Lucy Dacus – “Brando” (Official lyric videos)

 “‘Brando’ refers to a very dramatic friend I had in high school whose whole personality was the media he consumed,” Dacus said in a statement. “He showed me a lot of amazing movies and music, but I think he was more interested in using me as a scrapbook of his own tastes than actually getting to know me. He claimed to know me better than anyone else but I started to feel like all he wanted from me was to be a scene partner in the movie of his life.”

Appropriately, Brando is filled with nods to classic film: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, It’s A Wonderful Life, A Streetcar Named Desire, Casablanca. Dacus threads all that through some evocative writing and a hook that gets at the message behind the song: “All I need for you to admit is that you never knew me like you thought you did.”

EL VY - “Need A Friend” (Lyric Video)

Matt Berninger of the National and Brent Knopf of Menomena and Ramona Falls have been friends since before their respective bands found success. Years later, the two are collaborating in EL VY and putting out their debut, Return To The Moon, this Friday. The video for “Need A Friend” is the fourth in a series of lyric/music videos created by Berninger’s brother Tom. This one features Matt exploring his childhood home of Cincinnati via bicycle, plus footage of the band playing live with Andy Stack of Wye Oak on drums and Matt Sheehy of Lost Lander on bass. Turns out Matt Berninger is very needy.

Foals - “A Knife In The Ocean” Lyric Video

Foals previously debuted the What Went Down track “A Knife In The Ocean” in a live performance on Annie Mac’s BBC Radio 1 show a few weeks ago, and now they’ve shared the studio version. It also comes attached to a lyric video directed by Leif Podhajsky, which plays off the epic-sounding nature of the song with washed out footage of mountains, water, rebellion, and subtly violent imagery throughout. Listen below.

Beck - "Country Down" (Lyric Video)

Official lyric video for “Country Down” directed & produced by Sky Shields

The Rolling Stones - "Wild Horses" (Acoustic / Lyric Video)

The Rolling Stones - Wild Horses (Acoustic / Lyric Video)

Muse - "Psycho" (Official Lyric Video)

Directed and edited by Tom Kirk and Simon Bennett
Produced by Banoffee Sky
Post Production: Clare Julia
Artwork illustration and animation by Matt Mahurin
Director of Photography: Matt Hayslett
SEKDEK creator: Brice Frillici
SEKDEK Producer: Lee Sayer

Death Cab for Cutie - "Black Sun" (Official Lyric Video)

Death Cab for Cutie have shared the lyric video for "Black Sun" from their forthcoming record Kintsugi, the band's first since the departure of founding member Chris Walla.

Kate Pierson - “Mister Sister” Lyric Video (Feat. Fred Armisen)

Kate Pierson’s “Mister Sister” video, from the B-52s singer’s debut solo album Guitars And Microphones, featured a heavy dose of Fred Armisen. There’s more where that came from: Armisen stars in a lyric video for the song, too, goofing around in frilly yellow gloves to the triumphant jangle of Pierson’s colorful, trans-positive new wave jam. Watch her words swirl around him.

The Decemberists - “Lake Song” (Official Lyric Video)

The Decemberists have shared a lyric video for “Lake Song,” the second track released from their forthcoming album What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World after lead single “Make You Better.” The lyrics are overlaid over black-and-white footage of the band performing in the studio shot by director Jason Roark. The band debuted this song live for the first time back in May at Boston Calling.

Nicki Minaj - “Only” Lyric Video (Feat. Drake, Lil Wayne, & Chris Brown)

Nicki Minaj has shared an animated lyric video for her new single “Only.” The video leans heavily on World War II imagery, posturing Minaj as a dictator-like figure in a new regime. Animated versions of Drake, Lil Wayne, and Chris Brown also show up during their guest spots on the track.

Charli XCX - “London Queen” Lyric Video

Charli XCX’s Ramones-inspired new single “London Queen” has been growing on me the more I listen to it. It’s certainly kitschy, but it’s also pretty damn catchy, even if the lyrics leave a lot to be desired compared to the goth-pop of something like “Nuclear Seasons,” which was Charli’s first major collaboration with producer and songwriter Justin Raisen. (He worked on some other songs from Charli’s first record, had a hand in “Boom Clap,” and co-produced Sky Ferreira’s debut alongside Ariel Rechtshaid.) The lyric video for “London Queen” is done in the colorful and bubbly animation style of basically every ’90s edutainment computer game. Watch via nylon.

Kendrick Lamar - “i” (Lyric Video)

Kendrick Lamar has shared a lyric video for his new single “i” and, as far as lyric videos go, this is a pretty good one! It features a bunch of people doing the heart symbol that’s on the song’s official artwork — Lamar even shows up for a bit. The video was directed by Christian San Jose.

Leonard Cohen - "Did I Ever Love You" (Lyric Video)

Music video by Leonard Cohen performing Did I Ever Love You. (C) 2014 Sony Music Entertainment

Mayer Hawthorne - “Crime” (Feat. Kendrick Lamar) Video

Mayer Hawthorne – “Crime” (Feat. Kendrick Lamar) Video (Dir. Rashida Jones)

Mayer Hawthorne’s Kendrick Lamar-assisted song “Crime” is over a year old, but it’s finally getting an official video. The clip is directed by Parks And Recreation actress Rashida Jones and sees Hawthorne making his way to a white-attire-only party, with Lamar checking in via cellphone for a rap pep talk. “I still can’t believe Rashida agreed to direct,” Hawthorne told Pitchfork. “We had so much fun making this. Her effortlessly cool sense of humor comes through so … uh … effortlessly.” Watch the video and read some words from Jones below.

The video is a parody of ridiculously exclusive parties which are made nearly impossible to get to but tout themselves as ‘the party of the year.’ I liked the idea of the video starting as a sexy getting-ready video and devolving into a messy, very unsexy, unexpected trek. And the final realization is that YOU are the real party! I’m just starting to realize that about myself (which is why I stay home most nights). I am a HUGE fan of Mayer, Kendrick and of the song “Crime” and it was an honor to work with Mayer.

The New Basement Tapes - "When I Get My Hands On You" (Lyric Video)

A few months back, producer T Bone Burnett announced that he had recruited Elvis Costello, My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James, and Mumford And Sons’ Marcus Mumford to record unfinished songs from Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes sessions. The band calls themselves the New Basement Tapes and they’ve already put out versions of “Married To My Hack” and “Nothing To It.” They recently unveiled a new one, called “When I Get My Hands On You” with Mumford on vocals. It has a snazzy lyric video featuring a slouching girl walking past the words spray painted onto the side of buildings.

Stars - “From The Night” (Official Video)

Last month we heard “From The Night,” the restrained-then-ecstatic lead single from Stars’ new album No One Is Lost. Now the band has shared a video that casts the song’s chorus, “I don’t care if we never come back from the night,” as a mantra for boozing ’til dawn. “We went out, like we always do, we got drunk, like we sometimes do, we saw friends that we don’t see enough and we filmed it all,” frontman Torquil Campbell told Spin. “Enjoy.” Darren Curtis directed. There is also a person in a bunny suit.

Stars - From The Night (Official Lyric Video)

The New Basement Tapes - "Married To My Hack" (Lyric Video)

Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes
A Music Event 47 Years In The Making
Release Date: November 11, 2014

Produced by T Bone Burnett, Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes was written and performed in creative collaboration by Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens, Taylor Goldsmith, Jim James and Marcus Mumford. The artists and Burnett gathered in Capitol Studios in March to write and create music for a treasure trove of recently discovered lyrics handwritten by Bob Dylan in 1967 during the period that generated the recording of the legendary Basement Tapes.

Pre-order the exclusive box set now, and yours could include one of 20 LPs autographed by the artists and T Bone Burnett! When you pre-order the album in a bundle with the 18x24” fan poster, your name will be integrated into the actual poster art. All pre-orders will unlock an instant download of one of the album’s tracks, “Nothing To It.”

Connect with The New Basement Tapes

http://thenewbasementtapes.com

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http://www.youtube.com/tnbtvevo

Music video by The New Basement Tapes performing Married To My Hack. (C) 2014 Harvest Records

Leonard Cohen - "Almost Like the Blues" (Lyric Video)

Music video by Leonard Cohen performing Almost Like the Blues. (C) 2014 Sony Music Entertainment. All text, images and photographs (C) 2014 Old Ideas, LLC.

Katy Perry - “This Is How We Do” (Lyric Video)

Katy Perry - “This Is How We Do” (Dir. IKYWTrouble)

Those fonts! Those ’80s video-arcade graphics! Those letters flying through space! But seriously, those fonts!

Mapei - “Change” Lyric Video

The genre-dissolving pop singer Mapei’s album Hey Hey is coming this fall, and today she’s shared a lyric video for the single “Change.” The song itself is a rush, using rhythmic bombast and exultant synth glimmers to turn vague platitudes about life, love and personal agency into inspiring universal calls to arms. For the video, directors Phillipe Grenade and Jarret Egan of Fortune Films took a page from Bob Dylan’s iconic “Subterranean Homesick Blues” video, filming residents of New York City’s five boroughs holding pieces of cardboard with the lyrics to “Change” scrawled across them.