Artist: Wax TailorAlbum Name: Hope & SorrowGenre: Electronic, Hip Hop, DowntempoRelease Date: April 2, 2007

Artist: Wax TailorAlbum Name: This Train/Leave ItGenre: Electronic, Hip Hop, DowntempoRelease Date: August 21, 2012

Wax Tailor is a French Electronic artist, producing music within the same genres as the track that we decided to use for the music video (“Mr President”), thus I thought looking at his album artwork would be useful in order to see what albums of a similar genre would use. Trip Hop and Electronic music tends to be linked more to creativity and the other art mediums in comparison to genres like pop, meaning that it is quite common to see album artwork that isn’t a photograph of the artist themselves. This is the case with Wax Tailor’s albums, as he uses alternatives to photographs of himself, thus it is suitable to the genre. The album covers for Wax Tailor’s albums seem to draw inspiration from graffiti, street/urban art and screen printing, creating collages of various images mostly depicting urban environments. The urban environments link into the roots of the electronica genre, as it originated in the underground scenes in large cities all over the world. The representations of Wax Tailor created by the album covers maintain that he is paying homage to the roots of the genre, as well as his own roots in terms of his journey through the underground scene to becoming more relevant. Furthermore, the album covers show that the artist is open to collaborating with other art forms as well as showing the audience that he is always involved in a creative process, whether it be producing music or helping to create his cover art.

Artist: DJ ShadowAlbum Name: The OutsiderGenre: Trip Hop, Spoken Word, Electronic, VariousRelease Date: September 19, 2006

Artist: DJ ShadowAlbum Name: EndtroducingGenre: Trip Hop, Instrumental Hip HopRelease Date: November 19, 1996

DJ Shadow is a very well known artist within the Trip Hop genre, helping to pioneer the sound by experimenting with samples of different genres. His first album, “Endtroducing”, was the first ever album to be composed entirely of samples from other tracks and artists. DJ Shadow follows the convention of not using the artist on the front cover of the album showing suitability to the genre, however, the artist does use a range of media as shown above (illustration and photography). The album cover for “Endtroducing” represents the artist’s style perfectly, as it depicts two people in a record shop flipping through vinyl. DJ Shadow will have spent much of his time doing the same thing in order to collect his extensive archive of samples, thus the audience can see into the lifestyle and the values of the artist. The photograph was taken in ‘Records’ in North Carolina, and has a basement with over 800,000 records. DJ Shadow frequently visited the shop and part of the legendary documentary “Scratch” was filmed in the shop. The album art for “The Outsider” also represents the artist as a bit of an outsider, but this could be a positive thing as fans may be able to identify with the feeling of being an outsider, possibly due to their taste in music. This is illustrated by the peculiar dress of the young boy on the cover (could be DJ Shadow as a boy), suggesting his unusual nature has lead to him being an outcast. Despite this, the album art remains true to its roots as the vinyl records are still present in contrasting tones, highlighting their importance to the artist and the audience. The artists constant reference of vinyl will appeal to audiences because vinyl collecting is popular amongst this genre.

Artist: GorillazAlbum Name: GorillazGenre: Alternative Hip Hop, Trip Hop, Alternative RockRelease Date: March 26, 2001

Artist: GorillazAlbum Name: Demon DaysGenre: Trip Hop, Alternative Hip Hop, Alternative RockRelease Date: May 23, 2005

Gorillaz are another example of where art and music cross over, as they were entered into the Guinness World Records as the most successful virtual band. Gorillaz were created by Damon Albarn (English musician and song-writer) and Jamie Hewlett (English artist, illustrator and designer). The members of the band are constantly changing, as they often work with collaborators. Damon Albarn is the only permanent musical contributor. The virtual band has four animated members that were created by Jamie Hewlett; these characters appear in the music videos, album covers and other merchandise for Gorillaz. Once again, the band have chosen not to reveal their identities and so photographs of them are not used for the front cover, revealing a trend amongst the genres. The album covers show the band as being creative due to the use of various art forms; this is similar to the other covers that I’ve included, particularly Wax Tailor. This is engaging to the audience because it shows that the artists creative capabilities shouldn’t stop just at producing music. The font used by Gorillaz on their first album (named after the band themselves) is similar to a graffiti tag, showing that this genre of music is intrinsically linked to urban life and urban art. This will be appealing to fan of the Hip Hop genre as it originated in the city of New York, which is well known for its art and music. “Demon Days” is a move away from the first album cover, but focuses on creating more of an emphasis around the 4 animated characters. The cover has been parodied many times, this acts as a signifier that the album cover appeals due to its simplicity.

Artist: Zero 7Album Name: When It FallsGenre: Electronica, DowntempoRelease Date: March 1, 2004

Artist: Massive AttackAlbum Name: Mezzanine Genre: Trip Hop, Downtempo, Electronica, Alternative RockRelease Date: April 20, 1998The album cover for “When It Falls” continues the generic

convention of replacing the artist’s face with something more creative and artistic. The image on the front cover uses patterns and bright popping colours in order to create a collage style image of the human form. These bright colours are eye-catching and so are engaging to the audience. The bright coloured shapes inside the outline of the head could be representing the creativity, colourful nature and individuality that is inside of every person. Additionally, this could also represent the artists colourful creativity and laidback nature, this would also fit the Downtempo genre. The simplicity of the image could also appeal to the audience, as an image that is easy to read could be more engaging to an audience. The images and techniques used are similar to those used in modern art movements, therefore the album cover could appeal to a larger audience than just fans of the genre.

Massive Attack are arguably one of the best known names in the Trip Hop genre and have developed the genre from the beginning. This album had a different, darker, sound than previous albums. Therefore the imagery used on the front cover gives off a darker tone, with a shot of a stag beetle; the black tones look almost like an oil slick and the sharp edges of the beetle itself help to convey the dark message of the album. The album cover reflects the bands transition in to a darker feeling sound, showing the audience immediately this transformation. The image is suitable to the genre because the genre has known to have a darker side due to the deep bass lines of some of the tracks. Furthermore, Massive Attack have avoided using photographs of the band for the front cover, conforming to the stereotype of the genre’s album art.