Massive Attack Ritual Video Square
Los Angeles producer/DJ/cosmic shaman Gaslamp Killer takes us on an immersive ride in his new video for "Ritual," a clip that bends both time and space to his own will. Allow us to explain.
The clip contains footage shot from two locations--first, a fall 2013 Gaslamp Killer Experience show at the Mayan Theatre in Los Angeles. That night, GLK was backed by a fifteen-piece live ensemble that included, amongst many other local greats, saxophonist Kamasi Washington. It's the audio from that show that we hear in the video--live bongos and twirling horn lines accentuate the beat just right. But wait, there's so much more.
As you watch the video itself seems to hallucinate and fall into a dream, with twirling desert vistas making their way on screen--shots taken during GLK's recent Coachella festival set. We gorgeous craggy valleys, long flat horizons, sunsets over water, strange masks and...a gold-studded baseball bat. You weren't ready for this one alongside your early morning coffee, now, were you?
The November 2013 performance which supplies the audio for the clip almost never happened, as Gaslamp was caught up in a dangerous scooter accident shortly before its scheduled date. Still, the show went on and the producer soldiered through with panache. "I insisted that I could handle it," he told Rolling Stone. "[A]nd after an insane amount of help from the people closest to me – and with only three rehearsals – we got up onstage in front of a sold out crowd of 2,000 people and performed my original compositions live with a 14-piece crew of some of my favorite Angeleno musicians for the first time." Watch the new video below.
