Top 20 Videos 2005

Yeah, I know, another list. This one was a lot easier to compile (especially the top 10) than the albums list. It was a decent year for videos overall (and for David Cross, who appears in 1/3 of them), one in which Gondry held serve for me as the G.O.A.T., Spoon showed that they still can’t make a decent promo clip while the White Stripes demonstrated that they can’t make a bad one, …Trail of Dead remained incredibly pretentious, and we all got to see Devendra Banhart dance in Jessica Simpson’s backup shorts from “Dukes of Hazzard”. I wish I could have seen the Kanye/Gondry clip before compiling this list, but I have a feeling it might be a while for that one to see daylight. My criteria for videos are pretty muddled–I don’t have to like the song, but the visual treatment has to tie into the music somehow, creating some sort of new meaning in the process. Here it is. If I miss anything, leave it in the comments. (By the way, there won’t be a singles list. That one is way too hard. Instead, I hope to post four separate mix podcasts, which is infinitely more fun.)

20. CocoRosie “Noah’s Ark” (Kai Regan)
As weird and affective as the song itself. Strangely, I enjoy the basketball imagery–it actually drew my attention to the strong hip-hop elements in the song.
19/18. (tie) Junip “Black Refuge” (Andreas Nelson) and Tom Vek “I Ain’t Saying My Goodbyes” (Muscle)
A look so great it was done twice.
17. Sigur Ros “Hoppipolla” (Arni & Kinski)
Overly cutesy, sure–but it’s great if only to affirm that Sigur Ros are humans.
16. Deerhoof “Wrong Time Capsule” (Martha Colburn)
Updated “Sledgehammer” collage-style.
15. Franz Ferdinand “Walk Away” (Scott Lyon)
Slickly presented Hitchcock homage–the best thing about FF this year.
14. Jason Forrest “War Photographer” (Joel Trussell)
Swell animation that rhythmically complements one of the best tracks from a swell album. I can’t get enough of Blood Sweat and Tears’ “Go Down Gamblin’”.
13. Clor “Good Stuff” (Fraser Jamieson)
A dance-off between an emaciated man and a crudely disguised werewolf, shot in green-tinted night vision in a forest. Check, check, and check.
12. Roisin Murphy “Sow Into You” (Simon Henwood)
The sexiest mechanized female video since Bjork’s “All is Full of Love”.
11. Gorillaz “Dirty Harry” (Jamie Hewlett)
It’s kind of unfair to include Gorillaz here because the band is wholly predicated on its visuals, but their videos are just so great. This one’s the best of the three they released this year. I was close to picking “Dare” (the best song), but I couldn’t look at Shaun Ryder’s bloated head any longer.
10. OK Go “A Million Ways” (OK Go)
A dumb song, but a perfect mix of Busby Berkeley and “America’s Funniest Home Videos”. And any video that got 10 times the attention of the band, or the song, has to be included here. But the song still sucks.
9. Broadcast “Tender Buttons” (Ramon Bloomberg)
An elegant, icy one-take wonder.
8. My Morning Jacket “Off the Record” (Waverly Films)
There’s always room for a tight conceptual piece–and this one works on the same level as Radiohead’s “Just”, but more directly connected to the lyrics. And I called that folded-paper thing a “cootie catcher” when I was a kid. Is there another name for it?
7. Stephen Malkmus “Baby C’mon” (Lana Kim & Andy Bruntel)
For Pavement, the only passable visuals connected to the music were contained within the album covers. Which didn’t matter, because they were Pavement. But solo, Malkmus has taken big steps toward making great videos, and “Baby C’mon” is the best yet. Stop-motion animation implemented perfectly.
6. Smog “Rock Bottom Riser” (Picturedrift)
Delicate animation that perfectly complements the song instead of doing its own thing. Ranked so highly because it made me interpret the music differently. Chad Van Gaalen took a similar approach for “Clinically Dead”.
5. LCD Soundsystem “Tribulations” (Dougal Wilson)
Multi-layered/multi-format/laterally moving and effortlessly executed video, for a great song that deserves this level of concept.
4. The Decemberists “16 Military Wives” (Aaron Stewart)
The most accessible song the Decemberists have issued yet–and clearly their best video. Nothing overly mind-blowing, but a nice political allegory, Rushmore style. Like Belle and Sebastian, they’re erudite, but still know how to have fun.
3. Beck “E-Pro” (Shynola)
Wow. Amazing. New standard for cutting edge CG videos. Song sucks, though.
2. Doves “Sky Starts Falling” (Reuben Sutherland)
A stunning work that simultaneously awed and terrified me. The remarkable CGI coupled with the quaint film grain and sublimely apocalyptic theme combine for a really, really, good video. Much, much better than the piece for “Black and White Town“, which, perhaps on purpose, drains all the emotion from the fantastic song.
1. The White Stripes “The Denial Twist” (Michel Gondry)
The best video director alive (and perhaps ever) makes one of his best yet. What Gondry does organically with perspective is mindblowing and gorgeous. I can’t stop watching this one, still.

Filed under: Beck  Broadcast  Clor  Cocorosie  Deerhoof  Franz Ferdinand  Gorillaz  Jason Forrest  Junip  LCD Soundsystem  Michel Gondry  music video  My Morning Jacket  OK Go  Roisin Murphy  Sigur Ros  Smog  Stephen Malkmus  The Decemberists  The Doves  The White Stripes  Tom Vek  Year-End List