David Bowie’s 10-Minute Sci-Fi Music Video For “Blackstar” Contains: Alien Tails, Bejeweled Skulls, & Gyrating Scarecrows

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There’s a lot of stuff happening in David Bowie’s video for “Blackstar,” the title track on his upcoming album, which apparently inspired him to make this ten-minute sci-fi spookfest to accompany its experimental jams. What type of music is this, exactly? I don’t know. It’s the David Bowie genre.

What should you be prepared to see in this video? A lot of really cool stuff, and a lot of really spooky stuff! It starts out on the surface of a remote planet, where a deceased astronaut lies, perhaps abandoned. But wait! It’s an alien lady with a beautiful tail; she shows up, pops open the astronaut’s helmet, and removes his skull, which is covered in jewels. Later on, a circle of ladies worship the skull while doing a lot of wiggling dancing. There are some other worshippers — cult members? — doing wiggly dances of various sorts throughout the video. Also there’s a beautiful shot of a skeleton (of the astronaut?) floats up in the sky towards an eclipse. And also David Bowie is the cult leader, and that’s probably the only part of the video that makes any sense. Also, there’s three gyrating scarecrows.

I don’t think this video is about anything — but I also think the best music videos are those that put together a collection of intriguing images to go along with how a song feels. This video definitely achieves that. It is extremely weird and confusing and beautiful, just like Bowie should be. Enjoy! Bow down! Wiggle around a lot!

The album’s out on January 8th.

(via Gizmodo)

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Maddy Myers
Maddy Myers, journalist and arts critic, has written for the Boston Phoenix, Paste Magazine, MIT Technology Review, and tons more. She is a host on a videogame podcast called Isometric (relay.fm/isometric), and she plays the keytar in a band called the Robot Knights (robotknights.com).