Black Mirror

February 3, 2008 7:54 PM

Black Mirror | rorriM kcalB [flash] - evocative music video by Arcade Fire.

You can selectively turn off the 6 audio tracks that make the soundtrack. I think I liked 1,5,6 the best.

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Unrelated bonus material : Magnetic Ink (qt) / Advanced Beauty Preview (qt) ... see more at flight404

posted by Dave Faris (29 comments total)

I like this. They should release their whole album this way.
3,5,6 is better than the original song.
posted by naju at 8:00 PM on February 3, 2008

That's pretty bad ass. It's almost like 2 and 4 are a totally separate song from the other four tracks.
posted by delmoi at 8:16 PM on February 3, 2008

Cue the haters.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 8:25 PM on February 3, 2008

Okay, I wish more bands would do this. This is just FUN.
posted by Stunt at 8:29 PM on February 3, 2008

This is really cool. I like the video but the opportunity to hear the orchestration clearly is even better.
posted by revfitz at 9:27 PM on February 3, 2008

Superb. It's like remixing an album for the talentless, ie. me.
posted by Keith Talent at 9:36 PM on February 3, 2008

I love it all. My only qualm is that it took so much time to load, and as a flasher I can't really think why it should take so long.

Otherwise, I love the song, and the page. thanks!
posted by localhuman at 9:57 PM on February 3, 2008

They should just release this as a garageband project like NIN did, and let people go out it. There is so much to work with in those tracks.
posted by mrzarquon at 10:35 PM on February 3, 2008

the blog entry has links to mp3s of a couple of the tracks (they're on the http://rorrimkcalb.com/ site, incidentally.)
posted by ambilevous at 10:45 PM on February 3, 2008

Lovely web toy! Thanks, Dave Faris, for leading me to it.

^I love it all. My only qualm is that it took so much time to load, and as a flasher I can't really think why it should take so long.

Each number key leads to an entire-length track for the footage shown. One's computer loads six long sound files and a video, unlike other sites that you and I encountered which allow a viewer to re-mix short samples.
posted by bonobo at 11:01 PM on February 3, 2008

I think my favorite Arcade Fire video is by a fan, and uses the song "My Body is a Cage" as the background music to tell a tale of sweet western vengeance via scenes from Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West".
posted by clearly at 11:24 PM on February 3, 2008

Cue the haters.

TA-DA!!!

OK, I'm here, now what?

deus ex hackina!
posted by spiderwire at 12:15 AM on February 4, 2008

I like this. They should release their whole album this way.
3,5,6 is better than the original song.

Nah, 1, 3, 5, 6.

BTW? Terrific post. Thanks, Dave Faris.
posted by humannaire at 12:25 AM on February 4, 2008

This is really neat, but when I ran it it suffered from sync problems. I guess the only way to fix that is to go all Zaireeka on the thing and play the tracks manually on six CD players copies of Winamp?
posted by chrominance at 12:53 AM on February 4, 2008

Well it's cute, but when will the game have finished loading?
posted by davemee at 1:47 AM on February 4, 2008

This is excellent. Really damn good. I love the visuals, and the muting of individual tracks (vocals, etc.) is a great idea (everyone gets to be an engineer!). All in all, this is just way effing cool.

3,5,6 is better than the original song.

Actually, I think the rather radical statement being made here is that any combination of your choice IS the "original song". They've presented it in this way for you to decide on some personal preferences, and to play around with the various possibilities. Any possible combination thereof is the "original". For you.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:45 AM on February 4, 2008 [1 favorite]

That was nifty. Tapes 'n Tapes did a web remixing applet awhile back. Go here and scroll to the bottom.
posted by ludwig_van at 9:21 AM on February 4, 2008

see also neon bible
posted by ddaavviidd at 11:26 AM on February 4, 2008 [1 favorite]

I like the video. Reminds me more than a little of the Cthulhu silent movie.

Worth the horrendous wait time.
posted by Artw at 11:47 AM on February 4, 2008

Through the magic of Flash disassemblers, here are links to all the individual tracks. Have fun!
posted by pmdboi at 12:25 PM on February 4, 2008 [2 favorites]

clearly, I concur. The My Body is a Cage fan video is amazing.
posted by DrGirlfriend at 3:26 PM on February 4, 2008

Funny that nobody likes track 2. The drumming kills the mood.

Also, was I the only person expecting to see Guy Maddin's name in the credits?
posted by ardgedee at 4:30 PM on February 4, 2008

The drumming kills the mood.

GIVE THE DRUMMER SOME!

No, wait. Don't.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:00 PM on February 4, 2008

i always thought win butler's delivery was absurd. now that i can cut out all of the arrangement, i know this to be irrefutable.

it's still a neat little thing.
posted by wreckingball at 5:37 PM on February 4, 2008

wreckingball, regardless of the fact that the song is a reference to an obscure novel (one of many on the album), I that think "un deux trois le mirroir noir" is perhaps the most pretentious chorus I have ever heard.
posted by dobie at 12:48 PM on February 5, 2008

I that think "un deux trois le mirroir noir" is perhaps the most pretentious chorus I have ever heard.

Big in France, though...
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:03 PM on February 5, 2008

It's "Un deux trois, dis miroir noir," and I don't think it's pretentious as the band is from Montreal. They have more substantial sections of French lyrics on the same album, as well as on Funeral.
posted by ludwig_van at 8:15 PM on February 5, 2008

Well they're not just from Montreal but Régine is francophone... (Win's American.)
posted by loiseau at 8:10 AM on February 7, 2008

Fantastic. Cheers Dave Faris.
posted by verisimilitude at 3:52 PM on February 29, 2008