"I Think We're Past That Now" by Antonio Sánchez with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Take a look at this fabulous video for jazz drummer Antonio Sánchez' new song "I Think We're Past That Now" featuring Trent Reznor and his musical partner Atticus Ross. The stop motion action is based on Mexican Day of the Dead imagery and Huichol Shamanism...which is today. Feliz Día de los Muertos!

https://www.antoniosanchez.net/
https://www.nin.com/

BEAUTY: Man For Winter--Alexandr

Beautiful hunky ginger man Alexandr (@personalkrampus) looks just like Kris Kringle from the classic 1970 stop motion animated holiday classic television special "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town!"

https://www.instagram.com/personalkrampus

"Freeze Frame" by Soetkin Verstegen

This beautiful, chilly stop motion short film, "Freeze Frame" is by Soetkin Verstegen. She says:

"Freeze frame: the most absurd technique since the invention of the moving image. Through an elaborate process of duplicating the same image over and over again, it creates the illusion of stillness. Identical figures perform the hopeless task of preserving blocks of ice. The repetitive movements reanimate the animals captured inside."

https://www.soetkin.com/Freeze-Frame

BEAUTY: Clothing--KidSuper

Alrighty then, Paris Fashion Week has wrapped and we move on to Milano Moda Uomo...but let's look at a last few fun moments from France.

Colm Dillane's KidSuper brand is a collective--while he is the Creative Director, he collaborates on not only his clothing line, but also his many other ventures: he paints and does art shows, records music, and makes music videos. So this video for his Springs Summer '21 collection for virtual Paris Fashion Week is pretty kicky, not only because this is his debut collection accepted under The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode--during a global pandemic no less--but also because the video is a delightful stop motion animated runway show with famous people in the audience as well as on the runway (keep an eye out for the Obamas, Picasso, Salvador Dali, Jackie Chan, Muhammad Ali, Stephen Hawking, Freddie Mercury, and of course Anna Wintour!). And the patchwork, hand painted pieces, once they are human-sized, will be wild and fun.

https://kidsuper.com/

"Lay Down Your Weapons" by Strange Freedom

In Strange Freedom's newest video for their song "Lay Down Your Weapons," Austrian video artist Christian Stangl infused a sense of humaneness into a bleak atmosphere. Stangl says, "In particular we focused on the most common feature of identification: the human face. At first, it seems defenseless, even motionless, dead, fading into the background like stone. It looks like endless layers of dust and debris smothering every pore, every twitch of expression. All blessings and wounds paint traces onto faces. 'Lay down your weapons' describes a long battle to survive.
This music video is based on thousands of single macroscopic and microscopic photographies."

http://strangefreedom.com/

"Perfect World" by Katie Melua

This video for Katie Melua's "Perfect World" touched me deeply. It reminds me of the true, unconditional love I felt from my mom, and the state of innocence of childhood. She has been gone for 14 years now and I miss her still, every single day.

You're precious
I can't stand seeing you cry
It hurts
Watching you get what you don't deserve
I tell myself
You don't belong in this rough life
You should have a perfect world
You should have a perfect world

You're too gentle
And much too quick to forgive
Every slight
And blow you've ever been dealt
Well who knows
If the world will ever deserve you
You should have a perfect world
You should have a perfect world

And who knows
If the world will ever deserve you
You should have a perfect world
You should have a perfect world

http://katiemelua.com/

Exquisite video images by Karni & Saul of the BAFTA-award-winning Sulkybunny:
http://www.sulkybunny.com/

"Burn The Witch" by Radiohead

Brand new dark sonic intensity (tense, pizzicato strings!) from Radiohead. "Burn The Witch." Amazing.

And the Radiohead Doll Theater presents "The Wicker Man" with a twist.

!!!

Stay in the shadows
Cheer at the gallows
This is a round up
This is a low flying panic attack

Sing a song on the jukebox that goes:

Burn the witch
Burn the witch
We know where you live

Red crosses on wooden doors
And if you float you burn
Loose talk around tables
Abandon all reason
Avoid all eye contact
Do not react
Shoot the messengers
This is a low flying panic attack

Sing the song of sixpence that goes:

Burn the witch
Burn the witch
We know where you live
We know where you live

http://www.radiohead.com/

"Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer"

I grew up watching Rankin and Bass stop-motion animated holiday television shows and they hold a special place in my heart. "Frosty The Snowman" was narrated by Jimmy Durante, "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" was narrated by Fred Astaire, and the classic special you see here, "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" was narrated by Burl Ives! It airs tonight at 8PM...I'm glad it is still around (it first aired in 1964, the year I was born, so it is as old as me!).

http://www.rankinbass.com/

"Musical Recordings From the Realm of the Dead"

"Musical Recordings From the Realm of the Dead." A thought provoking short film by artist and animator Troy Morgan.

http://www.troymorgan.com/

"Rippled"

Made by: Oh Yeah Wow. Music: "Rippled" by All India Radio.
http://www.allindiaradio.com.au/
http://www.ohyeahwow.com/

Currently listening to...

..."Wild Man," about the Yeti, from Kate Bush's glorious "50 Words For Snow." I haven't pulled out any holiday music this season. Instead, I have been lost in Kate's achingly beautiful snowstorm...

While not a "Holiday recording" per se, I have found that it perfectly captures the season. As the title suggests, the entire album is a meditation on snow and all things related to snow...

This animation is only a section of the much longer seven minute song. If you haven't yet, do yourself a favor and purchase "50 Words For Snow"--it is a stunning achievement. Read my review here.

"Run away…

While crossing the Lhakpa La
Something jumped down from the rocks
In the remote Garo Hills by Dipu Marak
We found footprints in the snow

You’re not a langur monkey nor a big brown bear
You’re the Wild Man

They say they saw you drowned near the Rongbuk Glacier
They want to hunt you down
You’re not an animal
The lamas say you’re not an animal"

Kate Bush is magic. Kate Bush taught me how to fly.

http://www.katebush.com/

"Mound"

Allison Schulnik's vision is a wonder! She is a true multi-media artist, working in 2D (and 3D!) painting, gouache on paper, stop motion animation films, and ceramic creations.

Watch this haunting, astonishing stop-motion film Schulnik made this year. Entitled "Mound," it is a bizarre, candy-colored Hieronymus Bosch landscape populated with pastel skulls, gnomes, red-nosed clowns, and woodland spirits, all crafted and undulating by Schulnik.

It reminds me so much of the maudlin-scary clown paintings that were popular in the late 60s and early 70s...

I'm also reminded of Noface and the Radish Spirit, among others, from the glorious Miyazaki film, "Spirited Away."

And her music choice is pretty inspired too... because of this short film, I have been introduced to the genius of Scott Walker who recorded "It's Raining Today" in 1969. The hovering, nearly dissonant strings are a brilliant touch and compliment his Burt Bachrach-style crooning. Walker is still recording. Visit Allison Schulnik's website to see more of her work: http://allisonschulnik.com/# And visit Scott Walker's site at 4AD to learn more about his career and music: http://4ad.com/artists/scottwalker

Fragrances by Comme des Garçons

The brilliant Brothers Quay have created a short film for Comme des Garçons' June 2010 launch of a new fragrance called Wonderwood. It is classic Brothers Quay, featuring stop motion animation and nature imagery, but mixed with a new, wavy, fun-house-mirror optical style that is reminiscent of some of the iamamiwhoami videos.

And after discovering Wonderwood, I came across this gorgeous promotional video titled "Mnemosyne" for a scent called Daphne, a 2009 collaboration between heiress, artist and fashion icon Daphne Guinness and Comme des Garçons. Co-directed with David Parker, Guinness says that the film is not strictly promotional but a stand alone art piece merely inspired by the fragrance since it does not show any graphics or logos and does not mention the perfume.

Comme des Garçons website

Just watched...

..."Fantastic Mr. Fox" directed by Wes Anderson.

I love the films of Wes Anderson: "The Royal Tennenbaums," "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou," and "The Darjeeling Limited." They are quirky, sweet, touching and honest. So it was a tremendous pleasure to see his filmed version of this classic children's story by the wickedly subversive Roald Dahl, author of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.

The story, which children will enjoy but which was not neccessarily made with children in mind, is sweet and kooky. But what made it truly memorable was the fact that it was made in such an "old-fashioned" way: in stop-motion and NOT CGI. It is such a beautifullly hand-crafted look, lovingly rendered--so warm, real, rich and full of life. It reminds me of the kind of holiday specials I grew up watching on television, where puppeteers painstakingly moved models with an inner armature one frame at a time. When you watch Mr. Fox move, you can see the fur move on his face and the fabric of his jacket crinkle as he turns. It's a lovely effect, and a nice, welcome respite from the often too-slick blur of CGI.

And the film boasts a stellar voice-over cast: George Clooney as Mr. Fox, and Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox, along with Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Michael Gambon, and Owen Wilson. Several of these actors are familiar faces from other Anderson films.

The lovely thing about "children's films" is that the story moves right along, from one thrilling event to another. The running time for "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is listed at 87 minutes, but it felt less than half that... it whizzed by.
See the trailers for yourself at the official website:
http://www.fantasticmrfoxmovie.com/
The "making-of" featurettes are fascinating as well!

Recommend? If you like delightful, charming, hand-crafted animation, by all means!