What do you see there Johnny?

December 28, 2005 10:33 PM

Fifty music videos that are neat. Also, some guy thinks they were the best of 2005. [via the oh so quiet show]
posted by panoptican (44 comments total)

That Decemberists video is (as 'the Kids' sometimes say) off the Suge Knight. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
posted by hughbot at 10:50 PM on December 28, 2005

The Röyksopp video was solid, but not quite as good as his previous work (aka the Greatest Music Video of All Time).
posted by bbuda at 11:08 PM on December 28, 2005

Anyone know what the hell's going on with that Bright Eyes video? The link says it's for Gold Mine Gutted, but the song that plays for the first half is Easy Lucky Free. The second half is the right song, but the video never stops or indicates in any way that one song ends and another begins.

Either way, how the hell did that video make anyone's "best of" list?
posted by SAC at 11:17 PM on December 28, 2005

wow, music videos. who know they still made these?
posted by deafmute at 11:17 PM on December 28, 2005

wow, music videos. who knew they still made these?
posted by deafmute at 11:17 PM on December 28, 2005

The animal collective video is extraordinary. I can't believe I missed all these.
posted by deafmute at 11:34 PM on December 28, 2005

I found the animal collective song to be at different moments very pleasing to the ear and at others absolutely annoying and insipid. The video was cool, but "extraordinary?"
posted by wsg at 12:32 AM on December 29, 2005

Some great videos there. Well worth a peruse on the holiday days between Christmas and New Year.
posted by ClanvidHorse at 2:45 AM on December 29, 2005

Is anyone else long, long over the Gorillaz and their animation gimmick? Snore.
posted by secret about box at 3:15 AM on December 29, 2005

The Aphex Twin one is pretty cool if not just weird. Thanks for these.
posted by Acey at 3:17 AM on December 29, 2005

To balance my snark with something else:

Jose Gonzalez is amazing. Loved that video. Anyone who has not listened to this guy is seriously missing out.
posted by secret about box at 3:23 AM on December 29, 2005

WhitesFilter
posted by rxrfrx at 4:39 AM on December 29, 2005

Isn't it spelled panopticon?
posted by i_cola at 5:58 AM on December 29, 2005

These are all crappy indie bands, so are by definition rubbish.

I sadly haven't watched music television enough to offer alternatives, although the video for the "Biology" cut off Girls Aloud's last LP "Chemistry" is rather stunning visually.
posted by cillit bang at 6:01 AM on December 29, 2005

Oh you bastard. I had shit to do today, but this is amazing.

And for everyone snarking on here, what the fuck have you ever done? I thought so.
posted by fungible at 6:17 AM on December 29, 2005

I quite enjoyed the Stephen Malkmus video. Aphex Twin should not be allowed to show me their videos ever again. Spooky shit indeed! The Hell Yes robots taught me that robots now have more rythm than I do. I agree with wsg on the Animal Collective video. Still a refreshing change from pop music.
posted by furtive at 6:28 AM on December 29, 2005

Oh lord the Sigur Ros is just amazing. Saved.
posted by moonbird at 7:06 AM on December 29, 2005

What ... no Madonna !!!
posted by Leam Srehtorb at 7:12 AM on December 29, 2005

I'd say the top 5 of the 50 (of the ones I could get to work) are:

Aphex Twin - Rubber Johnny
The Planets- Moving Along
Jason Forrest - War Photographer
Jose Gonzalez- Stay In The Shade
Stephen Malkmus - Baby C'mon

Its been a fairly dry year for me in the media department, so I'm sorry to say I have no original recommendations.
posted by dgaicun at 7:27 AM on December 29, 2005

What's up with Decemberists? Too much like Rushmore.
posted by tomplus2 at 7:32 AM on December 29, 2005

CocoRosie... I'm in love.

Thanks for the post... and snarkers, go away.
posted by AspectRatio at 7:56 AM on December 29, 2005

Am I the only person who hasn't heard any of these songs?
posted by SisterHavana at 8:10 AM on December 29, 2005

Decemberists is my favorite video so far, and I have watched about 2/3 of 'em.
posted by sophist at 8:20 AM on December 29, 2005

Why do the Decemberists hate America?
posted by photoslob at 8:44 AM on December 29, 2005

this is an excellent waste of my time.
much better than hunting for the cable channel that actually plays videos, or says it does.
thank you.
posted by Busithoth at 8:55 AM on December 29, 2005

I'm with tomplus in saying that the Decemberist video was far too transparently derivative of Wes Anderson to deserve a lot of special acclaim. On the other hand at least it breaks with the typical conceptual format of most videos (that makes it such a great medium for animation and developing visual vocabularies [e.g. David Fincher]), and it's a well done little allegory, so I'm probably short-changing it. Narrative is probably underused in videos, since I can't think of many short story formats off the top of my head. Radiohead's 'The Bends' comes to mind.
posted by dgaicun at 9:06 AM on December 29, 2005

November Rain? Ok, now I just feel dirty.
posted by dgaicun at 9:09 AM on December 29, 2005

These are all crappy indie bands, so are by definition rubbish.

Sorry, no one could find a 2005 Creed video...
posted by clevershark at 9:12 AM on December 29, 2005

Which of these videos are available on DVD?
posted by Leam Srehtorb at 10:30 AM on December 29, 2005

I love that Roisin Murphy video and song. The whole album is damn good too. Sucks that it never got a US release.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 10:36 AM on December 29, 2005

Radiohead's 'The Bends' comes to mind.

You probably mean 'Just'. Apologies for being pedantic.
posted by jokeefe at 10:43 AM on December 29, 2005

No, you're right. Sorry about that. Also I changed my mind about not having any recommendations; this is my favorite music video of 2005.
posted by dgaicun at 12:20 PM on December 29, 2005

dgaincun... that was actually not a bad song...
posted by Acey at 12:51 PM on December 29, 2005

Actually this (NB quite violent and gorey) is the best video I've seen all year, not least for featuring Lena Katina dressed as a pimp.
posted by cillit bang at 12:51 PM on December 29, 2005

Am I the only person who hasn't heard any of these songs?

You're not the only one, Sister Havana. Most of these artists are unfamiliar to me. And after downloading some of these videos, I don't think I'm missing anything.
posted by soiled cowboy at 1:04 PM on December 29, 2005

Another neat video not in the list: The Thrills - The Irish Keep Gatecrashing. Stop-motion overload!

Also second the recommendation for Four Tet's Smile Around The Face in one of the comments. (I kept wondering, where have I seen that face before? but wikipedia killed all mystery.)
posted by funambulist at 1:06 PM on December 29, 2005

I must be a bad person, because I laughed pretty hard at the end of cillit bang's video. Out of pure shock mostly. It's like the must fucked up Spice Girls video ever.
posted by dgaicun at 1:08 PM on December 29, 2005

Is the Decemberist video supposed to be some kind of comment on or response to Rushmore? Seriously, doesn't anybody know what the story is with that video?
posted by soiled cowboy at 1:08 PM on December 29, 2005

The Rushmore comparison was quickly made on the Decemberists message board. Keep in mind the video was as much an indie production as the music -- as the director noted:

the video was made in a spirit of absolutely insane cooperation between friends, family, and strangers who worked for little more than some snacks and the chance to throw wads of paper at Colin

and on his own site:

Points of reference
You never really want to say where you stole from, but because so many people have this wrong I think it's fair to at least direct them towards true, original sources.

I studied filmmaking in the UK. There's a wonderful director from there named Lindsay Anderson. In particular, he made films such as This Sporting Life (which nearly a year and a half ago I assumed upon first listen at Great American Music Hall to be an influence on Colin's song) If.. and O Lucky Man.

I wish more people could see these films but they are very difficult to find in the US for the most part. They are more earnestly political and critical than my nose thumbing video could ever be.

I must graciously tip my hat towards Rushmore for the idea of compact, filmic storytelling with captions. But what you primarily see is the result of a short schedule, a need for one location, a knowledge of what theatrics the band is capable of and a low budget combined with half dreamed remembrances of days spent in the cold NFT on South Bank in London. I do believe that Rushmore became a sort of touchstone for the crew, the common grammar in their heads as we all visualized this to completion. But it was not intended as such, and if it does appear to be that way it is, I accept, a failing on my part.

Also there's like one person who noticed the Brazil homage. They were right.
posted by dhartung at 3:48 PM on December 29, 2005

I frequent fly past MTV Espanol, and they play a wonderfully hillarious video by Molotov...it features a napoleon dynamite-esque character training to win the world hot dog eating crown. Pure hillarity
posted by AMWKE at 7:51 PM on December 29, 2005

The Sigur Ros video is beautifully shot and amazing to watch
posted by fudj at 7:58 PM on December 29, 2005

Easily my favorite video in recent memory.
posted by tcobretti at 10:42 PM on December 29, 2005

Now that I've watched most of the videos: Thank you thank you thank you for this post. MTV sucks balls for never playing this stuff.

cillit bang: they're not even real lesbians, you know. I saw the ending coming miles away.
posted by fungible at 11:00 PM on December 29, 2005

thanks for that, dhartung.
posted by soiled cowboy at 11:23 AM on December 30, 2005