thing was awful. Like watching in slow-motion or something.
posted by No-sword at 1:25 AM on November 24, 2016 [3 favorites]

Bunglegirl: "It's available to watch on their website (if you'd like to avoid Facebook) here."

It's still the same Facebook video, just embedded on their website.
posted by brokkr at 2:49 AM on November 24, 2016

I saw OK Go at a small venue a few years ago and was impressed by how hard the band worked. They tried some unusual things during the show--handbells, confetti cannons, a 3D movie, suits rigged with LEDs--and not all of it worked well, but there was a real sense that they genuinely wanted to offer something different and unique. They had a great sense of humor and put out a huge amount of energy considering the tiny hall they were playing.

The videos are great, I've enjoyed every one. I think the visual thing is a big component of what this band does regardless of scale, and am amazed at their inventiveness. Plus I enjoy this new song. I look forward to seeing what these guys come up with in the future.
posted by kinnakeet at 5:15 AM on November 24, 2016 [3 favorites]

Sometimes artists have more than one way of expressing themselves.
posted by dry white toast at 5:43 AM on November 24, 2016 [2 favorites]

Is this a good excuse to mention again that I knew Damian Kulash in high school? I'm actually becoming increasingly convinced that he's a vampire. He doesn't look any different than he did in 1993.
posted by killdevil at 6:43 AM on November 24, 2016 [3 favorites]

I always wonder on something like this- what is the revenue stream? Are these guys making a decent living? Their videos are lauded so I guess if they put advertising in front then they can make a bit of cash. But I can't imagine they are moving millions of albums.
posted by tunewell at 8:22 AM on November 24, 2016 [2 favorites]

This one was sponsored by Morton's and the last one or the one before was sponsored by State Farm. That's how they pay for the videos.

Every time I've seen them live, the audience is packed. So I think they're doing okay.
posted by cooker girl at 8:29 AM on November 24, 2016 [2 favorites]

Sokka Shot First: same boat, but it was Hungry Ghosts. For months it was too painful to listen to a few of the songs, actually. The lyrics that hit hardest were the chorus to "If I Had a Mountain":

But a book abandoned by the bed
Might kill me
The stain from where your wine glass was
Could bring me to my knees
A book abandoned by the bed
Might kill me
If I, I don't have you

(And, I'm in tears again...)

I've seen two OK Go live shows. They are amazing musicians and put on a truly creative, beautiful, and memorable show; I'll walk over hot coals to see them at every possible opportunity forever. The new video blew me away, as usual -- but it still doesn't compare to seeing them live!
posted by kayray at 8:22 PM on November 24, 2016 [2 favorites]