Cannes Lions Festival  – 2010’s Best Commercials

Lilian Jordy

Very rarely do we find ourselves at the movies on a weekday morning, if ever. Unless you attended last Wednesday’s CDP screening of Cannes Lions. This prestigious annual festival takes place in Cannes, France, and honours the world’s most creative and effective ads in 12 categories. The competition’s 57^th anniversary presented 8 awards to Canadian agencies, two of them from Québec. The screening was pleasantly introduced by an APM (Association des Professionnels du Marketing) spokesperson.

This 2-hour experience – screening a little under 100 clips – was thought-provoking, to say the least. Accustomed to the monotony of generic TV commercials, people separate from its industry usually regard advertisements as purely functional, not artistic. But watching ads like the ‘’Arctic Sun’’ for Tropicana orange juice triggers a clearly uplifting emotional response ; in the Canadian Arctic, an artificial sun rises in the dark morning sky over an bewildered crowd, followed by an ending slogan «Because we believe brighter mornings make for brighter days.» Effects such as slow motion filming combined with sentimental piano music worked to create a vibrant atmosphere that resonated with the audience; the experience was so pleasant that it no doubt stuck with viewers long after.

The most powerful clips, however, were far from pleasant in their content. These often tackled difficult subject matter, such as the Canadian Cancer Society with a 3-minute montage of touching monologues from cancer survivors. Politics were touched upon several times, the most memorable being an Italian Rolling Stone clip denouncing their corrupt government’s scandals involving sex, drugs and sleaze. The video’s narrative voice calls for rock ‘n’ roll behavior to return to the hands of musicians, ordering us to ‘’reclaim our alcoholic coma and the stench of passion.’’ Words like these are shocking and therefore memorable in this context because we are never explicitly told by the media to pursue such actions. Combined with the beautifully crafted camerawork, viewers could not help but be hypnotized. This clip proves exactly that political views and thoughts can be more inspiring when reshaped by a creative frame of mind.

Similarly to the Rolling Stone ad, environmental and health issues were challenged in inventive ways, especially the winning entries by Thefuntheory.com, an initiative of Volkswagen. The very successful ‘’Piano Stairs’’ clip had made over 18 million hits before the festival; the video shows how remodeling public stairways into pitch-emitting piano keys can actually deter most people from using the escalator for a healthier lifestyle. Other ingenious experiments advertize the concept of Fun Theory as a way to reach out and change our behaviors for the better; doing so creatively provides dull messages like ‘be healthy and exercise’ with enjoyment value.

Since these commercials are so effective in their emotional resonance with viewers, why don’t they air on TV?  Censors would tell you that broadcasting provocative or controversial ad material would not fit between light-hearted sitcoms. But more importantly, the Cannes Lions Festival offers creative entrepreneurs an opportunity for flexibility in both length and content of their work, something that TV’s restrictions cannot.

Whether a viewer seeks thought-provoking messages or purely audiovisual enjoyment, the Lions Cannes Festival offers a wide variety of sublime work for everyone. It offers creative interpretations of the world we live in today to enrich our own perspectives; it plays the role of food for the contemporary mind.

But there is some consistency in Mr. Rager’s message, as themes of isolation and escape from End of the Day reoccur. Only this time, with the help of a few guest artists, his ‘’lonely stoner’’ thoughts materialize. This 17-track release is a darker, brooding glimpse into the life of an introspective artist to whom we relate effortlessly.

While the opening track ‘’Erase Me’’ is the most radio-friendly with its light pop-rock pulse, ‘’Marijuana,’’ is the strongest piece on the album with its piano-driven downtempo groove and epic guitar riffs. The contrast between the heavily claustrophobic ‘’The End’’ and the weak rhyming in the playful ‘’All Along’’ proves that this album is unclassifiable – it represents the spectrum of Kid Cudi’s highs and lows.

Mr. Rager has something to offer to any Kid Cudi fan. Those expecting the spatial, dreamy qualities of the first album will be disappointed and should approach it with an open mind. Overall, the album misses the mark in that it will undoubtedly be compared to its precursor, which was far more poetic and cohesive an album. Perhaps Cudi should focus less on pushing boundaries so hard, and more on finding his true inner calling.

The best aspect of watching Fair Game was the ability to sink into it effortlessly: after a few minutes I had forgotten that Naomi Watts was acting in front of the camera, and was watching Valerie Plame’s actions and emotions instead. Sean Penn also delivers a heartfelt performance of the stubborn, determined husband, ready to take on the entire White House to defend his wife’s dignity. The story was very inspiring in that it showed how it is possible to stand up alone against the White House, and reap the benefits of justice.

Overall a captivating movie, offering yet another controversial perspective on the government and press information credibility. Though a bit anticlimactic in the resolving of Plame’s case, it would be a mistake not to try watching this thriller. Sometimes, not reading any synopsis or review before entering the dark room can lead to a very pleasant surprise!

If you can afford one or a full set of this luxury equipment, you will be rewarded with the results often guaranteed by manufacturers: to deliver the closest experience to a real life image and sound, to bring the real deal into your home. The real deal being cinema, that is, and its accurate simulation.
But until the ridiculous prices eventually drop, most people will be content to walk down to the nearest movie theater to sink into a comfortable chair and enjoy the enthralling cinema experience, for a reasonably low price. At least it was reasonable before technological innovation lent itself to the dark room with the 3D image; even 2D films’ ticket prices have risen with the high demand for films like Avatar in 2009.

The home theater intends to bring to your home what is so magical about going to the movies; living what’s on the screen as a true spectacle and not merely a show or film. Colors are intensified, sound is amplified, the experience is richer overall and probably more memorable than with a basic setup – at least until we grow used to it.

Sure, a good home theater system is worth a brand new Ducati, but like anything else that has been on the market for a while, prices will settle after which numbers of moviegoers might dwindle if ticket prices continue to skyrocket as they are. An $11 ticket for one person to see the new Red with Bruce Willis, seems just a bit too much.

Royksopp's new album, Senior

Ask any Röyksopp fan to describe the band’s sound and you will get answers like “bold and bright yellow, like sunshine” or “beats with a fresh kind of energy.” But upon listening to the more ominous ensemble of tracks on their newest release, Senior, I found that anything but sunshine came to mind.
On Senior, the Norwegian duo has taken an unexpected turn in the style of their downtempo creations. While predecessor Junior is a set of solid disco tracks focused on colourful harmony and vocal work, this instrumental follow-up represents its introverted, darker sibling. “The Alcoholic” is a tune for contemplative rainy days while the middle track, “Senior Living”-the uncontested highlight of the album-freezes time with a graceful maturity.
These wistful tracks and their unique sound production are undeniably beautiful. However, Röyksopp fans who enjoyed the vigour and energy of the band’s earlier albums’ might lose patience with Senior’s drastically slower pace. This is not to say that it is stale; on the contrary, listeners have the chance to discover a different side to the electronic music visionaries.
To all fans of downtempo music, Senior is Röyksopp’s most free-form album to date, with more attention than ever given to sound exploration.

Do Not As I Do:

Investigating the UK trip-hop band Portishead’s use of swing jazz elements present in a 1957 cover of “Summertime” by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong

What connection could there possibly be between 1950’s swing and a late 90’s British electronic band? The answer lies in the fact that within the most recent decades, there has been a great deal of fusion of styles, especially in underground subgenres that have emerged all over the world. In fact, there is so much mixing and borrowing between genres these days that we can no longer expect to label all new music as “rock” or “r’n’b”. Musicians these days are trying to find a unique sound that will set their music apart by avoiding the obvious. The innovative musical phenomenon known as trip-hop is proof of this sound pioneering. During the early 90’s in Bristol, some DJ’s were bored of the usual house and hip-hop scene. They wanted to expand their horizons and experiment with avant-garde sound. So, trip-hop was born.

Portishead's Beth Gibbons and Goeff Barrow

This new direction triggered musicians to look back in time for inspiration, where bands like Portishead indulged in 1950’s and 60’s swing to create their own fusion of electronic and jazz music. 

Using three of Portishead’s most distinguished songs, I intend to show how the trip-hop band Portishead and a 1957 interpretation of “Summertime” by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald share distinct similarities in melody, instrumentation, and overall style. I find this to be a fascinating tie, as if history was – in a way – repeating itself with this unlikely bond between trip-hop and swing. In fact, I hope to also understand what exactly gives Portishead’s sound its unique atmosphere that I’ve always admired. If original swing jazz and Portishead have so much in common, then I may find many answers by first listening to “Summertime”, one of the most important jazz standards of all time.

In 1957, the legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald and trumpet virtuoso Louis Armstrong recorded a compilation of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess”, orchestrated in a relaxed swing style. The arranger of “Summertime”, Russ Garcia, added a few subtle touches to Gershwin’s original orchestration, such as the use of brushes on the drums. Gershwin’s opera’s overall string ensemble was not changed heavily, but elements of improvisation, scatting, and swing rhythm were added to create a jazz-like atmosphere.

Trip-hop is a genre born out of the need for discovery, when DJ’s and other musicians wanted something fresh and out of the ordinary. But the irony of labeling their music as ‘trip-hop’! Massive Attack and other artists felt disdain that the term was being used to describe what they were doing. But a name for these artists – Massive Attack, Tricky, Portishead, Morcheeba – was needed to refer to their down-tempo acid jazz, experimental beats, and inclination towards what is atmospheric and ambient. Although it is often used as lounge and club music, its avant-garde nature makes it too intense and powerful to be categorized as such.

It’s safe to say that Portishead’s sound is like no other: a subtle and elusive form of mixing and sampling, using old LP loops from the 50’s, sounds from horror movies, anything to create something original for the sake of exploration.

It is often described by listeners as eerie, intense and most importantly, surreal. A very unique band, music journalist James W. Coates wrote that it is capable of “making an instrument as concrete as a drum machine sound eerie and evasive”. The soundtrack orchestration takes the listener on an aural reverie. The band, including Beth Gibbons on vocals and instrumentalist Geoff Barrow, has a signature sound due to its combining of odd recording techniques, turntable scratching, Western guitars, and the use of outdated instruments like the Theremin and ambient organs. The mix is then ‘stirred’ into a grainy, distorted and haunting sound that innovated the ambient music of the early 90’s. With all this borrowing and mixing, analyzing the individual components of Portishead’s sound will show that it shares many more similarities with jazz music from the 1960’s than on first hearing.

Of course, it would be an exaggeration to say that Portishead’s songs have almost everything in common with “Summertime”. The UK trip-hop band has electronic roots, therefore elements such as repetition, drum and patch loops and sound effects are not present in “Summertime”. Therefore, we have to focus on the elements that both styles share, and that Portishead clearly adopted from swing jazz influence.

The song Summertime, in this form, is slow and melancholic, compared to many other artists’ jazz versions that play the tune upbeat or in bebop style like Miles Davis. The instrumentation is highly accountable for this sound; a traditional orchestra with strings, complementing the melodies sung by Fitzgerald and responding to Armstrong’s trumpet solo. This tone of melancholy is almost chillingly identical to many of Portishead’s songs, such as Glory Box.

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong's 1957 album

The instrumentation can be held accountable for the majority of the two styles’ similarities. The strings, for example, are crucial in creating the atmosphere in both “Summertime” and Portishead’s “Glory Box”. Listening to this string section from “Summertime” (2:24) and the string loop from “Glory Box”, one can hear the D minor 2^nd inversion arpeggio of the electronic song, with a turn at the end. Summertime’s string part is also comprised of a turn and a descending first inversion B flat chord. This shows a very strong similarity between the two ways that the strings are used; both artists use the instrumentation to complement the atmosphere and also to establish the key center, as these arpeggios clearly define the tonic chord in each section. This also allows each section of the music to flow smoothly together, as the string’s cadential points make the transitions super smooth.

Brass instrumentation is also used to add color in the music of both styles. Portishead’s “Mourning Air” is an example of the band’s abundant use of brass for its unique timbre and contribution to the atmosphere. “Summertime”’s swing rhythm change at 2:32, however, uses the brass timbre to complement Armstrong’s rugged vocals and to solidify the theme. Another example of Portishead’s use of brass to add an eerie tone to the song is present in “Only You” (3:36), where the powerful entrance of the brass dramatizes the thematic movement of the song and creates a break in the verse. It is clear that the use of strings and brass texture in both styles is related to supporting the melody and contributing to the overall mood.

Along with the similar instrumentation is the striking melodic resemblance of both styles. “Summertime” and Portishead’s melodic trend repeatedly use the pentatonic and blues scales, as well as related chromatic passing tones, a jazz element used typically for improvisation. These elements appear, for example, in Portishead’s “Mourning Air”’s bassline (2:20), and in ”Summertime”’s strings pattern. Also, the embellished melody of Summertime that Ella sings at 3:43 can be compared with the chorus of “Glory Box”. In fact, Beth Gibbons’ melodic style seems to mimic improvisation, especially in the melody of “Only You”, which is a blurred melodic line filled with chromatic passing tones, creating a certain dreary monotony. Chromatic passing tones create a distinct sound that is exclusively attributed to jazz music in the Western world, and Portishead uses this element appropriately in their songs to give them their ‘bluesy’ tone. Finally, the guitar solo in “Only You” contains identical passing tones and be-bop style scales – modal scales that contain an extra chromatic passing tone – to Armstrong’s scatting near the end of “Summertime”. The similarity in between the two styles’ melodic structure is thus undeniable, as Portishead’s influence derives from bebop and jazz soloing ideas.

Snapshot of music video for “Glory Box”

It would be an understatement to say that Portishead’s music owes its eerie and ‘bluesy’ sound to bebop and 1950’s swing. Melodic intervals, instrumentation, and improvisational elements are present in the band’s music and can be traced back to the 1957 cover of “Summertime”. Despite the electronic elements of their music such as the heavy basslines, effects and repetitive drum loops, the jazz influence is clearly the most prominent part of Portishead’s unique atmosphere.

It’s safe to say that Portishead has succeeded in avoiding the obvious, yet they are obviously brilliant.

Lilian J.

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Bibliography

Coates, J.W. (18 May, 2008). Portishead Third Album Review. Available: http://electro-music.suite101.com/article.cfm/portishead_third_album_review. Last accessed 17 November 2008.

Cooper, S. (2008). Trip-Hop. Available: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=19:T721. Last accessed 18 Oct 2008.

McLean, C. (12 April, 2008). Portishead: back on the beat . Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/04/12/sm_portishead.xml. Last accessed 30 Oct 2008.

Click here for Hi-Fi video and here for Promises.

Mr. Meeble is an atmospheric, experimental band. But their songs vary in style, some more electronic or mainstream-sounding than others. But I’m not gonna lie: i can’t find anything bad to say about the album. Every song stands on its own, while also flowing together as an hour-long experience. I dont know why but I did not expect them to be from Phoenix, more from Sweden in my head. Probably because of the above average dose of synth pop sound. Their videos are brilliantly abstract as well, must be watched. I think it’s safe to say that almost anyone would like at least one track from that album, if not all of them… 

To me, ‘Raindrops’ is the most contagious track. the bassline and smooth vocals between the man and woman in the chorus, ah and what flows better than the lyrics “raindrops keep falling on my head… but that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turning red”. Not  to mention the hugely poetic rap that closes the song. 

This relatively unknown band is up in my favorites, and i think they have so much to offer, and by that I mean, I felt the same as when I heard Pink Floyd for the first time: I had to pause what I was doing and close my eyes because it was grand. and I am looking forward to more of Monsieur Meeble for that reason. IT IS ART.

Interview with Fleenor, the band’s lead here

This one’s a real beauty:

But listen to the entire album! I beg you! 

Lily.