After the destructive Tsunami that hit Asia in March of 2011, northeastern Japan took a massive hit and is still in the recovery process. As a way of contributing, David Byrne and Sigur Rós have teamed with the Japanese organization known as Zapuni, who paired these musicians with animators from Japan to put together a couple of animated music videos aimed at benefiting the children who were affected by this tragedy.
Although the videos are cool, simply watching them won’t help the children of the tsunami. If interested, all proceeds from “Psychedelic Afternoon” on iTunes will go to the benefit. You can also purchase iPhone cases inspired by the project or donate directly to the cause on Zapuni’s website http://zapuni.com/.
David Byrne is not new to the idea of working with Japanese talent, as his song “Psychedelic Afternoon” from his 1994 album Sweet Revenge was co-written by popular Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. This song was revived for this project, which accompanies the tune with a video produced by the Japanese duo UrumaDelvi. The video tells the story of a young child who has re-occuring nightmares of the tsunami and is relieved by a euphoric trip sparked by his grandfather emulating Byrne’s tune on guitar.
For the Sigur Rós video titled “Bloom,” director Yutaka Yamamoto uses the band’s song “Hoppípolla” from their 2005 album, Takk. This video depicts an elderly farmer re-nurturing his farmland to what it had been prior to the tsunami, with the help of some angels.
The project directly benefits an organization called School Music Revival, providing musical instruments and music performances to schools damaged by all natural disasters in Japan. Watch the videos below!
David Byrne “Psychedelic Afternoon”:
Sigur Ros “Bloom”: