The other day, some nerd was showing me this “like, totally awesome” video, which was basically a corrupted computer file of a thrid-rate indie pop song. It was a bit like watching Freeview on a 60″ plasma, lots of pixels and interference, but the overall effect was hypnotically beautiful.

According to Youtube, that video was uploaded on 8th February and, faster than you can say “I bet someone uses this on a real video”, someone has used it in a real video.

Appropriately enough, that someone is notorious internet magpie Kanye West, who’s gone all blocky in the clip for Welcome To Heartbreak.

You have to give Kanye credit here. Despite his uncontrollable God complex, he does take a lot of care over the visual aspect of his work – and he’s constantly on the look-out for new talent. Much like a hip-hop Bjork.

If you want to know more about this technique, which has been christened Datamoshing, this page contains an unusually erudite internet discussion about it.