Once the changeover began, the first thing that happened was a completely blank front page, offering you only two options in a sharp contrast to the multitude of options on the page prior to this. You could continue to the main site or you could visit the forum, and this black screen of death looked like this:-
Here's where things got strange. There was a small numbered display embedded in the page that seemed to be counting down towards something. But what? Conspiracy theories abounded. Was this a lyrical reference to Escape the Nest? If so, why? That was from E2 and now it was 2009 and almost time for the next record, so what was the relevance? It was attention grabbing in the worst possible way for those of us who have given over large parts of our lives/souls/brain function to this band, like catnip dangled in front of an army of gloomy cats, who now began to obsess. Among every proposition and possible explanation put forward, only one question remained; What will happen when the clock reaches zero?
While the clock ticked a number of video images, or "glitches" according the the tags that were already on them when I grabbed them from the site, flashed up at random intervals. It was frustrating because you couldn't pause it and really scrutinize what you were seeing. It was all very mysterious, in a very arty way.
The thing about successfully grabbing all of this for future enjoyment was that I had to rip every tiny video file from the official site while they played. It wasn't a cohesive, single bit of film and because of the disordered way in which they appeared, different clips on different days, it took a while to get them all and sort out the duplicates. In the end, there were about 30 puzzle pieces in total.
These snippets ranged in length from around 6 seconds to 44 seconds, but for this post I've combined them all into a single video so you can watch them all in one sitting. The effect is even more creepy than they were originally. If you've ever seen the Japanese horror movie Ringu (which was later ruined/remade into The Ring by Hollywood), the cursed video tape that you die 7 days after watching has a similar vibe. For a band that was already regularly swatting away accusations of inherent darkness in their music and of them being sad souls all day long, this didn't help. However, I really like the way it looks and I think it captures some of the essence of what makes ITLAOTE so effective. It's like they picked out the most unsettling musical moments from the E3 sessions and made a short film about them to build anticipation for the new record's release. It didn't tell you a whole lot but it does manage to put you on edge. Also, E3 was released in October of 2009 and it's so appropriate because of the coldness that seems to be woven into every note on that record. This video takes that audio chill and makes it into something you can see.
I won't go into any great detail about that you'll see and hear, because it's a lot more fun to just watch it and use the pause button to pick out the finer points, and to be able to replay it as much as you need to immerse yourself in it fully.
If you're wondering about the clock on the front page of the official site, it did eventually reach zero. Large numbers of fans from the official forum mobilised on the day it was due to run out, gathering around to tune in for the big reveal. Right up until those last few seconds we were all still theorising about what could happen when we reached the finish line, counting aloud from 10 down to 1 and then...and then...
Another clock appeared and started counting down all over again. We got played by our favourite band.
Later, after the second clock ran out and we all gathered around with the uneasy feeling that another one was about to start up again from scratch, the black screen of death vanished and the official site changed its appearance to look like this:-
So here it is, just under 5 minutes of spooky Editors flashbacks from the In This Light and on This Evening sessions which ushered in a brand new chapter in the band's history.
stream it here
This is an additional glitch that wasn't part of the original collection on the website, but it fits together with the rest perfectly. It starts with a section of the full electric version of No Sound But The Wind, but it's a little odd. Firstly, there are pieces of the Munich video playing. Secondly, it starts off sounding like the recording of NSBTW but then all the music fades out leaving leaving no sound...but the Tom, before going completely silent and stopping. No happy ending or signing off with a smile. A fitting conclusion to the whole glitches episode. Enjoy ;)
And don't forget, you can catch up with other Editors Oddities using this link:-
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
