It’s the simple things in life. Cats purring in your arms. Black and white doodles in your notebook. Rotoscoped video of cats in your arms made to look like black and white doodles in your notebook.
Okay, so maybe that last one wasn’t so simple, but for some reason, Konx-Om-Pax’s new video for Warp’s Jamie Lidell is oddly entertaining.
m4v format (for your ipod, if you’re into that sort of thing)
mov format (for your computer, if you’re into that sort of thing)
It’s nothing new, really. Rotoscoping’s been around about as long as animation, and technically speaking, there are better examples of its capabilities out there. Who can forget A-Ha’s legendary Take On Me video? (Oops. It appears I just gave away my age.)
I think it’s the video’s unique combination of subject matter and style that does it for me. The subject matter is deceptively dumb at first: a guy holding his cat while singing a song. But as the cat grows ever more agitated and the guy juggles it more and more, the whole thing becomes oddly amusing. I start to sympathize with the cat about halfway through the song. And that’s pretty rare for me, because usually I don’t give a shit what cats are thinking. I figure since they don’t give a shit what I’m thinking, we’re even.
The sketchy style works, too. The music is a mish-mash of rhythms and sounds, uneven and rough around the edges but somehow coherent at its core. The visuals work this way as well, clearly representing true-to-life form and movement while suffering from agitated scratches and juts of black. I don’t know. It just works.
Visit Konx-Om-Pax’s site | Jamie Lidell on Warp Records
Big ups to Emmanuel Dumont for bringing this video to my attention.