I saw this on Entertainment Weekly‘s PopWatch blog yesterday, but wanted to share it here too because it’s so cool.

Joy Division’s live performance of “Transmission” on the BBC’s Something Else on September 15, 1979 was already historic, as it marked the band’s first and last nationally televised showcase (a two-song set that also included “She’s Lost Control”). Now over 30 years later, an enterprising gentleman from Leipzig, Germany, has recast that moment for posterity using Playmobil sets and stop-motion animation.

You know, Playmobil — the figure-and-scene sets for kids that are sort of like Legos, but not. No, not Duplo, which are larger Legos, Playmobil. Oh, just watch:

< As you might imagine, this endeavor was time consuming in the most tedious sort of way. Capturing just four seconds of footage required taking 200 pictures, with more than four hours of work to set the miniscule movements just so:

Now that’s dedication to one’s art. Let’s hear it for German engineering, everybody!

Purchase Joy Division – “Transmission” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.