Welcome boys and ghouls to the Halloween edition of Videos of the Week! This time around, we’ve got witches, protein, and lots of videos with super fast paced edits, much like the seizure-inducing strobe lights in your neighborhood haunted maze. Let’s dive right in!
1. Kool Keith & MF Doom – “Super Hero”:
Kool Keith & MF Doom graced us with an animated video for “Super Hero” this week. The video is a technicolor assault to the eyes at times, but I still enjoy every second of it. Both rappers’ iconography from the past get melded and remixed together seamlessly in various eye-pleasing contexts. Plus, we get a little shot of the iconic carpet from The Shining. The track is off Kool Keith’s latest album, Feature Magnetic, out now.
2. Oneohtrix Point Never – “Animals”:
Last November, Oneohtrix Point Never released his concept album, Garden of Delete. Almost an entire year later, we finally get a video for “Animals”. The video features Val Kilmer looking completely hypnotized by the song, while sitting in a room alone. The director, Rick Alverson, created the weird, wiggly strobe effect by deleting shots of intermediate motion. If you’re in Los Angeles, I highly suggest that you check out Oneohtrix Point Never’s excellent exhibition at the Hammer Museum. You can catch screenings of Dan Lopatin’s past music videos and related works of other experimental artists over there until November 19, 2016.
3. Marching Church – “Lion’s Den”:
Marching Church is on a roll releasing music videos off their upcoming album, Telling It Like It Is. First, they released the video for “Heart of Life,” in which we heard Elias Rønnenfelt sing in a much higher register than we’ve ever previously heard. Now, “Lion’s Den” serves fast paced, yet sultry shots of the band amongst city lights and even some steamy shower scenes. What used to be Elias’ solo project separate from Iceage has now clearly developed into a full entity, all its own.
4. Andy Shauf -”Quite Like You”:
If you haven’t heard Andy Shauf yet, you are severely missing out. Luckily, you have me looking out for you. His songs give off major Elliott Smith vibes, but manage to be slightly less hopelessly depressing with some brighter pop piano melodies. The animated video was directed by the equally excellent musician, Chad van Gaalen, and features an alien who experiences a pretty tragic case of unrequited love.
5. Austra – “Utopia”:
After three long years, Austra is finally releasing music again. The video for “Utopia” is set far enough in the future that we have succumbed to eating maggots for protein, but not so distant that Amazon’s Echo is considered outdated technology. I love the juxtaposition of the white, sterile environment with the shots of her eating live maggots with chopsticks. The track comes from her upcoming album, Future Politics, set to be released January 2017.
6. Halloween Freakout:
In honor of Halloween, I’ve included this extremely spooky video into the mix. It features every Halloween trope from witches, to mummies, to a bizarro twerking version of the twins from The Shining.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipcSLDXXRME
7. Nintendo Switch:
As an added bonus, here’s the first look at Nintendo’s newest console, Nintendo Switch. It’s the first console that you can use at home on the big screen, as well as travel with. It looks absolutely awesome.
