Artist Research Assignment; Post one

As Kimya Dawson isn't a very well known artist she doesn't have any official music videos and so I will have to analyse another artist in the same genre (indie-folk) as Kimya. As Regina Spektor has a lot of music videos and is also in the same genre as Kimya, I will be able to analyse her change throughout the years instead.

In each of Regina Spektors videos she makes sure she has plenty of unique elements which help to identify herself from others from a simular style. Although she does this, she is also aware of keeping certain conventions within her work, often seen playing a piano in her videos, just as Kimya always has her guitar. Many artists within this genre are seen with insturments, usually being an acoustic guitar however this can change depending on the specific music style.
Regina Spektors lyrics and videos are usually quite simple, having no deeper meaning behind them. This contrasts vastly to the lyrics of Kimya Dawson, which always tell a story and involve deeper issues. Regina Spektor also uses the quirkyness of her videos to identify herself. For example, in her music video 'Us' she uses stop motion animation at the beginning as she 'unpacks' everything in the room (the piano, lamp etc) from a box, none of which properly relates lyrically but it adds to the creativity which seh ahs and highlights her image. This is slightly simular to the way in which Kimya has portrayed herself, with the self drawn album cover.

Regina Spektor released the song 'Samson' five years ago and 'Dance Anthem of the 80s' two years ago. From watching both music videos it is clear to see that her image hasn't changed. However, in her more recent video, her quirkyness has been increased, using inventuful ideas such as the drawing of the pathway on her hands at the beginning, although still keeping it simple with her dancing around the street for the rest of the video. The fact that she hasn't changed over the years can be percieved as good thing but it can be risky, as people get bored with seeing the same things easily. Within our genre it is usual to see people mocking the seriousness of the mainstream audience/videos, we see this in Reginas videos, however Kimya tends to be a lot more serious and down to earth, singing about serious issues which have affected her own life, as well as many others.