Speaking of supremely artistic videos…The Real Tuesday Weld deserve a lifetime achievement award for outstanding contributions to the fine art of video making. Has anyone else thought to make a video with singing maggots in it? Didn’t think so. Maggots aside though, how many other acts have produced such an excellent series of videos in a relatively short career span? Not too many. Stephen Coates takes seriously the possibilities of the music video as its own artistic statement. As for writing lyrics? I’m pretty sure he’s singing “life is good when you’re filled with blood.” A truer statement was never made.
I first encountered this video a few years ago on a compilation of award winning animated shorts and I’d been trying to track down the song ever since. Imagine my delight when my search led me to The Real Tuesday Weld. The music of The Real Tuesday Weld is intoxicating enough on its own, but it’s the animated videos that really mark the map. Although this one doesn’t feature the Clerkenwell Kid, it’s a major highlight. The animation is by Alexey Budovsky. Budovsky has made a series of videos for Stephen Coates, as well as a wealth of promos and commercials.
Jury Award for the Best Animation at Sundance Online Film Festival 2004, Prize “for the perfection of music and fantastic Imaginary” at Ottawa animated film festival 2004, Grand Jury Award for the best animated short at Florida Film Festival 2003,
The Best of Show Award from ASIFA-East 2003, Grand Prize from ASIFA–West, Prize for the best film in “applied animation” category at KROK –2003 (Russia-Ukraine), Diploma from IX Russian Festival of Animated Films, Best Animation at Boston Underground Film Festival, Third Prize at Film Fest New Heaven.
Official selection at Annecy 2003 (France) , Newport International Film Festival 2003, Resfest 2003, Sacramento film and music festival, Woodstock film festival, Hamptons International Film Festival, Northhampton Independent Film festival, New York Expo, Wiesbaden Film Festival (Germany), Cartoombria (Italy) , Black Nights international Film Festival (Estonia, Tallin), Tel-Aviv Festival for comics and animation, Anima Mundy (Brazil), Aspen Shortfest, Zagreb Animafest
The Real Tuesday Weld is one of my favorite new discoveries this year. The band is the brainchild of British musician Stephen Coates, who imagines pop music that evolved from jazz without the interruption of rock’n'roll. Their genre-defying music has been labelled ‘antique beat’, ‘baroque pop’, and ‘electric cabaret’. They are also known for their enchanting animated videos. Check out their way cool website, tuesdayweld.com.
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