Kenneth Anger passed away in May this year. The director is probably most well-known for the 1963 experimental short Scorpio Rising, a film about neo-Nazi bikers set entirely to a soundtrack of contemporary pop music. I discovered it in a film class over 50 years later, and I can tell you it’s still a hit among the film students of today.
Scorpio Rising can be seen as a predecessor to the modern concept of the music video. The songs are the focus of the soundtrack, uninterrupted by dialogue, and interact with the visuals to tell a more complex story than the audio or visuals could alone. A classmate of mine who took the same class that screened Scorpio Rising made an observation I found insightful: If we call Scorpio Rising both an experimental film and a proto-music video, that means music videos are in fact the current general-audience version of experimental film. Experimental film is more popular now than ever.
I think there’s been a clear elevation of music videos as an artform recently that speaks to that. I don’t recall seeing directors so prominently credited on music videos 15 years ago. The most recent winners of the Oscar for Best Directing were previously best known as music video directors, and while the music video to feature film career trajectory is nothing new, their work is definitely discussed differently than, say, David Fincher’s.
This year, I decided to put the theory into practice and dive deep into the world of music videos. My goal, in addition to discovering more music, was to explore the artform on its own terms. All the caveats I mentioned in my albums list last week apply. I am most likely an easily impressed neophyte, but I have to start somewhere.
Now, there are a lot of music videos being released every day, so I needed some guidelines to make the job more manageable. I searched for videos that showed clear artistic intent above and beyond simply advertising the single and/or performer. Is your video just you lip syncing and waving your hands in front of a car? Sorry, I probably skipped it. Spliced together old home video? Cute, but uninteresting. I also assumed the word “visualizer” signaled entirely supplemental video. After trawling YouTube for music videos that match those conditions all year, I wound up with a playlist of nearly 400 videos that seemed at all interesting. I whittled that down to 30. It was very time consuming, and I hope this was worth it.
Finally, the obvious question: Does the quality of the song itself matter? I decided yes, insofar as it’s a part of the overall video. The music videos I found most compelling were ones where song and video played off each other to create something greater than the parts.
It’s therefore likely that I was more drawn to videos where I simply liked the song. Yes, there is significant overlap between the top of this list and my albums list from last week. However, I’d posit the correlation goes the other way around. I liked the videos, so I rewatched them, and the music grew on me.
One more thing: I realized while finalizing this list that I completely forgot about K-pop. Somehow. It won’t happen again. Alright, enough preamble. Here are the music videos I enjoyed the most this year.
Honorable Mentions
I quickly learned that very few artists who make the types of music videos I’m after are one-and-dones. If they tried that hard for one video, they did it for all their singles. Here are some bands that had multiple videos on my final shortlist but ultimately didn’t make the final cut.
- Clark‘s video for “Dolgoch Tape” is mesmerizing and I was hoping it’d make the cut as a representative of the less narrative videos.
- Doja Cat came close with both “Paint the Town Red” and “Demons.” I am not at all clued in to her controversies or whatever but she seems fun. Loves to dress up.
- Dorian Electra feels like a logical extrapolation of Born This Way era Lady Gaga into the 2020s, which I admire. Evident in “Puppet” and “Sodom & Gomorrah.”
- hemlocke springs in the skit preceding “pos” is Oscar-caliber when compared to all the terrible acting I had to watch this year.
- The Hives‘ video for “Countdown to Shutdown” gave me hope this would be worth it while I was at a low point.
- The Lemon Twigs extend their aural aesthetic to the visuals. I’m most fond of “Any Time of Day.”
- Sleater-Kinney somehow aren’t here with either “Say It Like You Mean It” or “Hell,” and for that I apologize.
- Sparks, uh, Sparks’d, in the Qatsi-esque “Escalator” and with dancer/choreographer Cate Blanchett in “The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte.”
- Yves Tumor would probably be at 31 with “Echolalia.”
Am I saying thank you? Am I enjoying it too?
30 // Yaeji – For Granted
dir. Yaeji
This video for the track from With a Hammer is one of the earliest I found this year and partly motivated this list. The surreally goofy visual effects and hyperactive editing caught my attention when I still mostly associated music videos with product placement. There’s something real here, and it’s only January.
If happiness is finite, then I’ve had all I should have / Do I steal it from another? Does it come right out of me?
29 // AJJ – Disposable Everything
dir. Joe Stakun
One for all the trash monsters out there. I enjoy the low-tech puppetry. Forget seeing the strings, you can see the puppeteers! I support that attitude. If you can’t suspend your disbelief for 4 minutes, that’s a personal problem.
They only let me whimper when I’m crying to a groove
28 // Genesis Owusu – Tied Up!
dir. Lisa Reihana
Genesis Owusu’s videos were done in partnership with the artist Lisa Reihana, who I assume is responsible for the incessant whirling and zooming movements present in all of them. The effect is most appropriate for “Tied Up!” and its boxing motif.
(Gonna be honest, I can barely decipher the lyrics of this one)
27 // James Blake – Big Hammer
dir. Oscar Hudson
Funny and playful without sacrificing dramatic intensity, this is the type of stuff I was after. A gang of robbers commit a crime spree either unwilling to use or unaware of “doors.” The way that detailed is revealed at the beginning is prime nonverbal storytelling. Their rampage only ends when the police arrive in the most appropriate way. Setup, reinforcement, punchline.
Also worth watching: “Playing Robots Into Heaven”
I don’t need no fancy things / Let’s burn the money tonight
26 // Eyedress – My Simple Jeep
feat. Mac DeMarco // dir. Sandy Kim
A humble video for a humble song. As a Jeep owner myself, sometimes it does feel like something strung together with cardboard and glue. And sometimes it does explode at the end of a trip. What a perfect adaptation.
Sitting in the park / We can only sit so much and it’s getting late
25 // Kirin J Callinan – Eternally Hateful
dir. Isaac Brown
Kirin J Callinan subjects himself to various forms of gruesome medieval torture, for your amusement. I’m a big fan of the design here, the sets and props in particular. The upbeat song over upsetting visuals is funny but not in the cheap dissonant way so many music videos reach for. It still feels appropriate.
Also worth watching: “Young Drunk Driver”
I’m not a girl, I’m a swarm of bees
24 // Ashnikko – Cheerleader
dir. Joanna Nordahl
Part Bring It On, part Midsummer, this video shoots Ashnikko and her backup dancers like woodland cheerleading cryptids. I don’t know who Ashnikko is but I hope she’s getting the help she needs.
Also, uh, interesting: “You Make Me Sick!”
What would you do if they never found us out?
23 // Taylor Swift – I Can See You
dir. Taylor Swift
Special guest stars Joey King and Taylor Lautner break two-time Time Person of the Year and short film director Taylor Swift out of a heavily defended vault. It is not a subtle metaphor. But it is insight into how Taylor perceives her re-recording project.
Have you been looking like I’ve been looking for a reason or a sign?
22 // Jessie Ware – Begin Again
dir. Charlie Di Placido
I ask again: Why is Jessie Ware not the biggest pop star in the world? I’m a big fan of the double-sided set for this video. Minimal and efficient, and also thematically relevant. And these dancers! Jessie both keeps up with them for a while and is smart enough to know when to let them take over. I’ve seen a lot of videos that don’t.
Also worth watching: “Pearls”
‘Til the sun turns into ashes / And bows down to the moon / I will wait for you
21 // Tyler Childers – In Your Love
dir. Bryan Schlam
Would this video be making as many waves as it is if it were about a heterosexual couple? I think so. It’s a little cliche, but filmed impeccably and very effective at what it does. Yes, it choked me up. But the couple is hardly a superfluous detail. Taken in the greater context, it’s a statement pushing back on certain unfortunate associations country music has. Tyler Childers wants you to know that country music is for everyone.
I wanna break his heart / Then be the one to stitch it up
20 // Olivia Rodrigo – get him back!
dir. Jack Begert
It never quite breaks out of feeling like an iPhone advertisement, which it is. But I’ve enjoyed all of Rodrigo’s music videos for GUTS and I think this one is my favorite in terms of visualizing what the song is saying.
Also worth watching: “bad idea right?”, “vampire”
In California, we ain’t got no seasons / All the same to me
19 // Jean Dawson & SZA – NO SZNS
dirs. Jean Dawson, Bradley J. Calder
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a music video with a jumpscare before. I hate jumpscares, including this one, but I also have to respect quality filmmaking. The first 50 seconds tease that something isn’t quite right here just enough to really draw you in, and then- Wham! Sometimes even when we turn to art to escape the awful things in the world, the awful things follow us there. That’s what art is.
Gotta do as you’re told, gotta act your stat, gotta play your role
18 // AntsLive – Number One Candidate
dir. Tom Emmerson
AntsLive, if that is his real name, wreaks havoc across a European village with pure destructive charisma. See, I can have fun! They don’t all have to be serious! Especially not if they’re shot this beautifully.
The longer the coat, the tougher you are / And mine drags along the floor
17 // Yard Act – The Trench Coat Museum
dir. James Slater
I can’t explain it, but if you told me there was a song called “The Trench Coat Museum,” I think I would infer this sound instinctively. Give me a silly premise, good dancing, and a dose of self-deprecation and I’m there.
Also worth watching: “Dream Job”
It’d be one thing if it’s once or twice / But it’s every night your entire life
16 // Jeff Rosenstock – DOUBT
Storyboarded/animated by Deena Beck, Dashawn Mahone, Najja Porter
Hey, some animation! I love the expressiveness of this character, and their plan to stop a threatening meteor is truly the only logical option.
Also worth watching: “LIKED U BETTER”
Intermission
Whew. We’re halfway through, and I know 16 is usually followed by 15, but what I’m proposing is: What if there were 3 more in between? Let’s take a break with a music video I wanted to shout out but couldn’t fit in the list… and also 2 others.
Special Choreography Award
Jungle – Volcano
I wasn’t really sure how to include the videos for Jungle’s latest album Volcano. They are all absolutely mesmerizing works of choreography, and also there’s one for like every song on the album. I can’t put them all! Plus, this seems to be just what Jungle does. I’m simplifying my own math by recognizing it separately.
What.
Evian Christ – Yxguden
I dunno, man.
Worst Music Video?
will.i.am – THE FORMULA
I kind of love this video. There’s just enough effort put into it to have something to clown on but not enough that it feels mean. Like, there are ideas here. Those ideas just stink to high heaven. Perfection.
Turns out I’m not real / Just something you paid for
15 // Billie Eilish – What Was I Made For?
dir. Billie Eilish
How does Billie keep doing it? Hand her the worst James Bond title, she hands back one of the best Bond title themes. Assign her something for the Barbie soundtrack, she delivers both a stellar song and a deservedly Grammy-nominated music video.
Slug of lust, a gliding dreamer / Yearning twisted, true deceiver
14 // Little Dragon – Slugs of Love
dir. Unlimited Time Only
This one’s just a ton of fun to look at. It’s a collection of weird, distorted images of the band walking around, and sometimes that’s enough. It feels like a throwback to an earlier era of music videos.
Also worth watching: “Kenneth”
A costume, is that how you see me?
13 // U.S. Girls – Tux (Your Body Fills Me, Boo)
I’m sure “green screen body suit wearing clothes” is an idea that has been done before, but I’ll be surprised if it was done with as much panache. I know this is a very simple video but it’s elegantly simple. The retro backgrounds and filters in the latter half push my buttons.
There is nothing I can do / To separate myself from you
12 // glass beach – the CIA
dir. William White
The gimmick—shooting the entire video as if from low resolution security cameras—creates an appropriate visual tone for a mysterious alien jailbreak.
Somethin’ from your touch felt shockingly familiar / And I swore I’d seen you before
11 // beabadoobee & Laufey – A Night to Remember
dir. Jake Erland
A little bit Singin’ in the Rain, a little bit La La Land, a little bit Us Again even though I’m sure I’m the only person who will reach for that reference but I love that short so much. When you’re working with talented dancers, sometimes the best camera move you choose is simply holding on a wide shot and letting them do their thing.
The day the cowboy cried and I gave up on love / And you gave up on light, and so began my sеcond life
10 // Geese – 4D Country
dirs. Andy Swartz & Cameron Winter
This is a fantastically shot narrative about a cowboy roaming the desert. Look at the use of color on the flower. Look at the breakdown in general. All of Geese’s videos for this album have made a relatively small budget go a long way.
Also worth watching: Actually, hold that thought.
I try to remember the wrath of the devil / Was also given him by God
9 // Mitski – Bug Like an Angel
dir. Noel Paul
Mitski clearly knows the pain of having someone reject the help you know they desperately need. Perhaps she was that person, and now she sees it in a drunk woman stumbling down the road at night. Watch as she dances away.
Also worth watching: “My Love Mine All Mine”
We keep you safe / Never mind that noise outside
8 // Squid – The Blades
dir. Kasper Haggstrom
We start with an absurd yet somehow believable premise. A client at some bureaucratic agency takes a ticket number, but the person before took several hundred, and the human robot at the counter is unsympathetic. So all we can do is wait. It’s a wonderful daydream of a video.
Once I took your medication to know what it’s like / And now I have to act like I can’t read your mind
7 // boygenius – Cool About It
dir. Lauren Tsai
A lot of music videos literalize the lyrical content, and that’s boring. I’d much rather have a video that approaches the material obliquely and finds a new context. In this video, a song about a failing relationship becomes a love (?) story between a lost toy and the dog that found it. It’s tragic and beautiful, and one moment in particular towards the end breaks my heart every time I watch it. You’ll know it when you see it.
Translate your vibration, let your body talk to me
6 // Troye Sivan – Rush
dir. Gordon von Steiner
“Hedonism” is too easy a word to reach for. Two videos in this post mention Sodom and Gomorrah in the lyrics, one in the title. In Troye Sivan’s videos, lust simply is not a sin. It’s a celebration of humanity. The choreography in this video is easy to overlook but absolutely deserves attention.
Also worth watching: “Got Me Started”, “One of Your Girls”
I’m hoping you’re near / The truest thing I ever said
5 // The Chemical Brothers – Live Again
dir. DOM&NIC
This music video just creeps me out, and not because of the tentacles. It’s the way the dancer’s Groundhog Day acid trip goes from fun to existentially horrifying, and the gradual application of filters to show that escalation visually.
Also worth watching: “Skipping Like a Stone”
I’ve got eyes for anything moving / Fell in love with a tumbleweed
4 // Geese – Cowboy Nudes
dirs. Andy Swartz & Cameron Winter
I love the way the tone of this video tracks the intensity of the song. The song itself feels torn between a somewhat gentle love song and rock-and-roll breakdown, and similarly the Toyotathon-core visual aesthetic gives way to… well, just watch it. It’s a short, punchy, and absurd little narrative.
Also worth watching: “Jesse”
I don’t wanna say what he wants to know
3 // Daft Punk – Infinity Repeating
feat. Julian Casablancas+The Voidz / dir. Warren Fu
It feels appropriate for the music video for Daft Punk’s final song to be a Daft Punk retrospective. Thomas Bangalter said in an interview that one reason they decided to end Daft Punk was their growing genuine fear of the future of robotics. I think that’s what you see at the end. But what a beautiful journey it is to get there.
Dix-sept prise je prétends d’avoir peur / Mais pour toi je suis prêts à mourir
2 // Alan Palomo – Meurtrière
dir. Alan Palomo
An actress in a film shoot for what seems to be a low budget horror movie acts out her death scene, over and over. Once, twice, seventeen times. Is the director enjoying this a little too much, or did she imagine that? I think this might be the platonic ideal of a music video. The lighting, the cinematography, the acting, even from Palomo himself. Love it, love it, love it.
We were just rehearsing babe, you know this ain’t the game
1 // Jamila Woods – Practice
feat. Saba // dir. Carlos López Estrada
Throughout the year, I’ve seen a lot of impressive and not-so-impressive visual effects. A lot of costumes. A lot of props. What if you had none of those? What if the only prop in your music video was the human body, completely unadorned? If you’re Jamila Woods, you get a visual love letter as classy as it is sexy. It’s a celebration of the human body in all the shapes and colors they come in.
Also worth watching: “Boomerang”, “Tiny Garden”
I’ve learned a lot this year, particularly the ways one should and should not go about trying to watch as many music videos as possible. I saw a lot of product placement, a lot of egotism, and a lot of stock transition effects. I also saw these 30 videos, and many more excellent works. It was worth it. I think I’ll do it again next year.
Maybe I won’t do 30 on the final list though. Boy do I want to just push this one out and get started on the film list.
