When was the last time you actually sat through an entire music video? Thought so. It’s not like the old days, when an afternoon on the couch meant hours of non-stop music videos not of your choice. That’s the thing, though. With YouTube, we’re not just spoiled, but desensitized to knowing that we can watch anything, whenever and wherever. (Well, depending on your cell phone.) Because of this, it’s easy to skip things most of the time, knowing that you can just catch it later.
Of course, that “later” more often than not becomes “never” until, hey, you’re here reading a roundup post like this and thinking, I should comment and tell this guy he’s wrong, and that I’ve watched everything I come across, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Save yourself the trouble and instead click ahead and experience — or revisit — the best crop of videos from this year. It’s eggnog time, folks. No better hour than now.
Of course, that “later” more often than not becomes “never” until, hey, you’re here reading a roundup post like this and thinking, I should comment and tell this guy he’s wrong, and that I’ve watched everything I come across, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Save yourself the trouble and instead click ahead and experience — or revisit — the best crop of videos from this year. It’s eggnog time, folks. No better hour than now.
25. Action Bronson – “Strictly 4 My Jeeps”
Athletic abilities, financial portfolios, and culinary chops, Action Bronson flaunts all in the video for “Strictly 4 My Jeeps”, proving that he’s possibly the greatest host you could ever find in the Big Apple. With appearances from RiFF RAFF and Big Body Bes, we’re offered a peek into the world of Bronsoliño as he traverses the city in an enormous, blacked-out Jeep and smokes wax from his signature G Pen. Drake’s “Worst Behavior” interlude could’ve learned something from RiFF RAFF’s brief, but entertaining appearance, in which he ends a seemingly important business call (“Let me tell you something, if you know too much then you ain’t gonna know enough”) in order to bet against Action sinking a 12-footer. Of course, Bam Bam delivers. –Pat Levy
24. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Despair”
Fact: “Despair” is the first music video lensed atop the Empire State Building. So what? You’ve seen Sleepless in Seattle, you’ve seen the Observation Deck. What makes this video a winner is how director Patrick Daughters harnesses the eclecticism of Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ iconic frontwoman Karen O. To date, she’s been responsible for evolving the mysticism of the Brooklyn outfit, be it through her epileptic mannerisms, carnival facial expressions, or Elton John-rivaling wardrobe. Here, we get a little bit of all that, though the way she’s contained by New York’s iconic skyscraper and eclipsed by morning light offers an autumnal sense of intimacy that just so happens to check off the traditional NYC filming cliches of being majestic and respectful. For years, I’ve believed this band’s better to watch than strictly listen to, and their latest album, Mosquito, has proven that in live settings all year. This is just supplementary evidence. –Michael Roffman
23. Superchunk – “Staying Home”
Like the band itself, Superchunk’s video for “Staying Home” isn’t for the faint of heart. Opening with a close-up shot of bare feet with long toenails (eww gross!), the video matches the in-your-face intensity and humor that Superchunk have always given to their music and live sets. The video only clocks in at under two minutes, but it’s jam-packed with jovial hardcore punk energy and disgusting visuals. Directed by Taiyo Kimura, the video also features ridiculous cut-outs of the band eating curry in a toilet, a monster eyeball tormenting, egg-smashing wheels, and frantically jittery camera movements throughout — it’s just crazy. Though the band members are all well into their 40s, they proved with I Hate Music and this video that they aren’t slowing down anytime soon. –Josh Terry
22. Daft Punk – “Lose Yourself to Dance”
We spent a lot of time waiting for Daft Punk, talking about Daft Punk, and listening to Daft Punk this year. So, it’s only fitting that the music video for their second single off Random Access Memories portrayed them as where they’ve been all along: atop a breathing heap of gyrating devotees multiplying with every beat. While “Get Lucky” garnered the most attention on radios worldwide, “Lose Yourself to Dance” lyrically and visually encapsulated the “unity of the dance floor” and “people being connected,” themes Thomas Bangalter discussed with Vibe earlier this year. Of course, he and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo were responsible for much of that business in 2013, and as such, this video resembles our shiny contract with the French duo: If they play it, we will dance. –Erin Carson
21. Sky Ferreira – “Night Time, My Time”
All year, Sky Ferreira has turned pop upside down, tossing cigarettes on its slick surface in hopes of starting a fire. She has. Her latest album, Night Time, My Time, listens like an audio diary for the pop possessed. Catchy, loud, sticky, and grimy — the whole thing crackles with the finesse of both a late ’90s alternative album and the sugary riffs of today. The video for her gloomy title track splatters all of those ideas against the lens, as indie director Grant Singer runs Ferreira through a number of shades, outfits, and locales. It’s got the editing style of Nicholas Winding Refn, the sensual malaise of Mulholland-era Lynch, and the frustrating sexual violence of Gaspar Noé — who coincidentally is responsible for Ferreira’s head-turning album cover. Try remaining seated at the end here without squirming like a little worm on a big fuckin’ hook. –Michael Roffman
20. J Mascis and Sharon Van Etten – “Prisoners”
A bunch of venerable indie rockers came together for the John Denver tribute, The Music Is You, and no song featured a better dream team treatment than “Prisoners”. While Sharon Van Etten and Dinosaur Jr. frontman J Mascis’s audio turns the sunny folk legend’s big country tune into a bona fide ripper (thanks in no small part to a killer guitar solo straight out of Bug), equally charming is the video starring two indie darlings that cross the line between the music and comedy scenes: Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster and songwriter Aimee Mann. The two play Denver devotees (dressed in the finest denim and sporting that undeniable haircut) who, against all odds, are brought together, thanks to the help of a dating site for Denverphiles and a couple of adorable, fuzzy puppets (that likely got the job through their connections to Wurster’s pal Gary the Squirrel). The jaded should stay away: this warm, quirky video goes straight for the heart and hits it square. –Adam Kivel
19. Kurt Vile and the Violators – “KV Crimes”
What would you do if you were crowned royalty? Kurt Vile gets his chance to reign in his video for “KV Crimes”, which depicts him parading around the streets of his native Philadelphia with a newfound sense of accomplishment. The shaggy-haired slacker king himself rests upon a sheepish throne while his city surrounds him with KV flags, as he spends the day bestowing guitar picks to babies and dining at a Wawa-catered feast. Yet, the real feat of this video is that we see Vile taking full ownership of his music; with “KV Crimes”, he transcends pretty strums and feedback-laced echoes to claim what’s truly his on the triumphant, lyrically sharp Wakin on a Pretty Daze. You might even say it’s fit for a king. –Paula Mejia
18. Prince - “Breakfast Can Wait”
Prince actually can be funny if he wants to be. The Minnesota legend is often stylish, sometimes sensual, usually over the top, but rarely humorous. This is the man who went after Vine with a copyright complaint because of eight clips that featured his music. This is also the same man who recruited teenager Danielle Curiel to direct and choreograph the “Breakfast Can Wait” video, which features a Prince stand-in that’s funny merely by existence. There are also the extended dance sequences that work as a sexual metaphor. This is a video for a man who made a song that led to all those parental advisory stickers. Times are changing, and for Prince it means making PG-13 worthy euphemisms that are left field, but still delightful. Pretty much everything can wait when Prince is actually having some fun. Now, let’s hope Dave Chappelle’s Prince caricature shows up for the next clip. –Brian Josephs
17. HAIM – “The Wire”
We too shed a tear for the trio of jilted lovers in “The Wire”. Musically inclined, confident, and girl-next-door beautiful, the Haim sisters understandably rank high among most coveted songstresses. The dream for millions of young men would be to have just a few minutes backstage with one (or more) of the sisters, but just as countless male-starring music videos have depicted in the past, falling for rockers isn’t easy. Featuring Jorma Taccone of The Lonely Island, the video borrows some of the off-the-wall comedic parody associated with the Andy Samberg-led collective. After focusing on Este, Danielle, and Alana all abruptly cutting ties with their male suitors, the video follows the brokenhearted exploits of these men as they try to deal with the extraordinary loss. As if borrowing from the corniest of rom-com montages, we watch as they sort through pictures, draft apologetic notes, and reminisce about relationship highlights, all while the sisters go on with their careers and new romantic endeavors. –Derek Staples
16. Kendrick Lamar – “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe”
Acknowledging his guilt against ominous keyboard tones in a sweeping cathedral, Kendrick Lamar smoothly belts, “I am a sinner who’s probably gonna sin again.” And so opens the illusory, dream-like video for “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe”, the third single off the rapper’s celebrated LP, good kid, m.A.A.d city. Set against the backdrop of a funeral, the video adopts Lamar’s notorious penchant for metaphor by eulogizing “Molly” – as signified in the final shot. Similar to last year’s “Swimming Pools (Drank)” and alcohol, the cryptic video condemns the drug’s destructive use, which has routinely been glorified in hip-hop culture. Ending with an abrupt cutoff to a black screen, the final scene reads: “Death to Molly.” In so clearly denouncing this drug, Lamar successfully transitions his talent for hidden lyrical messages into a visual format. –Christina Salgado
15. Vampire Weekend – “Diane Young”
Think of this as an East Coast indie rock last supper. There’s a ski mask-donning Jesus surrounded by the impeccably dressed disciples: members of Vampire Weekend along with other notable musicians, like David Longstreth of the Dirty Projectors and the bubblegum-chewing Sky Ferreira, who looks increasingly bored and unhappy to be there as the video goes on. The other disciples attending also include Hamilton Leithauser of the now-hiatus’ed Walkmen, Santigold, Despot, and Chromeo. Directed by Primo Kahn, come for the awesome cameos, and stay for the best use of the saxophone since Born in the U.S.A. –Josh Terry
14. Lily Allen – “Hard Out Here”
After a four-year hiatus filled with marriage and babies, Lily Allen’s return to pop came with a barrage of controversy. Parodying Robin Thicke and similar pop culture icons, “Hard Out Here” voiced strong opinions on sexism in the music industry. Copious ironic twerking amongst African American backup dancers summoned a multitude of think pieces, though Allen has asserted that the video “has nothing to do with race, at all.” In fact, in a behind-the-scenes clip, the British singer expresses early on that she didn’t want it to seem as if she was looking down on the women in the video, citing her own insecurities as reasoning. Offensive or not, “Hard Out Here” sparked a necessary debate and all the right chatter. A worthy kudos. –Amanda Koellner
13. Arcade Fire – “Afterlife”
In Arcade Fire’s video for their dance-rock anthem “Afterlife”, a flower-selling man religiously corrects his son’s dinner table manners: “Pásame el pan, por favor.” Giving his father a false impression of his plans for the evening, the child’s elder brother soon after leaves for teenage fun and miscellaneous partying, during which his distress and tiredness beautiful bleed into his subconscious longing for the family’s apparently perished mother. This imagery is repeated triply, as father and younger brother highlight the similarities in consciousness and longing for lost love despite the argument that can be made because of age difference. In the video’s final TV-watching moments, all is rendered as a feeling of simultaneous finalized and ongoing hopelessness, as the poor, male family of three is depicted in an incessant struggle between the inners of heartache and the outers of family mistrust and religious stringency. –Zander Porter
12. David Bowie – “The Next Day”
As artists age, they tend to conform. Being a rebel for 50 years is probably exhausting, when all you want to do is take it easy and hang out with your grandchildren. However, David Bowie is still willing to stir the pot and take on taboos, as he does in the title track to his unexpected/welcome return to the scene, The Next Day. Gary Oldman is a wayward priest (seriously, he knocks someone out in the first five seconds) who gets down and sleazy with a trashy Marion Cotillard while the robed “prophet” Bowie performs on a dive bar stage. In just three minutes, we get stigmata, self-flagellation, tears of milk, black eyes, priests behaving badly, and yet Bowie is still able to thank everyone who helped make the video, before disappearing, of course. It works as a great companion piece to “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)”, with Tilda Swinton making up the weird factor. –Justin Gerber
11. Kanye West – “Black Skinhead”
Yeezus has often been criticized into two categories: a grand expression of id or an overblown vanity project. The “Black Skinhead” CGI video shows these views are really two sides of the same coin, as the clip melds them — along with the song itself — into something more bestial. It’s Yeezus’ themes minimalized to its most primal aspect. Wolves are ready to hunt, the Black Skinheads are looking for blood, and at the center of it all is a muscular, almost faceless Kanye West, who looks something other than human. The only thing that’s clear and shining here is his gold chain. We all knew American materialism is an ugly social aspect, but West and director Nick Knight interpreted it into a vision that’s both uncomfortable and replayable. The interactive elements of the video are a plus, but could that compare to the chills of when it unexpectedly shows up on a video playlist at, say, four in the morning? –Brian Josephs
10. Atoms for Peace – “Ingenue”
Thom Yorke was never much of a dancer until “Lotus Flower”, the video for which saw him writhing like a dorky contortionist hopped up on sugar. Now, he can’t seem to crawl out of the “awkward dancer” pigeonhole — or maybe he’s just comfortable there. Atoms for Peace’s “Ingenue” video plops Yorke back up onstage in weird clothes, only this time he’s got a partner to complement his moves. Dancer Fukiko Takase appears, at first, as Yorke’s doppelganger, wearing the same brown suit and ponytail while the camera cuts seamlessly between them. He finishes the sequences she starts. Then they’re both in the same space at the same time, playing off each other, carving space with their limbs, building intimacy.
Dressed more like the Doctor than the frontman of one of the world’s biggest bands, Thom Yorke uses these videos to further chip away at the mold of “rock star” he coveted in his bleach-blonde Pablo Honey days. Music videos typically work to enhance an artist’s image; Yorke prefers to complicate his. There’s space here to avoid being cool, to move like a freak, to push for some kind of paradoxical elegance. He’s still not the best dancer — Takase’s skill eclipses his — but there’s an expressive earnestness to the way he uses his body here that turns an abstract routine into something warm and connective. Out in the world, he’s Thom Yorke, the face of Radiohead, but there, in that theater, he’s just a body yearning to communicate with another body. –Sasha Geffen
9. Drake – “Hold On, We’re Going Home”
It’s hard to make an impressionable hip-hop video nowadays. So many big names work off the budgets of Hollywood blockbusters, featuring set pieces, action sequences, and cameos that could rival a summer tentpole production by Michael Bay or the late Tony Scott. So, by that nature, Drake’s boisterous short film for “Hold On, We’re Going Home” should have been lost in the mire, right? Yes and no. By leaning on ’80s nostalgia and revisiting Miami Vice‘s best episode, “Smuggler’s Blues”, Drizzy’s woozy, ambient R&B marries itself with the histrionic performances and rapturous action to great effect. The emotionalism is hammy, sure, but it only enlivens the track, which is exactly what any proper music video should do. It also lets us in on a little secret: The former Degrassi star doesn’t just want to be the world’s most desired crooner; he wants to be our hero, too. While he probably can’t have both — that is, unless Michael Mann decides to use him in a DTV sequel to his 2006 reboot — it’s an amicable attempt on his part. To top it all off, Steven Bauer got some more work for himself, too. –Michael Roffman
8. Janelle Monáe feat. Erykah Badu – “Q.U.E.E.N.”
David Letterman declared Janelle Monáe ““the hardest-working woman in show business.” Even a cursory glance back at some of her 2013 R&B contemporaries cements this well-earned reputation. For instance, both Monáe and Robin Thicke enjoyed a great deal of radio and multimedia play this summer. And, their respective music videos even share a few similarities; each is filmed in front of an expansive white screen and utilizes a comparable color pallet to spice things up, with quite a bit of bootie dancing to boot. But, “Q.U.E.E.N.” scores higher marks for displaying a cool style and meaningful substance, whereas Thicke’s viral sexploitation boils down to five minutes of naked models playing with incongruent props and aimlessly cavorting to no real end. “Q.U.E.E.N.” tells the far more exciting tale of Monáe’s soul sisters infiltrating a futuristic museum of famed rebels in order to free their fearless leader. It also finds Zulu warriors jamming out while Monáe’s partner in crime — the always intrepid Erykah Badulla Oblongata – stalks like a tiger in waiting. Between the oddball visuals, tributes to ’60s girl groups of yesteryear, and overall funky vibes, Monáe establishes herself as the modern day Nefertiti. Now, bow down to your royal highness. –Dan Pfleegor
7. Miley Cyrus – “Wrecking Ball”
Shut up.
Shut up with acting like stupid shot-for-shot parodies that just put someone/something else in Cyrus’s place are funny. Shut up with your 2007 Britney Spears comparisons. Shut up with your meltdown jokes. Shut up with your Sinead O’Connor open letters. Shut up with your hand-wringing about Cyrus’s agency, or sexuality, or stances on feminism. Shut up about Terry Richardson. Just shut up.
“Wrecking Ball” is immediate and undeniable. It uses nudity uncomfortably, with shots that create a palpable tension between the viewer and the subject. The goal isn’t to use sexuality to dim the song’s emotion; it’s to use uncomfortable portrayals of human nakedness to hammer that emotion home. It’s to pay homage to two of the form’s most important statements: D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel?)” and O’Connor’s own “Nothing Compares 2 U”. The video for “Wrecking Ball” mixes up sex and violence in the most banal of ways to express something true about the banal tragedy of a relationship ending.
It’s way too easy to make assumptions about Cyrus’s motives, about her life, about her intentions, about her whatever. Stop doing that. Shut up and watch “Wrecking Ball” again. –Chris Bosman
6. Beach House – “Wishes”
“Old sweat, mold, and jock straps.” If you asked Eric Wareheim to define beauty, this would be his answer. With a smelly college locker room and a slow-motion camera operator, the director used his cinematic paintbrush to create a fantastical half-time show that is impossible to forget. Beach House’s “Wishes” builds a setting for reliving painful memories, while still random and hilarious. This isn’t even close to a boring cheerleading routine or senior night ceremony.
Instead, Coach Ray Wise, best known for his role in Twin Peaks, sports a glammy jumpsuit to caress the crowd in dreamy wonder. The movement behind him brings the magic to life. Cheerleaders hype the crowd as they crash through a team banner and ghetto bump through their routine. The water boys provide the shock factor and sex appeal with choreographed bottle squirting and weapon twirling, as odd as it seems. The final result: the crowd is actually entertained, not to mention doused in emotion. As the fireworks burst behind Coach Ray standing strong on a valiant stallion, Beach House’s wish to be “forever still” couldn’t be any more desired.
While Beach House’s music can seem beautifully sullen, for the most part, Wareheim’s work for “Wishes” is a perfect dose of comedic relief. We’ll probably never know what sport involved nunchucks and horse masks, but we can now dream about it without losing our minds. –Sam Willett
5. David Bowie – “Love Is Lost” (Hello Steve Reich James Murphy Remix)
Welcome, my friends, to the zeitgeist. Captured here is everything future generations will need to understand the cultural spirit of our times (at least for the narrow band of human experience that gets excited for a James Murphy remix of a Bowie song). In true zeitgeist fashion, this moment must not only be an expression of our contemporaneity, but also contain both an inferential understanding of our past, and propose a crystallized vision of the future to come. Hyperbole? Perhaps. But maybe our friend Stefon can help illuminate:
People, this video has everything: a stylish vampire growing stronger with age; disembodied hands clapping algorithmically; the digital artist Barnaby Jones; a maximized minimalist composition; the invisible and velvet-gloved hand of DFA … and foxymoshing. (What, pray tell, is foxymoshing?) It’s that thing where line drawings of topless white people come to life, totally make out, and then dissolve.
Thank you, Stefon, I couldn’t have said it better myself. Simply put: David Bowie meets Steve Reich meets James Murphy meets contemporary new media art practice. Beyond this iconic and conceptual confluence, it is just a damn good track. The beats are DFA-errific, Bowie is being Bowie, and the visuals are compelling (and sexy) enough to keep viewers glued to the screen for the full 10-minute runtime. Ladies and gentlemen: the zeitgeist. –Kris Lenz
4. Mumford and Sons – “Hopeless Wanderer”
Thespians who double up their profession with a career in music do so with varying success. How many, though, get to play actual band members in a music video? For Saturday Night Live alumni Jason Sudeikis and Will Forte, plus fellow funny men Jason Bateman and Ed Helms, the world’s favorite folksters, Mumford and Sons, provided the big break. The UK quartet had paved the way in some degree by surrendering their instruments to an Indian marching band in “The Cave” video, but it was director Sam Jones who pitched the idea of using comedians to play the band this time. Mumfords originally wanted to use the title track from Babel as the next single, but Jones insisted that his concept would only work with “Hopeless Wanderer”. The band loved the end product so much that there was no wish to change a thing about it.
For the video, the four comedians adopted the facial hairstyles of the real band members, and it is a full minute before faces are revealed to show that it’s a set of actors at play. Dappled sunlit meadows and dusty roads prepare the viewer for a standard workout, but perhaps not a kiss between a lightly moustachioed Sudeikis and hirsute Forte. Everything about the video is just that touch overwrought — the singing, male bonding, and instrument wrecking all played out to perfection. Helms summed the effort behind the video perfectly: “We’re so grateful to be a successful fake band. It’s been years of fake dedication and fake hard work to get here, and I really believe we are at the forefront of abject fraudulence.” –Tony Hardy
3. FIDLAR – “Cocaine”
FIDLAR’s ridiculously NSFW video for the already NSFW song “Cocaine” follows an apathetic Nick Offerman as he lets all of his frustrations pour out — quite literally — after being fired from his job via text message. “You’re friend. Shit. Autocorrect. You’re FIRED,” he reads before smashing his iPhone with a sledgehammer. He then proceeds to the nearest liquor store and pounds a bunch of 40s, in signature FIDLAR style, before taking to the streets of Los Angeles, dick in hand. Yep, this video is three minutes of Nick Offerman pissing off of buildings and overpasses, on the Hollywood sign, on Nicolas Cage’s walk-of-fame star, in a dog’s mouth, etc.
For about half the video, Offerman’s junk is blocked by a censor, which hilariously disappears when he starts using his water sports for more practical uses, like “putting” golf balls, washing cars, and watering gardens. Totally raunchy, totally FIDLAR. Their fuck-all attitude and unfiltered sleaze are pure distillations of rock ‘n roll and come at a time of near-ubiquitous cultural political-correctness (especially in the music industry). Crazy-ass bands like FIDLAR and crazy-ass videos like “Cocaine” are truly an endangered species of subversion. We best enjoy them while they last. –Jon Hadusek
2. Seth Rogen and James Franco – “Bound 3″
The premise of Kanye’s “Bound 2″ video – he and a topless Kim Kardashian, grinding on a motorcycle through a Windows ’97 screensaver – doesn’t just ask for a parody of itself. It begs, and pleads, and stomps its feet for one. Insert a very hairy, shirtless Seth Rogen and a West-impersonating James Franco, who together created their own take on the video shot-for-shot while on the set of their upcoming film, The Interview. From Freaks and Geeks to Pineapple Express, the duo has a true bromance that stands the test of time, but making out on a gyrating bike really takes things to the next level. Although the Kardashian clan allegedly expressed unhappiness with Kim’s scantily clad appearance in the clip, Kimye got a huge kick out of the spoof, with the future Mrs. West tweeting to Rogen, “You nailed it!” –Amanda Koellner
1. Bob Dylan – “Like a Rolling Stone”
Widely hailed as the greatest rock song ever written, Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” revolutionized songwriting with its unprecedented melodic structure and scathing lyrical content. You would think there isn’t much more ground that the 1965 anthem could break. Alas, we stand corrected. Nearly five decades later, Dylan’s finest work proved innovative with the debut of its first music video: an interactive user experience.
Created by digital agency Interlude, the video frames the song against a mock television network, allowing users to flip through 16 channels featuring everything from The Price Is Right to Pawn Stars, and, yes — even concert footage from the rock god himself. As users click away, Dylan’s voice seamlessly transitions through each station, indulging viewers with the bizarre experience of seeing the likes of Drew Carey and the cast of Property Brothers lip-synching along with the lyrics. Indeed, there’s something unnerving about watching a bikini-clad contestant from The Bachelor writhing around in a hot tub while giggling “How does it feel?” — but that’s what makes it so captivating.
It’s a fascinating nod to social dissonance, and the charge is driven home when you juxtapose Dylan’s accusatory wail against the backdrop of modern television. Watching a contestant from The Price Is Right grip his head in disbelief while mouthing “Like a complete unknown,” then flipping through to see Danny Brown waving a corn dog while singing out “with no direction at all” demonstrates that the chasm between generations isn’t as deep as we think. On the contrary, the format couldn’t have served as a more obvious channel bridging decades of time. –Christina Salgado
Top 25 Videos of 2013:
01. Bob Dylan – “Like a Rolling Stone”
02. Seth Rogen and James Franco – “Bound 3″
03. FIDLAR – “Cocaine”
04. Mumford and Sons – “Hopeless Wanderer”
05. David Bowie – “Love Is Lost” (Hello Steve Reich James Murphy Remix)
06. Beach House – “Wishes”
07. Miley Cyrus – “Wrecking Ball”
08. Janelle Monae feat. Erykah Badu – “Q.U.E.E.N.”
09. Drake – “Hold On, We’re Going Home”
10. Atoms For Peace – “Ingenue”
11. Kanye West – “Black Skinhead”
12. David Bowie – “The Next Day”
13. Arcade Fire – “Afterlife”
14. Lily Allen – “Hard Out Here”
15. Vampire Weekend – “Diane Young”
16. Kendrick Lamar – “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe”
17. HAIM – “The Wire”
18. Prince – “Breakfast Can Wait”
19. Kurt Vile – “KV Crimes”
20. J Mascis and Sharon Van Etten – “Prisoners”
21. Sky Ferreira – “Night Time, My Time”
22. Daft Punk – “Lose Yourself To Dance”
23. Superchunk – “Staying Home”
24. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Despair”
25. Action Bronson – “Strictly 4 My Jeeps”
Via: Top 25 Music Videos of 2013 (Consecuense of sound)
20. J Mascis and Sharon Van Etten – “Prisoners”
A bunch of venerable indie rockers came together for the John Denver tribute, The Music Is You, and no song featured a better dream team treatment than “Prisoners”. While Sharon Van Etten and Dinosaur Jr. frontman J Mascis’s audio turns the sunny folk legend’s big country tune into a bona fide ripper (thanks in no small part to a killer guitar solo straight out of Bug), equally charming is the video starring two indie darlings that cross the line between the music and comedy scenes: Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster and songwriter Aimee Mann. The two play Denver devotees (dressed in the finest denim and sporting that undeniable haircut) who, against all odds, are brought together, thanks to the help of a dating site for Denverphiles and a couple of adorable, fuzzy puppets (that likely got the job through their connections to Wurster’s pal Gary the Squirrel). The jaded should stay away: this warm, quirky video goes straight for the heart and hits it square. –Adam Kivel
19. Kurt Vile and the Violators – “KV Crimes”
What would you do if you were crowned royalty? Kurt Vile gets his chance to reign in his video for “KV Crimes”, which depicts him parading around the streets of his native Philadelphia with a newfound sense of accomplishment. The shaggy-haired slacker king himself rests upon a sheepish throne while his city surrounds him with KV flags, as he spends the day bestowing guitar picks to babies and dining at a Wawa-catered feast. Yet, the real feat of this video is that we see Vile taking full ownership of his music; with “KV Crimes”, he transcends pretty strums and feedback-laced echoes to claim what’s truly his on the triumphant, lyrically sharp Wakin on a Pretty Daze. You might even say it’s fit for a king. –Paula Mejia
18. Prince - “Breakfast Can Wait”
Prince actually can be funny if he wants to be. The Minnesota legend is often stylish, sometimes sensual, usually over the top, but rarely humorous. This is the man who went after Vine with a copyright complaint because of eight clips that featured his music. This is also the same man who recruited teenager Danielle Curiel to direct and choreograph the “Breakfast Can Wait” video, which features a Prince stand-in that’s funny merely by existence. There are also the extended dance sequences that work as a sexual metaphor. This is a video for a man who made a song that led to all those parental advisory stickers. Times are changing, and for Prince it means making PG-13 worthy euphemisms that are left field, but still delightful. Pretty much everything can wait when Prince is actually having some fun. Now, let’s hope Dave Chappelle’s Prince caricature shows up for the next clip. –Brian Josephs
17. HAIM – “The Wire”
We too shed a tear for the trio of jilted lovers in “The Wire”. Musically inclined, confident, and girl-next-door beautiful, the Haim sisters understandably rank high among most coveted songstresses. The dream for millions of young men would be to have just a few minutes backstage with one (or more) of the sisters, but just as countless male-starring music videos have depicted in the past, falling for rockers isn’t easy. Featuring Jorma Taccone of The Lonely Island, the video borrows some of the off-the-wall comedic parody associated with the Andy Samberg-led collective. After focusing on Este, Danielle, and Alana all abruptly cutting ties with their male suitors, the video follows the brokenhearted exploits of these men as they try to deal with the extraordinary loss. As if borrowing from the corniest of rom-com montages, we watch as they sort through pictures, draft apologetic notes, and reminisce about relationship highlights, all while the sisters go on with their careers and new romantic endeavors. –Derek Staples
16. Kendrick Lamar – “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe”
Acknowledging his guilt against ominous keyboard tones in a sweeping cathedral, Kendrick Lamar smoothly belts, “I am a sinner who’s probably gonna sin again.” And so opens the illusory, dream-like video for “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe”, the third single off the rapper’s celebrated LP, good kid, m.A.A.d city. Set against the backdrop of a funeral, the video adopts Lamar’s notorious penchant for metaphor by eulogizing “Molly” – as signified in the final shot. Similar to last year’s “Swimming Pools (Drank)” and alcohol, the cryptic video condemns the drug’s destructive use, which has routinely been glorified in hip-hop culture. Ending with an abrupt cutoff to a black screen, the final scene reads: “Death to Molly.” In so clearly denouncing this drug, Lamar successfully transitions his talent for hidden lyrical messages into a visual format. –Christina Salgado
15. Vampire Weekend – “Diane Young”
Think of this as an East Coast indie rock last supper. There’s a ski mask-donning Jesus surrounded by the impeccably dressed disciples: members of Vampire Weekend along with other notable musicians, like David Longstreth of the Dirty Projectors and the bubblegum-chewing Sky Ferreira, who looks increasingly bored and unhappy to be there as the video goes on. The other disciples attending also include Hamilton Leithauser of the now-hiatus’ed Walkmen, Santigold, Despot, and Chromeo. Directed by Primo Kahn, come for the awesome cameos, and stay for the best use of the saxophone since Born in the U.S.A. –Josh Terry
14. Lily Allen – “Hard Out Here”
After a four-year hiatus filled with marriage and babies, Lily Allen’s return to pop came with a barrage of controversy. Parodying Robin Thicke and similar pop culture icons, “Hard Out Here” voiced strong opinions on sexism in the music industry. Copious ironic twerking amongst African American backup dancers summoned a multitude of think pieces, though Allen has asserted that the video “has nothing to do with race, at all.” In fact, in a behind-the-scenes clip, the British singer expresses early on that she didn’t want it to seem as if she was looking down on the women in the video, citing her own insecurities as reasoning. Offensive or not, “Hard Out Here” sparked a necessary debate and all the right chatter. A worthy kudos. –Amanda Koellner
13. Arcade Fire – “Afterlife”
In Arcade Fire’s video for their dance-rock anthem “Afterlife”, a flower-selling man religiously corrects his son’s dinner table manners: “Pásame el pan, por favor.” Giving his father a false impression of his plans for the evening, the child’s elder brother soon after leaves for teenage fun and miscellaneous partying, during which his distress and tiredness beautiful bleed into his subconscious longing for the family’s apparently perished mother. This imagery is repeated triply, as father and younger brother highlight the similarities in consciousness and longing for lost love despite the argument that can be made because of age difference. In the video’s final TV-watching moments, all is rendered as a feeling of simultaneous finalized and ongoing hopelessness, as the poor, male family of three is depicted in an incessant struggle between the inners of heartache and the outers of family mistrust and religious stringency. –Zander Porter
12. David Bowie – “The Next Day”
As artists age, they tend to conform. Being a rebel for 50 years is probably exhausting, when all you want to do is take it easy and hang out with your grandchildren. However, David Bowie is still willing to stir the pot and take on taboos, as he does in the title track to his unexpected/welcome return to the scene, The Next Day. Gary Oldman is a wayward priest (seriously, he knocks someone out in the first five seconds) who gets down and sleazy with a trashy Marion Cotillard while the robed “prophet” Bowie performs on a dive bar stage. In just three minutes, we get stigmata, self-flagellation, tears of milk, black eyes, priests behaving badly, and yet Bowie is still able to thank everyone who helped make the video, before disappearing, of course. It works as a great companion piece to “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)”, with Tilda Swinton making up the weird factor. –Justin Gerber
11. Kanye West – “Black Skinhead”
Yeezus has often been criticized into two categories: a grand expression of id or an overblown vanity project. The “Black Skinhead” CGI video shows these views are really two sides of the same coin, as the clip melds them — along with the song itself — into something more bestial. It’s Yeezus’ themes minimalized to its most primal aspect. Wolves are ready to hunt, the Black Skinheads are looking for blood, and at the center of it all is a muscular, almost faceless Kanye West, who looks something other than human. The only thing that’s clear and shining here is his gold chain. We all knew American materialism is an ugly social aspect, but West and director Nick Knight interpreted it into a vision that’s both uncomfortable and replayable. The interactive elements of the video are a plus, but could that compare to the chills of when it unexpectedly shows up on a video playlist at, say, four in the morning? –Brian Josephs
10. Atoms for Peace – “Ingenue”
Thom Yorke was never much of a dancer until “Lotus Flower”, the video for which saw him writhing like a dorky contortionist hopped up on sugar. Now, he can’t seem to crawl out of the “awkward dancer” pigeonhole — or maybe he’s just comfortable there. Atoms for Peace’s “Ingenue” video plops Yorke back up onstage in weird clothes, only this time he’s got a partner to complement his moves. Dancer Fukiko Takase appears, at first, as Yorke’s doppelganger, wearing the same brown suit and ponytail while the camera cuts seamlessly between them. He finishes the sequences she starts. Then they’re both in the same space at the same time, playing off each other, carving space with their limbs, building intimacy.
Dressed more like the Doctor than the frontman of one of the world’s biggest bands, Thom Yorke uses these videos to further chip away at the mold of “rock star” he coveted in his bleach-blonde Pablo Honey days. Music videos typically work to enhance an artist’s image; Yorke prefers to complicate his. There’s space here to avoid being cool, to move like a freak, to push for some kind of paradoxical elegance. He’s still not the best dancer — Takase’s skill eclipses his — but there’s an expressive earnestness to the way he uses his body here that turns an abstract routine into something warm and connective. Out in the world, he’s Thom Yorke, the face of Radiohead, but there, in that theater, he’s just a body yearning to communicate with another body. –Sasha Geffen
9. Drake – “Hold On, We’re Going Home”
It’s hard to make an impressionable hip-hop video nowadays. So many big names work off the budgets of Hollywood blockbusters, featuring set pieces, action sequences, and cameos that could rival a summer tentpole production by Michael Bay or the late Tony Scott. So, by that nature, Drake’s boisterous short film for “Hold On, We’re Going Home” should have been lost in the mire, right? Yes and no. By leaning on ’80s nostalgia and revisiting Miami Vice‘s best episode, “Smuggler’s Blues”, Drizzy’s woozy, ambient R&B marries itself with the histrionic performances and rapturous action to great effect. The emotionalism is hammy, sure, but it only enlivens the track, which is exactly what any proper music video should do. It also lets us in on a little secret: The former Degrassi star doesn’t just want to be the world’s most desired crooner; he wants to be our hero, too. While he probably can’t have both — that is, unless Michael Mann decides to use him in a DTV sequel to his 2006 reboot — it’s an amicable attempt on his part. To top it all off, Steven Bauer got some more work for himself, too. –Michael Roffman
8. Janelle Monáe feat. Erykah Badu – “Q.U.E.E.N.”
David Letterman declared Janelle Monáe ““the hardest-working woman in show business.” Even a cursory glance back at some of her 2013 R&B contemporaries cements this well-earned reputation. For instance, both Monáe and Robin Thicke enjoyed a great deal of radio and multimedia play this summer. And, their respective music videos even share a few similarities; each is filmed in front of an expansive white screen and utilizes a comparable color pallet to spice things up, with quite a bit of bootie dancing to boot. But, “Q.U.E.E.N.” scores higher marks for displaying a cool style and meaningful substance, whereas Thicke’s viral sexploitation boils down to five minutes of naked models playing with incongruent props and aimlessly cavorting to no real end. “Q.U.E.E.N.” tells the far more exciting tale of Monáe’s soul sisters infiltrating a futuristic museum of famed rebels in order to free their fearless leader. It also finds Zulu warriors jamming out while Monáe’s partner in crime — the always intrepid Erykah Badulla Oblongata – stalks like a tiger in waiting. Between the oddball visuals, tributes to ’60s girl groups of yesteryear, and overall funky vibes, Monáe establishes herself as the modern day Nefertiti. Now, bow down to your royal highness. –Dan Pfleegor
7. Miley Cyrus – “Wrecking Ball”
Shut up.
Shut up with acting like stupid shot-for-shot parodies that just put someone/something else in Cyrus’s place are funny. Shut up with your 2007 Britney Spears comparisons. Shut up with your meltdown jokes. Shut up with your Sinead O’Connor open letters. Shut up with your hand-wringing about Cyrus’s agency, or sexuality, or stances on feminism. Shut up about Terry Richardson. Just shut up.
“Wrecking Ball” is immediate and undeniable. It uses nudity uncomfortably, with shots that create a palpable tension between the viewer and the subject. The goal isn’t to use sexuality to dim the song’s emotion; it’s to use uncomfortable portrayals of human nakedness to hammer that emotion home. It’s to pay homage to two of the form’s most important statements: D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel?)” and O’Connor’s own “Nothing Compares 2 U”. The video for “Wrecking Ball” mixes up sex and violence in the most banal of ways to express something true about the banal tragedy of a relationship ending.
It’s way too easy to make assumptions about Cyrus’s motives, about her life, about her intentions, about her whatever. Stop doing that. Shut up and watch “Wrecking Ball” again. –Chris Bosman
6. Beach House – “Wishes”
“Old sweat, mold, and jock straps.” If you asked Eric Wareheim to define beauty, this would be his answer. With a smelly college locker room and a slow-motion camera operator, the director used his cinematic paintbrush to create a fantastical half-time show that is impossible to forget. Beach House’s “Wishes” builds a setting for reliving painful memories, while still random and hilarious. This isn’t even close to a boring cheerleading routine or senior night ceremony.
Instead, Coach Ray Wise, best known for his role in Twin Peaks, sports a glammy jumpsuit to caress the crowd in dreamy wonder. The movement behind him brings the magic to life. Cheerleaders hype the crowd as they crash through a team banner and ghetto bump through their routine. The water boys provide the shock factor and sex appeal with choreographed bottle squirting and weapon twirling, as odd as it seems. The final result: the crowd is actually entertained, not to mention doused in emotion. As the fireworks burst behind Coach Ray standing strong on a valiant stallion, Beach House’s wish to be “forever still” couldn’t be any more desired.
While Beach House’s music can seem beautifully sullen, for the most part, Wareheim’s work for “Wishes” is a perfect dose of comedic relief. We’ll probably never know what sport involved nunchucks and horse masks, but we can now dream about it without losing our minds. –Sam Willett
5. David Bowie – “Love Is Lost” (Hello Steve Reich James Murphy Remix)
Welcome, my friends, to the zeitgeist. Captured here is everything future generations will need to understand the cultural spirit of our times (at least for the narrow band of human experience that gets excited for a James Murphy remix of a Bowie song). In true zeitgeist fashion, this moment must not only be an expression of our contemporaneity, but also contain both an inferential understanding of our past, and propose a crystallized vision of the future to come. Hyperbole? Perhaps. But maybe our friend Stefon can help illuminate:
People, this video has everything: a stylish vampire growing stronger with age; disembodied hands clapping algorithmically; the digital artist Barnaby Jones; a maximized minimalist composition; the invisible and velvet-gloved hand of DFA … and foxymoshing. (What, pray tell, is foxymoshing?) It’s that thing where line drawings of topless white people come to life, totally make out, and then dissolve.
Thank you, Stefon, I couldn’t have said it better myself. Simply put: David Bowie meets Steve Reich meets James Murphy meets contemporary new media art practice. Beyond this iconic and conceptual confluence, it is just a damn good track. The beats are DFA-errific, Bowie is being Bowie, and the visuals are compelling (and sexy) enough to keep viewers glued to the screen for the full 10-minute runtime. Ladies and gentlemen: the zeitgeist. –Kris Lenz
4. Mumford and Sons – “Hopeless Wanderer”
Thespians who double up their profession with a career in music do so with varying success. How many, though, get to play actual band members in a music video? For Saturday Night Live alumni Jason Sudeikis and Will Forte, plus fellow funny men Jason Bateman and Ed Helms, the world’s favorite folksters, Mumford and Sons, provided the big break. The UK quartet had paved the way in some degree by surrendering their instruments to an Indian marching band in “The Cave” video, but it was director Sam Jones who pitched the idea of using comedians to play the band this time. Mumfords originally wanted to use the title track from Babel as the next single, but Jones insisted that his concept would only work with “Hopeless Wanderer”. The band loved the end product so much that there was no wish to change a thing about it.
For the video, the four comedians adopted the facial hairstyles of the real band members, and it is a full minute before faces are revealed to show that it’s a set of actors at play. Dappled sunlit meadows and dusty roads prepare the viewer for a standard workout, but perhaps not a kiss between a lightly moustachioed Sudeikis and hirsute Forte. Everything about the video is just that touch overwrought — the singing, male bonding, and instrument wrecking all played out to perfection. Helms summed the effort behind the video perfectly: “We’re so grateful to be a successful fake band. It’s been years of fake dedication and fake hard work to get here, and I really believe we are at the forefront of abject fraudulence.” –Tony Hardy
3. FIDLAR – “Cocaine”
FIDLAR’s ridiculously NSFW video for the already NSFW song “Cocaine” follows an apathetic Nick Offerman as he lets all of his frustrations pour out — quite literally — after being fired from his job via text message. “You’re friend. Shit. Autocorrect. You’re FIRED,” he reads before smashing his iPhone with a sledgehammer. He then proceeds to the nearest liquor store and pounds a bunch of 40s, in signature FIDLAR style, before taking to the streets of Los Angeles, dick in hand. Yep, this video is three minutes of Nick Offerman pissing off of buildings and overpasses, on the Hollywood sign, on Nicolas Cage’s walk-of-fame star, in a dog’s mouth, etc.
For about half the video, Offerman’s junk is blocked by a censor, which hilariously disappears when he starts using his water sports for more practical uses, like “putting” golf balls, washing cars, and watering gardens. Totally raunchy, totally FIDLAR. Their fuck-all attitude and unfiltered sleaze are pure distillations of rock ‘n roll and come at a time of near-ubiquitous cultural political-correctness (especially in the music industry). Crazy-ass bands like FIDLAR and crazy-ass videos like “Cocaine” are truly an endangered species of subversion. We best enjoy them while they last. –Jon Hadusek
2. Seth Rogen and James Franco – “Bound 3″
The premise of Kanye’s “Bound 2″ video – he and a topless Kim Kardashian, grinding on a motorcycle through a Windows ’97 screensaver – doesn’t just ask for a parody of itself. It begs, and pleads, and stomps its feet for one. Insert a very hairy, shirtless Seth Rogen and a West-impersonating James Franco, who together created their own take on the video shot-for-shot while on the set of their upcoming film, The Interview. From Freaks and Geeks to Pineapple Express, the duo has a true bromance that stands the test of time, but making out on a gyrating bike really takes things to the next level. Although the Kardashian clan allegedly expressed unhappiness with Kim’s scantily clad appearance in the clip, Kimye got a huge kick out of the spoof, with the future Mrs. West tweeting to Rogen, “You nailed it!” –Amanda Koellner
1. Bob Dylan – “Like a Rolling Stone”
Click image or visit Video Bob Dylan
Created by digital agency Interlude, the video frames the song against a mock television network, allowing users to flip through 16 channels featuring everything from The Price Is Right to Pawn Stars, and, yes — even concert footage from the rock god himself. As users click away, Dylan’s voice seamlessly transitions through each station, indulging viewers with the bizarre experience of seeing the likes of Drew Carey and the cast of Property Brothers lip-synching along with the lyrics. Indeed, there’s something unnerving about watching a bikini-clad contestant from The Bachelor writhing around in a hot tub while giggling “How does it feel?” — but that’s what makes it so captivating.
It’s a fascinating nod to social dissonance, and the charge is driven home when you juxtapose Dylan’s accusatory wail against the backdrop of modern television. Watching a contestant from The Price Is Right grip his head in disbelief while mouthing “Like a complete unknown,” then flipping through to see Danny Brown waving a corn dog while singing out “with no direction at all” demonstrates that the chasm between generations isn’t as deep as we think. On the contrary, the format couldn’t have served as a more obvious channel bridging decades of time. –Christina Salgado
Top 25 Videos of 2013:
01. Bob Dylan – “Like a Rolling Stone”
02. Seth Rogen and James Franco – “Bound 3″
03. FIDLAR – “Cocaine”
04. Mumford and Sons – “Hopeless Wanderer”
05. David Bowie – “Love Is Lost” (Hello Steve Reich James Murphy Remix)
06. Beach House – “Wishes”
07. Miley Cyrus – “Wrecking Ball”
08. Janelle Monae feat. Erykah Badu – “Q.U.E.E.N.”
09. Drake – “Hold On, We’re Going Home”
10. Atoms For Peace – “Ingenue”
11. Kanye West – “Black Skinhead”
12. David Bowie – “The Next Day”
13. Arcade Fire – “Afterlife”
14. Lily Allen – “Hard Out Here”
15. Vampire Weekend – “Diane Young”
16. Kendrick Lamar – “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe”
17. HAIM – “The Wire”
18. Prince – “Breakfast Can Wait”
19. Kurt Vile – “KV Crimes”
20. J Mascis and Sharon Van Etten – “Prisoners”
21. Sky Ferreira – “Night Time, My Time”
22. Daft Punk – “Lose Yourself To Dance”
23. Superchunk – “Staying Home”
24. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Despair”
25. Action Bronson – “Strictly 4 My Jeeps”
Via: Top 25 Music Videos of 2013 (Consecuense of sound)
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