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There's something refreshingly unplanned about this collection of videos - the feeling that most of them came about by happy accident, including people who happened to be walking past at the time of shooting. This is confirmed in the band's amusing and revealing commentary to the visuals.
For example, Do You Realise, where Wayne Coyne's guitar emits a stellar glow in the UK version, was done in a rush to add to the second CD format of the single release. It seems as if the rabbits flanking him barely had time to get costumed, while the initial idea for twenty naked women had to be scaled down to just a couple of clothed specimens. See, it's not all perks in the music business!
Of surprise to those less familiar with the band will be that This Here Giraffe was directed by none other than Sofia Coppola. Here a much younger looking, clean shaven Coyne battles with flu to perform in a video that of course features a giraffe - seems like a friend of Coppola's family owned one, as you do!
The jumbled order of the visuals mean the youful Coyne of the Lips' early days is immediately juxtaposed with the current suit wearing, stubble clad model. He looks more relaxed in the recent videos, projecting an easy confidence to make him the natural focal point for many a director. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt 1 sees him share the screen with the subject, overindulging on fruit and veg, with the girl, seemingly plucked from a sex toy shop, making a striking impact at the end in a Japanese flag t-shirt.
The band clearly have fun in these videos - SpongeBob And Patrick Confront The Psychic Wall Of Energy the best example, with Coyne donning a slice of cheese, the others taking meatier roles such as a large ham, while in another scene the band soar in a hot air balloon, clad as pirates.
The newer videos reflect the increased budgets that come with success, the older ones simpler shots of the band, either in a launderette (Turn It On) or coming up with some intriguing, post-Peter Gabriel effects (Frogs). Of great interest to fans will be the Grammy nominated video for the new single Mr. Ambulance Driver, which opens the collection and features a young man whose hand has been reconstructed after a serious car accident. It's a curiously uplifting track, the boy not by any means a pawn in the hands of the band, and it spreads a feel good factor that lasts through the whole collection, which is a left of centre triumph.
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