As we’ve been going through the top 40 tracks and albums of the year, I thought we should take some time out to recognise some of the best music videos of 2010.
Although you’ll see a few familiar faces here, this is very much about the visuals – what were those standout “wow” moments of late night Rage viewing? What were the videos that made us see the song in a completely new light? What were the videos which seemed to perfectly sum up what the song was all about, while surpassing our own imaginations? Here are a few of the videos that did just that in 2010.
10.
This was one of those videos that came and went, but it stuck with all of us.
Foals – Blue Blood
9.
One of our favourite tracks of 2010 was provided with a pretty outstanding music video that the contributors of the AU review couldn’t get enough of. Beautifully shot, “Rabbit Song” is the first of two Australian tracks to make the countdown.
Boy & Bear – Rabbit Song
8.
The debut single off of his new album, “Runaway” produced an outstanding music video. Do we expect any less from Kanye? The simplicity of it is what makes it work so well – the focus is on the excellent editing, choreography as well as some gorgeous post production colour grading. Who says you need a big budget to put out an amazing clip? Ironically, this probably cost an arm and a leg nonetheless…
Kanye West – Runaway
7.
Our highest rating Australian clip comes in at number 7, and it’s no surprise who holds the crown. It was hard to go anywhere this year without hearing or seeing “Solitude is Bliss”, which set the bar extremely high for Australian music videos in 2010.
Tame Impala – Solitude is Bliss
6.
This was my personal favourite clip of the year – the “Little Rascals” vibe in the first half is wonderful, and when we switch the focus it’s downright hilarious. And when you realise the whole thing was shot on a Canon 7D, the whole “hey I can do that too!” scenario comes into play and makes it all the more impressive. A well deserved entry into our top 10.
The Black Keys – Tighten Up
5.
Three words: Bruce fucking Willis. Nothing more needs to be said.
Gorillaz – Stylo
4.
This clip is truly beautiful – I won’t bore you with words – just relax and enjoy.
Warpaint – Undertow
3.
When I first saw this clip at 1 in the morning on Rage, I remember yelling “boobs!” at the top of my lungs. Yes, there is nudity galore in this clip, but there is oh so much more. A very impressive clip from a single which helped push Yeasayer’s sophomore album Odd Blood straight onto everyone’s favourite albums of the year list.
Yeasayer – Ambling Alp2.
We had a bit of a debate as to which video for OK GO‘s “This Too Shall Pass” would make it into the countdown – but the unanimous decision was the Rude Goldberg version. Another entry into the amazing YouTube OK GO bakcatalogue that surpasses the popularity of the band itself. When you consider the fact that the money they make from the clips goes into purchasing GUITARS THAT SHOOT FRICKIN LASER BEAMS for their live shows, one must ask themselves: why aren’t OK GO the biggest band in the world?
OK GO – This Too Shall Pass (Rude Goldberg Version)
Here’s the alternate version as a matter of comparison – we love it too but the Rude Goldberg version definitely took the cake for our countdown…
1.
We close out our countdown with the year’s most infamous video clip. M.I.A‘s “Born Free” showed up in our inbox one morning, and everyone in the office very quickly lost their appetites. Confronting, daring, beautifully shot, skillfully edited – the music video for “Born Free” is in a class of its own – reinventing the song completely, while sending waves of controversy through the music community. This is one very deserving number one clip.
M.I.A. – Born Free
Very Special Mention:
Arcade Fire: “The Wilderness Downtown / We Used to Wait” Interactive Music Video. This Google Chrome “Experiment” was a welcome surprise to supplement the release of The Suburbs. We really hope to see more of this level of interaction.
Experience it for yourself here: http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/
Also worth mentioning is The Chemical Brothers’ 12 minute epic of light and sound “Escape Velocity” and just about everything that Lady Gaga put out this year. It doesn’t matter what you think of her music – she puts out cinematic wonders with every single released… in particular “Alejandro”. You can view all of her videos here: http://www.youtube.com/ladygagavevo – and we’ve embedded the Chemical Brothers video for your viewing pleasure!
We hope you’ve enjoyed this countdown – it was a terribly terribly difficult list to make. As always, we invited all of our contributors to vote on their favourite videos, and this list was the result. We can’t wait to see what 2011 has in store in the music video department… in the meantime, stay tuned for the top 20 tracks of 2010 – and our favourite gigs of the year!
