Setting aside the musical content (if you can), what are the best music videos you know?
This very impressive video for Weval's Someday, done by Páraic Mc Gloughlin (warning, possible seizure-inducing imagery), got me thinking. It's a great track in and of itself, but the sheer quality of the work on the video just wowed me. It came from a totally different angle than I envisioned in my mind when just listening to the song... yet when I read his take on it, it made perfect sense.
Otherwise, the White Stripes' I Fell In Love With A Girl and Alt-J's NSFW-ish vids for Every Other Freckle also come to mind, both the male and female versions. Also, This Is America by Childish Gambino. I'm struggling to think of other videos that really struck me, but that might just be my poor memory. Any suggestions?
Edit: Forgot some classics!
The Spike Jonze-directed Drop from The Pharcyde, with a nice peek behind the curtain here. A (Canadian?) rapper named Shad did a really cool tribute to that video with his own Rose Garden that put a nice spin on it.
Jamiroquai's Virtual Insanity (and another peek behind the curtain here)
Hype Williams + Busta Rhymes was always a gold combination, and their best collab was probably Gimme Some More
A-ha - Take On Me
Another NSFW one, D'Angelo's Untitled.
I also just remembered coming across Sour's Hibi no Neiro a few years ago and thinking it was such a really cool concept to essentially crowdsource a music video... reminds me of what Youtube used to be like.
One of my favorites from the new school is A$AP Mob - Yamborghini High, so trippy.
Another is Vince Staples - Señorita.
I love Daft Punk's Interstella 5555, which is a full hour long story that plays alongside the Discovery album.
I've always been a little conflicted about it myself. I love the album and dig the concept, but I don't know if the film's aged very well. I think animated music videos are kinda underutilized in general. Maybe the Youtube AMV phenomenon put something of a stigma on it, I don't know. Did you ever see Daoko's ME!ME!ME! video (NSFW) that Hideaki Anno did? I eventually pieced together the meaning after repeated viewings and readings, but I initially figured it was just typical anime weirdness.
In a similar vein, but more recent: TWRP - Starlight Brigade
I actually love the entire concept of a visual album. Daft Punk has another called Electroma, but that's more of an art house film than a music video. They also have an even less cohesive movie called D.A.F.T.: A Story About Dogs, Androids, Firemen and Tomatoes, which has a music video directed by Spike Jonze.
I'm always trying to see if I can find more visual albums / synchronized animation but I fear the list is pretty short. Here's what I know of:
Beastie Boys - Sabotage (no link here, you probably know this one)
Royksopp - Remind Me
Primus - Wynona's Big Brown Beaver
Aphex Twin - Come To Daddy
I'll add more when I think of them. I'm a middle-aged guy so these will lean heavily toward '90s MTV era since that's when I watched a lot of music videos. Great idea for a post, though! I can't wait to watch some excellent music videos.
Another video from Röyksopp among my favourites is Happy Up Here.
That's no issue for me, that was maybe the music video heyday anyway. I do wonder what are the best of the newer videos though. As much as every song practically needs to have a video to gain exposure now, I don't know if anything can capture everyone's attention the same way now as back then. The best videos must have gotten so much better but there's so much dross now as well.
+1 for Aphex Twin - Come to Daddy. I love that music video!
Aww yiss, this thread is my jam. I've got a bunch of them, so no in particular order:
-Feels Like We Only Go Backwards Brings the psychedelic to psychedelic rock
Well, I'm sure there's more, but it's late and I think I exhausted my memory while still holding back on some lesser videos. I love music videos as an art form, and some of the experiences they can deliver are unique to the medium itself.
I'm afraid I couldn't watch much of the Weval video, but I can see why you admire it. I'm going to offer something with a bit more narrative, Miike Snow's Genghis Khan. It's a modern take on classic movies, and the joyful dance after the plot twist always makes me smile.
Yeah, that was good! Works on a few different levels.
OK Go are well known for their music videos. Imo, every single one of their videos is stellar. One of my favorites is "Upside Down and Inside Out," which they filmed in zero-gravity on an airplane. Super cool.
I was sure somebody would mention them! Their video for Obsession is really good, too. Hooking up that many printers into a massive display really appeals to the tinkerer in me.
Yes! I’m glad I’m not the only one. I’ve always loved that intro, and all the music from the show.
Such a cool noir feeling.
Can’t wait for the third, and sadly, final season tomorrow
Michel Gondry, who directed "Fell in Love With a Girl", has lots of good ones and is worth exploring further.
My personal favorite is The Chemical Brothers' "Let Forever Be", which is a ton of fun and plays around with its central gimmick in repeatedly satisfying ways.
Another good one is Kylie Minogue's "Come Into My World", which is a slow descent into chaos that rewards careful rewatching. Its trickery is a little dated-looking by modern standards, but it's still conceptually enteraining and well-executed.
Wow, that Kylie Minogue video! Simple concept yet super creative and ties well into the song.
I'd actually never seen the vid for Let Forever Be. Maybe it might have been some inspiration for this: A$AP Rocky - A$AP Forever ft. Moby?
Word Crimes is pretty freaking solid.
Weird Al has a lot of good ones. I think my favourite of his is Like a Surgeon.
I find it really hard to seperate the musical content from the visual content in music videos; I the best videos tend to work with the music to make an incredible piece of art.
That said, I think that "When I Was Done Dying" by Dan Deacon has one of the most incredible music videos I've ever seen. I believe it was created by several animators at Adult Swim. I've watched it probably over a hundred times. The more you watch it, the more you become aware of the lyricism and how it corresponds with the visuals. It's a breathtaking animation.
That is spectacular! I want to say I've heard of a similar thing done before with different animators/directors in one music video, but I might be thinking of The Animatrix.
It's not really the "best", but I've always liked Chairlift - Evident Utensil. It uses a technique called "datamoshing" that deliberately prevents the video from keyframing properly when the scenes switch, so they transition in a strange way, like a corrupted digital video file.
I feel pretty obliged to mention:
Other favorites:
1-800-273-8255 - Logic. This is an incredibly good song, the music video is basically a movie from how long it is and from all the major actors in it. 100% will make you cry but it is one of the most powerful music videos IMO.
Ultralife - Oh Wonder. This has bonkers good editing and effects. Really impresses me every time and also I can't listen to the song or watch the video without smiling.
The Less I Know The Better - Tame Impala
Kendrick Lamar's ELEMENT. video has some great photography, and references the photographs of Gordon Park quite a lot.
Gordon Parks?
Oops, yes, sorry.
No prob dude, just trying to follow the right leads.
I can’t really separate the music. I like the OP videos for sure, and many others in this thread. I’ll just add two videos that are not posted yet, and stuck in my head visually.
This one is a combo of lyrics and visuals that combine into something that will never leave my mind: ,
Warning, both song and video are extremely dark
El P - Stepfather Factory
This one I appreciate mostly for the visuals though, and requires no warning at all:
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Huneybee
They are both animated, but that’s where the similarities end.
I love these:
Ape School - Wail to God is done by the same artist for the Blockhead music video, although this one is more NSFW and humorous.
Noice! Thank you :)
I'll check it out
I really liked King Gizzard's Robot Stop video.
Going back a little ways:
God Lives Underwater - From Your Mouth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yrlw8FuJko
It's a neat and obvious camera trick but I just can't stop watching!
Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mbBbFH9fAg
A bit goofy from today's standards but still good.
Fatboy Slim - Weapon of Choice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ7z57qrZU8
Who doesn't love Christopher Walken!?
Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20tWDFxQq5A
Banned from MTV. Watch until the end for the twist.
Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI
Good advice set to a nice beat
Rosalía’s Malamente video is really well made. In fact, almost all music videos by CANADA are great.
CANADA definitely has style. I think it was on here that someone posted El Guincho - Bombay a while back and it made me look them up.
The animation in Tool's music videos is always amazing. Here's Sober and 46 & 2 for example.
Jamie xx - Gosh. The artist behind the video is Erik Wernquist, probably best known for Wanderers and the Crazy Frog video.
True Faith by New Order has amazing choreography by Philippe Decouflé.
And I've always loved proof by I Am Kloot. Christopher Ecclestone's performance is incredible.
Edit: That Weval video is amazingly well done. Got kinda anxious watching it.
Offtopic, but I still think his time as The Doctor was way too short. :( Don't get me wrong, I really loved David Tennant too, but Eccleston in that role is super underrated IMO... as is Paul McGann, for that matter.
"Farewell, Mona Lisa" by The Dillinger Escape Plan: remember the scene from The Hangover where they first wake up, and the shots are all centered on their faces with the room in the background? This is that, but focused on the instruments instead.
Most of Death Grips' videos are rather...uh...experimental...but I'm a fan of "Double Helix" for the sheer "who-could-have-ever-thought-of-this" element of it.
"Hive" by Earl Sweatshirt; it makes me feel grimy, uncomfortable, and welcome all at the same time.
["Total Football" by Parquet Courts] really captures the European football aesthetic in a video, despite the band being from NYC.
I really don't watch many music videos at all, but some weeks ago I happened to watch the video of Alt-J's Breezeblocks and thought it was brilliant.
Reading the comments I realised that I really should get around watching Daft Punk's Interstella 555, I've always been intrigued by it; this thread is quite the treasure trove of pretty awesome snippets of well curated media
Mondo Grosso's Labyrinth feels like a single long-shot dancing tour through the streets, shops, and back-alleys of Hong Kong.
I would be very surprised if any of the videos in this thread so far were crazier than Kolshchik, by Leningrad. NSFW for both sex and violence.
Gold is a pretty great music video too, as is Ju-ju. <3 Leningrad.
Pretty much every Missy Elliott video.
Busta Rhymes and Ludacris have fun videos, too.
Some of my favorites, in no particular order:
G-Eazy - I Mean It
Wiley, Sean Paul, Stefflon Don - Boasty ft. Idris Elba
CeeLo Green - Fuck You
Mark Ronson ft Mystikal - Feel Right
Coldplay - The Scientist
The Avalanches - Because I'm Me