With all the devastation and tragedy happening every single day across the world, we need to share as much love and kindness as possible to remind those touched by these events that they will not be ignored.

As she closed her Saturday night show in Amsterdam, Beyoncé gave her own tribute to the victims of the failed Turkish coup where 200 people were killed and another 1400 have been injured. She sang her emotional 2009 single Halo to the packed-out stadium, as shown in the video below.

“This song is about love,” she said before the song began. “I want to dedicate it to all the lives lost in Turkey. Y’all help me sing tonight.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMj-OdKGon0

Beyoncé has previously spoken about the #BlackLivesMatter movement following the spate of recent incidences of police brutality that led to the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. In response to the tragedy, she shared a note entitled ‘Freedom’ on her website. In the note, she portrays the anger and hopelessness that many people feel toward the issue and encourages others to join the fight by asking politicians and legislators to make some necessary changes to the justice system.

“This is a human fight. No matter your race, gender or sexual orientation. This is a fight for anyone who feels marginalised, who is struggling for freedom and human rights,” the note says.

According to The Fader, she also “held a moment of silence” and performed an a capella version of Freedom as a tribute to them.  An emotional and stirring moment in honour of the lives both lost and shattered by more senseless violence.

Image: NME

The recent shootings in the USA, resulting in deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of the police, have sparked a global outcry. The most recent in alarmingly ongoing instances of a black community targeted and villainised by police, both men appear to have been shot dead as the tragic result of what were standard, non-violent altercations with officers.

American politicians have joined the commentary surrounding these events, and President Obama has issued a statement offering condolences and urging americans to come together in their grief. The shootings have also seen an overwhelming response from the music industry, as artists have taken to social media to express their shock and sadness.

John Legend’s Twitter feed has become an open forum for the number of people sharing news and their own sadness and frustrations regarding the shootings. The singer joined his own words to challenge how Castile could have been shot during what was a routine traffic stop.

The online storm of protest surrounding the shootings has also looked to commemorate the men who died, particularly Castile. Janelle Monae tweeted an article that named Castile as “a role model to hundreds of kids” at the school where he worked, as well as a loved member of the community. Many people have also challenged the NRA, as both Sterling and Castile were carrying firearms at the times of their deaths. Castile possessed a ‘concealed carry’ license, which he was moving to show the officers who stopped him. The Roots member Questlove posted on twitter, questioning whether the NRA would move to defend either victim. He also urged white people to speak out for black culture.

Canadian artist Drake has penned an open letter on social media, decrying the unchanging relationship between law enforcement and “black and brown” communities.

🙏🏼

A photo posted by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on

Last Thursday, Beyoncé released a powerful statement on her website entitled “Freedom”. Calling for action and stating that “the war on people of color and all minorities need to be over”. Pausing her show in Glasgow, Bey gave a moment of silence as a screen displayed the names of victims of police brutality.

Click the link in my bio to go to Beyonce.com. Turn our anger into action.

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on

Rapper Macklemore also took to social media with a lengthy comment on Instagram, underneath a photo of victim Alton Sterling. He also calls for the active change of an ingrained and inherently racist system, and for white people to “care enough” to make that change.

How many more murders of black people by police before we hold our system and those that enforce it accountable? The footage of Alton Sterling being murdered by a police officer is equal parts horrific, infuriating and devastating. How many times can we watch a family at a press conference in hysterics over the killing of their loved one? Murdered by those that have been assigned to protect us. What do we do in times like these? It’s a question for everyone, but specifically white people. The systematic oppression that enables a murder like this, will be corrected once white people care enough to change it. Alton Sterling didn’t create this problem. This is hundreds of years of conditioning. We have been told our entire lives that people that look like Alton Sterling, selling CD’s outside of a store, are a threat to our society. The news, TV, movies, jails, history books, schools and our laws all uphold this false belief. A person isn’t born fearing someone because of the color of their skin. This fear is taught, crafted and instilled in the fabric of our American lives. And although we make strides and progress is measurable at times, I can’t help but think….If I was put in the exact same situation that Alton was in, I would be alive today…Because of the color of my skin. And he’s dead because of his. I often don’t know what to do during these moments. It becomes easier to vent on social media than to take direct action. Here’s a couple things I’ve gotten hip to in the last 2 years. 1: Financially support black led organizations. Put your resources behind people of color that are at the forefront of the movement 2: Do a People’s Institute “Undoing racism” training. One of the most eye opening and important tools to understanding our past in relation to the work that needs to be done. The website is http://www.pisab.org 3: Have conversations about race. In real life. With people that look like you and people that don’t. RIP #altonsterling

A photo posted by Ben Haggerty (@macklemore) on

Talib Kweli joined the conversation, engaging with various twitter users over the subjects of the shootings and the BLM movement. He also defended Macklemore who came under fire for jumping on the of the bandwagon with those protesting.

https://twitter.com/TalibKweli/status/751181011568975873

Other artists like Vic Mensa, Kanye West, Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry and Chuck D of Public Enemy also took to twitter. The #altonsterling tag continues to trends amongst musicians, even as they mourn how no one’s life should begin and end with a hashtag.

https://twitter.com/VicMensa/status/750772843709882368

https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/750850397187608576

Campaigns have also started to help support the families of the victims of the shootings. Click on the following links to reach the Go Fund Me support pages for the families of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.

Image by Cosmopolitan

In spite of the many beautiful Prince tributes at the BET Awards, the most talked about performance of the night was the phenomenal surprise opening number from Queen Beyoncé and King Kendrick Lamar, in their water-filled rendition of Freedom, from Lemonade. In what could easily be considered one of the most breathtaking awards show performances in history, BET have now broken down exactly what happened to get this performance to work.

The scene is set: it’s Saturday night at 11 pm.Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar are perched atop a three-monitor setup, working out choreography and camera angles as they tirelessly rehearse the performance. It’s a “covert operation,” with more than 100 people working on the project sworn to absolute, total secrecy.

Stephen Hill is BET’s President of Programming, the man responsible for putting the night’s festivities together. “We approach Beyoncé every year for a performance,” he said, explaining that it’s rare for the stars to align, as previously she has been on tour in Europe, or off cycle and with no new music to show off. “We saw there was a date [of the Formation tour] in Sunderland on the 28th, and we were like, ‘Oh man, this isn’t gonna hit.’ From L.A., they’re nine hours ahead. So by the time she steps on stage here, it will already be the 27th where she’s performing. That’s a bad thing, because nobody wants to do a performance and then travel. We thought, ‘Oh no, it’s gonna be a problem.’”

Luckily the teams managed to pull it together; the only problem now is making sure the performance is kept secret. Hill searched online and found a couple of websites that had somehow figured it out. Luckier still, these rumours didn’t make many waves and the huge performance was still shrouded in secrecy.

Beyoncé's private transportation. Image: BET

Beyoncé’s private transportation. Image: BET

“This thing came within fifteen feet of not happening,” added Jesse Collins, executive producer of the show. One of the most remarkable aspects of the performance was the huge pool, which was 60 feet long and held 60,000 gallons of water, although the ceremony stage was only 45 feet long. After seeing her performance in San Diego, however, they saw that she uses a similar pool in her live setup. “She has a wonderful stage, and then she has a runway to another stage in the middle — and it’s filled with water! My producer mind first goes, ‘OK, how the heck did they fill that with water?!’ But I saw that and I actually sent a message to her after that, talking about the show and what I thought about the water, and the technique of dance they were doing going with ‘Freedom.’ It was just symbolically perfect.”

BET chairman/CEO Debra Lee also commented on the performance in an interview with Billboard after the ceremony. “[Beyoncé] committed several weeks ago,” she said. “We had four tons of water that we had to get on the stage and then clean up after her performance. We were worried about electricity and other things that could go wrong. But we wanted her to have the performance she wanted.”

Someone sent this to me as a joke. I said “This is no joke. This is a transcript.” 👍🏾🐝 #BETAwards

A photo posted by Stephen Hill (@stephengranthill) on

Lee added that she only found out that Kendrick Lamar was joining the performance mere hours beforehand. “I thought it was important for her to be there. She has a show in England tomorrow (Tuesday) night, so it was great of her to agree to stay because it wasn’t the perfect timing. I saw the rehearsal the night before the show and that’s when I first learned that Kendrick Lamar was part of it.” In the performance, male dancers join Beyoncé and the women midway through, which set it apart from how it works on the Formation tour. “She does the water dance in her concert but with all women. But Beyoncé thought it was important to have men and women of color come together. She wanted this to be a performance she’d never done before. She wanted it to be epic, and it was,” said Lee. The important of keeping it a secret was also emphasised, with Lee commenting that “We threatened people within an inch of their lives to keep the secret. Beyoncé wants to do it her way; I respect her for that. And she didn’t want people to know she was going to be on the show. So we told very few people on the team. I was a nervous wreck until the day of the show because I was like, ‘If this leaks out, this may not happen’. All of her rehearsals were closed. You had to have special permission to get in. Beyoncé would rehearse late at night for hours.” Collins similarly revealed that Beyoncé’s staff use code name “Percy Mavis” when talking about the star, and that, “The most important thing about keeping a secret is coming up with the perfect code name… Sometimes you try to come up with something silly, sometimes it’s something funny. For this one, because it was so important that it no get out, we picked the most basic, random name that had nothing to do with her. We didn’t pick ‘Ms. Lemonade,’ we didn’t pick anything like that. Actually, I think the name is the aunt of somebody in our talent department. So, people would think ‘Percy Mavis’ was just some artist. And then for Kendrick, we picked his manager’s name, Dave Free.” “The conversation is, do you want to announce it and make it huge or do you want to surprise everyone and shock the world? And there’s benefits to both, but we rode with shocking the world,” he says slyly. “It was like, ‘Can we pull off the biggest artist in the world at the BET Awards and just have everybody at 8 o’clock be like, ‘Oh my God?’” Revisit the performance below:

And watch the clean-up after rehearsal:

Image: BET

Phwoar. It’s not often you get to see arguably the world’s biggest pop star, and the world’s foremost rapper, performing together. Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar have opened the 2016 BET Awards with a spectacular rendition of Freedom, from Beyonce’s groundbreaking album Lemonade. 

The performance was completely unannounced, and the surprise only made it that much more exciting.

The video below shows red-lit smoke billowing throughout the crowd as women march through aisles. From the speakers comes a sample of Martin Luther King’s famous speech, aired to massive cheers as the camera follows the women up on stage. Freedom begins to dazzling strobe lights and explosive applause. You can soon see that the floor is actually covered in water, with Beyonce and her dancers walking through it and kicking it around, to incredible dramatic visual effect.

Male dancers soon join the females on stage, for an incredible tribal drum bridge, with the stomping, smoke, water and fire making for a powerful visual. Soon after, Lamar rises up on a platform in front, delivering his verse to even louder cheers. He later joins Beyonce and the dancers on the main stage.

Wow. Just wow. This has got to be one of the most dramatic award show performances in history.

Between Lemonade, Untitled unmastered and To Pimp A Butterfly, The pair have released some of the most important music of the last two years. Not only on a purely musical and production level, but in their exploration of extremely confronting, at time personal themes and subject matter, effectively changing the face of pop and hip-hop as we know it.

Read our review of Lemonade here, and our feature article about Kendrick Lamar as hip-hop’s most important voice here. 

Image: Billboard

Let it be known that we here at Howl & Echoes are not just a bunch of hardened, arrogant cynics. Sure, there has been some terrible music in 2016, and we were recently quite happy to tell you all about our deep loathing of it, but we consider that to be our one-time exception. The reason we do what we do is because we’re fans. We’re obsessed with listening to music, with loving music, with finding feeling in it.

2016 has been a wild musical soiree of hedonistic proportions. We have been shamelessly gorging on all the amazing sonic ambrosia that has been bestowed upon us over the last six months, so much so that any attempt at a top ten list would be not only unfair, but impossible. So in our best interest and yours, we narrowed it down to a scorching playlist of 100 tracks instead.

This pretty much sums it up

This pretty much sums it up

It has certainly been a year of girl power. With a force that makes the mother of dragons look like Mother Theresa the queens of pop unleashed albums that will be battling for the top spot on many end of year lists. We are of course talking about Rihanna (Anti) and Beyonce (Lemonade) who packaged up raw emotional honesty with flawless production and exceeded all already towering expectations. Then we are supposed to pick just one song from each? Please.

The males certainly haven’t been slouching either. 2016 has been spearheaded by ridiculous album from Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, James Blake, Drake, Radiohead and David Bowie among others. Any day in 2016 could be like Christmas day, and we haven’t even got to the Australian releases yet. You might just wake up to an album from your favourite artist sneakily dropped in the middle of the night like a gift down the chimney from a sonically gifted Santa. The rules have changed, and while the era of the surprise release might just be another marketing ploy in some cases, it has opened the door for a time when you can be subjected to three albums from the biggest names in music in a single week and no one bats an eyelid.

Then there was Kanye, let’s not forget Kanye. So Help Me God, Swish, Waves, The Life of Pablo got more media attention than if every celebrity sex tape ever was broadcast in the Play School time slot. I have cultural fatigue even reliving those tumultuous weeks of tweets and memes. Despite a very mixed critical reception and solidification of the widespread suspicion that West is actually insane, there was still some Yeezy magic among the wreckage.

While there was enough going on in the international the limelight to distract us all, there was also plenty of gems coming from home. The Avalanches finally appeared from a sixteen year long hiatus with two singles and album Wildflower due out July 8 in the lead up to their much anticipated Splendour in the Grass performance. Flume also flexed his production muscles with a vast and eclectic release, Skin.

Without further ado, Howl & Echoes is proud to present our top 100 songs of the year so far.

This is brought to you as a collaborative effort from our entire editorial team. Also, as this list has been made on Spotify, there’s a whole bunch of tracks we love that we couldn’t include, but we’ve done what we can. Enjoy!

Image: Pixabay

Ever since I started getting my work published, my sister Sarah has been complaining that I haven’t written an article about her. I’ve now found a way to do so, but not without her getting involved.

When I came to her with the idea to review an album together, it was tough to think of one.

My sister and I couldn’t be more different. She admits that she wouldn’t have been able to write this herself as naturally as I can. On the other hand, she has a lot more confidence while speaking (anyone that knows her will tell you that the talking never stops), as well as a wider general knowledge. I also envy her ability to reframe from crumbling in emotional situations, while I’d cry enough tears to fill a swimming pool.

We finally settled on the soundtrack for the 2006 film Dreamgirls, which is one we both loved during our childhoods. It focuses on a group of girls, with a career similar to that of The Supremes, who are determined to make it in the music industry. As I assumed when I sat my sister down to write this review, she had A LOT to say about it.

We started with the film’s first song Move. I immediately acknowledged its funky upbeat nature. Sarah agreed, remarking that the heavy percussion complements the vocals. She described the song as empowering, recalling how male dominated the music industry was during the 1960s and 1970s (which was when this movie was set) and how the women had to “rise up” in order to succeed. These women are taking control of their lives, telling the people in their lives who don’t believe in them to “move out of [their] life.”

“That in itself empowers me because it demonstrates that you don’t have to keep toxic relationships in your life,” Sarah said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZgo9g8v76U

Family was the first song from the album that came to mind when I mentioned it to my sister. I soon discovered that it was the first on hers as well. Her favourite thing about it is the lyrics. The words “don’t think you’re going / you’re not going anywhere” stood out to Sarah as she reflected on the relationships in her life.

Like me, my sister also suffers from anxiety. She recalls how the people in her life haven’t abandoned her, just as she wouldn’t abandon anyone in a similar situation. As Italians, family is one of our most important values. It is second nature for us to take sacrifices for each other when times are dire. The stringed instruments are prominent in this song, portraying an organic, tender feeling that perfectly embodies the closeness and love that many families have.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhirfooe338

It’s Not Over showcases powerful vocals and high levels of emotion shown through the music. At this point in the movie, Effie, played by Jennifer Hudson, has been acting out and the rest of the group decided to replace her. The anger and frustration is strong in the tones of their tones, as well as the use of trumpets and other loud instruments as they create more noise among the chaos of their argument.

The heavy emotion creates an easy transition to the powerhouse ballad I Am Changing, in which Hudson’s character tries to explain her behaviour. “I need a hand” shows her strength in admitting that she needs help with her struggles. It reminded us that everyone needs help sometimes. We shouldn’t be afraid to ask or stop ourselves from being tolerant of others.

“This has taught me that I don’t have to go through anything alone,” Sarah said. “At the same time, I should be there for others when they need it.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpy0z5d5Z2k

As we continued through the album, we realised Beyoncé’s passionate ballad Listen has the same significance for both of us. My sister mentioned the loss of security her character has when she sings the words “I’m not at home in own home” and how that symbolises how we feel about our struggles with mental illness and not feeling like ourselves.

Still being a teenager, Sarah also reminded me of a problem I had forgotten. Our parents are famous for being highly-protective and stubborn. They’ve loosened their grip on me now that I’m Officially an Adult, but Sarah is still under tight control. To make things even harder, she has another parent telling her what to do; me.

She recites a manta that I wished I had thought of when I was in high school. “You have to listen to your heart at times and do what makes you happy.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n6NE0VQKzI

Sarah had wanted to stop there, but I thought it was incomplete without Hard To Say Goodbye, especially given the significance it has in her life at the moment. She agreed, remembering the stage in her life she is at. My sister is currently in Year 12 and only has a faint idea of what she wants to do once high school is over.

“It’s hard to say goodbye my love / it’s hard to open up that door,” the group sings as they wave goodbye to their career together. Sarah says while she’s sad to say goodbye to her friends and childhood, she’s excited about the future and being able to develop her identity.

To tell you the truth, I’m excited for her too.

Today is her 18th birthday. That surprises a lot of people because she looks quite young for her age. As a big sister, I can hardly comprehend that she will be finishing high school in a few short months, getting ready for the next chapter in her life. Even though I am worried for her, I know she is brave enough to handle the real world.

She is now an adult, ready to take on the world. To me, however, she will always be my little sister.

Forever three and a half years behind me; constantly by my side.

photo (1)

Co-written by Jessica and Sarah Testa

Image: YouTube

It’s beginning to feel like it’s impossible to escape from online music marketing. From ads squeezing into every visible corner of your screen, to invitations to listen to new music on every page and every news feed that you visit. Granted, many of these are just artists wanting to be heard, but nowadays this is hugely challenging – even for internationally renowned artists. So how do you get people to pay attention to your album in 2016? By mixing it up a bit.

Lately there has been a trend of completely turning away from the never-ending hype machine and doing something completely different. We gathered a series of recent case studies and compared the ways in which artists have successfully dropped new material in unique ways that piqued interest and created buzz in their own unique ways.

Image: Pitchfork

Kendrick Lamar – Untitled, Unmastered
Raw and real

In March of this year, Kendrick Lamar, one of the biggest rappers in the world dropped an eight track album of unmastered music with less than two days notice and no advance promotion whatsoever. In a music economy where albums are carefully produced, crafted then released after every effort has been made to build hype in all the right places, this is remarkable in a number of ways. While Lamar played a couple of these tracks live in advance, nobody knew it until a couple of social media posts immediately preceded untitled unmastered‘s release – and even then, nobody really knew we’d be getting a whole new Kendrick Lamar album one year after TDE – most of us thought it was going to be another release from his label TDE. It felt like a joke. nevertheless, the songs soon appeared on Spotify, and Kendrick then confirmed it: “In raw form. Unfinished. Untitled. Unmastered.” He didn’t use a media blitz, he released them in the hopes it would be a success based on his artistic merit alone.

Why It Worked

He was correct. People listened. A year after To Pimp A Butterfly, people were still raving about it (and still are today). untitled unmastered was the perfect follow up for an already established, loving fan base who were itching to hear more of what Kendrick can do. Now, Lamar was in a unique position. He released one of the most important albums ever; he has never had a particularly strong presence on social media; he’s by and large hailed as one of, if not the most important rapper alive. He didn’t need to name his songs. Hell, he didn’t even need to finish them. They show off Kendrick’s raw talent for funky jazz beats and smooth, soulful rhymes. The release of untitled unmastered was pretty much the antithesis of our next pick.

Image: Rap Up

Kanye West – The Life of Pablo
Alive and kicking 

In February, Kanye West released the self-proclaimed “best album ever,” The Life of Pablo. Love him or hate him you cannot possibly escape knowing all about this album’s confusing, immense release, which began by announcing – and subsequently selling thousands of tickets to – the live debut alongside the release of his Yeezy season 3 fashion show at NYC’s Madison Square Garden. Cinemas around the world aired were filled with hip-hop heads, waiting with baited breath. Then he released it on Tidal, and said it would only ever be available there, until it wasn’t. Now it’s available everywhere.

But more than the grandiose, over the top launch, the most important aspect about The Life of Pablo is what has happened to it since its release. Kanye has continued to tweak and update with the album, despite it already being completed. He has uploaded different versions of songs, added lyrics or verses and messed around with the production. He appears to be changing things whenever he sees fit, updating it like an app fixes bugs, or like a game adds new features. Kanye West’s album is fluid, it is not a finished body of work.

https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/709872072604913664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Why It Worked

Many have criticised Kanye’s process here (and, well, everything about him). Once an album is released, shouldn’t that be the end of it? Traditionally, yes. This is one of, if not the first extraordinarily notable instance in history of this not being the case. Kanye’s showing us a completely new, revolutionary way that we can utilise technology and re-conceptualise the very notion of what an album, or any piece of music is, for that matter.

But how far does this go? While the idea of being able to continue to make it the best it can possibly be is exciting, is it right? What if every time an artist was critiqued on a specific lyric or a boring part of a song, or a stolen sample, they simply reopened and edited it? How far could this go – would artists begin to tweak songs based on reviews? Would it go beyond music and into film and television? Or will everyone just continue on their normal path, with Ye as exception.

It’s an incredibly grey area, but exciting nonetheless. Most importantly, it’s one of the many aspects that have kept people talking about Kanye and Kanye’s album infinitely.

Image: Vulture

Beyoncé – Lemonade
Music for eyes and ears

In April, Beyoncé released her sixth album Lemonade, a visual album that was premiered in its entirety on HBO before being released exclusively on Tidal. Not even like a film, it simply is one – or perhaps more than one. It was the second visual album of her career, following her 2013 self-titled album, which dropped on iTunes with absolutely no warning. She worked on that album in secret for two years, only telling a small group of people, because she felt that the hype created around singles meant that albums were being split up and losing their meaning as a whole. Even iTunes only found out shortly in advance. Lemonade, was essentially the same – only those who had to know, knew. The visual album has forced people to look at the album as an interconnected piece of audiovisual art instead of any simple compilation of songs.

All we’d heard before the album was Formation and the promise of a “project” a short time in advance. Of course, many people suspected an album – no doubt a visual album – was on its way, but there were no huge marketing campaigns, no media rollouts, no forced publicity. Instead, she gave fans a time and a place, and let her reputation work the magic.
With Bey it is never just about the music; her fans are captivated by her personality, her strength and the way she uses her platform to empower women, especially women of colour. Each song, and in particular each video, are layered with meaning, powerful imagery, stunning fashion and badass dance moves that many of us only dream of being able to recreate.

Why It Worked

Her album, like the others on this list, are musically remarkable, and any visual bells and whistles, would ultimately fall flat. Not only is this an incredible album which has helped to redefine what we consider pop music today, but a visual album offers fans an entirely separate way to absorb this release.

Read our full article about Beyoncé and the rise of the visual album.

Image: Rolling Stone

Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
How To Disappear Completely

Much like the other artists on this list, Radiohead don’t really need a marketing or publicity strategy. Their fanbase is the kind where the slightest hint of anything will be sourced and analysed in a thousand ways. They have never really stuck to any typical mould when it comes to their releases and this year’s A Moon Shaped Pool is their most remarkable yet. The first hints came last year when they registered a company, Dawn Chorus. Then, they sent out cryptic fliers to fans in the UK. But the biggest hint was yet to come. Then, they disappeared completely from the whole internet.

It was the complete opposite of what most artists do just before a release.

Shortly after, they began to reappear. A short clip was posted to social media. Hours later, they dropped Burn The Witch. The exact same order of events repeated themselves a day later, with Daydreaming. Mercifully, they then announced that the album would be a couple days later. And thus, came the stunning, critically acclaimed A Moon Shaped Pool. 

Why It Worked

The release of A Moon Shaped Pool was weird and wonderful in a way that not many could have pulled off. Radiohead drip fed cryptic snippets of information, a virtual scavenger hunt for fans to decipher and piece together. The anticipation for their album increased the more mysterious and ambiguous their messages were. The clues and mysterious puzzle pieces were irresistibly enticing, and beyond the album being really beautiful in itself, simply receiving those rare tidbits of information felt immensely satisfying at every step. It’s obviously much easier to do this when you already have a well-established fan base but their uniqueness is part of what has retained that adoration for so long.

Image: chanceraps.com

Chance the Rapper – Coloring Book
Young, independent and free 

In terms of release and promotion, Chance the Rapper‘s Coloring Book was by far the most conventional on this list. It had advance singles and promotion, a release date that he actually stuck to, interviews, accessibility. But where it stands out is that it was completely for free, and completely independently. Not just any free and independent release, but an incredibly good one – one that featured literally the biggest artists in the world, from Kanye West to Justin Bieber, Young Thug to Lil Wayne and more.

The free mixtape has become increasingly common, and Chance’s are among the best. Not only are they a great way to connect with young fans, but free releases are clever, seeing as these days far more money comes in through ticket sales and merchandise (which Chance is an absolute king at). Chance has become one of the biggest artists in the world, yet he’s never signed to a label and he’s never charged for a mixtapes. Despite the very obvious fact that a lot of people would have paid for one.

Why It Worked

The free release makes Chance look like a guy who doesn’t care about money; he’s dropping tunes to drop tunes, for the fans, for the love. Simultaneously, there’s no money in album sales, so why bother?

In an industry flooded with generic vapidity created solely for the purpose of releasing album after album, filling seats at shows, Chance has established the value of his product in other ways, while finding more inventive, and more successful ways to earn top dollar at the same time.

Fans were so hyped that they stuck posters up themselves. Instead of having to create more unique promotional content, Chance was able to retweet fan-shot images of his posters in their bedrooms, on buildings and in bathroom stalls. His willingness to embrace innovative ways to create good music, make it accessible and still make money is so important for his audience – a generation who grew up downloading music free.

Rihanna Anti - Stereogum

Rihanna – ANTI
Concept and Change

In January Rihanna released her eighth album ANTI. After countless moments of false hope and endless delays, few details were shared about the album in the lead up, but fans were directed to a mobile website, ANTIdiaRY.com. The site contained a mysterious message, “you’ll know when it’s time.” The website was a sort of virtual reality game, featuring a series of different interactive rooms in which fans could unlock clues about the album and hints at the themes of its content, including musical snippets.

The album was available for a free download for one week, and received a week-long Tidal exclusive before being made available for all. To drop her music for free was like a gift to fans who had been following the creation of this record for years, patiently, desperately waiting.

Why It Worked

The website was a creative way to get fans excited about what was to come, and to build immense, boiling hype without actually plastering the album or any music online. The concept of ANTI goes beyond the music, it stretches into everything about this latest release. Rihanna is championing self expression and artistic freedom on this album widely considered her best yet. She’s singing, rapping, recording and releasing something fresh and invigorating. Much like Lemonade, ANTI has challenged the way we think about pop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49lY0HqqUVc

Marketing is an every-growing, ever-changing and increasingly creative aspect of the music industry. Gone are the days of a straightforward cycle, from singles to videos to release dates and the like. It’s becoming more and more interactive, and more and more necessarily unique. Artists and their teams want to surprise their audience, they want to stand out, they want us to talk about it – and sometimes the best way to gt us talking is by saying nothing at all.

Obviously it needs to be mentioned that these concepts won’t work for everyone. The above artists are the biggest in the world; none of them have any need for traditional publicity and marketing campaigns. They’re lucky in that they get to do what they like – an upcoming artist certainly doesn’t have the pull to simply drop an album out of the blue and expect it to blow up.

We’re no longer passive receivers, and artists no longer follow a typical format. It’s exciting, if exhausting. 2016 has already been such a massive year for new releases and long-awaited comebacks – it’s only a matter of time before the next big drop (we’re very specifically looking at you, Frank.)

Co-Written with Lauren Ziegler

In 1981, MTV was launched in the USA, allowing for a new marriage between music and video. Previously, live concert performances or actual films promoted with an album (see The Beatles – Hard Day’s Night) were a main source of visual music, but MTV now gave artists a platform to create and distribute short videos to the masses. Immediately, the music video became a new for of media and a new marketing tool. It helped to sell an artist or a band to viewers in an exciting new way, becoming an incredibly powerful platform from which to reach an audience.

The MTV generation has now become the Internet generation, with platforms like Youtube obviously having become the most important tools to spread videos across the globe. Extending beyond even single videos, the concept of a “visual album” has steadily risen in frequency and popularity risen, applying the importance of a visual component to music on a far wider scale. It is a result, in part, of the digitalisation of music. It provides a new means to reach an audience in an increasingly overcrowded marketplace. Simultaneously, it gives the audience something extra – another reason to listen to this album, a crucial factor in a world overflowing with artists and new releases.

Today we’re taking a look at exactly what the visual album is, and why has it suddenly become a major talking point within the industry, most notably ignited by Beyonce’s self titled release in 2013, and more recently, Lemonade.

In  a paper titled The Visual Album As A Hybrid Art Form by Cara Harrison, the visual album is technically defined as “an audio-visual product. It must have a direct relationship with the music from a corresponding audio album by the same artist. Its album length is more than the standard music video length, and strong visual and textual relations are present to form continuity throughout the whole album.”

One of the first times the term was used was in 2010, when Animal Collective described ODDSAC as such. However, it was Beyonce’s self-titled release in 2013 that first brought major, widespread attention to the art form. The release is particularly notable for not only championing the visual album, but being among the first major mainstream albums to drop with no advance notice or singles whatsoever. She spoke of a unified vision when outlining the intentions of the album, saying, “I wanted people to hear things differently and have a different first impression. Not just listen to a 10 second clip, but actually be able to see the whole vision of the album. It was important that we made this a movie. We made this an experience.”

As a whole, a visual album is way to gain the audience’s attention through an all-encompassing single piece of media. Instead of a mass of unrelated videos, or the need to switch between audio and visual formatting, a visual album – especially one which incorporates skits and additional footage atypical to a recorded album, offers a narrative to connect with. As Landon Palmer pointed out in his article How Visual Albums Are Changing the Way We Think of Movies and Music Videos, “In the past few years a new music/video form has become increasingly prevalent. The visual album continues to emerge as a means of creative visual expression… It is promising a synesthetic expression of musical creativity.”

Meanwhile, the loss of the physical element in music nowadays has actually contributed to the rise of visual albums. Most listeners don’t spin an entire album start to finish; they’ll cherry pick their favourites, add them to a playlist, and be on their way. To essentially provide a listener with an entire movie, can engage them in a new and different way – a way that hopes to shift attention back to the album as a whole.

In the last five years or so some artists already appeared to be moving away from the conventional music video. What they were doing seemed more suited to a visual album. Musicologist Fabian Holt labelled them as “cinematic song-videos”. They tended to shift from the standard running time and incorporated film-like techniques, such as dialogue and long introductions featuring no music, in order to establish a scene, like Lady Gaga’s 2010 video for Telephone, which clocked in at over nine minutes long. The visual album is pushes those boundaries even further, as more and more film techniques are incorporated along with the usual music video standards. Much like musi crosses genres at all turns, so too does the musical output itself – it has become a hybrid, far more than just the audio output.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVBsypHzF3U

In Harrison’s paper, she explains that, “the visual album does promote the audio album. But because of its hybridity and its function as an artwork, it does not always behave like a music video… It creates a blurred line between film and music video. Thus a separate art form emerged; the visual album.”

In terms of album sales, the music industry has been in decline. This is no secret. The rise of single-song purchases and then the introduction of streaming sites has meant a significant reduction in physical record sales. Similar to when the major labels finally reacted to the punk movement and used marketing tools to entice fans to buy their products, the industry is now using a range of new methods to sell their music. When Beyonce premiered her new album on premium cable channel HBO, she effectively released a film, not an album. A dramatic, continuous offering with a beginning, middle and end, not to mention stunning production values, it could well have aired in cinemas across the world. Like you’d watch a film on Netflix, the full length film premiered on Jay Z’s streaming service Tidal.

But beyond marketing and creative expression, why has the visual album suddenly become so favoured? In “Seeing Music Performance: Visual Influences on Perception and Experience” by William Thompson, Phil Graham and Frank Russo, they said that, “an absence of visual information leaves an impression that the performance is a solitary act, in which the listener’s role is primarily that of a voyeur. That is, visual aspects of music personalise the music, drawing performers and listeners closer together in a shared experience.” Music has always been a great connecter between people, and tin 2016, that is immensely heightened by adding visuals. Like a film, it allows for a collective and shared experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrCHz1gwzTo&list=PL-E79MQ72MqVQWkmv0BEYOwXMc-hCTqHg

The success of Lemonade is far from standalone, and even artists like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have announced intention to unveil an entire new album as a film, set to air in cinemas this September. Hers is the strongest example this year, and much like how the rise of surprise album drops dramatically increased after her 2013 self-titled, so too is she leading the way for the visual album. It’ll be really interesting to see where this format goes next, and the ways this will change and evolve the music industry.

Read our review of Lemonade here.

Image: The Guardian.

 

Just days after the unexpected launch of her latest album, Lemonade, Beyoncé kicked off her much hyped Formation World Tour. The opening show of the tour took place in Miami’s Marlin Park on Wednesday, showcasing new material and an undaunted Queen Bey. With a massive 37 song setlist, guest appearances and a number of tribute’s, the first night of the Formation tour definitely hit the ground running.

Pushing out new songs, the set included Hold Up, Freedom, Sorry, Don’t Hurt Yourself, All Night, Daddy Lessons, and Formation from Lemonade. The consummate performer, Beyoncé well understands the importance of an appearance from her back catalogue. As such, Baby Boy and Run the World (Girls) were given an airing, along with her Fifty Shades Of Grey version of Crazy In Love and her anthem Single Ladies. Complete with appropriate booty action from Bey and her dancers – another treasured staple of her live show.

Image via Digital Trends

Image via Digital Trends

Ranging into other territories, Bey’s performance also took on D’Angelo’s Untitled (How Does It Feel) and even a cover of Eurythmic’s Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This). Despite this  being very much Bey’s night, the show hosted appearances from a surprise line up of guests. Presented by none other than DJ Khaled;  Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Yo Gotti, Lil Wayne, Trick Daddy, Kent Jones and Future all took to the spotlight, and the stage.

As you would expect, this first viewing of the stage production and choreography designed for the Formation tour did not disappoint. Performing from a catwalk-embellished stage, Beyoncé was joined by aerobatic dancers, impressive visuals – including those taken from Lemonade, themes surrounding black womanhood and even fan videos, and home videos featuring Jay-Z and Blue Ivy. Not forgetting the usual pyrotechnics and fireworks synonymous with a sell-out stadium show, there was even a majestic throne, risen from beneath the stage for Queen Bey to rest her international treasure of an ass on.

Beyoncé also acknowledged the recent tragedy of Prince’s death with a tribute to the iconic singer during her set. As the vast screens turned purple, and Purple Rain played out over the speakers, Bey gave thanks for Prince’s “beautiful music” and for God speaking through all of “his artists.” A second dedication went out to Jay-Z in a surprise move after the the revelations of the last week.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihGJ5woxCMo]

Despite the very public explanation for Solange’s elevator attack on Jay-Z back in 2014, via Lemonade and its accompanying clips. And amid the speculation that the rapper cheated on Mrs Carter with a woman named ‘Becky’, the closing song went out to her husband. Finishing with her emotional hit Halo, Beyoncé reportedly prefaced the performance with the words “I want to dedicate this song to my beautiful husband. I love you so much.”

As reports from the show rack up praise for Beyoncé’s tour de force, the singer gave thanks to her “Beyhive” and basked in the glow of another incredible production. No doubt that Queen Bey can hold onto her title moniker, and the adoration of both fans and industry.

Check out the full set list below:

“Formation”

“Sorry”

“Bow Down / Tom Ford”

“Run the World (Girls)”

“Mine”

“Baby Boy”

“Hold Up”

“Countdown”

“Me, Myself and I”

“Runnin'” (Naughty Boy song Bey appears on)

“All Night”

“Don’t Hurt Yourself”

“Ring the Alarm”

“Diva”

“Flawless (Remix)”

“Feeling Myself”

“Yoncé”

“7/11″

“Drunk in Love”

“Rocket”

“Daddy Lessons”

“Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”

“Purple Rain” (Prince cover, obviously)

“Crazy in Love/Bootylicious”

“Naughty Girl”

“Party”

“Blow / Nasty Girl”

“Sweet Dreams” (Eurythmics cover)

“Sweet Dreams” (Bey’s song)

“Freedom”

“Survivor”

“End of Time/Grown Woman”

“Halo”

Image: Getty Images

Queen Bey surprised and delighted us all by dropping her latest hour-long visual album Lemonade on HBO and Tidal over the weekend. Having had only a few short days to listen to it, it’s difficult to really comprehend the powerful and deeply personal subject matter she deals with in her lyrics. To help everyone out, host of The Late Show, Stephen Colbert has offered white people some insight into Beyonce‘s Lemonade in a segment called “Stephen White-Mansplains Lemonade.”

Beyonce

Image: Vibe.com

Colbert begins by “dressing up as a caricature of a white man” which for him required only slightly adjusting his glasses before hilariously attempting to explain some of the content.

He says, “It makes powerful statements about women being disrespected, especially black women, and I know you’ve been waiting for a white man to explain it to you. The waiting is over.” He discusses things like “Becky with the good hair”, having hot sauce in your bag and the confusion between fashion designer Rachael Roy and TV celebrity chef Rachael Ray – both of whom have been accused of being the aforementioned Becky.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdzsdaTmvKE

The album explores the suspicion, doubt and pain associated with marital infidelity but is also a bold and tough-as-hell statement about love and it’s power to hold people together. Beyonce tells the brutal truth about Jay Z cheating on her but there is so much more to it than that. She also discusses the complexities of misogyny, racism and black womanhood, issues for which Beyonce is one of the most powerful voices in the world.

If you actually want to better understand Lemonade, take a look at our album review.

Image: YouTube