HIP Year in Review: 2011
Flashback Friday – Metric
September 20, 2024
Flashback Friday – K’Naan
September 27, 2024
The HIP Video Promo team has spent the past 23 years fighting the good fight for exceptional independent creatives and well-established artists alike. With an abundance of top-notch talents to look back on, 2011 brought a lustrous collection of musicians and music videos.
That’s not all 2011 delivered. Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire walked away from the Grammy awards with The Suburbs winning Album of the Year. The ever-popular Harry Potter film series came to a close after a decade-long run with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. ABC ended the soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live soap operas.
Focusing back on the HIP sphere, below are a few of the campaigns we carried out in 2011:
Bon Iver – “Holocene” – 108M views – “Holocene” was named after a bar in Portland, Oregon, but it was written with a double meaning, with holocene also being a geologic time period. Bon Iver revealed in an interview that part of the mystery and wonder associated with it represents the magnificence and lack thereof in our lives, with Bon Iver feeling not so magnificent in the magnificent world around us.
Charles Bradley – “The World (Is Going Up In Flames)” – 2.3 views – Charles Bradley brings a whole new meaning to soul music. His music is utterly a work of heart that lays all his authentic, palpable emotions before the listening audience. “The World (Is Going Up In Flames)” sheds light on Bradley’s world perspective and the fact that the world needs improving.
Okkervil River – “Wake And Be Fine” – 236K views – It’s a performance video meets lyric video. As Okkervil River plays “Wake and Be Fine,” the lyrics flash in bold black on the white backdrop behind the band individually and collectively. For new and returning fans, this music video spotlights their impeccable songwriting and emphasizes their evident entertainment factor, too.
Blitzen Trapper – “Love The Way You Walk Away” – 352K views – The country alternative Blitzen Trapper “Love The Way You Walk Away’ is highly reflective in nature, looking back on a relationship post-breakup that he feels remorse and guilt for not going about it differently in certain respects.
Washed Out – “Eyes Be Closed” – 665K views – Driving her motorcycle, the focus of the Washed Out “Eyes Be Closed” music video is on the unnamed beauty riding wherever the video’s green screen effects take her.
Title Fight – “27” – 1M views – There is so much being left to chance with the potential for bad luck, but the significance of the song “27” is that the number symbolizes revival, strength, and new beginnings, which is the complete opposite of the superstition probability spectrum. Title Fight’s aggressive screaming persists in this track from start to finish while they are overtly attempting to use the power of 27 to bring back the song’s lost muse.
The Glitch Mob – “We Can Make The World Stop” – 4.9M views – Think of the epic EDM productions from Daft Punk and Deadmau5, and The Glitch Mob rises to the occasion to meet their superior dance music caliber. “We Can Make The World Stop” layers the deep and low-pitched electric guitar and synthesizer sounds with chiming, high-pitched piano keys and a repeating digitized voice saying, “We Can Make The World Stop.”
Patent Pending – “One Less Heart To Break” – 241K views – Two suicidal individuals attempt to take their lives to escape the cruel world. The events that follow show how others are affected by their actions, and Patent Pending seeks to make listeners know that they are not alone amidst life’s ups and downs.
Explosions In The Sky – “Last Known Surroundings” – 33K views – Have 8 minutes to spare? Embark on the Explosions In The Sky expedition in “Last Known Surroundings.” The song may not have words, but the sonic intricacy can usher you through the digitized territories displayed.
Low – “Especially Me” – 732K views – There would almost be no substance in navigating life if we knew where we were supposed to end up all the time, so knowing where we are from and having each other to figure out each step is the beauty of the endless unpredictability every day. We are in control of our lives, to some degree at least, which is why Low’s vocalist and drummer Mimi Parker’s New York City subway delivery of “Especially Me” fits so nicely.
Hayes Carll – “Another Like You” – 626K views – Hearing Hayes Carll and Bonnie Whitmore’s free and easy guitar playing and delightful vocal twang, it is interesting how much “Another Like You” is infused with politics and is not just another country love song. Carll is the Democrat and Whitmore is the Republican, but their back-and-forth flirtatiousness and banter leads to a hotel fling.
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