I'm Too Sad To Tell You

The artist BAS JAN ADER spent the early seventies in L.A. pushing his distinctive and dedicated work of photography, filmmaking, and performance. Although best known for his "FALLING" series of films, in which he is filmed falling from various heights, his 1971 film I'M TOO SAD TO TELL YOU provocatively establishes his brand of physical, emotional, and self-demanding art.

In 1975 he set out on what would be his final art project, called IN SEARCH OF THE MIRACULOUS, ADER set out in a tiny sailboat into the Atlantic. He was never seen again, and his boat was later found capsized off the coast of Ireland.

A new documentary about his life and work HERE IS ALWAYS SOMEWHERE ELSE is now in release.

Some company on the dancefloor

A little slice of Swedish backwoods dancefloor heaven. THE KNIFE, famously reclusive in performance, cast Sweden's most public transvestite to act as the artist in their clip for PASS THIS ON. The actual band members, a real-life brother and sister duo, can be spotted in the crowd. (The narrow-eyed dancer is THE KNIFE's OLAF). A masterpiece of setting and mood (and dance moves), this video rewards repeat viewings.

The clip for this song turned out so well, in fact, that they recreated it for a "live" television performance. Everybody dance:

Shame is Coming Back to the Redneck People

Poet and band-leader DAVID BERMAN reads a new poem, care of Pitchfork.tv.

All I Need

When I think about my favorite music videos of all time, I think back to filmmaker and artist MIKE MILLS' inspired experiments with the band AIR. The clip for 1998's ALL I NEED reminds of when I actually watched MTV, and the brave, borderline wonky, open-heartedness, along with MILLS' breaking into the audio of the song make it stand out.

And speaking of MTV, they apparently teamed up with RADIOHEAD for their new video for their song, um, ALL I NEED. The result is somewhere between an art video and a public service announcement. Good message:

This American Life vs. Rabio Lab vs. Chris Ware

In this animation for THIS AMERICAN LIFE's TV show, CHRIS WARE illustrates a story told by RADIO LAB's ROBERT KRULWICH and his wife. When the television version of TAL debuted last year, host IRA GLASS claimed he wanted the show to look like nothing else on television.

To this end, I think they've somewhat succeeded, with the often stunning cinematography highlighting the show's unique documentarianism. The first season of the show is on iTunes, with hopefully the second season to follow.

God Only Knows, Claire Denis

CLAIRE DENIS is a master, sensualist filmmaker. Her camera lingers on faces and skin in sometimes grotesque intimacy. This simple scene of a French bartender catching the attention of a passing American sailor from NENETTE ET BONI is a good example of her style.

God only knows what I'd do if VINCENT GALLO looked at me like this.

Here, she gets all telefoto on SONIC YOUTH for her music video of their recent INCINERATE:

Skater boys

For his film PARANOID PARK, GUS VAN SANT handed off Super 8 cameras to kids around Portland to capture the poetic sequences that highlight his film about youth skate culture.

Bonnie and Barney and Bjork

WILL OLDHAM sings the song GRATITUDE as the opening for MATTHEW BARNEY's film DRAWING RESTRAINT 9.

Music by BJORK.