(Aug. 31) -- Since MTV killed the video star when it pulled the plug on "Total Request Live" back in 2008, the music video has led a somewhat listless existence. It's now found mainly on band websites or fighting to capture attention among viral videos on sharing sites like YouTube.

All of that may have just changed, though, thanks to a groundbreaking collaboration between Canadian indie rockers Arcade Fire and web giant Google. The two teamed up on a Web-only interactive music video called "The Wilderness Downtown," posted online Monday at www.thewildernessdowntown.com. (No embed, sorry.)

Why is it so exciting? Theoretically, it takes place outside every individual viewer's childhood home (as long as that home is still around and has been photographed by Google's Street View service, which provides the real-world images in Google Maps).

That's of course a far cry from the same flat, singular image of a band playing along to trippy visuals that was introduced to the masses with the debut of "Video Killed the Radio Star," the first music video ever aired by MTV back in 1981.

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Set to the song "We Used to Wait" off the latest Arcade Fire album "The Suburbs," the new video opens in several different-sized browser windows, showing various scenes of an unidentified figure (the viewer?) running to the home, birds flying overhead, even an interactive postcard portion. It's nothing like an annoying pop-up ad, don't worry. In fact, the entire experience is engrossing, impressive and really quite breathtaking to behold, in Surge Desk's opinion.

Of course, it's hardly the first interactive music video to come about since the advent of the Internet (and not even the first one featuring birds as a motif), but it may be the most widely praised to date, receiving the applause of both tech and music writers.

Directed by Chris Milk, the video was created using HTML5, the new standard coding language for interactive Web features that has been in the headlines this year thanks to Apple CEO Steve Jobs' promotion of it over rival multimedia platform Adobe Flash. (Jobs notoriously HATES Flash. He even typed a 1,600-word-long screed against it earlier this year. And it is banned from the iPhone and iPad, which is why users of those devices can only watch certain videos online.)

Unlike Jobs, Google had been seen as more receptive to Flash. But this latest video -- which requires Google's free Chrome Internet Browser to work -- indicates that the company is indeed betting bigger on HTML5. After all, the editor in charge of HTML5 is Ian Hickson, a Google employee.

Ultimately, it's not about the process, but the final product. Just how good is it? Like Surge Desk, many around the Web who have caught sight of the video are eager to sing its praises. Have a look for yourself at their gushing takes:

Blogosphere

"It's pretty revolutionary stuff, which both highlights an exciting new direction for the music video and the scary detail with which Google is now recording everything." -- Jeremy Taylor, AOL Asylum

"Arcade Fire may preach about the dangers of technological evolution, but they're certainly not ignoring the creative benefits offered by new technologies. " -- Conor Sullivan, AOL Switched

"Me, I kind of think they nailed it. Physically I'm sitting at my desk at work, but ten minutes after clicking, I'm still 3,000 miles away." -- Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly

"Personal experiences aside, this is one impressive demonstration of the power of HTML5, and offers an interesting insight as to how the Web's interactive experiences could change -- no doubt at the loss of Adobe's Flash." -- Chris Brandrick, PC World

"Though it's far from perfect, the video is still captivating. And, of course, words pale in comparison to the actual, resource-intensive experience." -- Niraj Chokshi, The Atlantic

"I can't stand Arcade Fire, but I've already shared [the video] with hundreds of my friends." -- James McMahon, The Guardian

"I couldn't even use my childhood address (street view hasn't come to Trenton, Ontario), but just using the first apartment I ever lived in was enough to get me all misty eyed. It sounds like I'm exaggerating, but its honestly one of the more emotionally stimulating uses of technology I've ever come across ... " -- The Lost Boy, Indiewire

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