Ariel Pink’s Haunted Tribute

Prolific LA-based recording artist Ariel Pink has released a sprawling 16-minute tribute titled Witchhunt Suite for WWIII. The prog-pop piece was first released four years ago in two parts, but this past week it reached a broader audience than the tour-only CD-R it was originally offered to. The video, directed by Animal Charm, was finished up just in time for the 10-year anniversary of the event that inspired it: 9/11.

The video elicits a surreal brand of patriotism, thanks to the deconstructed media clips the team at Animal Charm are known for using. The lo-fi clips, which look straight out of your creepy uncle’s basement-VHS collection, feature a variety of things—good and bad—that are common to the everyman’s psyche. Familiar scenes such as teens partying, a crowd cheering at a sporting event and bikini-clad beach babes bring a level of relatablity despite them having seemingly been filmed in the 80s.

Depending on which part of the suite is playing, the stock footage ranges from happy parachuters holding hands while they float through the air to gun shots and people running from the police. Whether or not it’s intentionally made to mimic how quickly the things that make us happy can be stolen from us, it is an effective way to have the video—and song—set up. Just as quickly as things get dark, however, Pink comes right back with a rallying cry of “We’re gonna, gonna get ‘em / We got ‘em!” as he flails around in front of green-screened footage of rioters, leaving Hipster Runoff readers the Internet over wondering if it’s alt to never forget.

Details

• Directed by

  animal charm

• Band

  ariel pink's haunted graffiti

• Label

  4ad