Psychedelic J-rock trio Yura Yura Teikoku's video for "Beautiful," the lead single from their recently released "Hollow Me" album, is an enchanting, if not disgusting, toilet-room tale of tortured poo painter meets saintly statuesque giantess, directed by mangaka Masakazu Amahisa (see his Denki Groove videos) and Yasuyuki Yamaguchi (see his previous Yura Yura Teikoku videos). As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
J-breakbeat duo Hifana's video for "Connect" -- the title track from their latest CD+DVD -- stars KZO Machine and Cowman 3000 as funky robot shoppers for sale in a sweet TV shopping channel hallucination. Press "Buy" to get yours now.
Hifana are on the W+KTokyoLab label and the video is directed by +Cruz and WOOOOG, with animation and design by Mark Okon, Genki Ito and Ian Lynam.
As industrial equipment manufacturer Yaskawa Electric forces the MOTOMAN robot out of its comfort zone on the factory floor, we see it quickly acquiring new skills. First the robot developed the ability to sort mail. Now it has learned to play taiko drums.
On July 21, a team of four MOTOMAN machines -- two dual-armed MOTOMAN-DIA10 robots and two MOTOMAN-HP3 welding robots -- gave a special taiko performance at the nearly 400-year-old Kokura Gion Daiko Festival in Kitakyushu, which is famous for its traditional drumming competition. Organizers invited the robots to spice up the special opening ceremony for the competition's 60th anniversary. The robots -- the first ever to play taiko drums at the ancient festival -- were paraded through the crowd of spectators on a float while they performed.
Yaskawa worked with festival organizers for four months to teach the robots the proper rhythm, technique and choreography for the performance, which was seen as a success. Here's a short video.
[Source: Robot Watch]
These videos by Ne-o feature unique spatial-temporal visual tricks spiced with dark humor and slices of mundane-but-fantastic Tokyo scenery.
Futureshock -- "Late at Night": Music video with some great night scenery, featuring an unlikely cast of nocturnal characters doing a crazy body-popping dance.
Humanity: Man merges with machine in this Toyota CM for an automobile with a very human touch. This film won the 2006 Cannes Silver Lion.
Salaryman 6: A salaryman trapped in a routine, day-to-day existence loses his memory. The film is shot in ultra-widescreen format to capture the drama of the futuristic Tokyo cityscape, and while some of the cinematic beauty may shine through on your paltry YouTube window, this was clearly meant for the big screen.
B3: A weird trip through a deserted underground parking garage, created from still photos using 3D composting and morphing techniques.
[Link: Ne-o]
Via YouTube comes some inspiring musical magic by Tucker, Tokyo's favorite turntable spinning, guitar and bass looping, oil can thumping, toy tweaking, cassette tape scratching, pyromaniac Electone player.
Here's a small sampling of the many live clips found here (also check out a few cool videos for Sony here).
Tucker loops oil can/thumb piano/bass and scratches turntables
Tucker spins turntables, plays the Electone, sets it on fire
KEIZOmachine! and Juicy -- together known as Hifana -- began as belly dance percussionists in the late '90s, but now they rely on electronics for their sample-heavy, scratchy hip-hop/breakbeat sound. They have some wild animated videos created by "hybrid" music label W+K Tokyo Lab.
Wamono -- From their "Channel H" CD+DVD, 2005
Fatbros -- From their "Fresh Push Breakin'" CD, 2003
Old-school anime bots go wild in this video pieced together from the robot battle scenes in Toei's 1965 animated film Gulliver no Uchuu Ryokou ("Gulliver's Space Travels" or "Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon"). The video was created by Steven Wagner of Astropolitan Pictures, and the soundtrack is Japanoise band Melt-Banana's "Alpha Boost," which was remixed for Salvo Beta's Evil Against Evil compilation.
Koichiro Tsujikawa is a self-taught video artist who began as a graphic designer and visual producer for live concerts. Here are a few of his surreal works...
- Untitled (2004): This short film about an alien athlete was commissioned by Panasonic for the 2004 Olympics.
- Eyes (2004): This video was commissioned by Getty Images as part of The Big Idea, where filmmakers created short pieces from Getty Images content (check the link for other cool shorts). Soundtrack by Cornelius.
- Fit Song - Cornelius (2006): Household objects go crazy when stop-motion video meets computer animation. From the album "Sensuous."
- Beep It - Cornelius (2006): Also from the "Sensuous" album. More stop-motion madness with household objects.
Check out Koichiro Tsujikawa's homepage for more background info and links to other videos for Cornelius, as well as for UA, Rip Slyme, and more.
Schadaraparr, who were instrumental in popularizing hip hop in Japan in the early 90s, appear as the components of a Rube Goldberg machine in the music video for their new single "Disco System."
UPDATE: This post at "GilCrows Image Research Lab" points out the Schadaraparr video's striking resemblance to an advertisement for 118 118, the UK directory inquiries provider -- which is said to be a parody of this Honda accord commercial. That would make the Schadaraparr video an imitation of a parody of a commercial. Cool.
Watch the 118 118 commercial on YouTube (and check out all the 118 118 videos at The 118 118 Experience).
