Gorillaz

Ten Things In 2010: Music Videos

There’s a picture in a family album somewhere of me as a diaper-clad youngster dancing around the TV whilst in cowboy boots. That’s probably the earliest memory I have of MTV. Growing up, music videos were always something I would turn to whenever I had the chance. These days I turn to the internet for my music video needs and I thought I would share my top ten with you.

HERE WE GO!

10. I Want The World To Stop from Belle & Sebastian on Vimeo.

Whether or not this is technically a music video is up for debate. Frankly, the song is good enough to where I don’t really care. It’s cut from a larger video which features at least two performances from Belle & Sebastian’s album Write About Love. I like seeing the visuals of the band playing and the song is way too distracting to do much in the way of nitpicking. This is just a great song!

9. She & Him In The Sun from rhivanz on Vimeo.

If you hadn’t heard, or were maybe just living under a rock, Zooey Deschanel is in a band. She sings and dances around while her cohort, M. Ward looks cool and plays his guitar. That’s essentially the plot to this music video and I’m quite fine with that. While the album itself has fallen some from my interest, this song remains a favorite and this video complements it nicely!

8. Warpaint “Undertow” from maudegone on Vimeo.

I never gave the new Warpaint album enough of a chance to give it a place in my top album list, but their music video for Undertow is top notch. Directed by Shannyn Sossamon, the video elicits a kind of whimsical dreamy state that’s fitting for the music. Definitely a favorite. Plan for 2011: Get acquainted with Warpaint!

7. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs from Merge Records on Vimeo.

A good video for a good song. Directed by Spike Jonze. I have a feeling you’ll like this one too.

6. Los Campesinos “Romance Is Boring” from Alanedit on Vimeo.

I’m not entirely sure if this is the “official” video for the song, but I’m going to assume it is and continue watching. You should too. It’s Los Campesinos!

5. The New Pornographers: Crash Years from Rockonlelkek Staff on Vimeo.

While this won’t go down as my favorite New Pornographers music video ever, it’s a nice complement to the Neko-fronted song and features a bunch of cool umbrella choreography! Don’t know about you, but I imagine that the entire band is down there twirling the umbrellas around. WAVE TO DAN BEJAR!!!

4. Broken Bells “The Ghost Inside” from Jacob Gentry on Vimeo.

What’s better than a Broken Bells music video? How about a Broken Bells music video featuring Christina Hendricks in a sci-fi setting, selling her body parts to make her way across the galaxy?

3. Gorillaz – Stylo from Mario Ucci on Vimeo.

This music video from Gorillaz is a rather striking departure in that it ditches the 2D animation from the band’s previous outings in favor of creepy-CGI. Bruce Willis joins the fun as an antagonist with a great car and a huge gun. The result is a really fun and engaging music video.

2. Vampire Weekend – Cousins (Official MV) by. Garth Jennings from JOOONAE LEE on Vimeo.

This is perhaps my favorite song off of Contra, and as such is my favorite music video thus far for this band. There’s a low-fi quality to the video that’s endearing and the editing is smart. I much prefer this video to “Giving Up The Gun,” which relied WAY too heavily on slow-mo and a slew of cameos.

1. Mates of State: True Love Will Find You In The End from Amplified on Vimeo.

I love love love Mates of State, which makes having their music video at the #1 spot on my music video list a bit of a given. The idea behind the video is fun and the husband and wife team can’t help but exude adorableness as they prance around the city projecting themselves onto other people, places and things.

On Plastic Beach; It’s Some Kind Of Nature

Today marks the release of Plastic Beach, the third album by virtual band Gorillaz. If you’re up to date on your music news, you’ll know that NPR has had a preview of the entire album up on it’s site to give fans an early listen. After about a dozen or so listens, I thought I would share some kind of review for you. Short version: It’s good and you need to go buy it right away.

Slightly less short version: If you’re expecting the same kind of album as Demon Days or their self-titled debut, you might be a little disappointed. There are less standalone singles here than in previous albums. The trade off, though, is that the album feels more connected and flows way better. From first to the last track, it’s an entire experience. Granted, nothing quite to the extent of Girl Talk’s Feed The Animals, but it gets close and you will find yourself going through the entire album more than once without realizing how many tracks have passed.

I have a little bias in this review as I’ve enjoyed Damon Albarn’s band since the beginning and could tell I would enjoy this new album immediately after listening to Stylo when it was leaked awhile back. And the singles on this track are difficult to get out of your head, from the frenetic “Superfast Jellyfish” to the somber “On Melancholy Hill.” It’s a finely crafted album and I heartily recommend you get it at your earliest convenience.