5) Bibio “À tout à l’heure”
Directed by Bibio in collaboration with Russell Weekes
Every single Bibio video I’ve seen has been crazy cool and “À tout à l’heure” is no exception. Consisting of nothing but 8mm film footage and psychedelic editing tricks this cool video and chilled out song will make you feel like you’re running through a summer meadow.
4) Dan Deacon “Konono Ripoff No.1”
Directed by Meredith Moore
The Record Store Day single “Konono Ripoff No.1” finally got a video this week and it’s as jittery and energetic as the song. The video consists of super cool, gif-style portraits of people from Baltimore’s arts community. All holding objects that are of significance to them there is an interactive part to this video, if you download his smartphone app you can synch the objects and control the speed. Cool stuff!
3) Mac DeMarco “My Kind Of Woman”
Directed by Alex Lill
It’s no secret that Mac DeMarco likes to dress up as a woman (Mac DeMarco “Dreamin”) and is great at projecting dirtbaggery better than anyone in the low budget indie rock world. Channeling his inner Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rosellini in Blue Velvet), Mac pushes that dirtbaggery image to a creepy and uncomfortable degree. As he stumbles around in poorly applied lipstick and a wig, the video changes the sweet song for a lover into an ode to dealing with one’s feminine side.
2) Austra “Home”
Directed by that go (Noel Paul & Stefan Moore)
These days there are only a handful of music videos that can pull off a certain stillness that Austra’s latest video features. When I first watched it, two different videos came to mind: Elvis Costello’s “I Wanna Be Loved” and a more recent video, Dum Dum Girls’ “Coming Down”. In all three videos there is stuff going on around the subject but it’s the subject’s expressions we are drawn to. The desperation and loneliness in Elvis’ face, the sorrow in Dee Dee’s and the pure apathy and fatigue that can be seen across Katie Stelmanis’ face.
1) Janelle Monáe feat. Erykah Badu “Q.U.E.E.N.”
Directed by Alan Ferguson
On paper this music video isn’t something I would usually endorse (performance driven video in one location) but there is something insanely cool about Miss Janelle Monáe. The song dropped about a month ago and the video makes it even better. “Q.U.E.E.N.” is a celebration of charisma and graphic design as Monáe and Badu star in this hypnotic black-and-white driven video. There’s a ton of awesome dance steps, not to mention a cool James Bond homage during the rap verse.
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– Catstello