Classic Album Art Comes to Life in Roy Kafri’s New Beatbox Video
This image has been archived or removed.
Iconic vinyl art has taken a turn for the outlandish with Israeli comedy singer Roy Kafri’s latest music video. He not only features classic album covers brought to life, but ones that are, in fact, beatboxing on the street. Bowie beatboxing. Lou Reed beatboxing. If that’s not enough to mess with your mind, it’s filmed in reverse; by the end, we learn that our mock turtleneck-wearing protagonist has acquired the future of music – a MiniDisc player – which is why he no longer needs his record collection. The whole thing screams parallel universe.
There’s no doubt that Kafri kicks it to the next level when he drops his vocal beats, but his talent takes a backseat – because, um, there are “mouths moving on decades-old record sleeves.” It goes against every grain of certainty and mental comprehension we know to be true about vinyl, and the world it lived in when these definitive albums were issued. You don’t beatbox, Lionel Richie – you seduce – something is not right here! What is this?
It’s certainly transfixing. We won’t ruin all of the clever bits, but we will say that his manipulation of Carol King’s Tapestry is particularly good.
Kafri is based in Tel Aviv, and Acowpella Beatbox, his debut album, dropped back in March, 2011. You can find it here.
Go ahead and wrap your head around this.
[h/t Gizmodo]
Recent Stories
New Year, Wrong Stamp for USPS Commemorative Postage [OP-ED]
With the Lunar New Year fast approaching, the U.S. Postal Service released its annual commemorative stamp to honor the holiday. Yet, the new postage seriously misses the mark, is wrong on many levels. The Lunar New Year – observed this year on February 12 – is celebrated by several Asian cultures, but it’s difficult to […]
Covid Killed ‘Wall of Sound’ Producer Phil Spector; Revisiting The Ronettes Outside Parisi Bakery
Phil Spector, the legendary “Wall of Sound” producer, music impresario, and convicted murderer, died on Saturday of purported complications from Covid-19 at the Health Care Facility in Stockton (California), after being transferred from prison. He was 81. Incarcerated for murdering Lana Clarkson in 2003, Spector would spend his final years behind bars. Which makes paying […]
Appellate Court to Hear Community Lawsuit that Halted Development of Two Bridges Towers
Down on the Two Bridges waterfront, the future of three super-tall residential projects will soon be decided. Indeed, it took a year, but a community-led lawsuit is now on appeal, with a court date set for next week. You’ll recall that a consortium of community groups under the banner of Lower East Side Organized Neighbors […]
East Broadway Subway Station Turns 85
The East Broadway subway station wasn’t always a shady dungeon attracting crime. Once upon a time, the transit stop inspired celebrations across the Lower East Side. It was exactly eighty-five years ago – January 1, 1936 – that the East Broadway subway station debuted to the public. The feat of subterranean engineering, then known as […]
Looking at the New Ludlow House Annex Atop Demolished Libation Site
Well, that was quick. With Libation excised from the Lower East Side, the hole is now filled. Taken over by Ludlow House. The building at 137 Ludlow Street was demolished last year, and replaced in a matter of months. In fact, it’s already operational. The architecture of this one-story newcomer mirrors design elements of its […]
