Singer-songwriter and Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus has released a new music video for his song “Shadowbanned,” which will be featured on his upcoming album Traditional Techniques, out March 6th via Matador. This video is directed by Jan Lankisch and features several noteworthy guest appearances from prominent musicians such as Kim Gordon, Mac DeMarco, Sharon Van Etten, Conor Oberst, Kurt Vile and Mary Lattimore, along with an appearance from veteran actor Jason Schwartzman. This project features the use of the “Being Stephen Malkmus” filter, which allows people to use a poorly rendered CGI version of Malkmus’ face on top of their own.
“Shadowbanned” is an eclectic video, beginning with a shot of Malkmus pixelated out of the frame, before transitioning into shots of the video’s guests using the “Being Stephen Malkmus” Instagram filter. Clips of various different internet videos are also shown, as the South Asian inspired indie track plays in the background. Schwartzman sings the song’s title after his face is revealed at the end of the video.
“The video was inspired by reading about female singers and musicians who were photoshopped from their album covers by an Iranian music streaming site,” Lankisch stated in a press release regarding the video. The director received help from Janosch Pugnaghi, Gesa Gadow, Lina Sieckmann and Miri Gossing for this latest project.
Traditional Techniques was announced earlier this year, and was accompanied by the release of the track “Xian Man.” His most prominent group Pavement, recently held their first reunion show last year at Primavera Sound.