Video you must see: UNKLE's Heaven

Explosive? That's the idea
Explosive? That's the idea

For 17 years now, director Spike Jonze has been to music videos what Richard Lester (A Hard Day's Night, Help) was to '60s rock 'n' roll cinema: a pioneer.

Having co-directed (with Ty Evans) the acclaimed skateboarding film Fully Flaired which utilized the ethereal track Heaven by the British electronica duo UNKLE, Jonze recently re-edited footage from the movie to produce a stand-alone music video for the band's song.

The results are, quite simply, explosive.

'Switch-flips' and napalm

The Lakai skateboarding team's sills are considerable, but with Spike Jonze putting the boarders through their paces - bursting through walls, 'switch-flipping' down staircases that disintegrate from blasts of napalm - all without the benefit of CGI, their dangerous feats are both poetic and shocking.

Check out the clip below. A hypnotic song is given a visual treatment that will soon be considered a classic.

Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar WorldGuitar PlayerMusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.