'Terminal Slam', Squarepusher's new music video with AR, screened at Tokyo's iconic Shibuya Crossing
Squarepusher's music video for new single 'Terminal Slam' got its first play at midnight, January 30, in a surprising location. It was played on one of the giant TV screens at Tokyo's iconic Shibuya Crossing, one of the most recognizable intersections in Japan and regarded as the busiest in the world.
The location is perfectly suited to premiere the video which takes place in a near-future Tokyo. It opens with a female Japanese protagonist putting on augmented reality glasses before the camera pans through a distorted, glitchy Tokyo city. Buildings and people pulsate in time and fashion similar to media player visual plugins as we are taken through various scenes of the city; malls, the subway, stairways, streets and more.
'Terminal Slam', one of many highlights of the 'Be Up A Hello' album, scores a pulsating acid instrumental at an energetic tempo.
The video was directed by Daito Manabe, Squarepusher's longtime collaborator, and world-renowned visual artist. Manabe is the director, artist and co-founder of the Rhizomatiks research group and has won awards for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics presentation. It was produced at the closing ceremony of the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics in Rio, using AR (Augmented Reality) Technology. They have worked with Sónar Festival and also at Jodrell Bank, mapping live astronomical data as an artwork, projected onto the Lovell telescope. Other artists they have worked with include Bjork and one of the premier Kyogen (a form of a comic traditional theater) performers, Nomura Mansai.
Squarepusher has seen many works with Daito over the years. The first work was in 2013 on the Squarepusher x Z Machines EP 'Music for Robots', then with the Rhizomatiks team providing live visuals for a headline set at the Sonic Mania show in 2017 in support of the 'Shobaleader One' album. Most recently they worked together for Squarepusher's last Japanese tour.
Daito Manabe reveals, “The concept began with the idea of implementing the near future, not the distant future, using modern technology", adding "In the near future, It would be exciting to be able to rewrite ads as freely as is depicted in this music video while wearing such a device and wandering around the city.”
You can watch 'Terminal Slam' here.