Radiohead Video Made of Lasers Totally Rules
Most of us of a certain age have at some point have been to a laser show, and these days, Radiohead has stolen the crown from Pink Floyd as the laser show to see. There's a good reason for that--their music is lyrical, otherworldly, visual and often trippy. We've posted about Radiohead's innovations before, and now they've taken the laser experience, as well as the social aspects of the internet, to the next level.
Radiohead have made a music video for their song "House Of Cards" using only lasers, no cameras at all, and they've posted the code and asked the people of the internet (at least those comfortable with manipulating laser code data), to take their video and modify it.
Every once in awhile I have one of those "OMG, I totally live in the future!" moments, and watching this video was one of them. While I can't post the video directly to this page (you can see it here), I can post the "making of" video. It's definitely worth the watch: They've made the video embeddable now, here it is, followed by the making of video:
What do you think? Will you attempt to remix this? I'm looking forward to what the internet has to offer.
--Alan Wiley
iapyx on September 16, 2009 at 11:53 AM
Still 'Karma Police' is - according to me - the best video of them.
One of the best of all videos ever.
Sean on July 16, 2008 at 09:17 AM
Yep, you are too old for this. It's refreshing to have the best band in the world be the most innovative 'big' band in the world as well. Hasn't happened since Nirvana. Cutting damned edge really and 'serious' musicians too (listen to Johnny Greenwoods' work on "There Will Be Blood"). A bunch of unassuming guys with interesting ideas and one hell of a lyrical bent. Great video.
Ricardo Luis Rodriguez MD on July 16, 2008 at 06:57 AM
Wow, Anna, you nailed it for those of us "of a certain age" (I'm 53). Using technology to make us see the familiar in unfamiliar ways, as if that had artistic value in and of itself, has been played and replayed for over a 100 years. It has been done better many times. This is more than old hat, it is boring old hat.
As for the C.S.Lewis reference, how much of today tracks what he wrote about!
Anna Keppa on July 15, 2008 at 10:10 PM
It's "psychedelic", only 40 years later.
I'm always amazed by people who think technologically-enabled depictions somehow convey a deep meaning, other than the obvious "Cool! I've never seen anything like this!"
Yes, and we had never seen anything like solarized images thirty years ago, either. (Seen any lately?) Ditto the chemical squirtings, suggestive of bad diarhhea, that enlivened many a rock concert's screen displays back in the 60's.
You are all free to argue that these images show something not seen before, something illuminating to the point of being "art".
Me? I'll listen to Radiohead's "not a bang, but a whimper" whinings, and remark on how closely they track C.S. Lewis's "men without chests".
Groovoid on July 15, 2008 at 08:25 PM
The video is cool, but I have a problem with two things:
A "camera" is a light sensor. To say there's no camera is disingenuous. A "sensor" detects the lasers. That's really another kind of camera.
More importantly, to say that Radiohead is the only band that would take this kind of risk is bubbleheaded. Giving your album away for free on the Internet is indeed a risk. Making a freaky video is expected. Zero risk.
AST on July 15, 2008 at 05:04 PM
Looks like the cover of the Coldplay album linked in your last post.
It's just another new look. I doubt we'll see a lot of videos made this way, although it's pretty cool. In this century of the Singularity, the question is "What's next?"
Pat Patterson on July 15, 2008 at 04:41 PM
Look, look, it's Ozymandias before he had that unfortunate foot accident!
NukemHill on July 15, 2008 at 04:35 PM
Pretty frickin' awesome. Kudos to Radiohead for taking a leap of faith on this one. I'd bet that Rush would've given it a shot, too. I wouldn't be surprised to see them come out with a variation on this sometime in the near future.