Rob Masters

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.

Advances in CGI in the 90s led to a spate of CGI-based SFF-inspired videos. Combine this with boy bands and house music and you get things like this offering of Eiffel 65. Musically it is ... well let's be honest and say that it is not exactly Mike Oldfield, and the lyrics are not Bob Dylan. It is, however annoyingly catching, and extremely danceable. The video, meantime, is odd, to say the least. One part alien kidnapping, one part arcade fighting game, and one part concert video, it really is something of a creation of its time.

It is my birthday week, so I'm celebrating with a big one this week. I could not post just one of these, so here is the 2003 album "Discovery" by Daft Punk, animated by Leiji Matsumoto (of Star Blazers/Space Battle Ship Yamato and Captain Harlock fame) into the epic "Interstella 5555 : The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem ". Turning a basic post-disco electronic/house dance album into a concept album is one of the most amazing things I've seen. Taken by itself, Discovery is danceable, but really not that special. Wrapping it up in Matsumoto's signature "enough style, and who needs content" mien was an act of genius. I would argue that his  approach is uniquely suited to music videos - even more so than his more complex works.          Wikipedia has something to say about the ending that I disagree with. [spoilers - highlight to read] Wikipedia: " At the end, it is implied that the whole story was the dream of a young boy, inspi...

This week we have a look at a triptych of videos from the Swedish/US band Miike Snow. Telling a tale of alien abduction, involuntary surgery and genetic modification, displacement, and a search for acceptance, this is a surreal and powerful series of videos. Our ... err ... hero has a name, by the way - "Jean Noel". There will be more from Miike Snow in later releases. First up is Paddling Out Followed by The Wave And lastly Pretender