Events


  The Best Music Videos of the Year!
 
Well, here we are. The best videos of the year. Some people will say that, to pull this kind of thing off, you need vision. You need a merciless, discriminating eye. You need clearly defined criteria, a refined sense of aesthetics, cultural developments and arcs. You need to have a lot of time on your hands. Thankfully, we have all and none of these things (we'll let you figure out which on your own).

This year, we've broken the videos down into separate categories for your viewing pleasure. Some of these videos, you're bound to recognize. Some of them, not so much. Some of their songs are likely to ring a bell. Others, you may never hear again. The important thing to remember is, every single one of these videos was designed to be enjoyed by everybody, and that certainly includes you. Merry Chrismannukwanzaanukkah to you and yours. You keep watching 'em, we'll keep posting 'em.
 
 

The Artsy-Fartsy Chin Scratcher Winners
At first blush, these videos don't make a ton of sense. But if you'll take our word for it, they are as follows:
a) a high-concept multiculti integration of playground and socially liminal ritual
b) a super leftfield re-imagining of the traditional hip hop video
c) just pretentious as balls (but still dealing with creativity, and super fun to look at)
d) more heavy-handed than a monkey's paw

l-r: Franz Ferdinand - "Jeremy Fraser" (directed by Scott Lyon)
Kool Keith - "Aliens" (directed by Veith Michel)
The Knife - "Like a Pen" (directed by Andreas Nilsson)
Daft Punk - "Prime Time of Your Life" (directed by Tony Gardner)

 
The Star-Eyed Fanboy "Those Guys Are So COOL!" Winners
Different videos appeal to different sensibilities, but these three have their fingers squarely on the pulse of their fan bases. And if 2006 showed us anything, it's that the indie world does in fact have a pulse, and that it's just as easy to read as one of your grandmother's large-print cookbooks.

l-r: Hot Chip - "Over and Over" (directed by Nima Nourizadeh)
The Rapture - "Whoo! Alright Yeah...Uh-Huh" (directed by Ben Dickinson)
The Horrors - "Sheena is a Parasite" (directed by Chris Cunningham)
 
The Schadenfreude/Hard-On "I Wanna Do That!" Winners
As one of the shining examples of escapist entertainment, it's imperative that music videos occasionally fill us with fantasies that are completely unattainable. The four videos below have gotten us into so much trouble that we ought to know better by now, but, well....we just don't.

l-r: Justice vs. Simian - "Never Be Alone" (directed by Jason MacFarlane)
Rinocerose - "Cubicle" (directed by Alex and Liane)
Simian Mobile Disco - "Hustler" (directed by Saam Farahmand)
CSS - "Alala" (directed by Cat Solen)
 
The Wiseacre in the Back "Those Guys Are Hilarious!" Winners
Sometimes subtle charm gets taken the wrong way. This one goes out to all those directors' attempts at camp fun or sly cultural observation that got submarined by guffawing jerks so anxious to announce that they were in on the joke that nobody got to hear the punch line. But then again, sometimes the charms are not quite so subtle, and no less charming for it.

l-r: Bonnie Prince Billy - "Cold and Wet"(directed by Einar Baldvin)
The Divine Comedy - "Diva Lady" (directed by Rachel Reupke)
Scissor Sisters - "I Don't Feel Like Dancin" (directed by Andy Soup)
Lady Sovereign - "Love Me or Hate Me" (directed by Brian Beletic)
 
The Closeted Teenage "CoooOOOOOOOooool!" Winners
Everyone loves flashy stuff - computer graphics, neon green vomit, trance-inducing patterns, violence, vividly imagined dystopian states, all that good stuff.

l-r: Zero 7 - "Crosses" (directed by Duckeye)
Madvillain - "Monkey Suite" (directed by Daniel Garcia and Level 2)
The Klaxons - "Magick" (directed by Saam Farahmand)
 
The MacGyver "No budget? No problem!" Winners
If you locked lesser creative types in a room and commanded them to make a music videos using only handshakes, or only a leaf-blower, a basketful of puppies and some lasers, or only American icons and old school animations, there's no way they would have come out this cool.

l-r: DJ Mehdi - "I Am Somebody" (directed by So-Me)
Vitalic - "Poney Part One (Birds)" (directed by Pleix)
Avenue D - "USA = #1" (directed by Vincent Collins)
 
The "These guys have class out the ass!" Winners
They're a dying breed, these classy music videos. Everybody tries so hard to slut it up or frown you down these days that seeing something with taste or nostalgia-tinged splendor is enough to knock you on your ass. They certainly accomplished that with us.

l-r: Lily Allen - "Littlest Things" (directed by Nima Nourizadeh)
Band of Horses - "The Great Salt Lake" (directed by Whitey McConnaughey)