You may know Dan Friel from his previous life fronting Brooklyn noise rock ensemble Parts & Labor throughout the aughts, or more recently in his leading role in Upper Wilds, but his experimental solo venture jamming out manipulated instrumental bangers on a miniature Portasound keyboard is equally of note. Having just released his fourth LP in just over a decade earlier this month, Friel has expanded his palette to incorporate a harsher 8-bit sound, as well as a ceremonial horn section on the title track.
To expand upon the “harsh” end of the spectrum, Friel today is unveiling a new clip for the two-minute “Killipede,” which visually echoes the track’s grating electronic freeform composition. Digital artist, game designer, professor, and—most relevantly—Fanfare artwork creator Andy Wallace is to thank for the harsh, colorful video that complements Friel’s frenetic audio, giving the brief track an extra push toward head-turning postmodern gallery installation.
“What makes this project really fun is that this video was written entirely in C++,” Wallace explains in a lengthy blog post offering some behind the scenes details on the making of the clip. “To create the style of the video, and to match Dan’s energetic and chaotic noise, I focused on JPEG corruption to create a set of filters and effects that I used in the video. The techniques used are not stylistic attempts to mimic the look of JPEG corruption; they are honest-to-god damaged JPEG files.”
“Andy’s call to build the video out of ‘honest-to-god damaged JPEG files’ really nailed the mood,” Friel confirms. “It’s fun, it’s hideous, and Andy was really patient with my constant requests to make the video look ‘worse.’”
Fanfare is out now via Thrill Jockey Records. You can order it here.
