Rob Masters

Another fresh tune this week, with a track released just ten days ago! Hold on for a ride you've not seen the likes of since Galaxy Quest. And no, do not expect spaceships mit der blinkenlights. But do expect a bunch of very quirky and rather naive aliens. What do they want from us? Why did they come here? All will be revealed! Hailing from the Isle of Wight, here are Wet Leg with "Too Late".

I'm running late again, I know. This week we get a cut-price, but very personal, International Rescue. Just roll with it, really.  It is from The Shins, from 2001, and the album "Oh, Inverted World". Enjoy!

Well, I've got five more to go to the 100th post of this theme. I wonder what I'll do for that one? This week, however, brings us some magical stop-motion animation. Blurring between stage magic and MAGIC we have a tale of youth against the Establishment. It is quite the journey!  The band itself is an intriguing journey from indie rock band, to solo project calling itself a band, and back to being a band again.  So here is 2012's "The Rifle's Spiral" by The Shins, from Port of Morrow.

Welcome to the 3x3x3x3 installment! This week let's have a look at a Norwegian singer who released this track about the healing power of letting your emotions out at the ripe old age of 21. A powerful message about how does not make you weak to express yourself emotionally - in particular that it is OK to cry. An uplifting song that should be heard more in these especially trying times. As for the video ... well, she's got plants growing from her eyes. I'm choosing to interpret the whole thing as a coming-of-age tale for a dryad who does not know (or is rejecting) what she is. (I am certain that the actual intent is as that the growth of the plants are a metaphor for tears, and their cutting is the suppression of sadness. The releasing of the scissors and running being the acceptance of sorrow and the growth it brings.) So, here is 2019's "The River" by Aurora. 

Merry Christmas! In the true spirit of the season 1 , here is a piece about the ravages of consumerism, with overtones of The Ring. Enjoy "Supermarket Riots" by Lupa J, from 2020.  1 - At least according to the great Tom Lehrer

Woo! 70 weeks in! A cautionary tale about dealing with psionic kids. Or, perhaps, a warning to the same about how you might get treated. And what is with moth-face near the end? I hope we find out soon! Apparently, this is the first part of a trilogy the artist is going to release. Maybe then we will learn more! Martin Baltser, from 2020 (and one of the few good things to come out of this dumpster fire of a year), with "Back Off You". 

I've had this one sitting in my queue pretty much since day one, and I still don't know what to do with it. Some sort of digital zombie apocalypse or something? There is certainly a lot of backstory that is left unsaid in this video. Which, I suppose, is part of what makes it so compelling.  So, here to spark your speculations is Cat Power's 2012 track Cherokee.  

 Well, it is coming up on my birthday, so time for one that is for me. I'm bringing back those muses of mayhem, the marchionesses of madness, the comtesses of chaos that are Ex Hex, this time with a track from their second album, "It's Real". So we've got a boring band-clip, right up until ( in something of a flashback to an earlier post )  the band have other ideas. And then, in an almost Goodies way, the whole thing takes a sharp right turn straight back into the basement studio the whole thing started in. I'll say no more, except to hope that you enjoy "Tough Enough" from 2019, by Ex Hex.

 Getting things back on track, let's go for animated embroidery. Yep. You read that right. And SFF themed, with a roll-call of monsters. Be amazed by the 2018 track "Lake Monsters of the USA" by the inimitable They Might Be Giants, from "I l Like Fun". 

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".

Another amazing Australian artist this week - and we get a cool daikaiju teddybear as a bonus. This is an amazing video, and a stunning song, apparently prompted by those niggling little fights where someone says that 'it's fine', when it manifestly is not. In one of those things where the audience projects more into a work than the artist intended, I have another interpretation. I think it also serves as powerful warning of the power of depression, and the importance of friends in helping fight it - even when it becomes the great monster that takes over someone's life. With that, take a look a G Flip's 2020 song "Hyperfine".

Ok, let's turn to Iceland again. Of Monsters and Men have created something very fun here, with the band demonstrating very little skill as adventurers, but a talent for making a very good friend. I hope you enjoy "Little Talks" from 2011.

Billie Eilish is a remarkable person. Musically gifted in ways that alter the musical landscape, and having a fierce independence that defies the music industry norms, she hit the music scene like a bomb. This track from 2019 is a fantastic reflection of that - confronting climate change head-on, and pulling no punches in any way, she also manages to create a superbly Dantesque visual story in just under four minutes. So, with no further ado, here is Billie Eilish and "all the good girls go to hell".

M83 with "Claudia Lewis", starring Lily Collins and Israel Broussard. A fun highschool romance featuring a sweet alien girl ('Claudia Lewis') and a couple of very accepting humans.