Rob Masters

Well we've got a fun one this week! Banjo spaceships, alien abductions, and a country cover of a classic rock anthem. Offering up a counterpoint to my belief that almost any song can sound good when played by the right people (see - " ...Baby One More Time" by Ahmet and Dweezil Zappa ), this shows that some songs cannot be harmed by the style in which they are played. So sit back and relax (or not) as The Dead South cover "People Are Strange", from 2021.

There's been a bit of a hiatus, but I'm back! This time I go all the way back to 1933, and the legendary Fleischer Studios. Fleischer were the creators of the infamous Betty Boop and many others, and were the original animators of both Popeye and Superman. Here we have them taking on Snow White in their distinctive style, accompanied by jazz legend Cal Calloway.  Enjoy "St James Infirmary Blues" by Cal Calloway from 1933.

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".

The old gag goes "We have both kinds of music here - Country and Western". Well, I don't usually have a lot of time for either.  This song is an exception, and it was always a crying shame it never got a decent video, until 19 years later, when a band that I also rarely have a lot of time for did a cover.  And the confluence of genres, song, band, and video combined to create something vastly greater than any one of the parts. Enjoy "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by Primus from 1998.

This week I have possibly the newest video I will ever post. Released yesterday, and from their new musical Teaching a Robot to Love , I present "A Normal Human Party" by The Doubleclicks.  Many thanks to E. for bringing this to my attention!

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. 

Straight out of the 80's and visualised by channelling Leiji Matsumoto, we've got an epic space fantasy this week. Except it is from 2019 and Canada. A truly delightful flashback, this has everything - including cameos from the band, and from their associated act. Prepare for battle alongside "Starlight Brigade" by TWRP, from 2019's Together Through Time.

I thought long and hard about including this one, but in the end I gave it the benefit of the doubt, largely because the band are so perfectly in character for the entire thing. The band's own description of the clip on YouTube is, in itself, a work of art - claiming it to have a vastly older history than it does, and referring to the band in the third person.  Featuring an early 80s or late 70s retrofuturistic take on the music industry, complete with cheesy 'computers', enjoy "Do It All The Time" by I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME from the EP 1981 Extended Play from 2018. Now are you confused by this multitude of dates? I sure am!

A simple one  this week - imagine a world where letters go missing!  With such a disaster possible, there would have to be an agency to help out, right? Here is "The Alphabet Lost and Found", by They Might Be Giants and featuring Marty Beller, from their 2005 album "Here Come the ABCs". (And look out for someone who is going to have a Damn Good Time !)

Visiting the early 2000's now, and a hip-hop love song.  Better known for portraying a pastiche of themselves in a music video, this time we get alien tourists. And an amazingly sweet little story. One that is so full of hope for the world it is almost heartbreaking. Here is "Prototype" from Outkast and 2004.

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.

So let's go for something a little simpler this week.  This time we get a simple silent movie, set in a circus. We've got a downtrodden hero, a damsel in distress, and a villain. Everything we need for a classic story. And yes, we get some real magic in it as well.  All in all, some simple entertainment. Enjoy "Magic" by Coldplay from Ghost Stories (2014).

Late again, I know! Once again, we are faced with the question of who or what the monster in this is. Amazingly evocative, and very thought provoking - but I will not say too much because spoilers. Be intrigued by "Monster" by Starset, from 2016's Vessels.

With Talk Like A Pirate Day just around the corner, I thought we'd continue with last week's theme. This time we have a darker look at the mermaid myth, and we get some firm warnings about how to treat promises.  Enjoy Ginny Di's "The Wave Soaked Maiden" from "Songs To Drown Sailors To"  from 2021.

Let's watch this one before I talk about it. Here is "Only You" by Little Mix and Cheat Codes from 2018. This one seems a little sad on the surface (especially given the song is about after a break-up), but I choose to interpret it as a beginning, not an ending. I can see our heroine spending many more hours at beaches, around dusk, when most people have left, and spending quiet quality time with her partner. You can see that neither wants to be apart - but they must be, at least for a little while. Let's rewind a little though - what just happened there? Why do they need to be apart?  The way I see it, the chlorinated pool water could not have been good for something adapted to the sea, so it would have done quite some harm - and getting them out again would only have stopped things getting worse. You can see that they are in great pain after being lifted from the pool. To allow them to heal, actual seawater would be needed - and so our hero got them there, and is pr...

OK, first up this band has a  problematic  history to say the very least, although it appears nothing is actually proven. I do not support what therefore appear to be the values of the band in any way, and actively stand against racism and misogyny.   The video itself is so stupidly over the top, that it really needs no comments, except, perhaps, to reflect on what happens when power metal meets WH40K - and a certain wonder that there are not more videos like this.  So here is the band Gloryhammer, with the track "Hootsforce" from the 2019 album Legends from Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex.

Something unusual this time - the track is in French, although the intro is in English.  We have fun little time-travel story - this time in the form of an attempted fix-up. And what I really like about this one is the ending. I will not say much, because spoilers , but it is one that will make you think. And let's face it - how often do you need to be careful of spoilers in a music video? Enjoy and ponder the end of "Je te pardonne" by Maître Gims and featuring Sia, from the album 'Mon cœur avait raison' from 2015.

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". 

This week I have a simple story for you: one of a centaur and a mermaid; and also a pegasus, a kraken, and some giant scorpions. Simple, right? Well once again you can rely on metal to deliver a very cool music video, so rock out to this track from Coheed and Cambria, from 2011. It is "The Suffering".

This week marks the end of two years of videos! And there are plenty more to go.  When I started this, I thought I might get twenty or thirty posts out of it. Was I ever wrong! Along the way I have discovered a wealth of amazing creativity in the music world, and artists I had never heard of that are now some of my favourites. There have also been some real shockers, but even they have their place, and as a fan of MST3K, how could I not include the very worst along with the best?  So, to the handful of people who follow this, stay tuned for many more videos in the future, and thank-you for joining me on this journey.  I also have a special request - if anyone can find the official video for The Alan Parsons Project song "Pyramania", please let me know! Both Leece and I have seen it once, on ABC's Rock Arena, and never since!  On to this week, and to celebrate the anniversary, I have a double feature for you. Way back in the 1980's it all seemed so - no, wait, that...