I’m excited to premiere The Luyas’ new video for Moodslayer  - which sounds oddly similar to the “moodswinger” an instrument played by vocalist Jessie Stein. I only found out recently what a moodswinger was (and no, it’s not a slang for “girl”!) It’s actually a twelve string electric zither with an additional third bridge designed by Dutch experimental luthier Yuri Landman. It sounds about as serious as it, sounds.

This Montreal-based band is known for their psychedelic light shows and mystical tunes – so it’s not surprising that this video is a visual representation of their aesthetic. It was the brainchild of Derrick Belcham (A Story Told Well/La Blogotheque) Jessie Stein and Ruby Kato Attwood who unite under the moniker of “Schtuff”. Read more on their process and watch the video after the jump.

The video is made entirely of hand-made paper animation machines, crystals and analog light and shadow. Most every object in the video is spinning on a record player. The song, “Moodslayer” was written by compiling the anxieties and venerations of a close friend as they dealt with their first schizophrenic hallucinations.

Shot on a modified digital camcorder, the visuals were created by fashioning unique apertures from cardboard and other coarse papers, modifying a variety of light sources with an assortment of glass geometry and directing the changes through a live video monitor.

The depiction centres on the dichotomy between the protagonist’s perception of the real and unreal within his own mind. They are thrown into a spectacular display of thought forms, settling on archetypes of peace from their youth, but, eventually, they are serenaded back into the unreal where a kind of comfort and control can be maintained.

Connect with The Luyas here.