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Music

Premiere: Rich Aucoin's Video for "Yelling in Sleep" is a Trip

The Halifax-based dance artist is known for making wildly funny and original music videos, and this animated treatment is no exception.

Halifax-based dance artist Rich Aucoin is known for making wildly fun and original music videos, and his latest one is no exception. Directed and written by Joel Mackenzie, it follows a superhero lumberjack as he flies, fights villains, and wreaks havoc on the city and countryside. The frantic action and odd characters were influence by the stuff Aucoin was into as a kid, like the Power Rangers, 90s video games, and Bravestarr. Ever wanted to see a bearded dude grow a green babe out of the a tree? It has that. Or a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle catch a flying pancake in his mouth? That too. How about a one-eyed wasp-like thing getting crushed by the moon? Yup. This music video has a lot of crazy shit going on, and it's all packed into a fever-pitched three minutes, with the stomping dance-punk track "Yelling in Sleep" in the background.

Even though the video comes out today, it already won the award for "Best Music Video" at Brooklyn's Animation Block Party 2014 and has been selected for the Ottawa International Animation Festival. This is Aucoin's second major award for a music video, after winning the 2013 Prism Prize for the cheeky 1960s throwback "Brian Wilson is A.L.I.V.E."

Look for "Yelling in Sleep" on Aucoin's sophomore album, Ephemeral, out in North America on September 9.