The Shins: Wincing the Night Away

CML call number: CD ROCK Shins
Steven Leckart wrote in Wired: "Waving your cell phone in the air like you just don’t care? Cool. Using said device to shoot a band’s new video? Way cooler. At the Austin City Limits fest in Texas last fall, the Shins unveiled 'Phantom Limb,' a pop head-bobber from their upcoming third album, Wincing the Night Away. But instead of hiring, say, Garden State buddy Zach Braff to capture the moment, the Portland, Oregon-based indie darlings fansourced it, inviting the crowd to record the performance with cell phones and digicams. The result is a groovy (albeit grainy) group effort used to promote the single’s early release. To pull it off, the Shins teamed up with user-generated-video upstart Current TV and instructed concert-goers to upload raw material to Current TV’s Web site. Roughly 200 spectators submitted footage, which producers then edited into a five-minute montage of at least one image from nearly every shooter. 'With the Internet redefining a band’s success, ideas like this are the future of how music will be perceived – and received,' says Shins keyboardist Marty Crandall" ("Play: Music," 1/07, p. 68)