We make no secret of our love for Neil Cicierega here at The A.V. Club, but it’s difficult to put a label on what he does, exactly. He’s a musician—that much is indisputable—but beyond that, it gets a little fuzzier. Is he a comedian? Satirist? Dadaesque prankster? Angel of punishment sent to pummel us into submission with our own misguided tendency for blind nostalgia? Any of those words could apply to the man who unleashed “Mouth Sounds” and “Mouth Silence” on the world.
Last we checked with Cicierega, he was breaking down the various races of Star Wars, and now he’s back with a video perfectly skewering YouTube song uploads (the description makes sure to mention it’s “with lyrics”) by manipulating Lenny Kravitz’s “Fly Away.” It starts out with the cheesy slideshow and cheap effects we’ve all seen a million times listening to music on YouTube, then slowly, subtly at first, the song starts to change. By the time it turns into a blatant Milky Way ad, we know Cicierega is fucking with us, but there are more, even stranger delights ahead. That’s all we’re going to say, except—good luck not picturing Lenny Kravitz eating the sun the next time “Fly Away” comes on the radio.