MV Monday: CNdY, jfever + TOKILL, Mr. Graceless, Heat Mark

It\’s Monday and I\’m feeling like a billion bucks, and after digesting this collection of visual goods, eager to get the camera out again. Just loving what people are cooking up these days. Here\’s the latest video cuts from CNdY, jfever and TOKILL, Mr. Graceless, and our first taste of LBM\’s June showcase from Shanzhai Laowai. Tasty.

MTV and CCTV have teamed up for a mini-series entitled ‘Live Your Own Life’ – basically little vignettes centered on individuals living their dreams through music. For their first take, they choose electronic outfit CNdY’s manager (wait was he just singing?) and it’s a nicely paced ‘slice-of-life’ that proves your day job can suck ass as long as you live it up after hours. A bit too schmaltzy but technically this is stellar stuff. Bart Simpsons’ head has never felt so life-affirming to me. Me thinks it’s time to check in on CNdY in the near future.

Last week, I raved about the latest collaboration from rising hip hop star jfever – with Kunming collective TOKILL – a strange abstract hip hop concept album involving the monkey king (really, that’s just the surface). Well the lot of them dug up old cartoons from the Shanghai Film Studio to form this accompanying video for their first tracks, sans the lyrics, and it’s a good way to soak into some Sunday morning cartoon mayhem all the while wondering if jfever and company might seriously be onto something here – the ‘Tao of Wu’ is strong and alive in these kids.

For the past year, the adorably catchy indie rock group Mr. Graceless have been teasing new material – and while we may be a ways away before their sophomore release hits – said new material is taking a more solid state. Their newest single \’300 people die in FLU\’ just received the video treatment, a live cut from inside the Maybe Mars factory aka XP. It\’s kicked off by Maybe Mars head Michael Pettis talking ecstatically about the music industry here. Fun fact: my dad looks back at a time when ‘How Much is That Doggy in the Window’ was a number one hit as the good ol times when music could still carry a tune – and he never ceases to remind me of this. Crazy, that man.

Fellow videographer/torch bearer Shanzhai Laowai just linked me this little gem, the first set from Live Beijing Music’s ‘Smooth Sailing’ showcase held back in early June. Miss that night already. Here’s dance garage rock Heat Mark’s set – and lord and behold they have a drummer now – definite step up. Check out the rest of Shanzhai Laowai’s videos here — he\’s got quite the catalogue. On a side note, might just be time to set up another show. Stay tuned.