Today is a double feature! This post will be huge! Why? Because I've done around two posts in the past two weeks, and that just won't do. The topic for today: music videos!
Some dismiss the music video as a promotional tool. Something to get the track plays on Much Music (in the 90s) or Youtube. That may be true for some songs. These tracks might have an interesting video, but it really brings nothing new to the table. Today's post is not about those videos, it's about the best of the best (of what I've seen).
A good music video is almost like a movie, without the necessity for plot. This means it can focus entirely on mood and feeling. Aphex Twin's Come To Daddy is the scariest music video I've ever seen, while Windowlicker is the strangest. For the latter, the music only comes in after 5 minutes, while the first half is a parody of modern rap videos. Chris Cunningham directed those, and he's one crazy bastard. Romain Gavras has done videos for Justice (Stress) and DJ Mehdi (Signatune), and both are excellent! They keep up a sort of plot while really capturing the feeling of the song.
Don't miss out on trip-hop videos! There are strong showings from Massive Attack and Unkle. The Unkle one is especially haunting, and its climax is one of the most interesting I've ever seen from a music video.
The longest music video I know of is Daft Punk's Interstella 5555. It is literally a movie created to match their second album, Discovery. I highly recommend watching it! Sweet animation, solid plot, and the best soundtrack of any movie ever.
Warp Records' artists consistently make great videos. You've got LFO (Freek), Squarepusher (Come on My Selector), Autechre (Gantz Graf), Boards of Canada (Dayvan Cowboy), and more. While Gantz Graf may be hard on the ears, listen for the accelerating and decelerating beat, and how the movement of the polygon matches it perfectly. Dayvan Cowboy starts off as actual footage of the highest skydive of all time.
Beyond Warp, you've got the dreamlike quality of Flying Lotus' direction. You've also got Spike Jonze! He's done work for The Pharcyde (Drop), Weezer (Island in the Sun), Fatboy Slim (Weapon of Choice), and many more. And yes, that is Christopher Walken in that last video!
Before I give you the song of the day, let me throw two more videos at you. First, Sunset (Bird of Prey) by Fatboy Slim. It just captures this feeling of freedom so well, truly amazing. Also, Flat Beat by Mr. Oizo, because it's dope.
The song of the day is:
The Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar
I would call this the best music video of all time. Notice how every beat element is matched to something appropriate in the environment, in perfect timing. A beautiful video for a beautiful song. The Chemical Brothers have always had amazing videos, including Let Forever Be, The Golden Path, The Test, Elektrobank, and at least 5 more.
Enjoy the links, and get excited! More RnBass tomorrow!
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