Rob Masters

Cosmetic surgery for anthropomorphic dogs. With Alison Goldfrapp as the end product. Really, I cannot say anything more about this - except that Alison is the Kate Bush of the 2000s.  Here is 2005's "Number 1" by Goldfrapp, from Black Cherry. 

It is becoming increasingly hard to find SFF music videos that are not intrinsically depressing or that end on a serious downer. In case you're wondering what that has to do with things... The world is in a terrible place right now, and I figure that keeping my videos on the light side for now is for the best. So, my hunt, aided by the amazing Leece, continues.  In fact, she dug up this week's little gem. This little post-apocalyptic visit to a funfair has just enough of an uncertainty at the end to make the grade, so let's run with "Carnival of Rust" by the Finnish band Poets of the Fall, from 2006's album of the same name.

Let's have a look at something that could well be a scene from The Quatermass Conclusion - post apocalyptic, and drained of population. Indeed, other than Jael, the singer, the only people we see are frozen figures spinning in the sky.  Here is Delerium's collaboration with Jael, from 2003's album Chimera  - "After All". 

What can I say about the musical powerhouse that is Muse? Not a lot that others have not already said. So let's focus on this wonderfully over-the-top music video.  We've got a post-apocalyptic SF western, with a bonus unicorn. And all presented in the very best style of Sergio Leone, the granddaddy of spaghetti westerns. With a bit for everyone, you might think that you'd end up with something homogeneous and bland - instead we get something so original, it deserves to be turned into a full movie.   Enjoy the ride from the 2006 album "Black Holes and Revalations" that is "Knights of Cydonia". 

I'm rather conflicted about this one. I mean we have a sort of post-apocalyptic western vibe going on, but on the other hand we've got a bunch of white guys (plus Slash) beating up on a demonised ethnic group.  Now within the context of the story, it is not nice people that get laid into, but did the producers have to make them all Mexican?   No. And that is where I have a problem with this clip. They could have just as easily cast another bunch of white guys as the villains. Instead they took an easy stereotype and used it exclusively. I know they are playing to a trope in doing so, but it is lazy and very out of touch - even for 14 years ago. In any event, from 2007, here is "She Builds Quick Machines" by Velvet Revolver. 

I am not, as a rule, a fan of metal, but there are some notable exceptions.  There can be no denying, however, that the various metal genres are a rich source of SFF-based music videos. Point in case is this magnificent pastiche of the Sword & Sorcery genre. GoT? Eat your blackened shrivelled heart out in the face of this magnificent video. With no further ado, here is Killswitch Engage and "Holy Diver" from 2006 (covering the song originally recorded by Dio in 1983.)

There was something of a temptation to keep this one for April, but in the end I decided there were better candidates for that occasion. I really don't have much to say about this, except that the clip is so out of keeping with the song that it becomes almost a pastiche of itself.  Anyway, here is 2004's "Oops... I Did It Again", performed by Britney Spears. 

The duo that is behind this video  I first ran into  on the sadly missed Amie Street. These days Bandcamp fills a similar role.   This is a particularly cool animation for one of their earlier tracks, featuring a wonderful story, and an amazing transition between the walls of reality. I hope you all enjoy "Stay in My Memory", by BIM from 2007. 

 So let's head back to 2000, and an Aussie band who were probably just a few years ahead of their time.  Possibly the most interesting thing to ever come out of Canberra, B(if)tek were a synthpop duo from before synthpop was really popular.  Recording from 1994 to 2003, they released three albums - and this is from the second, the (now) ominously titled "2020".  Have a watch of the strangely prophetic "Machines Work", by B(if)tek from 2000, and think about the increasing roles of AI in our world, and how many of these 'AI's are actually mechanical turks. 

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.

Hope everyone knows where their towels are! Let's have a look at what must be a made-for-MTV bit of popcorn. Despite sounding like the name of a group, this is mostly a solo effort - with Mani Hoffman chipping in to help complete the work. Although utterly popcorn, it is also dangerously infectious, and is altogether far too dancable. With that warning in mind, clear a space around you, and prepare to be taken over by The Superman Lovers (featuring Mani Hoffman) and "Starlight", from 2001.

Wow... 40 weeks in... OK,this week I have a treat for me. One of the best bands of the 80s  that the 2000's produced. Hailing from my home state (well, one of them anyway), these folks are an icon of the Australian music scene. Formed as a duo from two other bands (at least - if you've not been in at least 4 bands with overlapping members in Australia, you're just not trying), The Sleepy Jacksons and Pnau, they embraced the 80s New Wave, and never looked back. They have embraced genre as a way of life, and their stage shows reputedly reflect that. This video was shot up in Lancenlin and Cervantes, a few hours north of where I live. It is dream-like, fantastic, and just all-round amazing. I hope everyone enjoys "Standing On The Shore", from 2009, by the inimitable Empire Of The Sun.

Delerium are another band that frequently venture into the the realms of genre for their videos. This one is one of their more nightmarish, featuring a man drowning in air. As a bonus we get the haunting voice of Rani Kamal - the daughter of Australian adopted musical treasure Kamahl. So shiver at the video, and be entranced by the music of 2001's "Underwater" by Delerium.

In amongst all the SFF music videos out there, there's always a group of videos that are not going to make the cut. They might have a genre sensibility, but are not actually genre themselves. Quite a few of these are thoroughly excellent videos in themselves, and so I'm going to share a few of them tonight. First up is Marian Call's "Good Morning Moon". I had to think long and hard about this one, but ultimately it is all about something real, not fiction. So here is her ode to the ISS. Next up we have one of Lindsay Stirling's many collaborations, this one with The Piano Guys. An homage to, and cover of Mission Impossible, it still does not quite transition across into SFF. But it is amazing to watch, and the music is wonderful! Moving on we get La Roux, and "In for the Kill", which despite a deep Bladerunner aesthetic never quite tips over the edge. Next is another one I had to think very hard about which side of the fence it was ...

Let's revisit the work of Seasons ( previously ) This time around we have a nightmare inspired drama of cloth-puppet-faced pursuers and an arbitrarily changing world. This video raises questions for me - especially the last 20-30 seconds - about who, and what, is really the monster. Questions I do not have a satisfactory answer for. Anyone have opinions?

English/Bulgarian electronic/pop group Ladytron frequently feature SFF elements in their videos, and this is one of their best. Starring the band in two roles, with amazing mythic imagery and wonderful stop-motion critters, this must have been hell for the band to produce! So wrap yourself around some hot chocolate, and enjoy to snowy mountains of "Destroy Everything You Touch".

Au Revoir Simone are a band I have a great fondness for. Releasing albums only rarely, they are a treat for the ears. Tending towards low-key and downbeat lyrics, they counterpoint them with bright and cheerful tunes rendered on old-school synths. This is one of their early works, and one that has distinct fantasy elements.

Lorn was having a really bad day. It had started out normally enough - jump in, run radio and spectrographic scans on the highest- probability planet, the usual procedures for a scout checking out a new system. The scans had come back with a good 02/N2 mix, decent hydrographics, and only the usual background noise in RF. There were tags showing chlorophyll based plants - generally a good sign that the ecology was going to be broadly human-compatible. She was checking those results when the targeting alarm went off. Somewhere another ship had lit her up with radar, and the only reason for that would be - there - heat plumes, accelerating fast.  Missiles. And more of them than her little scout ship could hope to deal with. She was too close to the planet to jump, and not fast enough to outrun them. She had one chance.  Using pure brute force, her little ship killed as much of the orbital velocity as it could, and Lorn set the autopilot on a fast r...

It would come to no surprise to anyone who knows us that we are big fans of They Might Be Giants, and that it would be inevitable that they would make an appearance in this series. Here's the animated (comic?) horror movie that is "Damn Good Times", borrowing heavily from the classic "Nosferatu" from 1922. With bonus Wagnerian vampire valkyries. Animation by Divya Srinivasan.

From the surreal to the stupid. This week we have one that just makes the cut, with just enough pantomime intercuts to make up for the bizarre bandclip sections. As for the story? Well... it is not much of one, but, hey, he is the son of man and god and lion, how much more can you ask for? So without further ado, here is Big Dumb Face and "Duke Lion".