More after the jump...
I am an unashamed fan of music videos from around the late 90's, and along with Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry, the Hammer and Tongs guys are a large reason why. This collection of Hammer and Tongs' work includes some quality videos from that late 90's period that bring back some great memories, along with some videos from the archives that I've never seen before (Supergrass' Low C and The Eels' Cancer For The Cure were completely new to me).


The highlight of the disc is listening to how the musicians feel about their videos (often over a decade later). But how do you arrange audio commentaries with the musical artists when their songs are only three minutes long? Simple. Just sit Garth Jennings down in his kitchen and get everyone else on the phone for a brief chat. Some are clearly old friends that consider the Hammer and Tongs boys to be creative kindred spirits (Bentley Rhythm Ace, Supergrass), whilst others don't shy away from being critical (E from the Eels, the complete absence of Beck's involvement).
They've even managed to rope in Maurice Colon to provide a livewire commentary for his interpretive dance featured in The Wannadies' Little By Little video. Like a cross between Uri Geller and Wayne Sleep, Mr Colon is sounding more and more like Adam Buxton these days. It's also nice to hear Badly Drawn Boy's Damon Gough reminisce about working with the team during the high point of his popularity. He clearly has some fond memories that their videos were a big part of.

Along with a few shorts that show how much they've grown since being students at St Martin's, we're also treated to a 30 minute documentary, 'Home Movies'. Made from behind the scenes footage from their early videos and onto the makings of their feature films, Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy and Son Of Rambow, it's nice to see the humble Garth Jennings walk on stage to present Son Of Rambow to a Sundance Institute audience and shake Robert Redford's hand. I'd have appreciated to see more from the making of their film projects, as I'm a fan of both films and the short snippets left me wanting to see more.

It's a complete joy to watch these music videos and reminisce about them, and this collection proves that there really are genuinely unique and visionary artists working in the commercial video world. It also shows that Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith can't make another feature film soon enough. This is a must buy for all fans of Hammer and Tongs.
Verdict
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