EXCLUSIVE Holy Hail: “Born of a Star”
You may not recognize the name, but you’re probably familiar with the work of my main man Elliot Jokelson. Remember that incredible video for Pinback’s “Fortress”? You know, the one that’s one of the best animated videos of the last five years? Or maybe you can recall the amazing video for TV On The Radio’s “Staring At The Sun”, with all its synthetic neon glory? Still no dice? How about that epic clip for TVotR’s “Dreams”? Well, long story short: this guy is the man when it comes to consistent music video brilliance.
That said, it’s been over a year since we last heard from him, and what a long wait it’s been. Wait no more though, as we’re here to debut his brand new video for “Born of a Star” by Brooklyn up-and-comers Holy Hail. Elliot’s always scored big in the special effects department and his latest effort is no different, fucking you up with some crazy optical effects that I might refer to as “swirling fractals” if I were the kind of douchebag that pulls pretentious terms out of his ass just because he can (oh wait, that sums me up pretty well). So yeah, I’ll just defer to Elliot on this one:
“When I first heard ‘Born of a Star’ I was immediately struck by its primal, unembellished drum and bass line. In keeping with that aesthetic I set out to contstruct a video armed only with variations on a simple theme… Basically the idea was to use these gradual variations to move from a representational image into a completely abstract image.”
The sparse arrangement of the track is perfectly reflected by the minimalist structure of the video, but the special effects are enough to keep things interesting and make this one of the year’s finest post-production accomplishments. Jokelson’s done it again.
Video: “Born of a Star”
Artist: Holy Hail
Director: Elliot Jokelson
Watch: [YouTube]
Download: [Quicktime • 20 MB]
Also, make sure not to sleep on the track itself, as it’s fucking great. Sure, it took a little while to grow on me, but once it gets in your head it’s there to stay. Plus, they’re signed to a UK label, so you know they’re good. Download the original and Shir Khan’s sufficiently ill remix below.
MP3s:
“Born of a Star” - Holy Hail
“Born of a Star” (Shir Khan Remix) - Holy Hail