In the nineties, music videos were all the rave. And the crazier, the better. Luckily for us, musician’s love for a good trippy music video has still not died. Here is a list of the 10 trippiest music videos.
10 “Acid Rain” by Lorn
Haunting electronica, dancing bloody cheerleaders, a car crash, a ‘50s style diner, a video shot in one take: the trippiest music videos start with B-movie tropes and incorporates them with music.
9 “The Arsonist” by Puscifer
Starring UFC fighter Ronda Rousey, mixed martial artist Holly Holm, musician Maynard James Keenan, et. al. This entertaining Lucha Libre animated music video pits our heroes against President Donald Trump.
8 “Where Are U Now” by Skrillex, Diplo and Justin Bieber
Every frame a painting: Skrillex and Diplo printed out each frame and had artists and non-artists draw on them, then turned those frames into the music video you see here. Pause at any moment and see a different image drawn by a different individual every time.
7 “Chick Chick” by Wang Rong Rollin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjxSJ0482U4
Women in chicken outfits, animation, and a song about the sound chickens make. Best watched with some Chick-fil-a.
6 “Kolshik” by Leningrad
The video begins with a bang, and then, in reverse, you follow the bizarre and outlandish circumstances of what happened one performance during a circus.
5 “Fever the Ghost” by Source
A dragon, a cute old man-thing, and some Lovecraftian-like creatures make this animated music video a blast to watch.
4 “Tight Pants / Body Rolls” by Leslie Hall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1c2KzJbcGA
Leslie Hall wants an elf’s tight pants. She recommends you watch out for her body rolls. All this with some high-kicks and lady-tigers.
3 “Ready Err Not” by Flying Lotus
Warning on this one: contains some images some people may find disturbing. Or perhaps disturbing enough that you cannot look away.
2 “Parabola” by Tool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z2O289Jemo
An esoteric gem of a video that probably has more to do with enlightenment than anything else. The stop-motion animation is a technique not seen often in music videos, and it is used well here.
1 “Don’t Hug Me. I’m Scared” by This Is It
Finally, the best of the trippiest music videos. If you haven’t seen it, this is the first music video of six that tell an overarching story. However, this first one will always trip me out. It’s a kids’ television puppet show… or is it?
