The 5 Best Videos Of The Week
Twin Peaks ended this week, for the second time, and I have no idea whether I liked it or not. Certain scenes were utterly spellbinding; others were so boring that I wanted to chew my own fingers off. It may or may not make sense, ultimately, and I’m not sure I care whether it did or not. I’m glad I watched it, and I’m more glad that it’s over. One thing is clear enough, though: We need to retire the term Lynchian. Nothing can be Lynchian unless David Lynch made it. Other people might play around with his visual ideas, but nobody makes images like him. If you’re a music-video director, don’t even try. This week’s picks are below.
5. Danny L Harle – “Me4U” (Dir. Matt Copson)
About half of the Stereogum staff religiously watches RuPaul’s Drag Race. I am not part of that half. But if this video, which stars show contestant Kim Chi, is any indication, I should probably change that. Because this is some kind of spectacle.
4. Dream Wife – “Fire” (Dir. Stephen Glashier)
Why yes, the world really did need a circa-2017 fashion-goth version of The Craft, one where all the witches remain friends and nobody turns evil.
3. Beck – “Up All Night” (Dir. CANADA)
A beautifully kinetic piece of visual art about a woman who I wish I’d known during certain nights in college.
2. Oneohtrix Point Never – “The Pure And The Damned” (Feat. Iggy Pop) (Dir. The Safdie Brothers)
The Safdie Brothers’ new Oneohtrix Point Never-scored movie Good Time is one of the year’s best, and it has basically nothing to do with this video, even if the two stars do show up in character. But the two pieces still feel connected, if only for the feverish, borderline-surreal intensity that comes through in both of them. Someone please direct me to a place where I can buy Robert Pattinson’s T-shirt.
1. Ted Leo – “Can’t Go Back” (Dir. Rachel Lichtman)
Ted Leo is an American treasure, and the fake-suave faces that he makes in this video are beautiful evidence of this indisputable truth.