Known for their innovative music videos and dance-worthy tracks, OK Go knows the power of great visuals. Coordination is often the name of the game, from the viral treadmills in “Here It Goes Again” to 64 synced and choreographed smartphones in “A Stone Only Rolls Downhill.” For their latest release, “Impulse Purchase,” the group turned to another means of collaboration: open-source animation.

OK Go teamed up with animators Lucas Zanotto (previously) and Will Anderson, along with Blender Studio, to create a digital music video unlike any they’ve made so far. The song “Impulse Purchase” takes Zanotto’s characteristic cartoonish characters, which roll and explode in a variety of playful, geometric shapes and combines the imagery with real-time motion captures of lead singer Damien Kulash’s face.

The video opens with a hint of the process behind the scenes, and the credits reveal even more insights into how the software captured the movements of all the band members.

Blender is an open-source software that enables dynamic 3D modeling and animation, instrumental in the recent Academy Award-winning film Flow. Zanotto and Anderson used a tool called Geometry Nodes, “a node-based way of creating complex geometry that can change dynamically, involve simulations, and ultimately drive a performance in an adaptive way,” Anderson told It’s Nice That. In the spirit of the application used to build it, the music video itself is open-source, allowing viewers to download the source files and tinker around with it.

Move around to more tunes on OK Go’s website and YouTube.

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In a new music video for Lisbon-based musician Xinobi’s song “Strides,” a quirky concept came to fruition thanks to the Callner Brothers. Both directors and producers who specialize in commercials, Ben and Adam Callner worked a different kind of filmmaking magic for this dance-worthy track.

The video opens on two men, seated near a fountain, who discover—or are perhaps chosen by—a pair of floating fanny packs. The accessories, which appear to glow and sparkle, are filled with stickers that read “muy bien,” or “very good.” As the two frolic around Lisbon, practically effervescing with good cheer and a desire to connect with others, they facilitate a diverse and joyful group of people who gather in a court.

But not everyone is happy about this new movement, and in a dramatic clash, anti-muy-bien demonstrators let everyone know how they feel, even though the temptation to join in the fun is real. “Is this about embracing different people and ideas, or is it about two guys wearing fanny packs getting their 10,000 steps in?” the Callner Brothers ask. (There isn’t a right answer.)

See more on the creators’ Vimeo and website.

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For his latest single, “Soft Gradient Beckons,” British electronic musician Ryan Lee West, a.k.a. Rival Consoles, tapped multidisciplinary artist Anthony Dickenson to create a music video that plays with a sense of perception and reality—especially the distinction between analog and digital processes.

Dickenson employs a range of photography and film processes in his practice, focusing predominantly on nature and portraiture. For the “Soft Gradient Beckons” music video, he dove headlong into a nine-month experimental process, creating multiple, long paper scrolls with hand-painted frames in black ink. He then animated these by documenting in a sequence akin to the way film is fed through a projector.

The video above features the complete music video, followed by a revealing making-of segment that delves into Dickenson’s labor-intensive process.

His installation “reflects the intricacies and dedication of the creative process,” the artist says in a statement. “The result is both a visual and emotional journey, seamlessly blending art and music into one cohesive experience.” Using cameras attached to a drone and a skateboard, he captures distinct details and patterns while also panning out to see the entire grouping arranged carefully on a warehouse floor.

The concept originated from what Dickenson calls a “mistake” that occurred when, a few years back, he was experimenting with making monoprints using ink rollers. He had a realization that little blemishes or so-called defects various textures from the roller actually lent themselves well to animation.

“Sometimes the mistakes are the bits that really reveal new techniques,” Dickenson says. “I love these little moments of imperfection. Otherwise, you know, you might as well just build in AI.” Find more on his website.

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Teenage Engineering, a Stockholm-based electronics company, has introduced a quirky and charming new lineup to its selection of audio systems. The Choir, a line of linkable digital speakers is an eclectic octuple of sweet, robotic, wooden characters.

Comprising eight distinctive designs, each beechwood figurine has its own vocal range. Olga, for example, is a “Russian contralto,” shaped like a nesting Matryoshka doll. Bogdan is a bass and wears a bulky hat. And Miki, representing Japan, is a tenor. Every member of the international Choir has an internal speaker that can run for three to four hours continuously, and they can be linked together via BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) with up to 15 other choral singers.

The Choir can perform prerecorded compositions or, with the assistance of a midi keyboard linked via BLE, belt out original tunes. The effect is a kind of unearthly, alluring audio that wavers between human and digital sounds.

For composer Rob Simonsen, who has scored films like The Whale, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and Deadpool & Wolverine—among many others—the Choir was a welcome addition for his latest project, Elio. Disney and Pixar’s newest film is set in space, and Simonsen sought something distinctive from a traditional orchestra to really bring that otherworldly element to the fore. After seeing a video demonstration of the Choir, he knew it was the perfect fit. He says:

We were looking for an otherworldly sound—something that sounded relatable, that echoed vocalizations (and) communication that humans could understand but felt like it was from another world. I came across these Choir dolls and heard their sound. It was beautiful—electronic, but human. Each body is handcrafted. They have a robotic but organic sound at the same time. It felt like a perfect answer to what we were looking for.

Choir members are available for purchase in Teenage Engineering’s online store for $249 individually or $1,992 for the entire set. (via Kottke)

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It’s hard to believe that a song like “Psycho Killer,” a pioneering New Wave track by Talking Heads, is nearly five decades old. While the song was released in 1977 as part of the album Talking Heads: 77, an acoustic version was recorded before that with late musician Arthur Russell, and at the time, it didn’t get a music video.

Head-heads are in luck with a fantastic, better-late-than-never video marking the anniversary. Directed by Mike Mills, the short stars Irish actor Saoirse Ronan as she voyages across the spectrum of human emotions during her daily grind. Watch it on Vimeo.

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Known for their elaborate performances almost as much as their albums, the American band OK Go just released a new music video that is very literally a hall of mirrors. Filmed in a Budapest train station, “Love” incorporates 29 robots and 60 mirrors that move in perfect synchronicity. The result is an endlessly evolving kaleidoscope that distorts reality and illusion, connecting the band and their surroundings through a trippy, impeccably timed production.

To get a closer look at the making of this iconic video, check out the behind-the-scenes video shot from the perspective of each band member.

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Director Winston Hacking (previously) and animator Philippe Tardif are back with another collaborative music video that propels us through an uncanny series of portals. For Foxwarren’s catchy “Listen2me,” the pair created a cheeky animated collage in which characters gab as we’re pushed closer to their faces. The result is a mesmerizing, surreal video that, to Foxwarren’s pleading lyrics, compels our attention.

Find more from Hacking on Vimeo.

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The disorienting effects of technology are on full display in the chaotic, action-packed music video for Corridor’s “Jump Cut.” Cut-paper collage, archival footage, and rapid, glitched movements dominate the energetic track and visualize the unending frenzy of contemporary life. The brilliant direction and design is by Winston Hacking, with Philippe Tardif on animation.

Watch the full video below, and find more from Hacking on Vimeo.

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Championing the next generation of dancers in The Netherlands, CDK Company (previously) has made a name for itself through large-scale interpretations of pop music involving numerous dancers in playful, themed outfits. For the group’s latest video, director and choreographer Sergio Reis and team took on Billie Eilish’s “Bittersuite” from her 2024 album Hit Me Hard and Soft.

Set among paintings and installations in Museum Voorlinden, three dozen performers don pastel garments evocative of 1960s fashion, all wearing identical dark, bowl cut wigs.

Whether moving through a gallery of paintings by Michaël Borremans, stationed inside a 4-meter-high Corten steel sculpture by Richard Serra, or synchronizing around the edge of Leandro Erlich’s “Swimming Pool,” CDK leads us on a vibrant, emotive journey through Eilish’s music and the museum’s art collection.

Find more on CDK’s website and dance along to more videos on Reis’s YouTube channel.

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From throwback pixelated video games to science fiction-inspired computer consoles, Love Hultén’s playful sculptures (previously) harken back to the birth of digital.

Based in Gothenburg, Sweden, the artist’s explorations of video games, electronic music, and retrofuturist aesthetics continue to shape playful pieces like “R-KAID-R,” a mobile video game complete with a toggle, all of which can be carried like a briefcase.

One recent work, “The Future Fan Stage” takes a humorous approach to a fantastical fusion of live performance, science, and computers. Commissioned for Gothenburg’s Way Out West, the screen doubles as a fully functional stage that played live recordings of the headliners “for what might be the largest yet smallest crowd in history: sperm and eggs getting ‘ready to rumble’ in a laboratory,” Hultén says.

The artist draws on controversies surrounding in vitro fertilization (IVF) that have reached a fever pitch during the past few years. Taking an optimistic approach to science and modern medicine, Hultén references studies demonstrating that music may improve fertilization during the IVF process.

Hultén’s work will be on view in Liljevalchs’ spring salon Vårsalong 2025, which opens on February 14 in Stockholm. Find more on the artist’s website.

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