 As part of its 40th anniversary celebrations,
the Ontario Arts Council has produced two minute
shorts featuring artists that it has supported
for broadcast on TV Ontario.
Martin Tielli is among
those who has received OAC support, and his
short is a live performance recorded in his
apartment of "From the Reel" from
his album We Never Even Suspected that He
Was the Poppy Salesman.
Tielli fan Richard Tomlin
captured the video and sent it to us so that
it could be shared with Tielli fans outside
Ontario.
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| "Merry
Christmas Sgt. Kraulis " |
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5:33 |
Scott Douglas Cudmore,
a visual artist and friend of Martin's, directed the gloriously bizarre video for "Merry Christmas
Sgt. Kraulis" from Operation Infinite
Joy. The b-movie hijinks depict
Martin befriending, and then being beheaded
by, a troupe of musically gifted, mysteriously
ambulatory stuffed animals in High Park. The
victors use Martin's head in a questionable scheme
to power a giant robot. Or something like that.
Scott Douglas Cudmore also collaborated with Martin
to develop a video for "Beauty On,"
the first track off Operation Infinite Joy.
The video combines scrap 8mm footage with shots
of Martin peforming the song and was produced
for a total cost of $13.64. Fans may recognize
the backdrop behind Martin.
If you're
interested in purchasing a high-res version
of the "Beauty On" video for your
private collection, please e-mail Mike
Evans to express that interest. It isn't
available yet but fan interest will help to
make the decision and, if it is made available,
it will priced on a cost-recovery basis only
-- that is, about five bucks.
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| "I'll
Never Tear You Apart" |
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4:24 |
Martin Tielli’s live performances are legendary
among his fans. Trace Pictures wanted to retain
that intensity when asked to produce the video
for "I'll Never Tear You Apart", the
first single from Martin’s album, We
Didn’t Even Suspect That He Was the Poppy
Salesman, (Six Shooter/Outside).
John Doyle of the Globe and Mail said
it is "a startling beautiful video for
... Martin Tielli's gorgeous song. [This] one's
a heartbreaker."
The video was shot in the same studio, an old
converted church, in which the album was recorded.
Michael Phillip-Wojewoda, who produced Poppy
Salesman, supervised the audio production
of the video. The video is a single take of
a live performance.
Trace Pictures worked within a silent horror
movie aesthetic, recreating Martin as a kind
of monster minstrel, who swears love on one
hand and reveals an appetite for vengeful evisceration
on another.
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