#82: "a pleasing visual miasma"
Welcome to issue #82 of THIS NEWSLETTER CANNOT SAVE YOU. This issue marks the auspicious debut of the exciting and slightly unnecessary web companion to this newsletter, entitled - you guessed it - THIS WEBSITE CANNOT SAVE YOU. It’s a convenient place to flit through the hundreds of capsule reviews I’ve published over the course of the newsletter’s nearly five years of existence - check out the dance films, for instance, or the science-fiction videos, or the stuff that didn’t fit too well into a normal category, et cetera.
Anyway, yeah, it’s a website, and you can go there. It’s backfilled to issue #60, and earlier issues will be trickling in over time.
Onward…
Scottovision
“Anabios” (2026) - Popular Russian rappers Miyagi & Andy Panda present this dynamic experimental short film / music video / album teaser, in which the duo are charged with transporting a sacred artifact across the Mexican desert, with an enforcer played by actor Raymond Cruz (of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul) in hot pursuit. While the narrative is mostly to be inferred, the aesthetic is simulatenously sharp and dreamlike, building to an almost inevitable ritual conclusion. Directed by Yan Bokhanovich.
“Nemesis” (2026) - Set to a track by Benjamin Clementine, the ZAS Dance Platform produced this “cinematic dance film exploring emotion, consequence and human connection.” I’m always left to trust descriptions like this when it comes to abstract dance pieces, but the results are tight as hell.
“Girls Night Out” (2026) - This hilarious, absurdist satire of a night spent clubbing is told in a spastic collage-like animation style, jarring in its slapped together, maximalist aesthetic. It’s a comedic visual feast. Directed by Ashley Sengstaken.
“SCP Dreams” (2026) - In this droll office comedy, Mark’s last day is punctuated by a minor effort to contain an “active cognitohazard” before the UN gets involved. No biggie. An animated short film from Issa Aqas.
“Mantis Stream! Like & Subscribe” (2026) - A popular influencer in the guise of a mantis brood mother sews chaos when she deposits her egg in her hapless fiance Craig, unleashing a whirlwind of unlikely interlocking streaming scenarios. This short film directed by Lincoln Robisch & Sarah Maerten (otherwiser known as Clusterfuck!) perhaps imagines itself as a parody of TikTok culture, but it’s far weirder than that.
“Ebb And Flow” (2026) - This recent music video from electronic artist Max Cooper was directed by Yoshi Sodeoka, a prolific video artist whose distinctive abstract style blends natural and technological motifs into a pleasing visual miasma. He’s delivered two other excellent videos for Cooper - “Spike” and “Fibonacci Sequence” - each of which delivers a similar creative jolt.
“Sans Voix” (2026) - This beautifully animated short film follows “a young raver who clings to the safety of routine, headphones, rituals, solitude, while the outside world feels too loud and too close.” The story is told via approximately 7000 hand-drawn frames, and the implicit care involved in that method infuses an intimate nature into the characterization. I have felt these feels. Directed by Samuel Patthey.
“Stellar Iris” (2025) - Meanwhile, in the “let’s look at something pretty” department, video artist Thomas Blanchard’s latest work is “a series of visual experiments where chemistry meets the cosmos. Inks, reactions, and textures filmed in macro transform into stellar explosions, as if the entire universe were born within a single drop.” Also, hella good “you are there” sound design. This is a nice dynamic push from Blanchard.
“The Westhoodstory” (2026) - Taking thematic if not narrative inspiration from West Side Story, this dance film presents a tale of rivals competing for the attention of a lovely object of affection, using the language of hot shit dance moves to communicate their intentions and keep their competition at bay. Directed and choreographed by Shay Latukolan.
“Wild Summon” (2023) - Never thought I’d find a stylized depiction of migratory salmon making their way out to sea and back to be so riveting, but there you have it. The strangely anthropomorphized figures at the heart of the story create an unexpected emotional connection; you want them all to survive, knowing full well they can’t possibly. Directed by Saul Freed and Karni Arieli, aka Sulkybunny.
Exit Music
Sending you out this issue with a new version of a classic track by Air, “All I Need," as reworked by British producer Vegyn (whose credits include production work on two of Frank Ocean’s records). It’s from an album called Blue Moon Safari, produced with the band’s blessing, comprised of modern downtempo stylings based on the original Air album Moon Safari. Well worth hearing these familiar classics reenvisioned. BONUS: An enterprising soul has uploaded the limited edition “Moon Safari: The Athens Concert” vinyl release from Record Store Day 2026.
Here's the YouTube playlist with (most of) this issue's recos. Please enjoy responsibly.
Until next time, I remain your friendly correspondent, thinking of you,
Scotto
Scotto Moore is the author of WILD MASSIVE, BATTLE OF THE LINGUIST MAGES, and YOUR FAVORITE BAND CANNOT SAVE YOU.
See also:
404 Chocolate: Install The Flavor
Aggressive NPC Grandpa Chases You
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