​We don't know a whole lot about Young Magic. They were just another one of the bands we get press releases on every day. However, we're music-video obsessed, and when anybody, anywhere sends us a video we watch it. In this case, it was their song "Night in the Ocean" which drew us into their particular brand of sorcery.

Shot in a beautiful, stark style the video centers on an overcast day on the shore. It lingers over footage of rainy waves before taking us into a sparsely furnished house where two actors undress and proceed to decorate each other in a series of cabalistic markings. The effect is somewhat erotic, somewhat sad, sort of like Gem Club's "252" but with more closure and less dying sexless and alone.

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​Maybe it's because I'm a Libra, but I believe that everything in life should be as harmonious as possible-love, especially. Duets might be the ultimate musical testament to such a theory. I'm not talking about the resonance that's created when a woman is vacuuming while her man watches television. I'm referring to the beauty and simple texture of two voices blending together in a shared space.

During the late '60s and early to mid '70s, shows like The Porter Wagoner Show, The Grand Ole Opry, and Hee Haw showcased various country artists and often featured duets from well-known musicians. This became a trend in country music as established musicians teamed up together to release duet albums.

Before male and female duets, harmonic country groups were usually family member, like The Carter Family and The Louvin Brothers. Genetics seems a fail proof way of reaching the most natural vocal blend, perfected over years of practice and training. Perhaps that's why many of the country duets from the 70's were seen as "gimmicky."

And that's okay with me, because most things in life will eventually be classified as a gimmick. Since Valentine's Day is one of those things, what cornier way to celebrate the occasion than with some memorable country duet performances? Break out the candles, red roses, and wine while you're at it.

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​Mary Sarah is Houston's fastest rising star. At 16 she's already a veteran of the road with big name gigs under her belt like performing the national anthem for the Astros and the Texans, and a recording project that we're not allowed to tell you about yet but can assure you is something that every country singer in America would hack off their own arm for.

How on Earth this bitter, little goth ended up chronicling her career we don't know, but she makes maintaining our scowl damned difficult. Her voice is as big as the state itself, as sweet as a Nerd Rope, and she is, as our father-in-law would put it, the cutest thing in shoe leather. Not only that, but when the call went out last year to help Christian Kidd of the Hates win cancer treatment for his fiancé by having people "like" the Dream Rooms Furniture Facebook in order to secure a donation from the company, Sarah was one of the people who clenched the deal by mobilizing her massive Twitter following. It's only a matter of time before she's too big and cool to talk to us anymore.

In the meantime, she sent along a video of her performing with the legendary Oak Ridge Boys, performing the Connie Francis hit "Where the Boys Are." If you've managed to miss all the evidence of Sarah's incredible vocal talent and legitimacy as the next big thing, then we beg you to take a gander below.

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​Ah, rappers and music videos. Some are vehicles for self-promotion, others are tools used to promote a message, a gaggle of asses or some good ol' wholesome debauchery. In the case of the Houston rap class, music videos are always eye opening glimpses into the future, either telling what a talent could possibly become or how such a talent can make a low budget idea turn into a big budget reward. This week, we get a dose of the '90s, only in 2012. All hail retro!

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​We have high video expectations from Blitzen Trapper, seeing as the music video for "Black River Killer" is probably one of the most brilliant works of the last decade. So hesitation abounded when we got a note about their latest one, "Taking it Easy Too Long" from their recent album American Goldwing. Well calm yourselves because while "Easy" isn't the epic explosion of style that won our hearts in "Killer" it more than lives up to the band's message and potential.

Directed by drummer Brian Adrian Koch, the video follows the band as they live a seemingly inescapable small town life. The days are full of minor automotive repairs, dirty apartments, drinking, fishing, and shooting Roman candles into the night. That sounds like fun, and for those of us out there working hard in bad times trying to make ends meet it may even sound like paradise, but there's an essentially hopeless quality to the video.

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​Every time we get a new song or video from Kerry Beyer it is just plain weird. Not the videos themselves, but the fact that these acoustic accomplishments are coming out of one of Houston's best and most acclaimed horror film directors. Oh well, a man's got to have layers.

His newest outing is a cover of the Beatles' "Across the Universe," and normally it's the kind of thing we'd skip here in the music video column. In addition to being a cover, which loses you points unless you do something over-the-top and ridiculous like Terrance Zdunich did with "Istanbul," it's more ore less just Beyer singing the song over a variety of special effects. The plethora of music videos that are little more than fun with filters has made finding subjects to write about a bit of a task. Even with these knocks against it this videos excels.

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​We're obsessed with music videos lately, and have spent almost the whole of the weekend seeking new and brilliant ones in order to feature in our weekly column. We're just so impressed with the capabilities open to modern artists at all strata of stardom, and how brilliant a piece of work can come out with just a little luck, a bit of cash, and a lot of hard work.

Then again, there are some major artists who have just completely phoned in the music video experience. These aren't necessarily bad, but we're willing to be we put more effort into typing this list than these people did in their videos.

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​Ah, rappers and music videos. Some are vehicles for self-promotion, others are tools used to promote a message, a gaggle of asses or some good ol' wholesome debauchery. In the case of the Houston rap class, music videos are always eye opening glimpses into the future, either telling what a talent could possibly become or how such a talent can make a low budget idea turn into a big budget reward. This week, we've got slim pickings in terms of H-Town rap videos but the quality still shines through.

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Photo by Lynne Hawrelko

Gurf Morlix

​Part of a storied singer-songwriter scene, former Houstonians Gurf Morlix and Blaze Foley were living in Montrose during the Urban Cowboy craze but were not impressed. In fact, according to Morlix, they worked so much they "hardly ever had a night off, and if we did we certainly weren't going to drive out to Pasadena to some fake cowboy joint." Somewhat ironically, we had just interviewed Mickey Gilley moments before calling Morlix to discuss his gig and the showing of the documentary Blaze Foley: The Duct Tape Messiah at Anderson Fair Friday night. Morlix, who released an entire album of Foley covers last year, Blaze Foley's 113th Wet Dream, spent all of 2011 traveling with the film, usually performing a set of Foley songs after each showing. We caught up with the Grammy winner at his studio in Austin.

Rocks Off: Is the Blaze Foley phase winding down for you or does it have more legs?

Gurf Morlix: I think I'm about done with it. I devoted all of 2011 to Blaze and the film and my album, but I've got other stuff to do this year.

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​Ah, rappers and music videos. Some are vehicles for self-promotion, others are tools used to promote a message, a gaggle of asses or some good ol' wholesome debauchery. In the case of the Houston rap class, music videos are always eye opening glimpses into the future, either telling what a talent could possibly become or how such a talent can make a low budget idea turn into a big budget reward. Here are three recent entries from Houston rappers each with their own story.

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