Stoner-rock stompers Queens of the Stone Age have released an interactive, online multi-media video extravaganza to promote "The Vampyre of Time and Memory" from their latest album, Like Clockwork.
As a longtime avid fan of QOTSA, I’m pleased to discover that the band has not only turned out yet another hard-rocking, while simultaneous soulful, record - one more addition to their already impeccable track record - but they’ve added a whole other layer with the slightly unsettling, shades of magickal New Orleans vibe, passed on not just through the music but via the haunting visuals.
Visitors and fans can enter into the interactive “space," then make their way into a number of separate rooms where they choose their path by clicking a variety of offered links embedded within various graphics about each room, leading to either the straight-forward commercial version of "Vampyre" or to two separate rooms, where in one QOTSA performs the song in dramatic but straightforward fashion, evoking Nick Cave. In the opposite room, the same song is performed by glamorous if somewhat jaded and battered looking chanteuse Queenie, supported by the sultry, sexy Poubelle Twins.
The directors Arens and Tucco are trying to convey their vision of portraying a single performance taking place in more than one room simultaneously. From my early morning, wake and baked perspective, they’ve pulled it off admirably. Obviously, the stellar rendition by Queenie and by the band itself on this Bowie-esque and haunting number, goes a long way in taking the whole effort from just cool to something dark and special. Make sure to pass through the exhibit more than once so you catch it all.
“The Vampyre of Time and Memory" is a collaboration with The Creators Project (a new entity created by Intel and VICE). With over 500 musical artists already showcased by The Creators Project, this group promises to bring us more hip works of art and music for our aural and visual pleasure.
