by Patrick Pilch (@pratprilch)
Last month, multidisciplinary wunderkind Dan Drohan released the genre-evasive You’re a Crusher/drocan! The album is a pop record doing the best it can to hide the fact that it is a pop record - and a very good one at that. It’s the only album that reminds me of Bill Nace, Mariah and J Dilla at the same time, and I think it’s the only album that ever will.
Today we’re premiering the video for “Leave It Loading,” the stunning opener from You’re a Crusher. Filmed in collaboration with cinematographer Emile Bertherat, the video reflects the themes of the song. Drohan offers:
“Emile's footage enabled us to create a story between a few different metaphors surrounding the meaning behind Leave It Loading. Waiting, while actively pursuing....Missing, while trying to catch.....Being Stationary versus being in Motion”
Cool! I love this video. It does what it says it’s going to do, and it does it well. Stillness is the move! I mean that in the least Dirty Projectors-referencing way! The video mostly features shots in NYC: one at Chelsea Pier (I think) and one in not-Penn Station (I’m sure). But it doesn’t exactly feel like New York. People pass, a train departs, but everything’s just out of focus. Take a watch:
If you’re still reading check out You’re a Crusher. I reviewed it and I still listen to it a lot - that doesn’t happen very often! Drohan mixes notes of experimental R&B with winding, bass-driven jazz. Its melodies and tempos are organized into detailed arrangements, layered with aqueous ambience and pinned down by Drohan’s masterful percussion.