“Take Off” to Animation is one of the most beloved original Night Flight formats, as true today as it was in the 1980s. Like our other animation specials, this 1987 arrival from the vault is a one-of-a-kind time capsule from an era when music videos and animation technologies were evolving side by side. Featuring Grace Jones’ multi-media visual spectacle, vibrant cel animation for Wally Badarou’s “Highlife,” and David Bowie’s rotoscoped video for “Underground” from Labyrinth (also streaming on Night Flight Plus), the episode highlights hybrid formats and emerging tools like early 3D computer animation at the height of the cultural zeitgeist.

Fresh from the Night Flight vault: a white hot half hour of heavy metal madness featuring Europe, Great White, Rough Cutt, and more. From arena-sized bangers like “The Final Countdown” to the Sunset Strip’s signature swagger, this episode captures ’80s metal at its loud, unapologetic peak.

“They’re the flashiest bands in Rock ’n’ Roll” Pat Prescott says at the start of tonight’s new ‘Take Off’ arrival from the archives, “Musicians who express themselves as much through packaging as playing.” What follows is a high chroma, technicolor video mix featuring Fishbone’s “Modern Industry,” We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It!, Kid Creole and The Coconuta, and more.

The twin flames of '80s music video: Leather & Lace. “Leather suggests being wild, animalistic, masculine" Pat Prescott says, "while lace says soft, feminine, and sensual… and both conjure up sexual images.” Tonight, Night Flight looks to the 1983 and finds ample examples of both in videos from Billy Idol, The Romantics, Franky Goes to Hollywood, Roxy Music, Waysted and the Jersey Shore’s Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes.

This 1983 episode of Night Flight marks an early iteration of the now-iconic Take Off format. Night Flight’s genre-focus programming block stood apart from anything else on music TV at the time, a true to form, "Take Off" to Heavy Metal delivers an exhaustive, decade-spanning survey of the genre’s evolution! “Heavy Metal is a musical reaction to the mellow love generation,” host Pat Prescott explains, taking us through a hard-driving journey through two decades of heavy metal mainstays. Featuring exclusive Night Flight interviews with Blue Öyster Cult, Creatures-era Kiss, and more.

“Rock ’n’ Roll has always had a strong political perspective,” says Night Flight host Pat Prescott introducing a politically-charged "Take Off" episode from 1985. The quintessentially '80s video mix starts with a puppet caricature of Reagan from the British TV series "Spitting Image," leading into a compilation of music videos (with some definitely carrying a stronger political resonance than others.) Featuring Culture Club's "The War Song," Eurythmics' "Sex Crime" theme from the film 1984, the socially conscious montage of Bruce Cockburn's "If I Had A Rocket Launcher," and The Specials' (then known as Special AKA) anti-apartheid anthem "Free Nelson Mandela." Concluding the episode is a brief cooking segment featuring our beloved (and oft-mortally wounded) friend, Mr. Bill!

This special ‘90s syndication episode feature host Tom Juarez introducing multiple classic Night Flight segments. PAL Tape 5 (Parts 1 & 2) feature a “Take Off” to Irish Rockers, a Tom Waits Video Profile, and Dire Straits.

Actor, screenwriter and artist Karen Black cemented a place for herself in the New Hollywood movement of the 60s and 70s with starring turns in films like Easy Rider (1969) and Five Easy Pieces (1970). During an acting career that spans 5 decades and over 200 credits, Black began writing and recording music with notable producers Bones Howe and Elliot Mazer. Decades later under the oversight of Cass McCombs, her work has been restored from the original tapes for release on Mexican Summer’s Anthology Records label.

Drab Majesty, the project of Deb DeMure, blends New Wave and early 4AD sound into a “hypnotic and futuristic originality.”

São Paulo-born multi-instrumentalist Sergio Sayeg, aka Sessa, releases his sophomore album and Mexican Summer debut Estrela Acesa. The enchanting album evokes a "deep reverence for the rich musical heritage of Brazil," according to label Mexican Summer and the artist's exclusive Night Flight Video Profile is streaming now with two whimsical videos featuring a combination of hand-drawn traditional animation and rotoscoped performance footage.  

The sonic world Helado Negro builds an aura vivid enough to be seen.

Rimarimba is the brainchild of Robert Cox, a British self-taught classical guitarist. His music is built on synth loops, interesting electronic sonorities, melodic counterpoint and humor.

Legendary Japanese heavy rock group Boris “continue their musical creation and destruction” with 2022’s W, their first release with Sacred Bones.

Exploded View’s surreal mix of post-punk and krautrock reflects the makeup of the band and it’s member’s solo projects. Founded by British-German singer-songwriter Annika Henderson and Mexico City-based musicians Martin Thulin and Hugo Quezada the group made it’s haunting self-titled debut on Sacred Bones in 2016, followed by the more focused sophomore release Obey in 2018.

In a time rife with alienation, Magic Touch, the latest album by the ubiquitous and mysterious Jack Name to be released on Mexican Summer, offers the comfort of contact. With a body of work that ranges from the catchy to the cacophonous, Name has earned the reputation of a musician who’s difficult to define and has been a fixture in the Los Angeles underground for over a decade.

Kate NV is the multifaceted solo persona of Moscow-based artist Kate Shilonosova. Her third album with RVNG Intl, WOW, offers listeners a prismatic shift in perspective and scale, a parallel dimension in which the mundane becomes funny, familiar and altogether sensational.

Australian Singer/Songwriter Indigo Sparke was born into a musical family and knew from a young age she wanted to perform. After teaching herself guitar, Indigo began establishing herself in the Sydney-music scene with quiet but commanding folk music, releasing her debut EP Night Bloom in 2016. Over the next few years Sparke would continue to build her profile in the contemporary folk world. Her first full-length album Echo arrived in 2021 on Sacred Bones.

"Syrupy, space-case dance music” from electronic duo Blondes.

Wand’s Cory Hanson rides into the high desert on a glossy melody through lustrous mists of instrumentation: acoustic, wah-electric and steel guitars, acoustic and electric drums. Pale Horse Rider explores myths and truths of a country on the way down, viewed through a deep-focus lens trained on the city from the deserts on the east; a terminus of unoccupied residential parks and streets fading into craggy footpaths to nowhere, where our passage is seen as diligent, ephemeral and grotesque by turns, forgiven and made beautiful again by the sound. Directed by The Coconut Brothers Liquid Light Projections by The Mad Alchemist Liquid Light Show Music & Sound FX by Dr. Coconut Filmed by Casey Hanson, Asal Shahindoust, Dr. Coconut and Keith Ballard Live Sound Engineered by Zac Hernandez

Australian superduo Mess Esque create warm, open-hearted indie soundscapes, combining abstract vocals and looping guitars.

Norwegian singer/songwriter, producer and novelist, Jenny Hval, made her solo debut in 2006 as Rockettothesky with the dreamy, folk-pop album To Sing You Apple Trees. Hval began releasing music with Sacred Bones under her own name with 2015’s experimental, art pop/spoken word album Apocalypse, Girl, influenced by Norwegian jazz singers of the 1960s and her upbringing in Norway’s Southwestern Bible Belt.

Producer on The Ramones and Suicide’s debut albums during the downtown NY zeitgeist of the late 1970.

Founded in 2010 by Robert Alfons and Maya Postepski, the group uses ethereal synth pop tones mixed over surging industrial beats. With the release of their first album TRST in 2012, the duo went their separate ways and Alfons continued to record and tour under the name. As a solo project Alfons began incorporating more elements of acid house and techno into his next release Joyland in 2014, which debuted to massive critical and commercial success.

Tragic beauty from Dais-signed duo from the Bay Area.

Up-and-coming duo Sharpie Smile brings sugary synth pop!

Ty Segall has made filthy, distorted rock n roll for much of his prolific career. His 2024 album Three Bells takes us into “a land nearly beyond song,” pushing his songwriting and sound further than ever before.

Wand’s Cory Hanson rides into the high desert on a glossy melody through lustrous mists of instrumentation: acoustic, wah-electric and steel guitars, acoustic and electric drums. bass and piano. Pale Horse Rider explores myths and truths of a country on the way down, viewed through a deep-focus lens trained on the city from the deserts on the east; a terminus of unoccupied residential parks and streets fading into craggy footpaths to nowhere, where our passage is seen as diligent, ephemeral and grotesque by turns, forgiven and made beautiful again by the sound. Directed by The Coconut Brothers Liquid Light Projections by The Mad Alchemist Liquid Light Show Music & Sound FX by Dr. Coconut Filmed by Casey Hanson, Asal Shahindoust, Dr. Coconut and Keith Ballard Live Sound Engineered by Zac Hernandez

“The best songs in the world come from a feeling” says the artist known as Ilian, whose life and career is documented in this short film created by Mexican Summer's Anthology records for the their reissue of artist's long lost 70’s album, Love Me Crazy.

Lucrecia Dalt, a former geotechnical engineer, crafts experimental compositions with contemporary electronic sounds, traditional South American rhythms and evocative lyrics. Her latest album, ¡Ay!, channels innate sensory echoes of growing up in Colombia.

The garage rock trio of Timmy Vulgar, Blake Hill and Jeff Fournier better known as Timmy’s Organism started as an experimental solo project for the group’s frontman that quickly twisted and morphed into a full-fledged punk band. Their first full-length, Rise of the Green Gorilla, arrived on Sacred Bones in 2010 followed by the 2012 album Raw Sewage Roq.

Today Night Flight covers independent record label Mexican Summer, including videos from L’Rain, Sessa and Photay.

French artist Laetitia Sadier, best known as a founder and lead vocalist of indie pop groups Stereolab and Monade , began releasing music as a solo artist with 2010’s The Trip, a tragic dream pop odyssey that drew upon experiences of grief. She followed this effort up with the intimate, yet politically charged albums Silencio in 2012 and Something Shines in 2014.

Vår, formerly known as War, was a lofi post-punk act from Copenhagen. The group drew influences from darkwave and goth groups of the early 80s with blown-out, lo-fi recording techniques associated with the early 2010s. Vår’s Sacred Bones, No One Dances Quite Like My Brothers, arrived in 2013 and the group disbanded the following year.

Few Traces surveys a near decade of Mark Renner’s scarcely released and unreleased material from 1982 to 1990, embracing and evoking the timelessness of his artistic statement: a wordless translation of the individual’s musical experience, met with the poetic expression of being here. Mark Renner first encountered punk while a teenager in Upperco, a country town in rural Maryland. Growing up on his family farm, he became a young acolyte of the British exports hitting not-so-distant Baltimore record store shelves in 1979 / 1980 and was baited by an area musician-wanted ad declaring Ultravox a primary touchstone.

Today we’re looking at Don Giovanni, an independent record label from New Brunswick, New Jersey whose catalog includes Melissa Paternoster, Keith Secola, and Bad Bad Hats.

For the tenth volume of RVNG's FRKWYS series, composer, percussionist and sound designer David Van Tieghem alongside ten younger artists from across the avant spectrum become a bulletin of Fits & Starts. Directed by Jordan Kinle

Let’s return to Drag City, whose roster includes Natural Information Society & Bitchin Bajas, Geologist & Doug Shaw, Faun Fables and Jim White.

Welcome to the video profile for Brooklyn-based independent record label Sacred Bones, whose roster of artists includes John Carpenter, Hillary Woods and Constant Smiles.

Suzy Poling's latest record uses sounds and samples collected from the Vintage Synthesizer Museum in Oakland, CA.

Amen Dunes’ Sub Pop debut, Death Jokes, sees the artist take a sharp left turn to the more electronica and rave-influenced sounds of his youth.

Sub Pop-signed Bully from "Take Off" to Indie Labels. Featuring "Guess There," and more.

Tonight we take off to indie label Drag City, home of artists such as Cory Hanson, Prison, Edith Frost and Dean Spun.

In 2020 Kentucky-based singer-songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle, known for her brand of dark and expressive post-rock, teamed up with Louisiana metal band Thou for one of the most interesting collaborative projects of the year. May Our Chambers Be Full, released on Sacred Bones, channelling Rundle’s brooding lyrics and Thou’s atmospheric sludge into a record that showcases the DIY versatility of both parties.

Folk artist signed to Sub Pop records. Featuring 2019's "Nowhere" and more.

Imaginative visual art and music from Calgary, Alberta Sub Pop artist Chad Van Gaalen. Featuring "Monster" and more.

Born to a family of fiddlers in Texas, film actor Caleb Landry Jones was instead drawn to the psychedelia of Syd Barrett’s solo work. Throughout his acting career he remained steadfast in his commitment to recording music, amassing hundreds of demos out of his family barn. Director, musician and Sacred Bones collaborator Jim Jarmusch heard these demos and suggested Jones approach the label, culminating in the release of his debut album The Mother Stone in 2020.

Today we take off to Brooklyn record label Mexican Summer, with music from Photay, Sessa, and Jessica Pratt.

This is Unusual Sounds: A deep dive into the mysterious world of library music; the extraordinary stock recordings that soundtracked the heyday of B movies, low-budget television, and scrappy genre filmmaking curated by David Hollander and released by independent label Mexican Summer.

“Take Off” to Chicago-based independent label Drag City featuring music videos from Bill Callahan, Ty and Denée Segall, Circuit des Yeux and Smog.

Tonight we profile the Sub Pop roster, including music videos from Tunde Adebimpe and Pissed Jeans.

Industrial punk band Pop. 1280, named after a pulpy Jim Thompson story about a corrupt, deceptive and murderous Texas lawman, was founded by Chris Bug and Ivan Lip as a method of exploring their darker, somewhat sinister musical ideas. Their first song, “Bedbugs” would lay the groundwork for their next release, an EP called The Grid, which they followed up with the full-length The Horror, both on Sacred Bones. Their haunting, guitar heavy sound would slowly give way to more refined harmonies and clean polished keys, especially on their grim 2020 album Way Station.

High Vis, led by enigmatic front person Graham Sayle, play “aggressive, gripping, and artful punk” that is sonically beyond the parameters of any single genre or scene. On their second album Blending, they bring a more introspective focus to their political lyrics.

Molchat Doma (translated as “Houses Are Silent”), was founded in 2017 in Minsk, Belarus, with a dark yet danceable sound that stands at the intersection of post-punk, new-wave and synth-pop. Their second LP Etazhi (meaning “Floors”) became a global phenomenon, leading Sacred Bones to sign the band in early 2020.

Nebulous and with an ever-changing roster of collaborators, Palace, was an anti-folk folk rock project. As the musical debut of influential Louisville singer/songwriter Will Oldham, the “group’s” inconsistent name scheme reflects the constant ebb and flow of collaborators in Oldham’s life.

“Take Off” to Chicago-based independent label Drag City featuring music videos from Bill Callahan, Ty and Denée Segall, Circuit des Yeux and Smog.

Built to Spill’s frontman Doug Martsch recruited a new Brazilian backing band for Built to Spill’s latest record, When The Wind Forgets Your Name.

Frank Dimino is best known for being the frontman of notoriously loud glam rock creation, Angel, who was discovered (similarly to Van Halen) by KISS bass player Gene Simmons. Angel released five studio and one live album in the second half of the 70’s. After the band’s demise, Frank went on to work with UFO’s Paul Raymond and other endeavors that showcased his sky cracking pipes. Like his close pal, Oz Fox, Frank relocated to Sin City almost 20 years ago. The 73-year-old Boston born singer released his debut solo LP, Old Habits Die Hard, in 2015 and is always welcome to resurrect Angel when fans and concert promoters come calling. We bonded years ago in the produce aisle of Trader Joe’s. “Hey Frank, I guess we’re neighbors.” I smiled. “I saw Angel open for Blue Oyster Cult and Be Bop Deluxe at the LA Forum in 1979. The lasers messed me up for days.”

For Iron & Wine’s seventh record, Light Verse, songwriter Sam Beam takes a more playful turn with songs borne out of joy and lightness.

Bézier is the moniker of all-live-analog electronic wizard Robert Yang from San Francisco. Yang’s studio set up includes a variety of vintage Roland and Korg synthesizers as well as the Italo Disco favorite LinnDrum.

Constant Smiles, the collective led by Ben Jones, began in 2009 on his home of Martha’s Vineyard, inspired by the music scene centered around the island’s now defunct community record store, Aboveground Records. Their new record on Sacred Bones, Paragons, arrives in November of 2021.

Weyes Blood’s gorgeous melodies have earned her acclaim from the far reaches of the music press. Her album And In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow continues her distinct combination of chamber pop and psychedelia to further musical heights.

Tiziano Popoli is an Italian composer known for his “unusual musical meshing of minimalism and instrumental pop.” Burn the Night / Bruciare la Notte: Original Recordings, 1983–1989 collects scores, soundtracks and commissions that blossomed out of the artist’s independent explorations and collaborations in and around Bologna, Italy.

Liverpool-based artist Dialect, or Andrew PM Hunt, explores unusual source synthesis, electro-acoustic arrangements, and sound found in foreign environments.

Composer Tashi Wada's “ancient and futuristic" compositions with his father.

Natalie Mering's orchestral folk project, signed to Sub Pop records. Songs from 2019's Titanic Rising.

Tempers is a New York based synth-pop duo whose rigorous electronic production is paired with instinctual, unleashed vocals. The pair released their debut album Services on the cult German imprint Aufnahme + Wiedergabe and quickly became staples in both European and American synth-pop scenes.

“Take Off” to independent label Dais Records featuring music videos from Riki, Private World, SRSQ, and SPICE.

Fernando Perdomo born Fernando Jose Perdomo on August 17, 1980, is an American musician and producer. He is best known as one of the guitarists in the acclaimed music documentary, Echo in the Canyon, where he backed up Jakob Dylan, Fiona Apple, Beck. Nora Jones, Regina Spektor, Brian Wilson and Cat Power. He is currently a member of The Dave Kerzner Band, the highly regarded progressive rock ensemble that performs annually on the sold-out Cruise to the Edge. It was aboard a floating city in the middle of the Caribbean where I first encountered Fernando. He was laying down some mind-blowing riffs on the windy outdoor pool stage. I approached him after the set wearing a rare Kate Bush “Cloudbusting” shirt. “That’s the best Kate tee I’ve ever seen!” he shouted. “You and I are gonna be friends.” The session here was conducted in his cabin on the 2025 CTTE where he lent his formidable chops to three different groups.

Zola Jesus is the alter ego of Nika Roza Danilova, known for her expressive and powerful voice and dark, atmospheric music. Her latest album Arkhon unleashes her “submerged, stalled pain.”

The Sub Pop music of Riot Grrrl veterans Sleater-Kinney. Featuring "Jumpers" and more.

Damon McMahon started his solo musical project Amen Dunes in 2006, recording atmospheric, lo-fi psych-folk alone in the Catskills before moving to Beijing and further honing this dark sound and recording occasionally. These would become his debut Sacred Bones EP Murder Dull Mind.

An Evolutionary Music (Original Recordings: 1972 - 1979) compiles unreleased recordings from the archives of multiversal artist Ariel Kalma. Concerned as much with musicality as spiritual facility, Kalma’s work vibrates aside fellow travelers along the great rainbow in curved air of the 1970s avant-garde. Directed by Matthew McGuigan

American singer/songwriter and artist Marissa Nadler’s creates a fusion of folk, gothic americana and ethereal dream pop that calls back to traditional country and folk music with aspects of indie rock, black metal and experimental music. In her over 15 year career she has released dozens of records including 6 full-lengths with Sacred Bones.

Multi-instrumentalist producer Ka Baird is known for an experimental sound matched by raw, evocative live performances. Hungry Shells brings together Baird and the late pioneering composer Pekka Airaksinen for a merging of musical voices to create startling, surreal landscapes.

Alan Vega, visual artist and frontman of punk pioneer duo Suicide, passed away in 2016 after a 50 year career in art and music. In addition to his musical output, Vega’s sculpture work gave him a notorious reputation in the New York art world, later opening a 24-hour gallery space that would go on to serve as an early venue for bands like the New York Dolls, Television and Blondie.

Institute, the Austin based punk outfit founded by Moses Brown and Arak Avakian of Glue, Adam Cahoon of Wiccans, exploded onto the Texas punk scene in 2013 with lyrics of personal struggles and a dark and streamlined sound that they would continue to hone over the years. Their debut full-length, Catharsis, arrived on Sacred Bones in 2015 and featured cleaner production with broader influences, expanding on their anarchic post-punk sound.

Legendary singer-songwriter Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s new album Keeping Secrets will Destroy You is for keeping people together, and for listening together.

Experimental psych rock band Psychic Ills, formed in 2003 by the late Tres Warren with guitarist Tom Gluibizzi and later bassist Elizabeth Hart and drummer Brian Tamborello, evolved over their 15 plus year career from creating trance-like noise rock to their more recent, subtle releases that rely on more traditional psychedelic songwriting. Highly respected by their peers, the group is known for their work on indie labels Social Registry and Sacred Bones. In March of 2020 Tres Warren tragically passed away.

Today we’re looking at independent record label Sacred Bones, including music videos from Lust for Youth, Lathe of Heaven and Khanate.

Audio/visual provocateurs who transpose the identifiers of death rock, synth punk, post-punk, ambient, and ethereal soundscapes. Aka, VR Sex.

After a collection of demos and early studio recordings earned her a dedicated audience, songwriter Jessica Pratt moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles and recorded her first intentional album in her bedroom. That album, On Your Own Love Again (released by Night Flight indie label partner Drag City in 2015), would bring her around the world many times, leading many to fall under the spell of Jessica Pratt the performer, the songwriter, the singer with the heavy-lidded voice that feels alien and familiar at the same time. Quiet Signs, the artist’s debut record for Mexican Summer, finds Pratt's songwriting and accompanying guitar work refined -- more distinct and direct.

Sunshine Soup, directed by multitalented designers / artists Misha Hollenbach and Johann Rashid, is a non-linear film keyed to the outer-boundary music created by Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe & Ariel Kalma Hollenbach and Rashid captured extensive footage surrounding the recording of We Know Each Other Somehow. Using handheld HD and 8 mm cameras, they later processed the images with a Fairlight Computer Video Instrument (CVI). With its responsive, meditative perspectives and refracted, sun-bleached compositions, Sunshine Soup becomes the visual companion to the transformative musical principles explored throughout the collaborative album.

Phil Soussan, proper birthname Philip Raphael Soussan was born June 23. 1961 in London, England. A successful veteran bass guitarist, songwriter and producer, his resume boasts tours and tracks with Last in Line, the Vince Neil Band, Big Noize and most famously for slapping the fat stings during Ozzy Osbourne’s historic 1986 Ultimate Sin campaign. He co-authored the hit single, “Shot in the Dark.” I’ve always found him to be immensely intelligent and well-spoken, like a couple other not so mad Englishmen whose company I long enjoyed, Bruce Dickinson and Lemmy Kilmister.

Inspired by Buddhist tales and set to the tune of Pauline Anna Strom’s astral electronic soundscapes; Ether Antenna is a short film following the journey of some 10 robot characters through Nepal. Fusing spirituality with robotics this cybernetic tale exploits humanity’s fascination with technology and religion. Designed and built on residency at RAN (the Robotics Association of Nepal), all robot characters were developed to act specifically as puppets and carry out precise interactions through different scenes and scenarios. The film begins as robots are birthed from a sacred tree into the pure streams of water at Muktinath and follows their journey toward the polluted rivers of Kathmandu.