The Child Of Lov – “Give Me”

 

The Child Of Lov – “Give Me” (Dir. Focus Creeps)

This video’s scenes of revelry mirror the ones we’ve seen in a million other videos, with a crucial distinction: The people in this video look like actual human beings, not music video ciphers. There’s not a tiny bit of central casting in here; instead, it actually appears to be a mob of people, beautifully shot verite style, cutting loose at the end of a long week. It’s inspirational like that.

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu – “Furisodation”

The people of Japan, it seems, will not let South Korean’s booming pop industry out-weird them on the music video front. I doubt that this will lead to a think-piece boom or a billion YouTube hits, but the euphoric confusion I felt watching this for the first time reminded me of “Gangnam Style.” Also, I’m pretty sure this is what Kanye West was going for with the dinner scene of his “Runaway” short film.

Ke$ha – “C’Mon”

Ke$ha – “C’Mon” (Dir. Darren Craig)

Unemployment might not be such a big problem in this country if Ke$ha’s mob of horny furry hoodlums showed up in their Mystery Machine every time someone found herself without work. I figure there’s at least a 60% chance that Wayne Coyne is one of the guys in the animal costumes.

Memory Tapes – “Sheila”

There are a number of iterations of one dark scenario that plays out in the video for Memory Tapes’ video for “Sheila.” It’s either the worst trust fall of all-time or everyone in the clip that isn’t Sheila is a ghost or — I don’t know, man. What I do know is that watching someone put on lipstick has never felt so ominous.

Alice In Chains – “Hollow” (Official Video)

Alice in Chains have returned with new music and acclaimed director Roboshobo is helping them bring some imagery to their latest single, ‘Hollow.’ The band just debuted the official video for the song, focusing on the gradual deterioration of an isolated scientist’s mental state.


In the clip, we see the main character going through his daily routine — staring out at the planet below, working out, talking with his wife on a video chat and performing various experiments. But as the days turn into a year, the man begins to break down mentally and physically.

The official video follows the band’s recent lyric clip that was fan-generated. The initial offering was comprised of images submitted by fans prior to the release of the song, as the group had posted lyrics and asked for visual feedback on what the words meant to their fans. After gathering a wealth of visual input, the lyric clip was pieced together to coincide with the release of the song last month.

Fans of the track can currently pick it up on iTunes. It will be part of the band’s still-untitled studio album that’s expected to drop in the spring.

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – “Bag of Bones”

In their video for “Bag Of Bones,” a troglodytic stomp-rocker from their 2012 comeback album Meat And Bones, the members of the reunited ’90s underground hellraisers Jon Spencer Blues Explosion appear in animated form. They travel through a psychedelic universe, starting barfights and macking on six-eyed alien ladies. Seems like it should be an average Tuesday for these guys. Lucy Dyson and Joseph Jensen direct.

How to destroy angels_ – “The Loop Closes”

How to destroy angels_, the new project that Trent Reznor formed with wife Mariqueen Maandig and frequent collaborator Atticus Ross in 2010, already have a pair of EPs to their name, including last year’s An omen_. And this morning, they’re announcing that they’re about ready to release their debut album. It’s called Welcome oblivion, and it’s out 3/5 on Columbia. There will be more details to come, to be sure, but right now, that’s all we get: A title, a release date, and a record label. In the meantime, they’ve also shared a video for “The Loop Closes,” a sputtering and clanking industrial groover from An omen_. It’s a damaged, staticy video, full of random distorted images and intense close-ups on Reznor and Maandig.

Esben and the Witch - "Despair"

In a couple of weeks, the dark and atmospheric Brighton band Esben And The Witch will release their new album, the delightfully titled Wash The Sins Not Only The Face and now they’ve got a video for “Despair,” another of the album’s songs. Director Matt Bowron‘s clip chronicles a deeply unpredictable dance routine on a seriously picturesque hillside.

Mac DeMarco – “Dreamin”

In the new video for his song “Dreamin’,” the shambolic singer-songwriter Mac DeMarco pulls of a low-budget, deviant take on Vampire Weekend’s “Holiday” clip. Director Jason Harvey shows us DeMarco bumming around in powdered-wig finery, with rat-eaten Keds and battered guitar hilariously intact. And before it’s all over, DeMarco gets covered in every imaginable form of disgusting slime, for no reason that I can detect.

Foxygen – “San Francisco”

The video for psych duo Foxygen’s “San Francisco” feels like a Wes Anderson film that somehow lost its way. Instead of acting meticulously thought-out scenes, the cast just decided to take a bunch of LSD and listen to records together before exploring the woods. The track kind of feels that way, too — a relic from when the Kinks were king, yet slightly off-kilter.

The Soft Moon – “Die Life”

The Soft Moon’s “Die Life” is a breathy, fuzzy track and the band has crafted a jarring black and white clip featuring a wall of snowy televisions. The backdrop is well suited to the track, almost transforming into an army of more bands members as the song stomps on.

David Bowie – “Where Are We Now?”

Today’s David Bowie’s 66th birthday(!), and he’s got a birthday gift for all of us. This is not the usual flow of birthday gifting, but as they say, you do not look a gift David Bowie in the mouth: It is 1/8/13, and the artist formerly known as Stardust is releasing a dramatic new ballad, and its video, and news of a full-length due in March. The record’s called The Next Day, a 14-track effort recorded in NYC and produced by longtime Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti. The fact that Visconti worked on Bowie’s Berlin trilogy (Low, “Heroes”, Lodger ) seems relevant to “Where Are We Now?” and its video, which is littered with lyrical references to the city, and footage “of the auto repair shop beneath the apartment he lived in along with stark images of the city at the time.” Visconti was also the producer who helmed Bowie’s last few records, 2002′s Heathen and 2003′s Reality, so it’s as much a throwback to a classic era as it is picking up where he left off. This is David’s first record in 10 years, and his 30th record overall. It’s OK to celebrate.

You can watch the Tony Oursler-directed video in its siamese-dreamy, fourth-wall breaking weirdness at the newly renovated davidbowie.com, or below. Shoutout Nürnberger Strasse.



iTunes is has the single available now, and the album available for pre-order in its regular (14 tracks) and deluxe (17 tracks) editions. The tracklists are below:

Regular Version
01. The Next Day 3:51
02. Dirty Boys 2:58
03. The Stars (Are Out Tonight) 3:56
04. Love Is Lost 3:57
05. Where Are We Now? 4:08
06. Valentine’s Day 3:01
07. If You Can See Me 3:16
08. I’d Rather Be High 3:53
09. Boss Of Me 4:09
10. Dancing Out In Space 3:24
11. How Does The Grass Grow 4:33
12. (You Will) Set The World On Fire 3:30
13. You Feel So Lonely You Could Die 4:41
14. Heat 4:25
Deluxe Version
01 “The Next Day” (3:51)
02 “Dirty Boys” (2:58)
03 “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” (3:56)
04 “Love Is Lost” (3:57)
05 “Where Are We Now?” (4:08)
06 “Valentine’s Day” (3:01)
07 “If You Can See Me” (3:16)
08 “I’d Rather Be High” (3:53)
09 “Dancing Out In Space” (3:24)
11 “How Does The Grass Grow” (4:33)
12 “(You Will) Set The World On Fire” (3:30)
13 “You Feel So Lonely You Could Die” (4:41)
14 “Heat” (4:25)
Bonus tracks:
15 “So She” (2:31)
16 “I’ll Take You There” (2:44)
17 “Plan” (2:34)

Django Django – “Hand of Man”

David Maclean, drummer for London post-punkers Django Django, is the brother of John Maclean, a former multi-instrumentalist for the Beta Band who became a filmmaker when that band broke up. And now John has directed on a video for Django Django’s “Hand Of Man.” For the most part, it’s a beautifully shot performance clip of the band playing acoustically in London’s famous Elephant And Castle pub. But near the end, things take a surreal turn.

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds – “We No Who U R”

A quick spoiler: Nothing happens in this video. It’s just a shadow slowly looming its way through a forest, with no twist at the end. But I still sat nervous through the entire thing, waiting for some sort of hammer to drop, and that’s entirely because Gaspar Noé’s name was on this thing. Up until the final second, I was ready for something on the level of the face-caved-in scene from Irreversible. That’s how you know a filmmaker has power: When his mere name turns a stretch of experimental nothingness into a harrowing experience.

Girls’ Generation – “I Got A Boy”

At the end of 2011, I got low-level obsessed with K-pop videos, which, at least for the songs that weren’t ballads, showed a level of flash and showmanship and nothing-makes-sense vision that just does not exist in Western pop music anymore. I figured that little burst of fascination might be over in the post-”Gangnam Style” age. But yeah, no, evidently not. We are not in charge anymore.

Sky Ferreira – “Lost In My Bedroom”

In her video for “Lost In My Bedroom,” ascendant haze-popper Sky Ferreira looks zonked-out and disheveled — sometimes with a dude next to her, mostly not. The whole thing is recorded home-movie-style, with editing so hectic that there’s an epilepsy warning at the beginning of the clip.

Beach House - "New Year"

In celebration of the New Year, Beach House visualize their song “New Year” using time-lapse footage from their session at Sonic Ranch Studios in Tornillo, Texas, where they recorded Bloom.
As the band explains:

It's more of a home video thing, not a music video.......we just thought these moments and the memories they involve fit this song. SUPER SPECIAL thanks to our wonderful assistant engineer for the session Manuel Calderon (the guy with the tequila), who filmed all the time lapses and a lot of the studio footage.

Watch “New Year” below, and then stay tuned for even more Beach House visuals as the band’s new short film is expected to arrive sometime next month.

Toro Y Moi – “Say That”

Last month, Toro Y Moi gave us the badass HARRYS-directed playboy-style video for “So Many Details,” the first single from his new album Anything In Return. And now, for the unbearably smooth soul-disco track “Say That,” Toro has once again teamed up with HARRYS. The video mostly consists of Chaz Bundick looking effortlessly cool while posing on a verdant mountain range, and virtually any randomly-selected screenshot from the video could work as a ’70s album cover. Seriously, this guy is putting everything together right now, and I could not be more excited for this album.