Synopsis

A fast-moving collage of archival imagery and found sound, "The Beat Generation" turns fragments of the past into a romantic, dreamlike portrait of cultural memory. Vintage faces, places, gestures and objects appear in rhythmic succession, with the editing giving the footage a new pulse and emotional context. Rather than following a conventional storyline, the video works as a visual beat tape: impressionistic, nostalgic and constantly reshaped by the music's warm, sample-driven momentum.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was released ahead of Almighty Sion's album of the same name, which arrived through Original Cultures on April 15, 2013.

• At approximately five and a half minutes, the video presents the project as an audiovisual collage rather than a standard performance clip.

• Its central materials are found sound and archival footage, altered through editing to create something new from pre-existing cultural fragments.

• The title connects two ideas: the 1950s Beat movement and the hip-hop tradition of instrumental beat tapes.

• Almighty Sion was the production partnership of Irish producer SertOne and Liverpool producer Bolts.

• The album's production was built with hardware including an MPC 2000XL, a Dr. Boss SP-303, synthesizers, guitar, bass guitar and records.

• The accompanying album was designed to be heard as a continuous piece split across two sides, reinforcing the video's collage-like sense of flow.

• The project's musical reference points included stripped-down soul sampling and the beat-making legacy associated with J Dilla.