Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

colberterists

Oh this is going to be fun! Reports TV Squad:

It seems like indie group The Decemberists are looking to get a little green screen action too, through their new contest, Re-animate The Decemberists, in which fans download footage of the band playing in front of a green screen and create their own video.

Colbert called the band out in an episode last week, accusing The Decemberists of riding on his coat-tails. He then instructed the Colbert Nation to enter The Decemberists’ contest, but work in his green screen footage from the first Challenge to tear down the band. Oh snap! But wait. There’s a second, unexpected snap…

The Decemberists, fans of the show, heard Stephen’s cry and have issued two counter-challenges. They’ve called upon their fans to enter the contest as Stephen instructed, but to depict the band defeating the pundit. They’ve also started an all-new Decemberists vs. Stephen Colbert Guitar Solo Challenge. Holy crap. They’re really asking for it. I wonder what Stephen’s going to say about this (if anything) on Monday.

God… This may be the geekiest contest I have heard of in a really long time. I mean, this is an epic battle between political satire nerds and indie rock kids. It’s like the clash of the Titans, but with a lot more sweaters and crying.

(TV Squad: “Stephen Colbert vs. The Decemberists” - 12/01/06)

Rob reports that someone’s already posted an entry to YouTube, and that fan reaction on The Decemberists’ MySpace page is decidedly torn, given that many Decemberists fans apparently are also big Colbert fans.

The song in question, “O Valencia!”, is pretty good, too. The video was fun to watch even just against the green screen. Colin Meloy is kind of funny to watch singing anyway; the video features a number of tight close-ups on his face, and his head and mouth are just so disproportionately large, it’s kind of comical, like he’s going to chew his way through the camera and into your living room.