Music Video: Forest & Ink

Over the last years, the international independent scene has taken a surprising interest in musicians who perform with the starkest of backup: on their own with an acoustic instrument. Californian singer Devendra Banhart or singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom, accompanying herself on the harp, find themselves the focus of world interest in these new ‘raw’ musicians. The term reflects music-makers who provide relief from artificially produced pop music and from the ubiquitous technological sounds of electronic music. In watching these videos, we gradually discover that we don’t get to see any urban backdrop. The environment which keeps appearing is the forest: idyllic, fanciful, independent of man, in the case of Jaga Jazzist, with a Lynchian mystery and strength. The clips also mark a return to animated drawing. It is noteworthy that renowned filmmakers (Michel Gondry, Harmony Korine) were soon attracted to this new scene. This select collection of music videos was a special project to mark the 40th Karlovy Vary IFF. With: Joanna Newsom, Bonnie Prince Billy, Emiliana Torrini, Animal Collective, Devendra Banhart, Iron & Wine, Múm, M. I. A. etc.