In a fight between Timmy Burton and these lads...

...I know who'd win. Now, I do love Timmy and his bonkers creations, and I get asked a lot whether I am 'inspired by Tim Burton' and there were the never-ending type comparisons a few years ago. Well, yes, of course I am inspired, but the word 'dark' is so often used to describe his work it makes me feel a bit tired sometimes. It's not 'dark'. Dark became a word as over-used and high-streetified as 'eclectic' did ten years ago (everyone's latest release was bloody 'eclectic') along with words like 'awesome' ('it inspires awe in me') and 'underground'.

So, although there's a fair amount of reduced light levels in there, Tim Burton and his friendly-scary creations are many subterranean levels up from the murk and dinge of these two quiet fellas, the Brothers Quay.

You can Google them of course but there's no website. They don't want one. So thank God for YouTube then and their plentiful supply of films.

Marvel at how one rotating cube and a pile of iron filings become the most unsettling thing you've ever seen. Be sobered for a moment at the way a change in speed makes things less comprehendible, and a simple movement of an inanimate head is so unnatural you can actually feel your own follicles trying to get away. Tiny motions, mute details, claustrophobic viewpoints, lots of chiaroscuro, and beautifully curated sound.

No point me banging on any more, I know what they do for me, but have a look and see for yourself. Sometimes you just have to share.

This is a rejected 1991 ident piece for BBC2, which makes me want to turn back time and go to animation school:

Brothers Quay -1985- The Epic of Gilgamesh
Uploaded by petitlolotechre. - Independent web videos.

and my favourite, 'Stille Nacht I Dramolet':