17: Hypnodancer - Little Big

Ilya Prusikin, Yuri Mosianko.

I'll just leave the whole thing, just 20 minutes of me trying to pronounce Russian names.

Hello and welcome to We Can't Rewind, We've Gone Too Far,

a podcast where a Scotsman, an Irishman and a Bulgarian

discuss the worst, silliest, weirdestest fuck music videos.

Hello, I'm Neil.

Hi, I'm Dev.

Hi, I'm Neily.

After last week's video, Melted Our Brains, we decided to take a mental break.

You alright?

Yes, kind of.

Okay.

When I close my eyes, I see Mr. Abal.

No, think about the hypno-dancing pelvic thrusting instead.

Okay.

After last week's video, Melted Our Brains, we decided to take a mental break, a palate cleanser,

if you will, and do an international tour of weird and wonderful music videos.

Welcome to We've Gone Too Far Around the World.

Could you say we've gone too far around the world a bit more enthusiastically,

because I'm going to put cheesy ass reverb on it.

Oh, God, okay.

We've gone too far around the world.

Perfect.

And what is a more suitable country to start than the largest one in the world, Russia?

This is Hypno Dancer by Little Big.

I don't want to hear you say I will go another way

Should I go or should I stay?

If I have to go away, this will go another way

Cannot let you sleep away

Hypno dancer go hypno dancer

This is by far the newest video we've reviewed on this podcast.

We decided we deserved a full HD image for once.

Glorious 1080p on YouTube this day.

So as such, the video does not have a deep background and long history, but is one hell of a ride.

Choosing which Little Big video to discuss today was also not an easy task,

as they are known for their joyous, colourful and slightly insane videos,

and pretty much all of them are potential for a future full episode of this podcast.

Three people are credited as directors of Hypno Dancer,

Ilya Prusikin, the front person of the band Yuri Mosienko,

and Alina Pasok, who seems to be the creative genius behind every single one of Little Big's videos.

Despite the crazy visuals, this video does indeed have a storyline.

that's a massive bonus for us

given the usual quality of shite

we put ourselves through

Hippodanser tells a story

about a team of criminals

stealing from casinos

by busting out some crazy dance moves

I think this video would make

a compelling plot

to Ocean's 14

if that ever was to happen

Steven Soderbergh

better take note

I don't remember Ocean's 7

I remember

I know I've seen it

but I don't remember it

I think I saw it in the cinema

and enjoyed it

I don't really

don't really remember it

but

oh that's a shame

I do remember enjoying it

at the time

so I'll give it a yes

I might watch it tonight

having it on my head. Definitely worth watching.

Highly recommend it anyway.

It all goes well for Little Big until they run

into another team attempting to do the exact

same heist and from that point

hilarity ensues. Yeah so

Little Big. If there's ever a band perfectly

suited for this podcast I think it's Little Big.

Pretty much every single one of their videos

is just gold. Yeah

it's gold for us. I think the first one I saw

was Skibbity which I saw when I was

drunk and ruined it at my house one night

and I laughed pretty hard.

I think I may have broken my internal organs laughing at that.

Skibid was the one that kind of broke them internationally, wasn't it?

Yeah, I think I saw in the Wikipedia that's the one that went viral.

For people who haven't seen it, it's...

In fact, I'm not going to try to explain it.

Just go watch it.

Just go on YouTube and watch all of Little Big's videos in a row.

Also drink a bit in the meantime, because it's going to make more sense.

Yeah.

I think this one's probably the best sort of quality-wise and story-wise.

It's got an actual kind of plot running through it and stuff like that,

Whereas most of the other ones are just kind of surreal nonsense.

I think it kind of works with their music, which is also surreal nonsense.

Yeah.

It's like ravey type of music, electronics.

I don't think they would have been as big based on their music.

People know them because of their videos.

Yeah, I actually bought the album that Skibbity's on.

Neat.

Which is fun to say. Skibbity on.

Skibbity.

Yeah, it's terrible.

Apart from Skibbity.

But the videos are good.

Yeah, I mean, they have a style and vision and they stick to it.

That's commendable.

As a person who understands or is rather familiar with kind of like Russian stereotypes

and just generally Eastern European slash Soviet stereotypes,

those videos make sense in terms of I understand the satire.

And that's kind of what caught my attention the first time in the world's thing for Skibidia.

But also this video, it's just like I see what they're doing immediately.

It's pretty refreshing considering what other musicians do in the meantime.

Also versus how people see Eastern European culture.

So what is it they're kind of parodying?

Is it just the stereotypes in general or is it a specific aspect of the culture?

No, I think it's just anything in general.

I think they're playing very well with how Westerners view or think of

when they hear like Russians and like Russian rave.

they imagine though like a skinny guy wearing a wife beater and shorts doing squats kind of thing

and they're playing of this and they're playing of things that might not be very familiar to

western viewers like the style of the houses they've got in and the weird wallpapers that are kind of

about 50 years outdated but that's how houses sometimes well that's the stereotypes stereotype

of how houses are you know modern houses are just normal houses nowadays but you know uh down to

how they look and the amount of

jewelry they wear and just the kind of

the kitcheness to it. It's just all

stereotypes and they're playing fantastically

with all of this.

And it's half satire, half

I'd imagine making some reference of how

other Russian culture

wants to present itself.

I'm putting a bit of asterisk on it here.

My introduction to Russian culture

is also very Western-centered

so I might be taking a bit of a leap

of thought in here.

Another line from Wikipedia. The team calls it

self a satirical art collaboration which relies on music visuals and the show little biggs mocks

various national stereotypes about russia i think maybe skibbity plays up to a little bit more just

in terms of looks of the surroundings and their costumes and all that shit but this one's a bit

more of a sort of madcap adventure just happens to star crazy russians oh it depends how you see it

the first because you know the go-to is very glitzy and there's a lot of like fake style and lack of

substance which is also like very stereotypical of how foreigners view russian people yeah it's

kind of the stereotype of a rich russian guy swanning in with a big gold watch and i should

stereotypes exist for a reason it doesn't mean everyone's like that but there's no smoke without

fire sort of situation yeah so i'm just transfixed by the video i'm just watching it i should probably

turn off i keep looking at it i was just a whole production value i mean there's lots of little

nuances to just cool little references to to props to the way they seem to you know steal the stuff

and the van and i don't know i just kind of like the whole sort of lo-fi heist style vibe i wasn't

trying to copy anything it was i think it was quite original and it's in its approach and its style i

think it did take a lot of references from modern cinema and the way it looks and the way it's shot

and i don't know i just can't say a bad thing about it i just think that yeah production value of this

is definitely the best thing we've seen.

I think it is actually the most recent video

we've ever talked about on this podcast.

I think it was May 2020.

I didn't actually realise this was that recent

until there's a newspaper at 1 minute 36

that the lipstick guy is holding up.

He's got to be cut out for his eyes

like in old cartoons and stuff like that.

Add one for his mouse, which is hilarious.

The translated headline is roughly,

because this was done with Google Translate,

Hooligan Millionaire will present Russia at Eurovision.

Which, obviously, they were doing.

And then there's a story about coronavirus underneath it.

It does say in the YouTube description

saying the filming took place in St. Petersburg

before the COVID-19 outbreak in the Russian Federation.

So whenever that might have been.

So they just squeaked in before the world went to shit.

Just did.

They released a Christmas song called 2020 Can Suck My Dick.

I do feel that's quite good as well.

I mean, to be fair, 2020 Can Suck My Dick.

Yes, mine as well.

2020, just get in line.

We have a lot of people to go through.

I just tried to find my way.

Prove what I've come what may.

I will do it anyway.

Each as little game we play.

It feels good to get away.

There is nothing else to say.

Speaking of details, alcohol and cigarettes and drugs and everything, like anything addictive,

was portrayed by drawing materials, like pencils and pens and whiteboard markers.

And it's just kind of funny.

It was very obvious what they were going for, but also things like, say, having the long pencil

in the cigarette holder, like the lady was holding, but both ladies were holding.

It's such a detail, this was almost like you can miss it very easily.

For me, anyway, the first time I watched it,

I sort of didn't really pay much attention,

all the writing implement stuff.

It keeps on building in ridiculousness

to the point where a guy is actually snorting pencil shavings.

And you're just like, OK, this is...

They're going hard with this theme.

It actually reminds me of one of my friends in school

who smoked pencil shavings

because he thought it might get him high.

This is the most Glasgow thing you could have said, honestly.

Yeah, it didn't, believe it or not.

What a surprise.

But, you know, he had fun.

What's he doing these days?

He's actually all right.

Working for Bic.

Well, they make pens.

That's not a good joke.

Yeah, he shook his pencil shaving addiction.

Moved to ink.

I'm just watching the video you've bought, Neil,

and I really want to watch it immediately.

Oh, yeah, what is this?

It looks great fun.

We'll be able to have a live update from Neil in the chat.

It's like a behind the scenes of the video

from a makeup artist who worked on it.

But it's quite interesting because it's showing you the set.

Oh my god, it's 45 minutes.

And the behind the scenes stuff.

But here's the thing, if you look at her channel,

she's done absolutely every little big behind the scenes stuff.

Fuck, I wish I knew about this before I started.

Oh, they've been pretty hard, yes.

Shit.

How do you say that, the woman's name?

Is it Maya?

Masha.

Masha.

Masha Frantzowicz.

Yeah, I'll stick a link to the behind the scenes of this video,

which Neil has just found.

And unfortunately, we haven't watched because that would have been very good research for this podcast.

The thing is, we get a lot of our premium first hand information from a site called Wikipedia,

which did not link to this video, the making of the video.

Wikipedia.

Wikipedia.

Yes, it's very, very good source material.

I research all my bad, bad music videos in the library.

I don't know.

Like what?

It's where they keep the rarys.

What is that library thing you're talking about?

It's kind of like a web page, but you can actually hold it.

It's amazing.

It's kind of like augmented reality.

So like a tablet?

Yeah, it's like a tablet.

It doesn't change.

It's like a broken ink tablet.

Oh, that's boring then.

Yeah.

So where do you find those libraries?

Usually in things called high streets is where in the before times people would go to shop.

It's a bit like Amazon, but not online.

But a high street, do people just go high in there?

Why are they called high streets?

I think we're going off the rails.

That's actually a very good point.

Why are they called high streets?

No idea.

I think that's something that's actually worth looking up.

Why are streets called high streets?

To display the superiority of this street as like a passing match for streets.

Wikipedia has a really good entry on the definition.

This episode is brought to you by Wikipedia and every other episode.

Thanks, Wikipedia.

The name seems to have emerged in the 12th century.

when the word high began to indicate something or someone of a higher or more important status than others.

So it's about class, of course.

It's importance, I guess, yeah.

Most things in Britain.

But anyway, back to the video.

We've all learned something about the English language today.

Can you just imagine the amount of fun it must have been to shoot this?

Like, disregarding the usual stress of filming stuff, just watching this all unfold would be hilarious.

And I think one interesting thing about the video and Scooby Dee as well,

they kind of play on the silent video thing

that kind of popped up a few years ago,

incorporating what was essentially kind of a meme, I guess,

into their actual quote-unquote official music videos,

which I think is pretty glorious.

We talked about this on the David Bowie and Mick Jagger episode

where there's a silent version of the video where there's no music

and it's just the sounds that you would hear if there was no music.

They have it in this video where they're dancing on the table

and it's just them dancing and you hear their clothes rustling around

and they're going...

yeah i love that that's correct and it it just never fails to make me laugh it's always a fun

like kind of a break off it's kind of showing how ridiculous everything is i can't remember who said

it but it was a director of some description it was like music musical fucking music lies to you

you can take any old scene and put sad music over it and then instantly the audience goes oh it's sad

or you could put dance music over something and the dancing looks cool but as soon as you take it

off this is a fucking ridiculous situation so i have a question for both of you if you were to plan

a casino heist what would you do well i've said before in this podcast i'm generally in favor of

people bursting into dance at random because I think the world would be a nicer place.

So this is definitely up there, but I don't want to steal their idea.

So I have to think of that.

The idea is not to be a better place.

The idea is to steal money and run away.

A better place for you.

I like this.

Sounds better.

I think I would find a way to make the slot machines,

like all the slot machines in the casino just start spitting out money.

So there'll be like a massive frenzy.

Everyone will just start stealing everything.

I won't really get that much out of it,

but the casino will lose out.

I think that will be heist well done.

A chaotic heist.

You're doing a heist for the people.

Isn't there a movie with Nicolas Cage

where he basically did that?

I can't remember exactly the plot,

but he was basically cheating in casinos,

but always when it was against the casino itself,

like on slot machines and stuff like that,

never against other people.

The only movie that comes up is next.

Well, the synopsis on IMDb is

a las vegas magician who can see into the future is pursued by fbi agents seeking to use his abilities

to prevent the nuclear terrorist attack oh my god how have i not seen this film this is amazing

this actually i think i've seen this before and i don't think it's a bad film and i think there's a

part in it where like nicholas cage maybe it's a bit of a spoiler but towards the end is like running

through like all these scenarios over and over and over again is he doing like uh sherlock holmes

mind palace thing it's sort of like uh what's the best way it's like remember neo when he does or

not neo uh agent smith is like you know dodging the bullets and there's like hundreds of them it's

it's like that there's like a scene like that where nicholas cage is like walking and someone's

shooting at him and you know he's dying and all these alternative versions apart from the one where

he's not well i think what i would do for a casino heist is i would weaponize nicholas cage in some

way and just use his his clearly superior acting acting abilities so what he's saying is you're going

to get some loose bees.

And just get Nick's pay,

but pay Nick's cage a little bit,

because, you know,

he's always up for a job,

that man.

Oh, yeah.

Pay him to walk in.

Everyone's like,

oh, my God, it's Nick's cage.

Then I unleash the bees.

Yes, then he starts

shutting the bees,

not the bees.

And then I run in

in a beekeeper suit.

Question mark,

then profit.

Question mark, then profit.

I imagine I would still

have to break through locks,

but I'm sure Nick's cage

could give me some advice on that.

Well, if it's a casino,

then surely there'll be money out.

Well, actually, it's not the money, is it?

I don't know how it works.

I could just steal loose change from people's pockets

while they're getting mauled by bees.

Worst case scenario.

Bee man, like Batman, but a bit more annoying.

But anyway, I was just thinking,

I was like, where did he discover this ability

to hypnotise people by dancing?

Was it an accident?

Was he just out at the cat house one night

and he just noticed everyone was standing still?

Or did he train in it?

Was it like a samurai film or a martial arts film

where he had a master who taught him how to hypno dance?

Well, there's another guy.

who does exactly the same thing and they do a synchronized dancing at the end.

The guy who is dancing is the lead singer of the band The Hatters.

Both of them, they have their suits.

Since they're wearing, they have their band's respective names on them.

Yeah, I was about to say you could tell us because it's literally printed on them.

But I went on the bench.

So I'm not a fan of Little Big's music, as I already said.

But I was like, I'm just going to check the others.

Maybe they're doing the same Mercedes kind of thing

because they're the same label.

And I spent nearly three hours listening to their music

and looking at their videos and they're so good,

like legit good.

And they're also doing some fun videos.

Yeah, it's a beautiful moment.

They're both there for the same reason to rob the casino.

They're not aware that they're both there to do the same thing.

It all goes awry and the cops come in

and they just look at each other and nod stoically

and then have a double hypno dance at the cops.

I do have one thought I want to make, which is a bit probably a bit off and I understand if you guys disagree with me on that.

So the guy with the lipstick that you keep mentioning, I understand that this is his band persona character.

I don't quite understand it because it's color reverse blackface and I don't understand it.

I got clown more than that.

But if it's a clown, then why those colors?

don't quite understand what

is he trying to do or they're trying to do

I think it's just a persona, the entire

band's fairly consistent with their

visual, you know, sort of

aesthetic throughout all

their videos, so I don't know, maybe it's just what he's

decided to do, it is a bit mad

I'm probably overthinking it

I completely accept the fact that I do

it's just that they don't quite understand why

they went with those colours

I think you are overthinking it, but also

that would be a first

I just presumed he was like Neil said,

trying just to look weird and, you know,

about like a clown and stuff like that.

But at the same time, now that you've mentioned it,

it's hard not to see it.

So I hope that's not what he's going for.

I'll put it like that.

It's a very, very specific imagery

that if you didn't realise, if you did it accidentally,

that's just a very bad look, basically.

*music*

I am not going to pretend I'm a massive little big fan.

Their music is not my thing at all, but their videos, there's something different.

their bright colors, absurdist visuals, and superb attention to detail,

recommendable, and a very welcome distraction to, well, everything.

In times when music videos are not as popular as they were during the MTV era,

their videos are just a pure work of art, and all I can say is kudos to Alina Pasok,

or Pasok, I'm sorry, a woman with such fantastic visions and ideas,

and also she's our age and damn it, people who are actually talented.

Damn them, their abilities.

yeah

being amazing

stuff

I'll jump in then

oh I'm running

oh shut up

improvised

damn it

damn it

past me

it's just a bit

of glorious

comedy from

start to finish

it looks great

technically it's

great

leaves you with

so many questions

about what the

fuck's going on

in this strange

world they seem

to be inhabiting

it's just

fucking brilliant

go watch it

five seconds

and I knew

I was pretty much

hooked from the

beginning

it's style

especially the

colour resonates

to me it just

looks so good

cinematic and

production value that easily puts most other music videos to shame the deadpan wrestling

bitch faces from the performers i think it's just pure comedy gold and that little interlude between

the two dancers towards the end is just perfect not into the music that much but i didn't hate it

we do have to give a bit of a shout to all the sort of supporting actors all the scenes where

they're hypnotized and they're just holding that one expression which it must have been difficult

to do that without laughing it just feels like it like you were saying david just be good fun to

work on seems like good fun so the best part for me personally was synchronized dancing between the

two ringleaders it was just so much fun um and also it was good dancing skills from them and my

runner-up is 39 seconds in the moment when the lady shakes her pencil cigarette into the ashtray and

instead of ash shavings fall off it's just as much such small detail that people can very easily miss

but I just love it.

And the worst part for me

is kind of unrelated

but going back to the conversation

we had about the guy

with the lipstick on

I just don't understand

what his character is

and I'm probably overthinking it

but also just kind of

makes me think of

satire, okay

but of what?

Question mark.

I think my favourite part is

once again it all comes back

to the double

double hypno-dance scene

but I'm going to say

specifically the look

on Sonya's face

in the corner

if you just watch her

as they're both

hypno dancing away

on the table

she's just completely

holding the expression

and it's fucking hilarious

so once you've gone over

the hilarity of the

hypno dancing

go and watch her afterwards

my runner up is

Ilya putting a

fake moustache

over his

pretty much identical

moustache

I literally hit the floor

laughing the first time

I saw that

and the worst part is

I actually couldn't

think of anything

so yeah

favourite part

I like the entire video

but I think the

I think Little Big

get a huge congrats

for including

and detailing

the entire crew list

that was involved

in the making

nice just seeing the crew involved and all the people and all the the roles and whatnot so

but yeah the entire video i liked it can fault it worst part didn't really have any um not saying

it's a perfect video but i just can't find any faults with it personally so so uh conclusion

then it's the masterpiece of weird videos it's the citizen kane of weird videos it's fucking

great definitely an eye yeah it's an eye all round thanks for listening and take a look at the show

notes for links to today's video and links

to Instagram etc etc etc

also please email us

at gone2farcast at gmail.com

we would love to hear your thoughts

and any recommendations for

videos and if you're enjoying the

podcast please leave us a review on Apple

Podcasts and Spotify or

your podcast player of choice also

Neil upload your fucking audio

please we need to post

we need to actually post

videos well audios

for listeners at home

at the bottom of the document is in big letters

Neil upload your fucking audio

that we posted to Instagram I just took screenshots

which I appreciate

I'll make sure

say goodbye everyone

bye

upload your audio

Skibidi.