It's been well over a year, but one of the best tracks from 2011’s excellent La lucha constante has a new video. The guys at Caracas-based creative agency MOSTRO have played with "La Transformación"'s theme of physical and emotional transformation to create a deliciously surreal video that is as unexpected as it is simple.
After meticulously setting things up for a birthday party, our protagonist (Cheky aka Algodón Egipcio) soon realizes no one else is coming, leaving him to pop balloons and eat cake by himself. It’s a straightforward story, shot in bright light with plenty of bold colors and crisp close-ups. But what makes this so wonderful is that our birthday boy has a dog’s head! Human body, dog head! Everyone loves a good dog video, but this takes it to the next level. Weimarener pup Bruno and his animators are the true stars, delivering an emotive performance with surprisingly nuanced (canine) facial expressions that leave you laughing at the absurdity of it all, but also really feeling for this dog/human as he goes from eager anticipation to sullen self-pity and angry frustration. All in all, a beautiful tribute to the carefully crafted layers of tropical melancholy and understated genius that make Algodón Egipcio's music such a treat.