Fool's Gold - ＂Surprise Hotel＂

What this video is

Released in 2009 alongside Fool's Gold's IAMSOUND Records self-titled debut, 'Surprise Hotel' arrived at the apex of music blog culture, when MP3 blogs and early social sharing drove breakout moments for eclectic indie acts. The band — an LA-based collective blending Congolese, Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Malian rhythms with Krautrock and 1980s dance pop, fronted by Israeli-American vocalist Luke Top singing primarily…

Why it matters

A key artifact of the late-2000s Afro-pop crossover moment in American indie music, when acts like Vampire Weekend, Dirty Projectors, and Fool's Gold brought African musical structures into mainstream indie consciousness. The video's pool-party verité format became a minor template for…

The director

American independent filmmaker and artist born July 16, 1983 in Walnut Creek, California. Graduated 2005 from Chapman University (film). Won the Tom Berman Most Promising Filmmaker Award at the Ann Arbor Film Festival for his debut short Darling Darling…