The AWESOME! page has random music stuff that I think is cool. You never know what you will find here!
Every so often, I use the AWESOME page to feature a song or video from a relatively obscure artist that I have discovered and have become obsessed with. Last June, thanks to some online chatting with one of my SONGPOP friends, I discovered a French artist named Woodkid.
Woodkid (born Yoann Lemoine in 1983) is better known as a music video director. In 2008, he directed his first music video, and by 2010 he was directing videos for some of the biggest names in pop music, including Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Drake, Rihanna and Harry Styles.
He also dreamed of a musical career, and in 2011 he released his first EP. As of this writing, he has released two studio albums and several EPs. His style is described as “chamber pop”, “art pop” and “neofolk” – which seems right to me, and as such he won’t appeal to the masses. His music is more popular in Europe, but it doesn’t seem destined to make a big splash on the charts. When I listen to his music, I describe it as “big” – lots of orchestration, using the full range of instruments that come with an orchestra.
He has won several awards for his work, mostly for his videos of his own songs. Two of his songs were nominated for Best Music Video Grammy awards – Run Boy Run and The Golden Age in 2013 and 2015 respectively. Run Boy Run has been used in dozens of television shows, films, advertisements and video games. It’s also popular at soccer matches. Check out to computer animation in the video to the song, directed by Woodkid.