Modest Mouse Launch ‘Linguistic Remix Generator’

Modest Mouse promised us a special accompaniment to their latest album, Strangers to Ourselves, and it looks (and sounds) like they've kept their word. It's just not necessarily the type of surprise you might have been expecting.

The Washington band have released a fun web feature they called a "Linguistic Remix Generator" on their website. Type any phrase (96 characters or less) into the generator, then watch the words turn into a fun little film that resembles what we would see in a lyric video. Using the overhead suburban shots featured on the album's cover art, the clip shows a kaleidoscope version of them as the words you typed appear on the screen. As for the soundtrack that dictates the pace of the video, it is a series of looped samples from the album.

According to Stereogum, the sounds are made from "letter frequency data to produce stems and patterns and analyzing the sentiment of the text to determine the BPM." In any case, they do make some trippy and interesting images. Beware to those who find spinning images dizzying because this could give you a little bit of a headache.

Modest Mouse are finished up their two-night stint at Webster Hall in New York City last night (March 19) and, after a little break, they'll head back out on the road to play festivals including Firefly, Sasquatch and a number of dates in Europe. You can find their show schedule here.

Stranger to Ourselves is out now via Epic Records and available on iTunes now.

Modest Mouse -- "Lampshades on Fire" (Audio)