Codes and Conventions of "Folk" Music Genre

The Folk music genre, which goes back as far as the 1950's has become popular over the years. Artists such as Bob Dylan, The Kinks and Nick Drake brought it to the nations attention in the 70's/80's and now Laura Marling, Mumford and Sons, Noah and the Whale and many more artists are bringing it back into the international charts.

The good thing about Folk music is that it is not mainstream and "artificial" The music is acoustic and the vocals unsynthesised and pure, Folk artists play their music not for fame but because they just enjoy doing it. The interesting thing about Folk artists is that the audience picks them, they are not forced upon us by the media as superficial pop stars such as Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber.

"There wasnt really a sense of ambition at all. Lets be honest, nobody picks up a banjo to become a pop star" (Mumford and Sons).

As every generation finds its own way to rebel against the mainstream pop culture, There has been many Iconic and historical shifts in the definition of "cool" from Hippies, Punks, Mods, dividing into subcultures such as New romantics, goth, ravers, chavs, scenesters emo and hundreds more of so called "stereotypes". So in the midst of this social media in the 21st century these divisions have become meaningless and there is no longer such a thing as Youth culture, its just a confusing array of sounds, odd fashions, and lifestyle choices empowered by the use of Social Networking. So how exactly do you rebel when anything goes? You could lay down your laptop, phones and ipods, Pick up an instrument and make something real. This is how Folk finds its way to rebel.

"I don't have Twitter or Facebook. It ruins a romantic idea, which might just be an illusion, a sense of depth or continuity. The world is getting so small, and mass production is getting so big. Everything is in danger of becoming the same." (Laura Marling)

Folk artists accept that what they are doing is not new, they do not try to portray themselves as something so unique and "out there" because in all honesty its all been done before in all music genres, nothing is brand new and exiting anymore, a new artist has always taken styles and inspirations from an old artist, wether or not they choose to admit it.

"About a year later, I listened to a Kinks album and realised that, we weren't all that original, and that it had all been done before" (Mumford and sons)

"Folk and traditional music always needs new blood, needs to continually renew itself or it dies, and nobody wants that. It's bringing back a sense of humour and inclusivity. Traditional music is passed through generations, so that in a sense what they are doing is not Folk, But neither was Dylan. " (Eliza carthy)

Indie Folk music videos are more creative and artistic than more mainstream music genre's. The editing is subtle often with colour and saturations, text, slight animations or patterns used but it in small doses. There isn't a direct narrative or relationship between lyrics and image. However there is a relationship between music and image artists will be shown playing/singing but not throughout the entire video. The artist is not the main part of the video it's more about the imagery.

Fleet Foxes Album Cover Art

Fleet Foxes are an Indie Folk band from Seattle USA, They came to prominence in 2008 after releasing this Self Tilted album, their music is praised for its refined lyrics and vocal harmonies. 

This album cover is quite strange at first it looks like a  pretty painting of a medieval village I like the way it appears to show every aspect of life. But when you look closely it is a scene of chaos, it is very weird, it shows people on fire, animals being slaughtered, people panicking. I like the way your first impression of the art is very wrong and far from the true image. I also like the hidden object puzzle quality of the painting, the more you look at it the more you see. The painting is by an artist called Bruegel. The colours are quite bland the few brighter colours that are used are made subtle because the painting itself is so busy. I like the font used it reminds me of the kind of type you see on old books. 

Jamie T- Panic Prevention Album Cover Art

Jamie T is an English singer/songwriter from South London. Panic Prevention was released in 2007. His music is best described as Folk but with heavy influences from Punk, Reggae and Hip-Hop. His songs are mainly stories about life in London suburbia.

I really like the way this album art is a cluttered room of old fashioned/vintage things, it reminds me of hidden object puzzles. The colours are quite bland, black, white, brown and orangey colours, nothing really stands out brightly, this works with the vintage clutter style of the photo as it looks dated. The content of the photo is mostly instruments, records, band posters and photos, The man sat in the middle holding a guitar shows that it could be an artists workshop, where he comes to make his music, take inspiration from everything around him , the way he is on the floor gives an idea he may be overwhelmed or hit a writers block in this mess linking with "Panic" in the album title. The font doesn't really stand out, it is in small white block capitals along the top however I like the way the album name is repeated along the top edge it makes it just noticeable. 

Panic At The Disco- Pretty Odd Album Cover Art

Panic at the Disco are an Emo pop/punk band formed in Las Vegas however their second album Pretty Odd released in 2008 took on a much different style, more acoustic and mellow compared to their previous ambum. The title Pretty Odd is actually a good way to describe the album as it is quite unique in lyrics and sound.

The Album cover is very decorative it has a vintage style to it with its use of slightly saturated colours, I really like this effect in photo editing to have a high colour temperature but also saturate the colours very slightly to give an old look to it. I also really like the vintage floral design on the cover it is something that is being used alot in fashion and designs in the last year or so and has taken mostly to people who prefer an individual style such as myself. The font looks very "circus" which is an ongoing theme with the band I really like the way it is in the style of a banner. The way the border of the album cover is patterned with brown and gold it looks more like a strange old children's book or photo album than a CD cover, this is something I really like about the album art.

Bon Iver- Skinny Love Lyrics and Song Meaning

Come on skinny love just last the year
Pour a little salt we were never here
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer

• Skinny love may be a reference to love wasting away, becoming skinny? Especially as it is followed by "Just last the year" meaning he doesn't want it to shrink away so soon. 
• "Pour a little salt" could be reference to healing? as salt has healing properties and "we were never here" means that they could just forget everything that went wrong. 
• "Sink of blood and crushes veneer" could link to a fight? Stereotypical domestic smashing plates ect. could have lead to a cut up hand being washed in the sink.

I tell my love to wreck it all
Cut out all the ropes and let me fall
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
Right in the moment this order's tall

• "I tell my love to wreck it all" Perhaps telling her to just leave then, go on and throw away everything they had?
• "Cut out all the ropes and let me fall" Telling her to let him go, cut away everything that ties him to her so the heartache stops?

I told you to be patient
I told you to be fine
I told you to be balanced
I told you to be kind

• His expectations? or him just pleading with her to be patient- and things will get better, be fine- be happy, be balanced- consistent? and be kind- try to make it work, be nice to each other make each other happy rather than being bitter?

In the morning I'll be with you
But it will be a different "kind"
I'll be holding all the tickets 
And you'll be owning all the fines

• Different "kind" I think could go two ways, it could be a reference to a literall opposite to being king and could mean a fight, or it could be a suttle reference to sex/intimacy perhaps trying to rekindle things.
• "I'l be holding all the tickets, You'll be owning all the fines" could mean that she perhaps treats him badly? He knows everything he wants her to be maybe what she used to be and she is "holding fines" for failing to be the person he fell in love with?

Come on skinny love what happened here
Suckle on the hope in lite brassiere
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
Sullen load is full; so slow on the split

• "What happened here?" what's gone wrong?
• "Suckle on the hope" asking her to keep trying, links to baby getting stronger as it suckles its mother? metaphorical to their love?
• "Sullen load" a heavy, sad weight on his shoulders, things are getting slower and slower on "the split" perhaps literally meaning their parting.

I told you to be patient
I told you to be fine
I told you to be balanced
I told you to be kind

Now all your love is wasted?
Then who the hell was I?
Now I'm breaking at the britches
And at the end of all your lines

• "All your love is wasted?" maybe she feels she has wasted her time on a hopeless relationship?
• "Then who the hell was I?" She makes him feel he didn't mean alot to her? 
• "Breaking at the britches at the end of all your lines" Everything she is saying is breaking him, he's pleaded with her to try and make it work and she has given up and see's the whole thing as a waste.

Who will love you?
Who will fight?
Who will fall far behind?

• He is asking who will love her when she causes so much pain.
• Who will fight through it? 
• Who will fall, how many more people are going to fail to obtain her love?

Analysis- Darwin Deez "Radar Detector"

This is the official music video for "Radar Detector" By American Indie Folk artist Darwin Deez.

• The cinematography again is very simple, mainly long, mid or close up shots of Darwin and a model like girl. However there is one sequence where he has created a disposable camera helmet and can take pictures from all angles, as he takes snapshots of location he has turned to a different angle, so when sped up in editing he is spinning on the spot and the location changes. Then photos are put together in a circle and moved around to show an all around view of the locations, This is something I want to try myself for my video. 
• There is alot of editing in this video the background is constantly changing colour, or there is a very artificial photo background used for example space, a desert, and a road It is supposed to have a low budget style to it. I like the style of the disposable camera photos also. Colour is used alot in this video for background especially and also objects like the lilo's and feathers thrown around at times, They are all "ice cream" 50's style colours.
• The costumes in this video change quite alot, for Darwin himself and also for the girl used in the video for example the sequence of her sat in the same place but her make up, clothes and hair is changing, this would be an interesting idea to try out myself. I think the video is based around inventions for example the camera machine, fork fangs, drink dispenser ect. and I really liked the idea of the type writer that was writing out the lyrics this is definitely an idea I want to take into my own video. 
• Another thing I really liked was the opening introduction of waffle pieces spelling DARWIN DEEZ IN RADAR DETECTOR, it links loosely to the Napoleon dynamite idea I planned to use where food is used as opening titles.
• The only part where image matched lyrical content was the line "Im driving.." and they were in a kiddies car going along a fake background road. Alot of the rest was just artistic, however a "radar detector" sounds like a strange invention so this links with the props used. 

Analysis- Bombay Bicycle Club "Always Like This"

This is the official video for "Always Like This" by Indie artists Bombay Bicycle Club.

• Simple cinematography, mainly long shots or mid shots of band members, or location. A few close ups included of band members faces and instruments - image matching sound. I like how there is alot of clips of location, simple everyday life shops and places you will see in any town strung together in a sequence.
• The editing is most effective it is in home video style, and the quality is constantly switching between high realistic quality to low quality being filmed from a television screen. Also the settings switch between pause to playing and fast-forwarding so actions are quite jolty but it gives a very good home- made style to the video. I mostly like the "white noise" television effect at the very beginning of the video. Also the multicoloured garage doors changing colour and quality with the boy standing playing guitar throughout, it is very simple but I like the style of it and would like to use something like this in my own promo.
• The lighting is quite natural, the shots are taken mostly outside. The colour used is bright and has a polariod effect to it making it look retro and home made. I really like the shot of different coloured lights with the camera unfocused, it had a glittery/glowing effect followed by the man stood outside a lamp store, window full of different styled old fashioned lamps, only obvious un-natural lighting used is in the night time sequence, alot of brightly lit shop windows ect.
• The costume is casual, jeans and t shirts suiting the "indie" style of the band.
• There isn't any obvious link between image and lyrics it is mainly the band and location so they have broken the boundaries and matched the image to the style of the upbeat music, making it more artistic than meaningful.