Whether your eating you’re eating your cereal in front of the TV before school or too hungover to get off the couch on Sunday morning, cartoons play an integral role in getting us ready for the world outside. The irony of that is not lost on us. Fantastical adventures of space and furry critters seems like the most removed you can be from the real world. However, is it not the power of inspiration that spurs us on through the mundanities of life? If we’re not dreaming then we’re just sleeping, and like music animation is one of those things that sees artistic ambition blossom. We know being a grown-up can mean being a little crusty and cynical, so we’ve decided to remedy that with a listicle featuring some of the most, fun, ridiculous and bombastic animated music videos to get that inner child of yours feeling wonder again.
When you’re looking for the perfect escape, the expert marriage of music and animation is a godsend. Full of wonder, terror and sex, here are 8 awesome animated music videos to watch when you’re hungover on the couch.
Tame Impala – Mind Mischief
We know that when you think ‘Tame Impala and ‘animation’ the first thing you’d think of is Feels Like We’re Only Going Backwards, and hey, we don’t blame you. The animation in that clip is nuts. Yet it’s the work on Mind Mischief that really opens up the mind. Sure the first half is live action, but the second part is a wild ride of passion and lust exploding in a storm of colour. Did our young protagonist ever make it with his flirty teacher? Even if he didn’t that kid’s got one hell of an imagination.
Queens of the Stone Age – Go With The Flow
Remember learning about sex in PDHPE when you were 14? Man that shit was awkward. It was awkward for the students. It was awkward for your teacher. It was awkward for the quivering banana that was about to have a condom slithered over it. Now imagine instead you got your sex education from Josh Homme.
Ratatat – Abrasive
Back with their killer new album, Magnifique, experimental duo Ratatat came out guns blazing with the seamlessly cool Abrasive, and the music video was appropriately as awesome. Hand drawn E.VAX and produced by Perfect Branch the clip is free of any narrative restraints and just has a tonne of fun.
Courtney Barnett – Dead Fox
The Angry Beavers music video on this list.
Gotye – Hearts A Mess
Loneliness, fear, hatred, ambition, greed, time and death. Director Brendan Cook and his team bring all those concepts to life in this stunning clip. The subject matter is dark as hell and the video is the perfect visual partner to bring it to life.
Radiohead – Paranoid Android
Cut from Radiohead’s flawless Ok Computer, Paranoid Android is a staple of the band’s ambition and versatility. The video takes that energy and gives us…well frankly we’re still not quite sure. The appropriate words for anyone watching this for the first time are ‘What’, ‘The’ and ‘Fuck’.
Panda Bear – Boys Latin
If you’re a video to truly fuck with your mind then you can’t do any better that Panda Bear’s clip for Boys Latin. Directed by Isaiah Saxon and Sean Hellfritsch it’s a clip that locks your eyes to the screen from the get-go and refuses to let your gaze linger for a second. Every frame is filled with colour and mind-boggling images.
The Beatles – Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
The inspiration for this list and an undeniable classic.
