"Thru Jerusalem," the new video from Kutiman, marks a departure from the YouTube mashup sensation's previous musical collages. All the footage is original, based on his two-month exploration of the historic city, during which he interviewed and filmed local musicians. The audiovisual collage functions as both a beautiful tour and a beautiful song.
Wired.com contacted the oft-reclusive artist by cellphone as he traveled a remote Israeli desert, and asked him about his latest creation, which he uploaded to YouTube Monday.
"I just tried to be a tourist and make the video regardless of race or religion," the 29-year-old Jerusalem native said as the wind whipped in the background. "My only goal was to show the beauty of the city."
Kutiman said he didn't set a "vision" for the song except that it sound Middle Eastern in origin. He let the artists play whatever they liked, whether it be a furious drum beat or a droning tone on the sousaphone. He then combined the recordings into a track that instantly transports the listener to this fabled and tonally unique part of the world.
Kutiman's brilliant layering and track-looping shines as he shuffles violas, darbuka, horns, guitar, baglama, turntables and a man playing rhythm on PVC piping in his backyard.
"They were all so good, the final piece came together quite easily," Kutiman said.
By using his own video to create the song, Kutiman had far more creative control with "Thru Jerusalem" than with his previous smashes "ThruYou" and "My Favorite Color." Previously he'd been beholden to the key of the musical clips he found on YouTube, which he mined for source material; this time he asked musicians to keep the improvisations around the key of D.
"In my other videos I might find a great solo or singer but they would be a semitone off, so I wouldn't use the clip," he said. "I always stayed true to the artists' tone; I'd just alter rhythm to make it fit."
Born Ophir Kutiel, Kutiman was named the Artist of the Season by the 2011 Jerusalem Season of Culture. He plans to release another song June 28 and a video mashup cover of Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog" in mid-July.
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