Pitchfork

Haven't wrapped up your submission for Rafter's video contest yet? Well what on earth are you waiting for, chickens? As previously reported, Asthmatic Kitty recording artist/chicken suit guy Rafter-- aka Rafter Roberts, one half of San Diego popsters Bunky-- has invited folks to create a video for a track from his new record, Music for Total Chickens, which crosses the road January 23.

Aspiring directors have four Total Chickens eggs to choose from-- "Encouragement", "Gentle Men", "Hope", and "Monsters" (all available for download below)-- and two winners will each receive a $500 prize.

The first of the two prizes, the "Quantity Award", goes to the creator of the video with the most YouTube views, while the "Quality Award" gets handed down by a panel of celebrity judges. We're quite pleased to now announce those judges, along with Asthmatic Kitty's reasons from choosing them:

-- Peaches ("chosen for her keen eye for costuming")
-- Tim Kingsbury, Arcade Fire bassist ("chosen for his love of looking at various things")
-- Arto Lindsay ("Because [he] was one of Rafter's inspirations to enter the musical world")
-- Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris, directors ("for their collection of MTV Music Video Awards...and their writing and directing of...Little Miss Sunshine")
-- Kristin Hersh of 50 Foot Wave, ex-Throwing Muses ("Hersh's visual lyricism made her an obvious choice for the panel")
-- Jim Munroe, DVDZine editor/science fiction writer ("for his D.I.Y. spirit, corporate combatting, and complicated relationship with the future")

So there you have it-- these are the people you need to impress, youngins. And several of them are Canadian, so we suggest incorporating hockey, moose, and public health care into your clips.

Videos must be submitted to the Rafter contest group on YouTube by the album's release date (January 23). And if 500 big ones and an endorsement from a member of the Arcade Fire isn't provocation enough, Rafter has put together a pair of YouTube infomercials to motivate the unsure. View them here and here.

And check it: so far only FOUR videos have been submitted, which means unlike other video contests going on right now, you might actually have a chance at winning this one. Good luck! Break an egg, ha ha ha *cough cough* okay bye.