I didn't do one of these columns last week, since there were almost no music videos. At this point, the music industry has stretched and woken up, a few big albums and mixtapes have come out, a lot more are on the way, and the holiday lull is officially over. This has not yet spread to the music-video world, though, for whatever reason. Things are still slow there. Wake up, music-video makers! People are back at work and need shit to stare at on their computers! Don't make Beyoncé have to release a whole new visual album just to get things going again! Still, there were at least five worth watching in the last two weeks, and they're below.
5. King Krule - "A Lizard State" (Dir. Jamie-James Medina)
I have a hard time picturing Archy Marshall as a Hitchcock character. Hitch never really cast actors with weird faces, and Marshall is more of a Verhoeven guy. Still, a fun homage.
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4. Glasser - "Shape" (Dir. Jonathan Turner)
Back in that Lawnmower Man era, the science museum in St. Louis had this virtual-reality exhibit where you'd stand in front of a camera and watch your televised self in a crude CGI landscape. You'd touch a polygon, and the polygon would move or something. It blew my mind. This video is like that.
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3. Califone - "Movie Music Kills A Kiss" (Dir. Tim Rutili)
Single-take tracking-shot videos are really, really hard to pull off (I know because I was in one), so everyone involved really had to believe in this weird romantic vision. And respect to the guy for realizing that sometimes your guitar just has to be smashed and not throwing a fit over it.
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2. A$AP Ferg - "Hood Pope" (Dir. Shomi Patwary & A$AP Ferg)
The ability to turn standard rap-video tropes into stylized ecstatic visions is really what holds the entire A$AP Mob together.
1. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - "Stranger To My Happiness" (Dir. Rob Hatch-Miller & Puloma Basu)
This is one tough lady.
