More 50's fonts

I thought a really good starting point in terms of looking for 50's fonts was to possibly look at the old southern rock and roll music labels. Elvis'  record label, Sun Records, seemed a natural first port of call. 

(http://elvistruth.wordpress.com/2008/01/01/into-the-light/)

It's got a quirky quality to the font chosen, I feel something of this same ilk would work quite well in terms of the outcome I wish to have. I want to create my own typeface for this project, as i feel that hand drawn original quality will add something special to the products I want to create. 

Here are just some fonts I've been playing about with just to kind of get my head around it and mess about with an idea. Obviously the finished idea will have to be cleaned up in Photoshop and made to look the 'real deal' but i have high hopes for the outcome of this area of the project. 

50's font helping to form an idea

Whilst performing my research I watched the video for A lizard State. As I said in the previous  post the title screen for the video features the bold style of 50's fonts, As my most basic idea will incorporate a mixture of styles, I feel that using a similar style to this striking lettering that is seen in the photo above will juxtapose nicely with my idea of doing quite a sketchy, art nouveau style illustration with bold lines in the foreground portrait. I will probably hand draw my own font and take it through into digital to clean it up a bit, then potentially screen print the finished product as I really love the quality that screen printing gives to detailed lines and all that jazz. 

I can really feel my idea tying together a bit better through this research and will probably start some initial ideas this weekend. I think my next destination on this blogging journey will be to look a little into the supposed punk poet influences that King Krule has. 

i 

A lizard State

This song is a bit of a difference to the rest of the album it's got a Teddy Boy rock'n'roll feel to it. It's upbeat and quite technically complicated for this artist yet the lyrics are more punk with the liberal use of profanities paired with his gritty, grimy voice. 

"But babe what am I to do

I've given up on loving you
I know it's not nothing new
so please do what I ask of you
and please do what I want you to
it's not fair
Baby blue, it's true
one day I'm gonna have you
but for now I don't care
I still feel the pain
of you not loving me the same
there's not much I can do"

His lyrics still hold that slightly hurt and immature approach to love and heartbreak which is why it's so attention grabbing because everyone has had these feelings, where there so intense you just need to rant on about it, which is why I've grown to love his song writing as it is so raw and truthful.
I also really love the video for this song as it is shot in black and white which creates an old school aesthetic, he is also suited up like a Ted, with a hint of the zoot suits of the early jazz era. The font used for the introduction also echo's old american 50's advertising, which another aspect I want to consider for my products. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpkr79srKTE

(Image: http://iamnosuperman.com/musik-2/neue-videos/king-krule-a-lizard-state-featuring-alfred-hitchcock/ ) 

Baby Blue

This song is also really easy listening, with mellow guitar chords followed by his usual echoed vocal and gentle dub style drums. The lyrics also evoke a sense of sadness and almost of lost love, it's a beautiful melancholy song. With King Krule's lyrics you almost forget he's not even twenty yet, he seems beyond his years which is why I ended up choosing him for this brief. Although with this song there is a hint of teenage angst, he wishes he had/ has the right words to say but cannot and expresses his love with grandoise statements, "I could've been something to you, painted the skies blue, baby blue". 

The lyrics "sandpaper sigh" help solidify the feeling of pain he has over this love he is struggling with or has lost. There's just a sense of aimlessness within the song, it's not lazy it's just taking it's time... 

  

Easy Easy

One of my personal favorites from the album is the song 'Easy Easy'. It, for me is one of the best to represent his whole album, it has a lively acoustic punk vibe to begin with yet towards the end of the song he takes it back to a dreamy vibe reminiscent of  the old crooners, with his slow guitar chords and echoed vocals.

 It's a brilliant lead into the entire album which, after this first song, takes a very contemporary, rebellious turn. 

The Cover art for the initial release of the E.P emulates the strange shapes of various artists from the fifties, who were just coming into their own contemporary style, such as Leger and Georges Mathieu. The latter describing his art as 'lyrical abstraction' which is a beautiful way of describing the bold yet fleeting shapes used in his paintings. I would also refer that quote to King Krule's songs, he produces and abstract and insightful way of looking at London life in the modern age.   

(Image: http://rock.genius.com/King-krule-easy-easy-lyrics) 

  

Six Feet Beneath The Moon

In terms of the full album...

From my own opinion I would class it as a painful yet soothing mixture of harsh beats and beautiful slow guitar riffs. 

His style has roots in various old music movements such as a hint of good old fashioned rock and roll and occasionally the uplifting yet gritty songs of Billy Bragg. This with elements of dub and trip hop chill mixed in with his deep, gravelly 'old school voice' make for a really unusual and contemporary feel. 

The Guardian describes his songs as "elbows and needly fingers, wavery bark and bite, but hear them again and a testy, tarmacked elegance is apparent". 

I will admit that on first listening to King Krule I simply put his style in with the new movement of young urban musicians such as Mac Demarco and Ghost poet whose style is mainly just chillwave/ trip hop. Which is alright and everything but on further listening to this artist I have developed a love for his lethargic yet jarring melodies. 

When I try and think how I can create a suitable illustration for this artist I know i'm in for a little bit of a struggle as his whole image and persona spans may different subcultures and musical styles. I think at this point I want to create a dream-like backdrop of various London landscapes, similar to the photographs of Erwin Fieger. I also wish to incorporate various portraits of the artist suited up, but try and put a really contemporary and urban underground twist on it.    

(http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/aug/24/king-krule-interview)
(image: http://kingkrule.co.uk/) 

Teddy Boy and Punk Influences

From the book: 1950's by Nick Yapp (Getty images) I found various quotes on this notorious sub culture. " Adolescents in the fifties suddenly found themselves labelled youths". 

It can be called the first real youth movement in Britain, "the teds draped and duck arsed themselves into a national outrage that made headlines". (The look, Adventures in Rock and Pop Fashion, Paul Gorman, Adelita Publishing). 

The whole idea of the Teddy Boy emulated from the old Edwardian style that Saville Row championed, the fact that this youth movement tore down the elitist ideal that surrounding this style and made it their own is something that really interests me. It was punk before punk really existed. 

In the song Lizard State, there are many musical influences, the main one that stands out is the big band dancehall vibe that would have been prominent at the very beginning of the Ted's. The introduction the song is also reminiscent of the rockabilly style that was coming out of America and becoming popular with this set of youths. 

In an interview with the Guardian he has also been described as a punk poet, they made a connection to the artsist Billy Bragg who was known for his gritty political guitar songs, although King Krule's lyrics are less political and more taken from his personal experience of heartbreak/youthful disillusionment. His style of music is very much a mish mash of many styles, as a stage character he comes across as a 'jack the lad' kind of character which reminds me of the tongue in cheek style of the Ted's and also the suited and booted punks that could be found in the later 70's. 

King Krule

From the list of musicians we were given to produce a body of music related products, I chose to go with a young artist named Archie Marshall (19) who makes beautiful, trip hop/ punk poetry with various old rockabilly style guitar riffs. He works under the stage name of King Krule. 

My reasoning for choosing this artist is for the fact that his name evokes thoughts of the old Elvis movie: King Creole. A story about a rebellious young man. Secondly through watching his most popular video (Easy Easy) I have also decided to research the old Teddy Boy and Punk styles of the past century as their rebellious style can be seen in this video.

It was quite hard to think of a concept to research when it came to this artist as his style changes so often. I have come to the conclusion that he is a modern punk poet via the Ted's of the 50's.