Video: Marty Friedman’s “Whiteworm” Gets Gamey
Marty Friedman’s new album Wall of Sound sounds awesome so far; each of the four tracks are distinct, clear, and lathered in style. His latest material just proves the guy is a fuckin’ level 100 guitar master; he’s so good at everything he does that every note just exudes skill. He has honed melody and metal to a science and he coats your ears with pure bliss.
Today, Marty treats us with a video for “Whiteworm,” the previously released second single off of Wall of Sound.
The video feels very ’80s to me: it has a kind of classic editing style with a lot of cuts to stock footage, Marty playing in front of himself, Marty on that weird orb from Wikipedia, etc., cut in with what the video is actually supposed to be about. That feeling is compounded by a videogame being played by a child, the character drawn out in pixels with his little white worm that look like they could have come from the Gameboy Color.
Marty says the Junya Masuyama-directed video was intended to be a minimalist piece about Japan — something like a postcard but in video format:
I chose him to challenge him to put a foreigner (myself) into a very Japanese atmosphere in such a way that was not “Japan overload”. It was quite easy for him to do so, as his videos tend to be minimalistic, with the focus on one or two subtle themes. In this case the themes being the very delicate and simple idea of a little boy playing a video game waiting for the rain to stop, and me playing aggressively and calmly. Japan can be known for its wildness, but it also corners the market on subtle things. I went the subtle route on this video to contrast with the wildness of the guitar work in “Whiteworm”.
Wall of Sound will be out August 4th, and you can pre-order it here. You can also check out the other songs that Marty has released from the album here, here, and here. Friedman’s tour with Scale The Summit and The Fine Constant kicked off yesterday, and here are the remaining dates:
8/03 Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA
8/04 Highline Ballroom, New York, NY
8/05 Crossroads, Garwood, NJ
8/06 Baltimore Soundstage, Baltimore, MD
8/08 Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH
8/09 Diesel, Chesterfield, MI
8/10 Reggie’s Rock Club, Chicago, IL
8/11 Studio B at the Skyway, Minneapolis, MN
8/12 Sokol Underground, Omaha, NE
8/13 Fubar, St, Louis, MO
8/16 Scout Bar, Houston, TX
8/17 The Rock Box, San Antonio, TX
8/18 Trees, Dallas, TX
8/19 Tower Theater, Oklahoma, OK
8/20 The Riot Room, Kansas City, MO
8/23 Marquis Theatre, Denver, CO
8/24 Launchpad, Albuquerque, NM
8/25 The Rebel Lounge, Phoenix, AZ
8/26 The Whisky, Los Angeles, CA
8/27 The Parish @ HOB, Anaheim, CA
8/28 Brick By Brick, San Diego, CA
