SPACELY SPROCKETS

GRADUATION ALBUM LISTENING EXPERIENCE PT. 3 - I WONDER from kwest on Vimeo.

Promo video for Kanye West's I Wonder utilizing video from Tron.

Kanye is starting to trickle out the videos commissioned for his album release party and my hat goes off to the dude (or chick) who edited these. the videos released so far are edits of 2001, Akira, Tron and Oldboy. with the exception of Oldboy¹ all of these movies totally work into the futuristic soundscape that Kanye seemed to be playing with (through incorporating more synth heavy production) and infatuated with on Graduation.

All of these films are classic and pretty easy/obvious choices for futurism and sheen. 2001, Akira and Tron range from being ~30 to 20 years old but all still hold up visually because of their stunning art direction and effects. Tron probably looks the most dated but the v 1.0 CGI really feels more like an aesthetic choice and strong point in hindsight rather than a technical limitation, due to its outstanding deployment. do young heads (late 80's on born dudes/chicks) even mess with Tron? its a huge visual/cultural marker for mid/late 20's and older mofos, but its not as huge outside of the demographic as say 2001, where its ubiquitous.


GRADUATION ALBUM LISTENING EXPERIENCE VIDEOS PT.2 - AKIRA CUT TO STRONGER from kwest on Vimeo.
Theres a reason Akira is THE most well known Anime of all time. its everything we in the west have come to know of Japan (bizzare, futuristic, tech driven) mixed with ultraviolence and dystopian grit. some how it works with the very glitzy Daft punk sampling Stronger. kanye did a nice shout out to Akira in the actual video for Stronger with the hospital escape scene. dudes blatant nerdistry never ceases to amaze/impress me.


GOOD MORNING 2001 from kwest on Vimeo.
2001...fuck dude, perfection. kubrick at his most indulgent and abstract. doesnt quite work as well with the song as some of the other videos, just because the song doesnt languish long enough to let the weight of the imagery hit you. you really need a good 6 minute + song to start synching up with 2001 (paging Isis circa 2002 - 2004)

¹ Oldboy is easily one of my favorite movies of all time, if you havent seen it Netflix that ish immediately. an uber stylish korean flick about revenge, violence and isolation. if youve seen Oldboy, you know whats up and you need to see the end of the vengeance triology Sympathy for Ms. Vengeance which is even more beautiful than Oldboy and somehow just as fucked up.