Little Comets definitely are favourites of mine and have featured on Entertainment Focus multiple times. The band is releasing its new single, Common Things on 10th of March about to embark on a tour. Ahead of this and a new album release I got Matt from Little Comets to list the band’s top ten surrealist videos in honour of their latest single video. Keep reading to find out what their picks were.
10. Fatboy Slim – Weapon of Choice
It’s an obvious one to start with. I think Christopher Walken is a bit of a legend, his performance in this video says it all. Him flying about jumping off balconies and spinning round on the cleaning cart is something else. The dancing is pretty surreal and the look on his face is quality.
9. Yeasayer – Ambling Alp
The first time i saw this video i thought it was off it’s head! The mirror faces and hooded figures riding horses, it’s canny mad. It helps that it’s a class tune. The Face in the sky with mad colours and all the yellow slime covered people being watched kinda freaks me out a little bit.
8. Prodigy – Smack My Bitch Up
Again, an obvious one but it’s a really amazing video. The way you are lead to believe it’s a block throughout the whole things is really clever. It’s not particularly surreal but it’s pretty weird. The POV nature of it is something that isn’t really done that often and if it is, it’s never really done as well as this one. The fisheye lens adds a real trippy nature to it too.
7. Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer
WHAT CAN I SAY! Video royalty right here. Probably one of the first videos i saw on the telly. I think my Dad had it on a tape he recorded off top of the pops or something. Just watch it if you haven’t seen it, you’ll see why it’s in here. Top video, top song!
6. Architecture In Helsinki – Heart It Races
It starts off as a bit of a normal video with a band and that dancing around with some strange puppets and lip syncing. And then it gets dark and really cool! The video goes to another level when the light goes down and the UV takes over. Something i didn’t see coming when i first watched it. Reminds me of that bit in The Nightmare Before Christmas (on of my favourite films). Should be more of the UV stuff though ha!
5. Kate Bush – Wuthering Heights
It’s pretty much just Kate Bush dancing in a forrest. It’s total quality. By todays standards it’s completely bizarre, but i suppose that’s what Kate Bush is all about and i love that! You wouldn’t get anyone else doing a video like this, she is just class. The song isn’t too bad either haha.
4. Radiohead – Just
On of my favourite ever videos. Not even because it’s a fantastic song, i just find everything about it fascinating. You think it’s just going to be a normal performance video, which would have been fine with Thom Yorke’s general genius, then you get some guy walking along and lies on the ground. Then you get subtitles, they aren’t used enough in videos for me. You have no idea what is coming until right at the end. It’s almost like the man lying on the ground has unleashed pandoras box and is doing his best to not. It’s a great reason why we as a people should listen to people’s wishes, especially when they are so passionate about them like the man is is this video.
3. Moby & The Void Pacific Choir – Are You Lost In The World Like Me
Sums up certain aspects of our society really. Watch it and think. That’s what it did for me. I’m not a massive Moby fan at all, but this video is really harrowing. Sad.
2. The Strokes – You Only Live Once
I hope this was just a one take video haha! The commitment from The Strokes for this one is class. I still talk about this video being pretty strange. The fact that it’s black water/sewerage and they are drowning in it really hits home. I like videos that you can sum up in one sentence, means it’s got something about it, this one definitely has that!
1. Nirvana – In Bloom
This is pretty surreal really, a grunge band playing on a 50s-60s talk show and giving it the nice pop act smile and in barbershop type suites too. I like the Jim Morrison look to camera as Kurt Cobain sings the word Whore, as if he has been asked not to sing it, just like Jim Morrison with Light My Fire on the Ed Sullivan Show. After that it keeps cutting the band in dresses and smashing up the stage and instruments. It makes a total mockery of what most bands/acts are asked to do on TV, tow the line. Krist Novoselic making rude gestures with his bass and generally smashing the set up is the total opposite to what was going on before. I love Nirvana, so that helps too. Great video and song too.
And here is Little Comets’ surrealist video Common Things:
