Research & Planning: Research Into Potential Artist / Album / Song Choice

I began my research by looking at my own Spotify playlist with the rather 'chill' music I particularly enjoy; from that playlist (and some other songs I like listening to) I have selected a few tracks I thought would be great picks for this year's task such as:









I then proceeded to research further into music I haven't previously listened to; there were plenty of websites ready to help me with finding good quality new releases (such as the ones below, to name only two):





During that stage of my research I have found plenty of great music to choose from, making the decision so much more difficult. amongst my favourites there was the album Infinite Worlds by Vagabon (with the song Fear & Force very quickly becoming a big, big favourite)




There were so many more songs/albums/artists I have found interesting:

  

After plenty of music research (and finding plenty of great new songs), I have thought about the type of music video I'd like to produce and which songs would be the most suitable ones. I'd prefer to focus on storytelling and the artistic aspects, rather than a performance or pseudo documentary type of music video. The three choices of songs I loved and that would go really well with the concept I'd like to explore are:

FIRST CHOICE: 

Name: Vagabon

Short Biography: Laetitia Tamko, better known under her alias Vagabon, is a New York based singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. Born in Cameroon, she moved to America with her family at the age of 13 and at the age of 17 started pursuing her passion in music on a Costco bought guitar. In 2014, she started uploading her music online under the pseudonym Vagabon.

Album Title: Infinite Worlds

Record Label: Father/Daughter Records

Album Release Date: February 24th 2017

Album Tracklist: 

01	The Embers	05	100 Years
02	Fear & Force	06	Cleaning House
03	Minneapolis	07	Cold Apartment
04	Mal à L'aise	08	Alive and a Well

Chosen Song: Fear & Force

Reason for Choice: The song is extremely emotional, certain aspects of it I can identify with on a more personal level, making it easy to connect with the music; additionally, it holds a great potential for storytelling, having a narrative element woven into it

SECOND CHOICE:

Name: Hozier

Short Biography: Born Andrew Hozier-Byrne, known better under the mononym Hozier, is an Irish musician, singer and songwriter. He's the son of a blues musician, which must've influenced him greatly, since he went onto studying music in Dublin. He dropped out to record for Universal Music and was a member of a choral ensemble from 2009 to 2012. In 2013 he released the EP Take Me o Church and the title track became viral on YouTube, granting Hozier international recognition on the music scene. 

Album Title: Hozier (Deluxe)

Record Label: Island Records, Rubyworks Records

Album Release Date: September 19th 2014

Album Tracklist: 

Chosen Song: Arsonist's Lullabye

Reason for Choice: The song is mesmerising in itself, I was a big fan even before I began my research, which I think really lets me connect with the music; additionally, it tells a great story which could be very visually captivating on screen. 

THIRD CHOICE:

Name: Civil Twilight

Short Biography: Civil Twilight is a rock band from South Africa, consisting of two brothers: Andrew and Steven McKeller plus Richard Wouters and Kevin Dailey. Originally starting in Cape Town, they drew parallels with The Police and early U2, Muse, Jeff Buckley and Radiohead. The brothers were raised in a musical household and they wanted to pursue their passion further. So far, they have released three studio albums. 

Album Title: Story Of An Immigrant (Acoustic) 

Record Label: Wind-up Records

Album Release Date: July 15th 2016

Album Tracklist: 

	TITLE	TIME
	Oh Daniel (Acoustic)	3:50
	Holy Dove (Acoustic)	3:33
	When, When (Acoustic)	3:26
	Story of an Immigrant (Acoustic)	4:08
	Let It Go (Acoustic)	3:51
	River Child (Acoustic)	3:45
	All My Clothes (Acoustic)	3:39
	The Other Side (Acoustic)	4:00
	Didn't Know When to Stop (Acoustic)	2:54
	Only for a Time (Acoustic)	4:23
	Letters from the Sky (Acoustic)	4:27
	Save Yourself (Acoustic)	4:03
	Dancing with Myself (Acoustic)	3:45

Chosen Song: River Child

Reason for Choice: To be completely honest, I just really like the song - I think it's extremely pleasant to listen to and it gives a great opportunity for an art/narrative based music video.