The 5 Best Videos Of The Week
Right now, for two weeks running, the #1 hit in America is the Justin Bieber-assisted remix of “Despacito,” Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s reggaeton hit. (Our own Chris DeVille wrote a great column about it.) The song was an international monster hit long before Bieber jumped on board, and the video for the all-Spanish version — a pretty piece of sunny beach silliness — has a billion and a half YouTube videos. It only came out in January. Even if Bieber himself is a crypto-racist little shitfuck who intentionally fucks up the words of the song, I really hope he shows up in a video for his version. I want to see just how slick a Latin pop video can get. In the meantime, this week’s picks are below.
5. MØ – “Nights With You” (Dir. Bouha Kazmi)
Soviet Communism certainly had its drawbacks, but goddam if it didn’t leave behind some enormous crumbling-monolith monuments that make for cool music-video locations.
4. Jlin – “Carbon 7″ (Dir. Joji Koyama)
So this is how you dance to Jlin’s music. Cool. Good to know.
3. Dan Auerbach – “Waiting On A Song” (Dir. Bryan Schlam)
This is basically Dazed And Confused in music-video form, and that is a glorious thing. Auerbach himself plays the perfect role: A Hitchcockian cameo as the sketchy older guy at a party.
2. Lana Del Rey – “Lust For Life” (Feat. The Weeknd) (Dir. Rich Lee)
You could learn a lot from watching Lana Del Rey. The subtlety of her facial expressions, the way she can convey emotions without breaking her glamorous veneer — it’s what movie stars used to do. There’s just nobody like her anymore. Even Abel Tesfaye, who makes better videos than almost any of his pop-star peers, is a mere afterthought here, the anonymous lug who gets to share LDR’s space.
1. Amber Mark – “Monsoon” (Dir. Joe Alexander)
The pure imagery here, the photography of street-scenes in Rajasthan, is just rapturous and gorgeous. And for a minute, you might not understand the context of it. But as it turns out, this is a video about Mark saying goodbye to her mother, mourning her by visiting a place that they visited together. Once that dawns on you, just try not to feel pulverized.