Electronika TV. Episode I

A couple of years ago I used to play a Tiga record, but today I regard him without any particular fanaticism. He's heading, by design, towards major commercial success, which is probably no bad thing. And the appearance of this music video is proof of that. I don't play "You Gonna Want Me High" in my sets myself, though I've heard a great deal about it. As far as I know, it's a big hit; wherever you go on tour — 100% you'll hear this record, it's playing everywhere. The video itself I didn't much like; of course, I didn't feel any negative emotions about it, but I don't want to watch it a second time and it's definitely not among my favourite music videos. After I watched it in that little window, I couldn't make out any storyline, and the picture isn't much of a treat for the eye either. There's nothing original in this video. For some reason it reminded me of old Scissor Sisters videos — the same guitarists and drummers... in short, this clip didn't grab me one bit. But let it play, sound and be shown on our television, and better Tiga than Verka Serduchka.
I know there are a great many interesting video works that aren't featured on television but that can, thankfully, be found on the Internet. Speaking of our television — we feature very little interesting electronic music and video, but abroad the situation looks different, there's a large amount of good work there. Whereas here they show second-rate, if not third-rate, video... Chemical Brothers have an excellent video, and that's not a rarity. I'd like to shoot not a music video but a whole film about Moscow club life; it would definitely be a trash movie.

I have great respect for Tiga's work and his song "You Gonna Want Me High" is an unconditional hit. But I don't have it; you might say I quietly handed it over to others to tear apart — I don't play it. The clip itself I associate with "helicopters", the kind of visual sensation you get when you've had too much to drink and everything starts spinning frantically. The clip didn't strike me as original; in the 30 years of MTV's existence an incredible amount of video work like this has been made. I didn't see anything revolutionary, and I wouldn't recommend the clip to friends, precisely as a clip — the song's cool... but the visuals are quite standard. It's an absolutely commercial clip, made to the MTV standard.
I want to say that the further we go, the more indisputable the need for a VJ's participation in a club's work becomes. This isn't a music video, it's live video work, just like a DJ's work with music. I'm convinced that after some time every club will be equipped with VJ gear, just as it is with DJ gear. This is absolutely the next step in the development of club culture. And DJs, accordingly, need not music videos but VJs, who will constantly create new visual accompaniment to DJ sets.

I really, really, really like Tiga's music. A very stylish musician — and do you remember "I Wear My Sunglasses at Night"? I like all of his output, because everything is done and presented so coolly, with quality photos and music, always unusual; in short, Tiga's work appeals to me. I've been playing "You Gonna Want Me High" for half a year now, and I, incidentally, saw the clip for this song a very long time ago, I think on our MTV. The song "You Gonna Want Me High" itself is an unconditional hit! I really liked the video, and I want one just like it. I like clips that use modern computer technology, that have some kind of gimmick. There everything spins and whirls, and it's interesting to watch for all three minutes. You can tell straight away it's a cool project. By the way, I've never seen a single record that was badly designed, and that goes for all of Tiga's work — everything is very competently and nicely presented. On top of that, they're already heavily hyped. I'm going to shoot my own music video soon, probably under a different name, and we'll see what comes of it.