What’s your favourite music video? When I was growing up, I can remember many days spent sprawled out on the couch, watching with varying degrees of interest the constant stream of music videos on stations like MTV2/Hits/Q etc. I looked forward to seeing new music videos, and found a couple of hours spent gazing at Kerrang’s Rock Top 20 or MTV’s Select show strangely very, very enjoyable. Nowadays, these types of situations are more or less confined to hangover days, and I only have one music channel now anyway, because I’ve grown up and have to pay my own NTL bills, meaning the ‘package’ that I can afford isn’t exactly flush with choice.
Anyways, I’ve now taken to searching out music videos for songs that I like online when I hear them on the radio or TV or whatever. This can then lead onto finding more good ones, and bad ones, and before you know it, that one simple google search has spiralled out of control as usual and it’s 4 in the morning and you’re watching All The Single Ladies in amazement again. Ahem, well, it could happen anyway.
As I talked about on The Venntertainment Show this week, Michael Jackson’s Thriller was recently added to The National Film Registry in the US. It was the first time that a music video has been entered into this store of culturally important films. It got me thinking about music videos again, how they’ve evolved, and what they’ve become. Check out The Venntertainment Show to hear our chat, but for now, here’s the 4 videos that I highlighted for viewing during the show. By the way, each one is well worth giving a few minutes of your time to appreciate (unless it’s 4 in the morning, then just go to bed!).
1-From one of 2009’s breakthrough acts, this video accompanied Grizzly Bear’s stand out single Two Weeks. A simple idea, executed very well. 2 words: Exploding Heads.
2-From one of the coolest bands of 2009 comes a sexy, no holds barred visual assault that perfectly gels with the song to create one of the most effective music videos of the last few years. From one of the great music video directors, Jonathan Glazer, who was previously responsible for Radiohead’s Karma Police and the film Sexy Beast, the video for The Dead Weather’s Treat Me Like Your Mother holds the viewers attention from start to finish, culminating in a machine gun shootout between Jack White and Alison Mosshart. Outstanding.
3/4- To round things up, I’ll suggest two videos from a little while back that are worth looking back at. Directed by Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry respectively, these showcase music videos at their most creative.
The video for Drop by The Pharcyde involves a simple premise; film the group walking/running/jumping backwards through the streets, and then reverse the footage. The result is both interesting to watch and at times hilarious, but always entertaining. Spike Jonze directed this in 1996, once again displaying his genius behind the lens.
Another video that plays with the reversed footage idea is Michel Gondry’s video for Sugar Water by Cibo Matto. Full of ideas and imaginative touches, this split-screen music video may demand a couple of views before it all becomes clear. Also filmed in 1996 (a vintage year it seems), this is one of my all time favourite music videos, and showcases the unbelievable talent of Michel Gondry in this medium.
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You Could Be Mine always stood out in memory, even though I don’t normally like ‘live’ videos, the mashup with Terminator 2 was just too good for my 5 year old when I saw it. Iron Maiden’s ‘Can I Play With Madness’ gets a nod from me too. In the last decade or so brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr probably Rabbit In Your Headlights by UNKLE.
And how could I forget Van Halen’s ‘Hot For Teacher’?
Some great stuff there Ru. Iron Maiden had some classics!