Video: Sufjan Stevens: "The Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake"
Yesterday Pitchfork news reported on Encyclopedia Asthmatica, the new DVD from the Asthmatic Kitty label. This video for the Sufjan Steven instrumental "The Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake", a song from The Avalanche, comes from the set. Multimedia artist Deborah Johnson, aka CandyStations, who has designed live projections for Sufjan, Wilco, and others, here constructs a constantly shifting tapestry of light that more or less transforms the sound of the track into the visual realm. As the short piece builds from its stately piano opening to its kinetic middle section, the screen is overtaken with blinding clusters of white, which then fall away again as the music winds down. It's lovely and mesmerizing stuff made for dreaming, with a mood something like, say, a Harry Smith short.
[from Encyclopedia Asthmatica; due 03/04/08 from Asthmatic Kitty; available for pre-order here]