In my B+ review of Solange Knowles’ Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams in this Friday’s issue of EW, I selected the buoyant "Sandcastle Disco" as the disc’s standout track. With its jaunty lyrics and instantly memorable hook, the song deserves to be the kind of hit that will establish Solange as an artist in her own right, not just an asterisk on her famous sister Beyoncé’s Wikipedia page (or a brutally funny punchline on Dlisted). That’s why it pains me so that the accompanying video has turned out to be a mélange of disparate yet uniformly unfortunate ingredients. Listing the clip’s myriad defects all by myself seems too cruel, so I’ll just pick the one that I find most egregious: The "Solange’s Can I Sing Soup" label that pops up in the Warholian set piece about a third of the way into the video. I mean, bad enough that the imagery kind of conjures up a "will sing for canned goods" vibe, but the choice of a question ("can I sing") over the affirmative ("I can sing!") pretty much begs for a rousing chorus of "Nos!" from the haters’ gallery. Sigh.
Now it’s your turn: Pick your favorite flaw in the "Sandcastle Disco" video, and try to limit yourself to only one. To add to the challenge, be sure not to repeat any of your fellow PopWatchers’ choices. Fret not: There are plenty of visual heinoustries to go around!
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I’m going to have to vote for the bizzare, ruffly orange top she wears while dancing on instruments during the first chorus. It just…there are no words.
I’m going to have to vote for the bizarre, ruffly orange top she wears while dancing on instruments during the first chorus. There are no words.
I vote for the bizarre piano tap dance thing!
I saw her perform this song on Letterman this week – a little better without all of the visual extras.
The wardrobe made me throw up in my mouth a couple times. The stylist needs to be taken out back and shot.
How about all the bizarre Natasha Bedingfield style animation? Artists interacting with cartoons is soooo 80s.
All the balls boucing around the end scene – why are they there? also – what is that feathered dress she’s wearing – looks like something Phyllis Diller would wear. YUK! & I LIKE SOLANGE
I would have to say Unlawful Use of Colored Eyeshadows. Just pick one or two, honey – not the entire 60-shade collection you picked up at Ulta for $7.99.
I guess my least favorite part is the cheesy literal interpretation of each lyric with the little special effects. Remember when MTV played videos and record labels would put big money behind them? I miss those little mini-movies. Music video used to be an art form unto itself. Now it’s just another Target ad waiting to happen.
Actually, I love the vid and the production is tops…she looks good…but after reading about her Fox encounter and snobbishness, she’s not someone I’d want to meet in a back alley for sure….as for gaffes, something about the backup singers don’t seem right – seems that they are different or there’s a weight gain/weight loss with one of them. Oh well, she’s trying hard.
I still can’t get past the screechiness of her voice to notice anything in the video. I’m sorry Solange! I don’t know if the key is wrong or you need a few more vocal lessons, but seriously it hurts…
I think they’re trying to bring back 1986, and that’s not a good thing.
The more I think about this Hadley Str Dreams team, it’s a smart move, sort of like Amy Winehouse….a singer fronting a band…smart move, but she needs to get media savvy. There’s that vid from Foxnews all over the internet where she has a hissy fit about being called “Bey’s” sister. She should be proud and not try to separate herself from her sister. Pleez!
#1 heinoustry: the lime-green and black feathered thing she wore at the end of the video. Eek. A close second was that every time she sang “you know that I’m fragile” she winked or looked sexy…but not in any way fragile. Good song, though.
I couldn’t even make it through the video – and the first two posters nailed it with the awful/bizarre/not even funny orange ruffled top and attempt at “tap dancing.” But I just kept thinking: “Wait – I figured we were spared her musical career when she got pregnant, married, and divorced as a teenager.”
like heather graham said to sarah chalke in Scrubs: “one word: EYEBROWS!” hmph.
When she’s running on the spinning record. It reminds me of the ANTM photo shoot where they had to run on a tredmill and they photoshopped Miss J into the background.
She stinks, plain & Simple.
How about HER FACE! I guess Beyonce got all the looks (and talent)!
This is one bad-tasting soup. It’s like the director took a bunch of 1980s “cutting-edge” music video images, put them in a blender, then took the lid off while it was still on! The resulting ceiling splatter is this video.
Those fancy neon drumsticks at the beginning of the video — so cheesy! I felt like I was watching an old Paula Abdul video the whole time!
What’s with the giant inflatable toys in the background in the last bit? That was kind of spooky. And all the fugly footwear choices are distracting – it’s like she’s trying to out-Gwyneth Gwyneth.
None of you know how to have fun. Solange is TRYING to be goofy. Granted, she’s trying hard to be different from her sister, and her way of doing it is to adopt a kitschy persona. It’s kind of funny that the all too judgmental R&B blog audience is getting what she’s pulling (intended cheesiness) and the usually more refined PopWatch crowd is acting like Solange is going out there with this whole record with a straight face. It’s a great album regardless, but she’s certainly not out there thinking she made a video that’s supposed to wow us with special effects. HAVE FUN. Plus, this is two weeks old already. Where was the popwatch for I Decided?
Also, I think it’s all too easy and predictable to take cheap shots at Solange. Her sister is the biggest thing in R&B and that makes her an easy punching bag. No one expects Solange to try anything outside of the Ashanti mold, and when she tries to be different she’s made fun of. If Little Jackie had made this video, Slezak would have loved it.
Can I just put this out there. I don’t know when Solange learned to sing, and I wholeheartedly question if Beyonce didn’t do a bit of in-studio trickery to help her out.
Sorry haters, I love the song and the video. I don’t care who she is, I just like something with a little PEP and visual insouciance when I hear (and see it).
Drew- Since I am hyper Solange defending mode, I urge you to youtube some live performances where she proves to be a pretty decent singer. There’s a hilarious video where a drunken fan gets on stage with her, and instead of freaking out (like Beyonce admittedly would) she joins him. Still, I’m happy to see a theory which doesn’t support the crazy Beyonce sabotage concept
Drew- Since I am hyper Solange defending mode, I urge you to youtube some live performances where she proves to be a pretty decent singer. There’s a hilarious video where a drunken fan gets on stage with her, and instead of freaking out (like Beyonce admittedly would) she joins him. Still, I’m happy to see a theory which doesn’t support the crazy Beyonce sabotage concept
Alot of mine were taken, but I have one: The HIDEOUS outfits the backup singers are wearing. Especially those first black and white tents.UGH!
Wow, she looks soo much like Jody Watley. You are all probably too young to know who that is.
I tried – - really, I did – - to watch the video through to the end but just couldn’t stand the torture. I’m almost embarassed for her. Her singing is mediocre at best and the dancing is amateurish. She had nerve to give that Fox reporter attitude. No doubt she’s riding on her sister’s fame.