your favorite videos

other great videos...... some of the later Depeche Mode ones, the OK Computer Radiohead ones.....

...and Playgroup are FANTASTIC. Their DJ Kicks album - essentail.

i like that one too...

my favourites are ANYTHING directed by Shynola (Junior Senior, Quannum, Radiohead etc.), Michel Gondry and H5 so thats most crazy French dance videos, all Bjork vids, all Massive Attack vids, all Daft Punk vids (esp. 'Burnin'), Pharcyde's 'Drop', MARRS 'Pump Up The Volume', Souls Of Mischief '93 Til Infinity', Ken Ishii 'Extra', Madonna 'Bedtime Story', Coldcut 'More Beats & Pieces' i could go on forever

And some of the Massive videos, too, although Special Cases was really cheap and nasty.... merely a collection of horrible stock imagery. Ugh.

Also, we can't forget the Pet Shop Boys - consistently brilliant videos. The Bruce Weber ones were great (Being Boring), Domino Dancing's great, thew remix of Paninaro, all the Nightlife ones. In fact - PSBs are probably the most consistently great - but the Tillmanns video for Home and Dry wasn't great (the mice).

Tom Waits-"What's He Building..."

And for ha-ha value

Rolling Stones-It's Only Rock N Roll (But I Like It)

I guess that Chemical Brothers Michel Gondry train one is pretty impressive, too.

Weezer - Undone (The Sweater Song) directed by Spike Jonze
Everyone praises "Buddy Holly" but this is the real cinematic achievement in Weezer's videography. One continous slow motion tracking shot in a bright blue room while the group lip syncs badly while having a hell of a good time. The geek rock orgasm culminates when an army of dogs rushes the retreating camera and the band goes into full on freak out mode.

its possible he's done the new White Stripes vid but i still havent seen that yet

Cat Power - "Cross Bones Style" which looks like a Gap ad, but is somehow scary, all white background, Chan rollerskates and dances like a zombie and plays a red guitar, dancers do a deadpan macarena-like dance.

And my alltime favorite, the godlike "Break Up Your Band" by Chavez, which involves a fake talk show and male strippers dressed up like a fireman, a Chinese aristocrat, a lion (with a mask), and a spaceman, who descends from the ceiling on a spaceship. The lion stripper twists his ankle and panic ensues. Chavez looks unfazed. Incredible.

pavement - gold soundz (band walks near mall, finds santa outfits, then fake bows and arrows and then go hunting for a butterball turkey flying through the air and then, inside the turkey, they find car keys, then they drive to a hill, roll down it, and then drink milk!)

ODB - Got Your Money - Dolemite!

Whale - Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe - Braces!

1.8.7. - We Are Not Alone (i lived so far from any sort of dance scene and when i would see this video i would get so into the low-budget futurism)

Luke Slater- Love (life is really like that for me... the treadmill, the flashbacks, etc.)

Tom Waits-"What's He Building..."

!! I have never seen this. Do tell.

In the history of music video it is simply unsurpassable in terms of sheer brilliance and vitality.

"Black Planet" by the Sisters of Mercy. Andrew, Craig and Wayne driving around L.A. freeway clovers in the Monkees' red covertible sports car. Andrew at the wheel, stopping by scenic nuclear power plants, while Wayne and Craig nap in hungover, smack-comedown stupors. Utter, utter majesty.

"Mexican Radio" by Wall of Voodoo has to get a mention. Back from the golden age of video, its collage of wilfully bizarre imagery (iguana on a spit, face in a bowl of refried beans, a pinata filled with lizards) is still wildly entertaining.

"Stigmata" by Ministry. The video that made me finally appreciate this band. Gritty, black'n'white stock footage of machinery insterspliced with footage of AL Jourgensen (in then-signature flip-up spectacles) mugging for the camera, running from Paul Barker's motorcycle and -- inexplicably -- being strangled by a metal arm. Snippets of the band playing to a gaggle of sieg-heiling skinheads is another reason to be given pause. A seamless merging of sound with visual.

also:
soundgarden: black hole sun
busta rhymes: gime some more
lanny meyers: a warm reception i l.a. (even though it's more of a short film than a video.

and cibo matto and cunningham/warp is of course OTM as well

others:
"downtown lights" blue nile
"i got a man" positive K
"tour de france" senor coconut y su conjunto
the pumpkins videos from GISH

"ohio riverboat song" - the palace brothers
"hope" - dirty three
nearly still life goodness... stunning and natural... must see(s).

yo la tengo - "sugarcube"
superchunk - "watery hands"
humor has no place in music.

"goodbye to you" - scandal with patti smythe
visual distortion with those tight black and white stripes (which are soooo hot right now btw) it makes my eyes feel like they've been googled.

The New Edition videos for "Mr. Telephone Man," "Is This The End?" and "Cool It Now" are exqusite as well. Lots of over-the-top hand gestures, the obscene sight of Ralph singing so high, Bobby Brown already showing thug tendencies, and the latter two helpfully point out the names of each member.

Speaking of videos filmed in only one take, I've thought of another really cool vid: Lucas' "Lucas With the Lid Off"...supposedly, in the take that became the video, Lucas broke his leg about 2/3 of the way through the video and sorta hobbled along, and it ended up being perfect. Urban legend or not, it's still a fuckin gnarly video.

and def. got to chime in on cunningham and gondry. check out the streaming gondry genius right here...

oh and i vividly remember that Lucas video being extremely cool - lots of strange tiny little sets, pulling from one shot through a window into another. kinda proto-gondry actually!

people getting chased / run over by cars in music videos = classic, obv

I *big heart* Sisters of Mercy's "Black Planet" video as well. One of my favorite things about the band is that they were an opening act for the Psychedelic Furs (have I *told* you guys how much I *love* this band??) and thus can fit into the list of the "best opening acts ever" (& the "tours I'm envious I couldn't take part in" list too). Wasn't there once a site with photos from the "Black Planet" video shoot?? I can't seem to find it anywhere.

I think the following videos are also great to watch, though a lot of them may appear a little low-rent:

Pet Shop Boys, "Opportunities"
Devo, "Freedom of Choice"
Golden Earring, "Twilight Zone"
M, "Pop Musik"
Scritti Politti, "Hypnotize"
Gang of Four, "Is it Love"
Spandau Ballet, "Gold"
Bryan Ferry, "Slave to Love"
David Bowie, "DJ"
Bonnie Tyler, "Total Eclipse of the Heart"
Madness, "House of Fun"
The Specials, "Ghost Town"
General Public, "Come Again"
Ultravox, "Dancing With Tears in My Eyes"

At least these are the ones I can think of at the moment.

Break time over. :)

Seconded, and may I add that Chavez's video for "Unreal Is Here", a takeoff on every stadium-rock band's tour video ever made, is also brilliant.

beautiful artwork too

MTV2 aired "Window Licker" this weekend as part of their "Most Controversial Videos Ever" special. As creeeepy as they wanna be.

Best use of nature footage to fuck shit up, ever.

Bjork - It's Oh So Quiet

Obviously. Not so obviously for the lack of aperture compensation when the speed ramps up on the camera, thus making the scenes look dull and dark when she goes into the soft parts.

Most any Spike Jonze video, really. 'Cepting maybe for Da Funk.

Any Liz Phair video circa The Matador Years - You see the label throwing all the money behind the sexy-indie chick...

JSBX - Talk About The Blues. Winonna!

Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy is the first video I remember watching. It had guys with TVs for heads.

Smashing Pumpkins - Tonite, Tonite

Guns N' Roses - November Rain. Axl Rose dated Stephanie Seymour. And he hit her. Winner of the second annual David Justice Balls Of Steel Award.

Disco 2000 by Pulp is yet another skyscraping moment in popvideo history, Pulp always got it right but this is maybe the best.

Describe what happens.

...Juicy, b-cuz it shows my apartment.

Someone else will probably be able to articulate the allure of this better than I can, is worth seeking out anyway.

http://www.robertwebb.com/images/hedrives.jpg

Sigur Ros has a video for whatever-they-call-track-7-on-Agaetis Birjun that's really very touching and beautiful.

And I swear you could make an entire tape/DVDR of Bjork & Busta Rhymes videos and be thoroughly pleased until the end of your days.

2Pac ft Dre - "California Love" : Mad Max stylee. Dre has an eyepatch!

Kelis - "Get Along With You" : Visually, a Tim Burton/Tool hybrid (thankfully not aurally, haha).

Outkast - "B.O.B." - here comes everything! sheer madness! & was it "Rosa Parks" which had that mentalistic marching band?

(lots of love for Gondry, "Remind Me", etc etc. I've heard a lot of good things about the video/short film for Flowered Up's "Weekender" - anyone seen it?)

His Name is Alive "Can't Go Wrong Without You"
Tall Dwarfs "Turning Brown & Torn in Two"
Bad Religion "Atomic Garden"
Medicine "5ive"
Super Furry Animals "It's Not the End of the World"
Blur "Coffee & TV"
Yo La Tengo "Sugarcube"
R.E.M. "Losing My Religion"
Johnny Cash "Hurt"
Avalanches "Frontier Psychiatrist"

my faves by her....
Erotica, Bedtime Story, Frozen, Justify my love.

Like A Prayer is classic - oooh the 'black jesus with madonna as naughty repenting sex kitten' controversy...

Ray Of Light is a nice piece of time-lapsing work

and Cherish, rolling around on the beach in black and white - a bit 'Calvin Klein advert' but pretty cool

satisfied Russ?

my favorite 90's madonna video hands down.

i don't watch too much tv anymore so it's just not for me to say, but Gondry's done his share. Daft Punk's 'Around The World' just makes me happy at the end of the day.

Also one of the best. It's very rare for Madonna to make a bad video.

Black Seeds - "Hey Son" & "Keep On Pushing" (post-Peter Jackson gonzoid kiwi pulp excess)
Dubious Bros ft DJ Sir-Vere - "Rage" ((ph)atmospheric)
Salmonella Dub - "Problems" (gorgeously animated. babylon inna desert stylee - bad peyote, voodoo majik, military industrial complex, & rebirth)
Salmonella Dub - "Push On Thru" (tussock, ice - mind vs landscape FITE)
Jakob - "Nice Day For An Earthquake" (see above)
Che Fu - "Top Floor" (featuring Che Fu knitting himself a sock, a NZ On Air cake, & tea for everyone - it's the little things, etc)
King Kapisi - "Sub-Cranium Feeling" (an even better use of water/surfaces than Josh Wink's "Higher State Of Consciousness", & in such a summery, looming manner)
Goodshirt - "Blowing Dirt" (backwards tracking sort of like the Pharcyde's "Drop", except with a static camera, & involving the band utterly WASTING a mini. + wetsuits & balloons)

this is one of the worst videos ever

Sonz Of A Loop Da Loop Era - "Far Out" (feel the viiibe - low-budget enthusiastic ardkore fun - the group & their mates dancing like mentalists & having fun; & doing that whole psychedelic-on-a-shoestring thing - did this come out at vaguely the same time as "I Am One" & "Groove Is In The Heart"? & can anyone tell me which one was Danny Breaks? & are any other rave/ardkore videos worth hunting down? the only other one I've seen is the Prodigy's "Out Of Space" - emus!) (& the KLF's "What Time Is Love?" is also k-grebt)

it came out late '91/early '92, quite a while after Deee-Lite. Danny Breaks is the prominent white guy with the cropped hair, i can't remember what he's wearing tho.

other great 'ardkore/rave videos' for their low budget excellence:

Prodigy 'Everybody In The Place'
Altern 8 'Evapor-8'
Sy-Kick 'Nasty'
House Crew 'The Theme'
Urban Hype 'A Trip To Trumpton'
Acen 'Trip II The Moon'
Moby 'Bring Back My Happiness'

just remembered!

Justin Timberlake - "Cry Me A River" (I could write an essay on this. Perfect perfect perfect.)

Love "Sledgehammer" too.

You cannot be serious.