Cut Copy - Future (Windows Media) [Modular]
Cut Copy - Future (Real) [Modular]
I find this video quite beautiful. I also find it very funny.
Most of the shots use the familiar split down the middle of the frame. The images on the two sides are mirrored, but with a slight offset in position. The off-kilter visuals go hand-in-hand with other mysterious elements, such as body parts like hair and arms, which are treated as abstract forms of uncertain origin. There seems to be a narrative of some sort that has to do with multiple selves of past and future. But it's very loosely threaded within the real attraction: the strange images and dreamlike patterns.
The video is also an amusing capsule of one type of early MTV stylings. It screams out "pretentious eighties music video": non-sequitur flourishes, exaggerated action performed with deadly seriousness, look-at-me visual effects - all shot with straight-faced artsy conviction. The result ends up being very what-the-heck-is-going-on. I love it.
Overall, the video is a great fit for the band. Cut Copy sounds like they have a deep love for eighties new wave and synthpop among other genres. They don't treat them as kitsch or approach them ironically; they make convincing tracks that have both the detailed touches and the overall feel of that era. This sincerity in turn makes it easier for them to update the eighties sound with more recent musical flavors. Like Daft Punk's best work, the end result is close to timeless: a song might immediately recall a particular point in time, yet belong to many points in musical history, all at once. Be sure to pick up Bright Like Neon Love.
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