The Return of the Video?

[pax]

First, a confession: I really do believe that the music video can be a legitimate art form. They can be eye-poppingly beautiful, complex, and rich with meaning, like a four-minute-long foreign film or something. I know lots of people argue that the video is just a glorified commercial, and I agree with that sometimes, but imagine all the supercool, arty videos out there--you're telling me there's not a true artist in Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, or Spike Jonze, or Mark Romanek, or... any of the other good video directors out there?

Okay. So you've probably noticed that the video hadn't been doing especially well--there were a few cool videos from time to time, but unless you have MTV2 (which I understand has gone considerably down the tubes anyway), you rarely get to actually see them on the video channels. (Viewers outside America or ones possessing satellite dishes, please feel free to correct or add to my statement.) It seems that, say, the White Stripes and Coldplay had consistently decent videos, but sometimes only decent--not especially great or memorable.

But lately...I don't know, it seems like I've been seeing a lot of really cool, weird videos again. "The Year of the Rat" by Badly Drawn Boy, "Float On" by Modest Mouse, and "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand are three I can name just off the top of my head. Am I alone in thinking that maybe videos are getting cool again? And isn't that Badly Drawn Boy video just the sweetest, funkiest thing you've seen in a long time?

[u2popmofo]

I dig the videos you've mentioned (that I've seen).

Some other recent ones I've really liked are:

Postal Service - 'Such Great Heights' (very artsy)
The Shins - 'So Says I' (hated it at first, it wore on me)
Beta Band - 'Assessment' (LOVE this video, and the song)
Faithless - 'Mass Destruction' (I really like how the imagery ties in with the lyrics in this video, and how he's yelling at a wall most of the time)

[HeartlandGirl]

I agree that Mtv2 has been going the way of the original Mtv, but it is still where I get to see a lot of videos. Or I'll watch them on Yahoo! Launch. Anyway, yeah, there have been some cool videos lately. Some bands are out there really trying to do something good with them. On the other hand, I would say that rap videos as a whole continue to get worse and worse. Could their formula be any more stale? I wonder whether it's the artists who insist on adhering to the formula or whether there is some kind of marketing research that justifies making almost every rap video the same.

A few videos I've liked recently (within the past year or so):

Secret Machines - Nowhere Again (cool lighting)
Placebo - The Bitter End (good performance video)
AFI - Sing the Sorrow (another good performance video)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps (more cool lighting, simple but effective)

None of those are all that groundbreaking, but I enjoy them nonetheless for what they are. I also completely agree with The Shins, The Postal Service, and especially Faithless.

[Zoorock Girl!]

I'm sick to death of performance based videos. Completely lame. Maybe if a band does one or two of them, fine, but after that...

[pax]

I wish that Launch had the new Badly Drawn Boy video...I did watch the White Stripes' "Hotel Yorba" video, though. THAT one was weird. Why is Meg tied to Jack the whole time? Oh, the subtext...

[Moonlit_Angel]

I've seen a Modest Mouse video while flipping around the channels...think it was the one for "Float On". Very, very strange, indeed-but definitely creative. Haven't seen any of the other ones you all listed, though-I haven't been watching a lot of recent videos. My video experience has been mainly with VH1 Classic. I've discovered while watching that channel that I really like the videos that British artists made in the late 70s and early 80s. There's something about the way they're filmed that I really enjoy. And of course, the creativity involved is awesome, too.

I'm not one of those people who argues against music videos. I love watching them. I love seeing what people come up with for a video idea. There've been some excellent music videos throughout the years.

Angela

[Muggsy]

have you watched "flowers" by emilie simon??

[Bono's shades]

I love music videos - good ones, that is. I'm addicted to VH1 Classic, and I always try really hard to catch the Subterranean show on MTV2 late on Sunday nights. And I still turn on regular VH1 in the mornings while I'm getting ready for work - usually it's a hopeless endeavor, but once in a while I'll see something interesting. I about fell over when I saw the Modest Mouse video on there one morning. I thought I was hallucinating. (Of course I'd already seen the video weeks before on MTV2, but still...)

I agree with everyone who's loving the new Badly Drawn Boy video. It's like the video for "Everyday" by the Dave Matthews Band, except it's animated and much, much better. Another current video I really like is Prince's "Musicology."

[IWasBored]

at home, the only video channel we've got is BET. while i'm biased because i flat out can't stand any of the music they play, i've seriously seen some of the most boring and unmemorable videos on that channel. my sister will put the tv on and leave it on BET all day, and it seems like every freaking video is some guy waving his arms into the camera, and some half-naked girls shaking their asses.

i haven't seen any of the videos you mentioned, with the exception of the video for 'float on', which i don't remember.

I'm sick to death of performance based videos. Completely lame. Maybe if a band does one or two of them, fine, but after that...

i'd rather have a decent performance-based video (ie. one that doesn't ONLY focus on the singer), than a video with a cheesy story line.

[HeartlandGirl]

I agree about the performance videos, IWB. It can even be refreshing to see people actually playing some instruments.

[IWasBored]

Originally posted by HeartlandGirl
I agree about the performance videos, IWB. It can even be refreshing to see people actually playing some instruments.

there was a specific example i was going to mention, but i can't remember what it was.

[u2popmofo]

Originally posted by IWasBored




there was a specific example i was going to mention, but i can't remember what it was.

AFI - 'The Leaving Song Pt. 2' ?

[HeartlandGirl]

Originally posted by HeartlandGirl
AFI - Sing the Sorrow (another good performance video)

Whoops! That's the name of the album. I meant to say "The Leaving Song, Pt. 2." Awesome performance video, so says I.

[pax]

How about the obviously Graduate-inspired "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5? I can't tell yet if it's great or terrible.

[The New Radical]

I liked the Temptation video by The Tea Party. That was fun.

[pax]

And "Take Your Mama" by the Scissor Sisters! Trippy!

[IWasBored]

speaking of AFI videos...what WAS that bunny thing in the girls not grey video????

[SkeeK]

best music video of all time?

UNKLE - Eye 4 an Eye. believe it.

some other cool videos:


Radiohead – Just
Blur - Coffee and TV
RHCP – Can’t Stop, Otherside
Outkast – Hey Ya
Johnny Cash – Hurt
UNKLE – rabbit in your headlights
Zero 7 - Destiny
Dirty Vegas – Days Go By
Avalanches – Frontier Psychiatrist
Basement Jaxx – Where’s Your Head At?
Bjork - Bachelorette, Hyperballad
Orbital – Halcyon On & On, The Box
Fatboy Slim – Push The Tempo
Pulp – Bad Cover Version
Pearl Jam - Do The Evolution
The Dresden Dolls - Girl Anachronism
Queens of the Stone Age - Go With The Flow
El-P - Stepfather Factory

[Pinball Wizard]

Originally posted by IWasBored
i'd rather have a decent performance-based video (ie. one that doesn't ONLY focus on the singer), than a video with a cheesy story line.

Have you not seen that one suspenseful Bon Jovi video where the guy jumps off a building in front of his girlfriend... but then in the last ten minutes (relative time) he pulls the cord on a parachute! And it says Marry ME!!!!!!!!

But seriously,

Bjork- Human Behaviour
Radiohead- Just (good call Skeek... actually your whole list is money), and any of the KidA promos.
Michael Flatley- Lord of the Dance.

[Basstrap]

no, I really hate most performance stuff.

like, look at us we're playing on the moon

or a ship

or (an airport)

or a barge

directors are beginnig to run out of ideas of where to put them. Soon they'll be playing in tea shops and sewers and hot air balloons and sex stores and on top of pen points and weather towers.
but, of course, when they wanna throw you for a loop they'll have em playing on a stage in some underground club. like, 'look at us, we're cool'. or maybe they'll just have a fake live concert.

naw, I'd much rather a bjork video with thought into it.
not a coldplay video where all that happens is he runs over to some girls by a window or something