The people behind the CMA Awards may or may not be trying to bury it, but Beyoncé and the Dixie Chicks' performance of "Daddy Lessons" at the big country-music awards show was easily the most electric piece of music-related video I saw this week. That just goes to show: Sometimes it's not a good idea to give racists what they want. We would probably all do well to remember that this Tuesday. In any case, this turned out to be a great week for music videos, and our picks for the week's five best are below.
5. Lambchop - "NIV" (Dir. Elise Tyler)
Less a music video, more a powerful, emotionally walloping mini-documentary about American homelessness that happens to have a Lambchop song playing in the background.
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4. clipping. - "Shooter" (Dir. Carlos Lopez Estrada)
Estrada and clipping. have already made a number of striking, memorable green-screen fantasias together. This one stands out because it shows that Daveed Diggs can dance. I mean, I probably could've guessed that. He was on Broadway and all. But it's still cool to see.
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3. Future - "Used To This" (Feat. Drake) (Dir. Eif Rivera)
Look, I know this one shouldn't be up so high. It's a flashy and well-made moderatly-high-budget rap video, not some artistic masterwork. I just really like Drake's dancing, is all.
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2. Jane Zhang - "Dust My Shoulders Off" (Dir. Outerspace Leo)
This video has such a dumb central idea: See Jane Zhang posing in weirdly perfect recreations of famous paintings! But it executes it so perfectly, with such energy, that it won me over anyway.
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1. ABRA - "Pull Up" (Dir. ABRA)
ABRA is on a very short list -- one that pretty much includes Grimes and nobody else -- of people who direct better videos for themselves than anyone else directs for anyone. This one tells a story about an extremely intoxicated, borderline-dangerous night out in New York City, and it makes it look like a fucking Michael Mann movie. It's beautiful.
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