Dãm-Funk | “Mirrors”

IN THE TUBE
If you haven’t heard of Dãm-Funk yet (pronounced Dame Funk), think of him as Daft Punk’s slick younger cousin who shows up in your bedroom after a rave to play you some lullabies. You can also think of him as the official “Ambassador of Boogie Funk,” or “Captain Boogie-Town”. But the best way to understand what the L.A. DJ is all about is to watch the new video for his song “Mirrors”

For most of the video, Dãm-Funk shows up as a neon-colored astral projection, dancing around the bodies of passed-out partygoers. His voice (in its sleaziest) leaks through for the song’s refrain (Mirrors… / Look inside your soul) and you hope that nothing bad is about to happen to those sleeping – one of which is a girl alone in a forest (dear god someone get her out of that forest; there are bears in the forest!). Then, at Dãm-Funk’s command, the crashed partygoers begin to wake up, each thrilled and mesmerized by the glowing metaphysical DJ. They start to dance. Sure, it’s halfheartedly, mostly just head bobbing, but of course: it is about 4:30 in the morning and everyone is still tired from the ecstasy-fueled dance party from hours earlier. The song fits the mood about right. The girl wakes up and leaves the forest. Everyone seems happy.

This video is basically a heartwarming fairy tale about a guardian angel. A guardian angel who plays a Keytar instead of a harp, and who just wants to protect people from bad dreams and bears and date-rapists, and who wants to show the world that there’s never a bad time to get up and dance. At the end of the video, we see a clip of Dãm-Funk standing on a rooftop at dawn, peering over the L.A. skyline with a look that simply says, “I’ve made a difference today”. I like to think he has.

by Tom Mooseker