It'd be fair to ask what you're watching. It's like a bootlegged analog recording of something futuristic and digital. Something tiny, yet seemingly massive. And evil.
"Second Bad Vilbel" [1996] for electronic act Autechre is director Chris Cunningham's first video. It's an uncanny mix of frenzied static, punctuated by bursts of ethereal bliss, showcasing an animatronic CG creature that also looks practically natural at times.
All the elements of Cunningham's later work is here: The horror show of Aphex Twin "Come To Daddy;" the bliss of Portishead "Only You;" the robotics of Bjork "All Is Full Of Love."
Chris Cunningham, director: "It was a slight detour and an experiment to me. It is a short film where i wanted to try and get my interest in anatomy and figurative drawings out of my system. It was intended to be completely abstract but it didn’t quite work out that way and although it feels like its trying to say something, it isn't." [via inverted-audio.com]
Apparently, Cunningham never liked the video and re-edited it in 2002, six years after it was originally released. Like many artists, there's a mercurial steak of perfectionism that followed his work, perhaps partially explaining why his videography is so frustratingly brief. But, in this case the re-edit nails it. That's the video embedded above. The original is below, if you like to compare/contrast.
"Second Bad Vilbel" where it's hard to imagine the music existing as a separate entitiy from the video. Shit, most people probably wouldn't be able to recognize this as music, or as a video. And that's a very high compliment.
