Sigil 03_: An omen EP_

[Presideo]

They actually managed to make a video as boring as the song itself (why exactly is 'Ice Age' so well-liked again?)

[Conrad Lienert]

Absolutely love the video! I've watched it 3 times already.

[acidpolly]

oh love the video!
at first I thought - is she gonna stand like that the whole time and they gonna just play the instruments? but then it became interesting haha

[butter_hole]

I quite enjoyed that and I just clued in to the fact that they're probably going to release a video for each song

[Magtig]

I think this is kind of brilliant, and definitely beautiful, but it requires patience.

That said, the snark in me wants to say, 'I've deciphered the meaning: the Reznor's are sick of their children and they want to go sailing.'

[Conrad Lienert]

Is it just me, or did the "God's Hand" from Year Zero make an appearance in this video?

The hand & arm shot was very Year-Zeroesque.

[Magtig]

Also, the part where the Spoiler: wave freezes, but the bird flies by broke my brain.

[Henrie_Schnee]

Yeah... this video really captures the excitement that waiting for an ice age brings.

And when the presence comes, we'll be all transformed into badly compressed VHS-static... and all of our old Super 8 movies will turn black... and the world will not "end", somebody just switches the channel.

[BRoswell]

They actually managed to make a video as boring as the song itself (why exactly is 'Ice Age' so well-liked again?)

I can see why someone who thought the song was boring would find the video boring. Personally, I love the way Ice Age evolves, and I love that the video follows that pattern as well.

I also loved the clash of aesthetics on display. The worn, wooden shack inhabited by people playing electronic instruments. The natural world being interrupted by video static and noise. It's a beautiful clash.

[BenAkenobi]

on my second view i kinda wished the band would freeze in the end, but then i thought it would probably be a corny move (or cheesy, or whatever you usually call it)

[BRoswell]

on my second view i kinda wished the band would freeze in the end, but then i thought it would probably be a corny move (or cheesy, or whatever you usually call it)

Yeah, that would have been pretty cheesy. The whole vibe of the video seems to indicate that they're in this shack waiting for the end to come, and at the end we see the ice forming inside the shack. I think they were smart enough to let us figure out what might happen next.

[my voice just]

I just clued in to the fact that they're probably going to release a video for each song

my thoughts exactly

[sheepdean]

If there's anything we've learnt from TSIB, it's that trying to understand the metaphors in a HTDA video will give you a headache.

Love the video, though the opening shot on Q is sliiightly too long from a directorial standpoint, imo.

[my voice just]

it was trent`s request
art direction for HDTA now includes too long Q`s shots

[Trains]

Not the best music video I've ever seen. Absolutely love the song, but found it a little hard to sit through all of the video. Maybe it needs a second viewing.

[ImTheWiseJanitor]

Never in my life did I imagine I'd see the words "HTDA" and "Vevo" together.

[joplinpicasso]

I agree with sheepdean -- come on, John Hillcoat, pick up the pace! Other than that, yes, the video is somewhat fantastic. Makes me hear the song quite differently.

[r_z]

So yeah, Vevo doesn't let me watch the video since I'm not from the US (I suppose) and the youtube version is blocked in my country (because they block ALL major label artists' videos). I love you, music industry.

[ninperu]

So yeah, Vevo doesn't let me watch the video since I'm not from the US (I suppose) and the youtube version is blocked in my country (because they block ALL major label artists' videos). I love you, music industry.

i'm in Perú and i have no problem seeing the video...

[sheepdean]

Germany and a few other countries (I think Thailand?) have it banned, most don't. Although tunnelbear, or simply using keepvid, will circumnavigate both of these. Not that you should of course, as that would breach your country's copyright law. Cough. Cough.

[r_z]

I'm in Germany and it's a common problem over here. The GEMA is the only institution for distributing artists's fees and they make sure nobody gets to see videos from major label artists until they've reached an agreement with Youtube about said fees being payable per view. It's odd that in every other country Youtube managed to solve those issues with resident institutions, yet in Germany there's no end in sight. The problem is, that the GEMA is the ONLY institution in our country that's allowed to distribute those fees. Therefore they can practically decide on what they want. Recently, for example, they've decided to raise the fees charged to night clubs (for playing [club-] music) to 1400%, which eventually will lead to quite a few clubs having to shut down business (not to mention the impact this will have on our club culture).

We've been writing about German music collection society GEMA's bizarre fight against YouTube for a few years now, in which all major music videos are blocked from YouTube in Germany because GEMA is suing YouTube and refuses to even discuss a potential license until the lawsuit is over. As we noted recently, this is even frustrating the labels who feel that GEMA is costing them serious money in not just doing a deal to make videos available. While researching something else on Twitter, I came across this telling tweet, from an individual in Germany talking about how they had to use a Chinese web proxy just to watch a new Sting video, and properly notes just how screwed up the world is when people in Germany are relying on Chinese web proxies just to watch music videos. I'm still trying to figure out what good this does anyone... other than GEMA.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/201...ic-video.shtml

Seriously, the whole music industry in Germany sucks so hard. It's no wonder, only very few bands like Rammstein or Atari Teenage Riot have managed to make themself a name outside of this country in recent history.

[eversonpoe]

so...am i right in saying that trent is playing a prepared auto-harp? that's pretty freakin' great. whatever rob is doing is awesome, and i love that Spoiler: the last shot in the video is of him ejecting a 5 1/4" floppy disk. we're never really shown whatever atticus is doing, which is a little disappointing. however, i'm glad that this isn't just another performance video. as nice as "keep it together" was to look at, i get really, really easily bored with straight-up performance videos (unless they're alternate audio, a la "gave up" & "march of the pigs").

anyway, i liked it a lot!

[konstantin]

don't know if it's because i like John Hillcoat in general, but this was really well done. almost like the song was written for a short film (hence the literal interpretations here and there). was a little wary when i saw the video was 7+ min long, but those long shots were really necessary to sink into the ominous serenity mood. and it seemed like the director was inspired by Year Zero too.

on the other hand i was reminded once again that the Ghosts sound has long overstated its welcome for me. really hoping the album will cover some new ground we haven't been presented with yet (even if it's West Indian Girl indie pop type stuff)

[R-Dot-Yung]

I have now decided that Rob is going to be live analog distorting whatever video element HTDA is cooking up...for the live shows that is.

[sheepdean]

Rob is going to give all audience members optical implants so he can distort your worldview as the band plays.

[Shnoorum]

I quite enjoyed that and I just clued in to the fact that they're probably going to release a video for each song

Forgive me for being slow but what makes you think that? Something flew right over my head I think

That aside, the video was really awesome in my opinion. The distortion that started kicking in towards the end was amazing. At first I thought they were just doing another (almost) regular studio video but it really started getting funky in the middle

[sheepdean]

For the Germans: http://www.clipfish.de/musikvideos/v...ngels-ice-age/ (via nin.com)

[aggroculture]

OK I'll have a think about why I dislike it so much, and maybe come back later.
That said I cannot help but resent a little the pressure here to only say positive things or keep your peace.
If I'd just posted "it's brilliant, I love it" no-one would chide me for that not being a "well-informed" opinion.

The "i haven't read the thread" followed by "haven't listened to the album" kind of makes your opinion a wee bit less valid, imo.

Fine. I was only commenting on this song/video. I've been listening to TR since 1993, and have the first HDTA EP, so even if I am not up to the minute, I do have an opinion.

[Shnoorum]

please don't hate me, i'm honestly just trying to explain:

i think there's a difference between posting a well-informed negative opinion and saying that you're "embarrassed" by the song and video and that you find it to be "loathsome."

now, back on topic: is anyone else going to back me up on that being a prepared auto-harp that trent is playing? I NEED TO KNOW WHAT IT IS!

Can't help you there I'm afraid. I would quite like to know aswell because it makes e very perdy sound. Sadly when I get technical when talking about NIN or HTDA I may aswell be saying "I like them NINs cause' they make them noises out of them there blippy boxes". I've always been an uneducated admirer of their work

[dominik]

Anyone else waiting for Trent to pop out of nowhere with a rather immature response to some of the weak criticism in this thread?

If you look at the comments on his fb page, I think he won't be able to resist to call someone "cunt".