I wish I could sum up this year in a phrase as succinctly as, say, “Youtube killed the video star.” But the truth is MTV canned the video star long ago in favor of shows like Remote Control and Elimidate. Here are my favorites music videos from the year. I don’t especially seek these things out, so I’m sure I’m missing some good ones.
01. Bloc Party Girl - Banquet
I hope that this is either the beginning or the end of fan-syncing videos, because this girl is too cute, and life is too short to watch videos of people mouthing the lyrics to N-Sync songs.
02. Wolf Parade - I’ll Believe In Anything, You’ll Believe in Anything
From the moment that the gunshots go off in time with the drums, I was sold on this video. I’ve been adding my own gunfire to the song ever since.
03. Cold War Kids - Hang Me Up To Dry
The Kids playing to kids at a school. Next to Kool-Aid in the drinking fountains and no homework, this is pretty much every child’s dream come true.
04. The Boy Least Likely To - Be Gentle With Me
Proving the song to be adorable in more ways than 2, while also teaching an important lesson about not trusting cute stuffed animals around girlfriends.
05. I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkenss - The Owl
Artsy-fartsy goodness.
06. Gnarls Barkley - Smiling Faces
Dennis Hopper has made Gnarls Barkley his life’s work. The least you could do would be to watch this video.
07. Matt and Kim - 5K
Matt and Kim are cute even when they are hacking each other to bits. I need to have a house party like that.
08. Beck - Clap Hands (live on SNL)
Call it a gimmick if you want, but it is a well choreographed gimmick. The fact that they played the song live sitting at a dinner table was cool enough. The puppets just put it over the top.
09. Peter, Bjorn & John - Young Folks
The animation reminds me of Royksopp’s “Remind Me.” Add in cartoon whistling, and you’ve got all the elements necessary for an awesome video.
10. The Hold Steady - Chips Ahoy
If The Hold Steady are destined to be a mainstream rock band, they are the kind of mainstream act that I like: Craig is straight out of ABC’s Wide World of Sports, the girls are hot, the pizza is cold. Make it count.
