j tyler helms + grizzly bear: two weeks.

Balloons are rad. That’s obvious, but designer J Tyler Helms has doubled the radness by created this little gem. Both an homage to Albert Lamorisse’s 1956 classic “La Balloon Rouge” and a fan vid for Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks”, I became extremely happy when I watched this. And I was happy before. It was happy overload.

In case you’re unfamiliar, J Tyler Helms is the guy that created the beautifully matched fan vid for Radiohead’s “All I Need”, matching that painfully beautiful song with footage from the 1996 French nature documentary “Microcosmos.” With 1.2 million hits for the vid on YouTube, apparently I’m not the only one that digs it.

Via Antville

shelter + radiohead: house of cards.

This spot just totally took my breath away. That, and it’s set to Radiohead, so that’s guaranteed win.

Radiohead donated the rights to use their track, In Rainbow’s “Videotape” to Leo Burnett London for this new spot, “House of Cards” (coincidentally or not, also the name of another track from Radiohead’s In Rainbows…) The House of Cards campaign is promoting Shelter, a UK housing charity working to bring attention to the desperate homelessness crisis in Britain. Everyone involved – Radiohead, Leo Burnett, Framestore, Outsider, Dom and Nic, and actress Samantha Morton – donated their time to create this worthwhile spot.

The final 20 seconds are absolutely stellar. So haunting I cant stop thinking about it…

(Director: Dom and Nic. Production: Outsider. Post-Production: Framestore.)

radiohead + aniboom: in rainbows video contest winners.

Radiohead is the best band in the history of sound. I might be a little unhealthily into Radiohead, but I don’t care. They’re cool as shit. The epitome of art is not only created in their music but also in their constant drive to foster new artists, encourage innovation and experimentation, and inspire. Last year aniBoom teamed up with Radiohead to create a video to any track from the then freshly released masterpiece “In Rainbows.”

Over the last 10 months the competition was honed down from the original 900 storyboards sent in to just 236 entries who produced a clip of their vision. From them, 13 semi-finalists were chosen to fully produce their video. The contest was originally offering a $10,000 prize to one winner, but the work was so stellar that Radiohead added $30,000 to the pot and picked four worthy vids. The results, nurtured from a true spirit of creativity, are incredible. Here are all four, including my favourite, Tobias Stretch’s vid for “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi.”

Clement Picon: Reckoner

Wolfgang Jaiser & Claus Winter: Videotape

Kota & Totori: 15 Step

Via Cool Hunting

james houston: big ideas (don’t get any).

Sometimes I find things that give me faith in the future of humanity. This is one of those things.

When Radiohead started an online contest to remix “Nude” from In Rainbows, the goal was to find the same level of ingenuity and creativity in the remixes as Radiohead has always turned out in… well… everything they’ve ever done. For his final project from graphic design at the Glasgow School of Art, James Houston wired obsolete computer parts to play “Nude”. It’s all kinds of amazing.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

For the hardcore geeks, here’s how he created the instruments:

Sinclair ZX Spectrum – Guitars (rhythm & lead)
Epson LX-81 Dot Matrix Printer – Drums
HP Scanjet 3c – Bass Guitar
Hard Drive array – Vocals & FX

As for his inspiration, Houston explains it beautifully himself:

“Based on the lyric (and alternate title) “Big Ideas: Don’t get any” I grouped together a collection of old redundant hardware, and placed them in a situation where they’re trying their best to do something that they’re not exactly designed to do, and not quite getting there.

It doesn’t sound great, as it’s not supposed to.”

The video is also posted on YouTube, and trolling through the comments I found this little gem:

“This is so beautiful. The machines looks so enslaved and pathetic, and yet so loyal and endearing. So fucking beautiful.”

That’s passion right there folks. The guy/gal that wrote that comment just had an experience. I can’t think of a bigger compliment to an artist than that. This is the kind of thing that Thom Yorke’s wet dreams are made of. And even though Houston missed the deadline for the contest, he definitely didn’t miss the point.  Radiohead still heard. They posted the link back to his video on Dead Air Space, Radiohead’s blog and social forum. High praise from the men themselves, and deservedly so.

Via Everyone Forever

radiohead: house of cards.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, and I’ll say it right now. Radiohead are geniuses. Consistently ahead of the curve for more than a decade with their genre-bending sound, intrumentation, music video production, and most recently in music distribution and online sales (or non-sales, if you paid $0 for “In Rainbows”…) Now they’re breaking new ground yet again with the video for their latest single, the airy and aching “House of Cards”.

Directed by James Frost and produced by Zoo Films, the video was shot entirely without cameras, film, or video. Instead, 3D laser plotting technology was used. The shapes and relative distances between objects are captured by hyper-sensitive laser systems and them visually mapped out by a computer. The result is no less than jaw-dropping.

To see where all this brilliance is coming from, check out the making of vid:

mtv exit + radiohead: “all i need”.

This morning I woke up grumpy. I’m hung over from partying last night. The weather is shit; it’s freezing and raining. I was out of Advil. My streetcar was late, so I had to jump in a cab. I got rained on. I had to wait to catch an elevator up to my office. I found all of this incredibly, unbearably frustrating.

Then I found this video. I watched it. And I sat at my desk and cried.

Because it was the perfect time for me to be reminded of just how foolish and ignorant and incredibly, unbearably selfish I can be.

(Agency: colman rasic carrasco. Director: Steve Rogers. Production: Revolver.)

This video is another facet of MTV’s brilliant pro-social side. MTV Exit works to end child trafficking and exploitation around the world. The poignancy of this is so simple and direct, it grows not from manipulation or dramatization – just the comparison of two truths, neither of which we can deny. Plus, let’s be honest, a little Radiohead never hurt anything either.

I can’t rave enough about how honest, direct, and artistically engaging all of their PSAs are. Check out the work they’ve done to promote environmental awareness through MTV Switch, Holocaust awareness through MTV Think, and to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS with what is one of the best ads I’ve ever seen, period – “Shot”.

radiohead: nude re/mix.

Radiohead is cooler than everyone else. That’s just the way it is. With Nude Re/Mix they’re letting people download stems (digital tracks layered into songs – in this case voice, guitar, bass, drums, and strings/fx) of their song “Nude” for a small fee. Then you can remix them in GarageBand or other music programs and then upload back onto their site. The best tracks will get a listen-to by Radiohead themselves. They’ve even got a widget and Facebook app so you can release your mix to the world.