Satellite Music Video

Hey,
Sorry it's been a while since the last post...my Christmas has been just as busy as everyone else's, if not more so. Enough excuses though...back to Guster.

If you haven't seen this yet, you're in for a treat Guster's new Satellite music video is finally finished. I watched it tonight, and was blown away by some of the really cool things Guster's done in stop-motion animation for this album. The One Man Wrecking Machine Music Video featuring a pillow tearing his world apart was awesome. The Satellite video isn't quite as cute and funny, but it makes up for its lack ov humor with a dramatic increase in style. Adam Bizanski, an Israeli indie filmmaker, put the piece together for the band just recently. He's done stuff for Zero 7 and Wolf Parade, too, all in this really cool cinematic style, playing with different stop motion techniques.

Satellite has really worn on me as a song. I find that the layering is quite amazing, the lyrics are fantastic, and the melody is quite catchy. This video seems to capture the essence of what this song is all about, too, with its slightly melancholy tone and satellite-like movement in sound. The hint of regret in the idea that "maybe you will always be a little out of reach" tugged at my heartstrings just a little bit. I've known some girls like that.

Anyway, check out the new video. It's amazing. It has cutouts of the band. It SPINS! I've stuck a YouTube connection below for your convenience. Please comment--let everyone out there know what you think of thi latest music video effort. Enjoy!

Scooter for a Day Contest Results

New news from the Guster road journal at guster.com

It's been a pretty tight competition on You Tube to become Scooter for a day. Scooter now signs just as many autographs as Ryan, and he's adored by people of all ages all over the country. Amazing what happens when people have a chance to become you for a day while on a cruise with Guster. I was quite impressed by the quality of a couple of these videos.

I have to congratulate Denise Cook, who posted a comment on my blog's initial "Scooter for a Day" post to show us her video entry. I was impressed with the effort--I'm glad to see she won at least some backstage passes and show tickets. I'm happy for her and jealous at the same time. Too bad it wasn't the big prize. She deserved it with all of those cardboard signs. Here's a direct quote from Guster.com's announcement:

After a couple months of watching homemade videos ooze their way onto the internet, we can finally declare a winner for the "Scooter For A Day" contest we held on YouTube. In a nutshell, the winner gets an all-expense paid trip for two on our January cruise to Turks & Caicos with Barenaked Ladies under the guise of taking over for Scooter as drum tech for a day.

I want you to know that the decision was not easy, and that we didn't take it lightly. We watched every single video. We laughed, we cried, and we were forced to listen to songs that we wrote 15 years ago. For instance, Joe asked me "what's that one old song I heard that had a great riff and a cool verse and then suddenly took a terrible emo turn at the chorus?" That song is "Love For Me," Joe -- and you're right. It was sounding great until everything fell apart at the chorus.

I need to stay on track. We took the decision seriously, even calling in legends from the past like "Pasty" to weigh in. And it was a close vote. So we're adding some runner-up prizes into the mix.

The 1st place winner will go on the cruise with a friend. In the event that the 1st place winner cannot fulfill his/her duties as Scooter for a day, the runner-up will be expected to step in, just like when Vanessa Williams posed for Playboy and relinquished her Miss America crown to someone else.

So here are the top 8, in reverse order. Everyone below will get free tickets and backstage passes to a show of their choice this spring. Thanks for all the effort, everyone. How about a round of applause for all our contestants!!

8th Place: Rena
7th Place: Alf
6th Place: Top Down 5
5th Place: Jane
4th Place: Bunnie
3rd Place: Andrew Deaver
2nd Place: Denise Cook
1st Place: Jeremy P.

Congratulations to all you winners in the Scooter for a Day Contest!

Guster at Vegoose--free Webcast

Yesterday, I mentioned in my post about the cancelled Salt Lake show that I wished I could get to Vegas. Well, I can't go that far, but I'm still going to see the show.

Thankfully for everyone who will not be in Vegas this weekend, Guster is making THE ENTIRE SET from Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas available online for a streaming broadcast! I'm so excited! The show starts at 6:10 pm PST (the switch to standard time is on Sunday morning, folks) and can be seen for free at www.blueroom.att.com. If you can't catch the broadcast, there will be an archive available after the show so you can still check out at least bits and pieces.

Check out the original Guster blog post on MySpace if I haven't answered all your questions already.

FREE SHOW! WAHOO!

One Man Wrecking Machine Video

Have you seen the new One Man Wrecking Machine video? It's amazing! If you haven't, take a few minutes out of your busy day and check it out. The video can be found on Guster.com and clicking Media, or by clicking on the link above. The video features a yellow pillow man wearing a tie who falls in love, gets high, tears apart his little plush world, then sews all the little bits back together with his giant sewing machine--which he then triumphantly rides into town. This is Guster originality at its finest. Who else would ever think to make a music video this cool and strange? I'd like to own that yellow pillow some day. He's pretty cool. I wish I could sew my world back together with a sewing machine.

This video fits so well with the lyrics of the song, and gives quite a bit of background to help interpret the song. I've been "inspired by true events on movie screens" here, or at least my computer screen. Check out this video and be prepared to be amazed.