The Wilderness Downtown
In a way, the less said about ‘The Wilderness Downtown’ before you see it the better. Part of its impact is the surprise- and the effect is eerie, nostalgic, tender and incredibly (for lack of a better word) touching.
The Wilderness Downtown is a music video, and not a music video. There’s a quirkiness to this project that you’d expect from The Arcade Fire, a band known as much for its penchant for the unusual as its gorgeous, sprawling conceptual albums.
And now, collaborating with Google Chrome and filmmaker Chris Milk, they have taken a completely new approach to how music can be experienced.
The Wilderness Downtown is an ‘experience’ that demonstrates what HTML-5 is capable of. Now, I know nothing about HTML-5 except that it has something to do with the web and web language and web browsers. The most detailed explanation I’ve read and understood is that it is a specification for how HTML (web’s core language) is formatted and utilised to deliver images, text, multimedia, web apps etc.
The project features the song ‘We Used to Wait’ from the Arcade Fire’s new album, The Suburbs. Multiple browser windows open and close in coordination with the music, and the combination of gorgeous images, beautiful music and a poignant personalised twist makes it truly unique.
But don’t just take my word for it- go watch it!
(Note: It may be cynical to point it out, but it is also largely a ploy to get people to download and use Chrome, but I found it works just as well in Firefox, so, *shrugs*).
