Rob Masters

This week brings us to the first of the videos that could be called NSFW. Although in this case, I think NSF Humans is possibly a better warning. Featuring the most 70's glam metal band the 2000's have created, we get what I can only call a teaser for a soft-porn SF movie.  I really don't know what else to say, except that you should not watch this at work or near impressionable people like parents, teenagers, conservative faith-holders, or politicians of most stripes. You have been warned, here is The Darkness with "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" from 2002. Video below the cut.

Thanks to the actions of a Very Large Nation, and those of a handful of hateful right-wingers, Australia now finds itself in a rather uncomfortable place. On the one hand, we fight a constant battle against racism - both towards immigrants and tourists, and towards our own First Nations. The latter is deplorable, ingrained and we are gradually making some inroads on (albeit far too slow and late for far too many). The former ... we had largely gotten over it. Until three things collided with the sort of mindset that creates false dichotomies and can believe five mutually contradictory things at once. The first was the idea created by a past Liberal government that refugees arriving by boat are somehow criminals. Never mind the various treaties we've signed that say otherwise. For whatever reason, Labor jumped onboard with this cruel lie, and set a horrible stage for the last 20-odd years. This re-sparked the ember that "Dem Forn Types" are somehow a threat to our way ...

Let's say hello to Miike Snow again. This time we get all the great Bond tropes. Until things take a very fabulous turn. SFF? Well, we've got death rays, so let's say 'Yes'. Keep your eyes open for the guards with an amazing sense of rhythm, and some of the greatest dance moves you'll never see in a Bond movie. Also stick around for The Return of the Spurned Partner! With no further ado, here is 2016's "Genghis Khan" from Miike Snow.

There are a number of events, groups, and people I refer to very obliquely throughout this. I do so not to mask or erase the targets of these events, people, and groups, but to limit the exposure I give to the perpetrators. To all of you who have been the targets of these nameless instigators, my deepest apologies if I cause offence or distress by doing so, and please contact me so that I can make appropriate changes. For the past few years, I have been dutifully reading the annual Hugo packet, and voting on the Hugo Awards. (If, somehow,  you are reading this and don't  know what the Hugos are, think something like the Academy Awards for SF&F. Like all such things, this is a loose analogy at best, but it carries the right gravitas.) This is a a substantial task, covering a good half dozen novels, and the same again for novellas, novelettes, short stories, anthologies, fan works, editorial contributions, dramatic presentations, YA entries, new writers... the list g...

Let's get one thing out of the way straight up. The 80's were an awesome breeding ground for genre music videos, and I believe that it was not until the late 2000's that we saw that level of greatness return. That's about 20 years. So here we have the one band playing the mid 40s, 60s, and 80s. About 20 years apart. And all in the same bar, with the same waitress ... and no one seems to notice that they don't fit in. Would they be playing the 2000's as well? And what are they? Time-travellers? Immortals? Either way they have some sort of SEP field going on. Let's take a look at our mysterious band and waiter, shall we? Here's Kajagoogoo, and 1983's "Too Shy".

For us this was another gem discovered on Aunty ABC's Rage. The video almost defies explanation.  You could almost ascribe a Quatermass level of spookiness to it, and it delivers something quite unexpected. Electropop duo Sylvan Esso lead us to ... something either very cool, or very scary, depending on your interpretation. So take in the odd little story told in the video for 2014's enigmatic "Dreamy Bruises".

Puddles has pulled off an amazing cover of a brilliant idea... (via BoingBoing )

Ricardo Autobahn is one of those people whose work you have almost certainly heard, even if you've never heard of him. Part of the turn-of-millennium pop anarchists " The Cuban Boys ", one half of " Spray ", and many other bands you've heard, but never heard of, he is prolific beyond words, and has even written a couple of Eurovision entries . One of his latest solo efforts is the 2019 concept album (yes, concept albums are back, at least in my part of the universe) " Check the Gyroscopes ".  Described by Jeffery Wells as "the soundtrack for a science-fiction film that never existed" it swoops and soars, and twists in unexpected directions. Starting in a style akin to one of the greats of synthesiser music, Jean-Michel Jarre (Cocktails on the Dream Train to Hyperspace, The Tranquility of Gravity), it quickly turns to some of the most danceable instrumental music I've heard in a long time (Jetsphere Luxury Lounge). It passes t...

An unexpected find, thanks to Leece. 80s pop with mer-dudes, a mer-kiddy, and fine cinematography by a photographer. Pretty darn fine mer-folk, too! Here is some classic Madonna, and "Cherish" from 1989, featuring the amazing photographer-turned-cinematographer-in-a-weekend Herb Ritts.