Stereogum Home
June 22, 2007

New Rufus Wainwright Video - "Rules And Regulations"

Wainrofolo doesn't get political too often. On his America-fatigued "Going To A Town," Rufus the Baptist mixed Christian imagery with his States-based depression, but there's no real discussion of laying down the law in "Rules And Regulations." Here, the White Stripes fan works government entities into his metaphors for what he knows best: himself, and his vanity. So out comes Wainwright in long johns and the tight-clad dudes that posed for Neko's New Pornographers cover, all in a mansion with lots of line dancing. Think this is Ruf's idea of The Golden Age.

Posted at 10:42 AM in
Tags:




14 Comments

Well, that was odd.

Posted by: Rich at 06/22/07 11:25 AM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

would it kill him to smile just once? i would just be cracking up the whole time.

Posted by: katie, a princess at 06/22/07 11:50 AM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

The DL - hilarious!
You can't escape that irony!

Posted by: b.LOUD at 06/22/07 11:50 AM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Rufus has done nothing since '05 except confuse me. Part of me thinks he's losing his credibility as a serious singer/songwriter and cheapening his act (dare I say....selling out?), another part thinks this is the absolute highlight of his career. What the hell is going on?! Perhaps both?

Posted by: stephen at 06/22/07 12:05 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

I love Rufus more than anything in this world but god, do I wish he'd make another Poses (or something not so ridiculously baroque)!

Posted by: ec at 06/22/07 1:06 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

am i the only one amused by these new streaming technologies that begin to do horrible things to people faces as they try to refresh pixels? rufus gets spots all over his face in tight close ups. the worst i saw recently, was thelot.com had an interview with gary marshall and carrie fisher, who age rapidly as the video plays. it's like something out of 2001. then again, it might just be my connection. who knows?

Posted by: tngregory at 06/22/07 1:07 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

No such thing as too Baroque!

Hooray, most brilliant man in modern music!

Posted by: Uhnonimus at 06/22/07 1:29 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

I always say if it ain't Baroque then you better fix it.

Posted by: dannygutters at 06/22/07 2:05 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

He looks ready to start laughing at it throughout most of the video. I love that man.

Posted by: Katy at 06/22/07 3:58 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

dannygutters-

ha, I was waiting for someone to jump on that. ;)

Posted by: ec at 06/22/07 6:27 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

I agree that that was odd.

Posted by: kate L. at 06/22/07 8:32 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

this is like a gay "Let's Get Physical"

Posted by: David McCaffredy at 06/22/07 9:29 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

I might just be overly giddy, but the combination of this post -- the jab at Rufus's vanity -- and the mustachioed guys in underwear totally cracked me up.

I've only seen a couple of R.W. videos, but it seems his face is always the same in them. Such flat affect! It doesn't seem to fit the theatricality of it all.

Posted by: feathercat at 06/23/07 11:06 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

So amusing to see an artist confusing the bourgeois as he pursues his own brilliant aesthetic with such singularity.

Posted by: Bingo at 06/24/07 10:21 AM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Leave a comment


 

The 'Gum Drop

Get our newsletter. MP3s and giveaways weekly.

Search




Sort by:date relevance

Information

  • Contact:
  • About
  • Press
  • Advertising
  • Stereogum RSS Stereogum RSS XML Icon
  • MP3-Only RSS Stereogum RSS XML Icon

Staff

Founder/Editor-In-Chief
Scott Lapatine
Executive Editor
Amrit Singh
Senior Writer
Brandon Stosuy
Columnist
Jon McMillan
Technology & Operations
Jim Jazwiecki
Angela Williams

The Cool Kids

All Stereogum Posts

Get Flash to see our mp3 player. Here are our mp3s: Bodies Of Water - Under The Pines (»)
Torche - Healer (»)
The Apples In Stereo - Energy (»)
My Morning Jacket - Celebration (Live) (»)
My Morning Jacket - Get Down On It (Live) (»)
Gang Gang Dance - House Jam (»)
Black Lips - Starting Over (»)
Malajube - Ursuline (»)
Department Of Eagles - No One Does It Like You (Album Version) (»)
Au - I'll Be Home For Christmas (»)
Sufjan Stevens - Good King Wenceslas (»)
Bon Iver - Your Love (Live) (»)
Brendan Canning - Hit The Wall (»)
Franz Ferdinand - What She Came For (Live) (»)
Cursive - Bad Sects (»)
Cursive - The Recluse (»)
team9 vs. Stereogum - Disturbed Youth (»)
team9 vs. Stereogum - Lockdown Shelter (»)

Progress Report logo

Progress Report: Röyksopp

NAME: Röyksopp PROGRESS REPORT: Wrapping up their third studio LP, Junior, recorded "all over the world." As reported here a couple weeks back, Norwegian duo Röyksopp just celebrated 10 years together. And like good friends (or an old married couple)...

MORE »

Commercial Appeal logo

Apples In Stereo Energize Pepsi Rebranding

As we've mentioned in the past (2007), Robert Schneider's not afraid of the graceful sellout. So, no, we're not surprised that he and his E6 cohorts just scored a Pepsi commercial. (Heck, we already knew how much E6-related bands loved...

MORE »

Premature Evaluation logo

Premature Evaluation: Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

Andrew Bird hasn't been shy about previewing tracks from his fifth album during his various live sets. That, and the fact that Noble Beasts opens with "Oh No" and then the previously heard "Masterswarm" and "Fitz And The Dizzyspells" along...

MORE »

Band to Watch logo

Band To Watch: Cold Cave

Cold Cave is the brainchild of Philadelphia's Wesley Eisold, ex-Some Girls, Give Up The Ghost, XO Skeletons, and currently Ye Olde Maids, etc. We're calling his newest project a Band To Watch, but Eisold received some high-profile press when Fall...

MORE »

Quit Your Day Job logo

Quit Your Day Job: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

In February, New York BTW the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart are releasing their self-titled full-length collection of jangly, noisy indie pop on the most fitting of labels, Slumberland. We recently posted the video for album track "Everything For...

MORE »

The 'Gum Drop logo

DM Stith - "Ecstatic Only Static Peace (Peace to Me)"

Brooklyn-via-Buffalo songwriter DM Stith entered the Asthmatic Kitty stable via the design work on Shara Worden, aka My Brightest Diamond, albums and the vocals and piano he contributed to her Bring Me The Workhorse. He released the Curtain Speech EP...

MORE »