In 2008, your top 10 videos had one thing in common: ambition. In watching the winners you'll witness rainbow police officers doing the Care Bear Stare, psychoanalysis at a diner, and a cavalcade of YouTube stars. Many of these clips use clever animation, but No Age and MGMT took a low-fi approach with clips showcasing slow-mo merrymaking. (No Age's "Eraser" also had Pete Wentz's seal of approval to buttress it.) No surprise, Radiohead took home the top spot with their "3D plotting technologies [that] collected information about the shapes and relative distances of objects." Tech talk aside, it was also really moving, and not as gory as Gnarls Barkley's brokenheart operation. Just shy of the top 10 were memorable efforts from Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes, and Sasha Fierce.

10

MGMT

"Electric Feel"
(Dir: Ray Tintori)

9

TV On The Radio

"Golden Age"
(Dir: Pedro Papahadjopoulos)

8

No Age

"Eraser"
(Dir: Andy Bruntel)

7

Radiohead

"Reckoner"
(Dir: Clement Picon)

6

MGMT

"Time To Pretend"
(Dir: Ray Tintori)

5

Weezer

"Pork And Beans"
(Dir: Matthew Cullen)

4

Björk

"Wanderlust"
(Dir: Encyclopedia Pictura)

3

of Montreal

"Id Engager"
(Dir: Marc Reisbig and Hanne Berkaak)

2

Gnarls Barkley

"Who's Gonna Save My Soul"
(Dir: Chris Milk)

1

Radiohead

"House Of Cards"
(Dir: James Frost)

17 Comments

this was all Bjork's this year, but whaaat-ever!

Posted by: lookie-here

at 12/08/08 3:56 PM | Reply
Score = 4

I hope it's never Bjork's year. Yikes. I would have loved to see more of the contest vids for radiohead.

Posted by: Obscure Indie Reference

in reply to lookie-here's comment at 12/12/08 8:03 PM | Reply
Score = 0

parisian goldfish much?

Posted by: kleach

at 12/08/08 3:58 PM | Reply
Score = 5

Justice's DVNO deserved some love

Posted by: Eric at 12/08/08 9:51 PM | Reply
Score = -1

The best Radiohead video this year was "Weird Fishes" by far. Guess not enough people saw it. And how bout "Oxford Comma", "DVNO", "Chicago X 12", "L.E.S. Artistes", "Bad Blood", "Caskets"?

I love TV on the Radio and Of Montreal but those videos should not have been on here. Not even close to best of the year.

Posted by: Taylor at 12/08/08 10:21 PM | Reply
Score = 2

Stereogum, fix the link! The "Full List" link on the Gummy Awards main page sends you to a 404 error.

Posted by: Devin at 12/09/08 12:08 AM | Reply
Score = 0

Well, I know MY favorite video this year was I'm Good I'm Gone by Lykke Li.

But these are all pretty cool too.

I love Jorma.

Posted by: jolson at 12/09/08 5:48 AM | Reply
Score = 0

Has no one seen the video for 'You Belong' by Hercules & love affair??
So dissapointed it didn't make the list..

Posted by: mattP at 12/09/08 9:37 AM | Reply
Score = 1

actually, the best video of the year is this technostalgic version of radiohead's 'nude'
http://www.vimeo.com/1109226?pg=embed&sec=1109226
and including 'weird fishes,' as suggested above, that gives radiohead 4 of the best videos of the year...?

Posted by: andrew at 12/10/08 6:17 AM | Reply
Score = 0

No Age stole that song title from Thom Yorke. He should sue them and sue Coldplay and sue the voters of Stereogum and sue Meg White's sideboob.

Posted by: syd at 12/10/08 5:19 PM | Reply
Score = 4

any video with jorma taccone should be number one.

just sayin'.

Posted by: JESSIE IS THE GIRL.

at 12/11/08 10:55 AM | Reply
Score = 1

Alright. I know it's not indie rock and all that. BUT. Could we get over ourselves just a bit and show some love towards Beyonce?! Her 'Single Ladies' video is far and away the best of the year!

Posted by: Dan! at 12/12/08 3:50 PM | Reply
Score = 0

No, this is Stereogum after all.

Posted by: glazzy in reply to Dan!'s comment at 12/14/08 2:10 AM | Reply
Score = 1