Archive for the ‘sour’ tag

Japan’s Stereo (Sour)

Sour have released a new music video.

Incidentally, the word "released" in that previous sentence could easily have been replaced by a verb like "uncorked", or perhaps "unleashed". The project deserves that much drama - it’s less of a video and more a state-of-the-art web extravaganza. To view it you go to a specific website, input your Facebook/Twitter/webcam details, and let the thing take over your life.

It’s fun, interesting and more than a little bit scary; click below to take the plunge.

sour-mirror.jp

Sour are making something of a reputation for themselves. They’ve already blown the internet’s collective mind once with their video for aa ("Tone of Everyday"). It shapes a collection of webcam footage into some incredible patterns.

YouTube Preview Image

It’s strange though, that here we are, this far into an article about a band, with no mention of the actual music. That’s Sour’s problem; they’re in danger of becoming known as a technological art project, rather than musicians. It’s a crying shame too, as they’re really quite wonderful. Internet comments highlight the problem: "Fun video and idea, which was entertaining to watch. Problem was it’s a mediocre song, with horrible singing," says one viewer.

I thought the same thing about the singing, at first. The voice in question is a flawed, cracked, fragile thing. It was only over time that its emotive power became apparent; without it, Sour would have much, much less impact. Unfortunately, most of the Internet doesn’t give the band enough time to let them reveal their more subtle charms; they watch the videos once and move on.

Perhaps people reading this with 3 minutes to spare wouldn’t mind trying out the music itself. Watch the videos on YouTube, then minimise the window. Don’t watch, just listen.

If you find something you like, then go ahead and investigate aaaaaa ("Ensemble"), the band’s recently-released third album.

Sour’s homepage: sour-web.com

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Posted: December 19th, 2010
at 6:51pm by mnp

Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,


Categories: youtube,music

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