Your reaction to MGMT's new "Kids" video probably says a lot about you. To wit: if you are a sociopath, you probably really like it.

This is because the clip, which appeared yesterday on the foppish faux-hippies' official Web site, is basically just six loooong minutes of super-scarring, deeply psychic child abuse. The kind you need decades of therapy to un-scrub from your brain. You know, the awesome kind.

Starring a precocious tyke (certainly no older than two), who for the duration of the video is positively brutalized by visions of terrifying, maw-dripping monsters, it's both incredibly unsettling and incredibly provocative, recalling both the sorta-twisted Saturday morning visions of Sid and Marty Krofft's "H.R. Pufnstuf" and the definitely twisted photography of Jill Greenberg, only, you know, on drugs. And with some flames and animation and an on-screen quote incorrectly attributed to Mark Twain.

And while all that is amazing, the real testament to MGMT (and director Ray Tintori's) brilliance is the reactions the video elicits from people. I've shown this clip to about six different folks, and their reactions have run the gamut from "wide-eyed shock" to "face-tightening delight." Oh, and one dude broke down and started weeping openly, too.

Basically, it's part high art, part psychological barometer, only with really gruesome monsters thrown in for good measure. They really don't make videos like this any more ... mostly for legal reasons.

Want to be entertained/horrified? Check out MGMT's "Kids" video, after the jump.

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Yesterday, for no apparent reason other than he was stoned and had just bought a Web cam, Snoop Dogg launched his very own online show, "Snoop Dogg TV," a mind-blowing, decidedly, uh, "free-form" series that revolves around him smoking spliffs, lounging in what appears to be someone's rec room, and singing along to R&B tracks being played on his computer.

It is sort of insane. It is sort of compelling. And it is quite possibly the most amazing thing ever foisted on these Interwebs of ours.

So far, Snoop has broadcast four episodes of "Dogg TV" (or, more specifically, two very-long episodes broken up into four segments of indeterminate length and subject matter ... usually whenever the Web cam conks out), which means that it's not too late to get on the bandwagon before this thing turns into another Shiba Inu cam.

And to get you up to speed on what you've missed so far, I've compiled a handy episode guide, which you can read after the jump. Read more...

So you're telling us that Pharrell can produce Madonna, sing the hook on another hit record, get ready to drop the new N.E.R.D. album...and get home in time to design furniture??

What have we been doing with our free time?

Oh, and it's called the "perspective" chair. For some reason.

Thanks to Kanye's always excellent blog for pointing this out. 'Ye also recently posted some ridiculous Chinese fashion pics that are totally in line with the spooky aesthetic trip he's been on lately...

Because Cap'n Montgomery refuses to let the Weezer album-cover controversy die, we're inspired to point out that this is not the first time a talented band/artist has chosen to make themselves look ridiculous in public through flamboyantly awkward album cover art. Oh no, there have been many, many instances of this throughout rock history.

And, you know, we can speculate about the source of the bad judgment -- anything before 1980 we're blaming on one drug; anything after 1980 on another; anything during the mid-90's was more likely due to an over-developed, overly self-conscious sense of irony. Anything in the early 00's can be blamed on "sincerity"; anything since on the generational-sincerity backlash. Or something.

After the jump, a few of our most favorite examples of when artists have chosen to artistically display themselves on the covers of their (quite excellent) albums -- to spectacularly bad effect. Seriously, these are great records, but you kind of want to brown-paper-bag 'em... Read more...

OK, we get it: you're into some heavy business. On that tip, we're taking you deeper into the black-metal experience, with the down-and-dirty -- and pretty terrifying -- video series "True Norwegian Black Metal" photog Peter Beste made with VBS. It's wild to think that a trip to Milwaukee Metalfest to snap some band pics could have unfolded into a years-long obsession with this outrageous crew.

Head to Norway and meet up with the key players on this deadly-dark scene -- first covered in the mainstream Norwegian press in the mid-90's in relation to a dozen church burnings, and the ritualistic murder of Mayhem's guitarist by his bandmate. Central to the series is Gaahl, the frontman of extreme, Satanic band Gorgoroth, who's been convicted of assault and torture. This isn't stuff that goes down easy -- but it's a side of metal that's rarely been captured. And depending on where you work, this is also, um, fairly NSFW.

More of the series after the jump. Read more...

You know, we in the States tend to think we've cornered the market on metal. But those Norwegians make Ministry look about as dark as My Little Pony. Black metal, based on a completely bonkers 'n' bloody Viking lifestyle fantasy of death and destruction (pig's head on a stake, anyone?) has been bubbling up in Norway for the last 20 years. It's a combo of extreme metal, paganism, and even Satanism -- and it's redefined the meaning of "underground."

So we were heavily impressed by "True Norwegian Black Metal," photog Peter Beste's collection of photos of the radical community, published by our frienemies at Vice. Beste spent the last seven years snapping pics of the scene, which he boils down to "a war against Christianity, a return to the worship of the ancient Norse gods, and the complete rejection of mainstream society." No biggie. The bulk of the book is portraits of black metal disciples -- with names like King, Nocturno Culto, and Necrobutcher -- stomping through the Norwegian woods (puts a whole new spin on that Beatles track). But there are also great pics of the scene itself -- bands like Mayhem and Immortal live -- packed with lots of, well, pigs' heads on sticks. Sheep's heads, too. Oh, and can't forget the gentleman in a loincloth covered in blood and "nailed" to a crucifix onstage.

Not for the faint of heart.

More pics after the jump.

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