Seriously, do you remember music videos?  I know for me they were an integral part of my childhood.  While my mom cooked us lunch on those summer days during grade school she’d put on MTV, back when MTV actually played music videos.  My brother and I would sit in front of the television and watch the weirdness that was early 90s music videos.  I have vivid memories of being extremely freaked out by Tom Petty’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More” music video, even hiding under my bed every time they showed it.  In this new digital age it feels like music videos have gone the way of vinyl – it’s super cool but rarely supported.

However there are a few distinguished, savvy artists and directors out there who still keep the art of the music video alive.  Hence our new feature Hey Remember Videos?!.  Every Friday we’ll expose you to one amazing video that continues the animated tradition of music and film.  And what better band to start it off with than one of the most theatrical bands in Chicago right now, and a personal favorite, the Loneliest Monk.

The more times I get the opportunity to see the Loneliest Monk play, the more I fall in love with them.  The duo of Michelle Morales on cello, keys, and vocals and Miles Benjamin on drums and vocals are the perfect combination.  It’s like watching Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass come to life on stage.  Morales is the sure-footed Alice and Benjamin the loud, percussive Hatter, melding together into a mix of beauty and danger.

For those who haven’t witnessed what the Loneliest Monk has to offer, their new music video for “The Ghost and the Silhouette” showcases the band’s unique on stage personas in music video form.  Local film company Rubbish literally transformed Chicago’s Pilsen area into Monk’s imaginary playground for the shoot and it pays off in a big way.  Morales’s beautiful voice and pure white dress clashes nicely against Benjamin’s dark, masked character in the video in a way that would make German Expressionists and Romantics proud.  It just goes to show you that you don’t need a huge budget to make a beautiful video.  Check out the video for “The Ghost in the Silhouette” below: