Decent Music Videos

We are all acutely aware of how rare it is to see music videos on television anymore. Its almost become cliche to mock MTV for its lack of actual musical content. And what they do show is only available to the insomniac viewers who like artless, self promoting crap. I've simply come to expect that in order to find anything good anymore, you have to look online.

So, in the interests of brevity, I'll jump right in.

This first video comes from Kwoon, a French post-rock band. The art is exceptional and the action follows the story arc of the lyrics. The song is very dramatic and really fits what is on screen. Title is "I Lived on the Moon" from the album Tales and Dreams.



Next is a great stop-motion video from Oren Lavie, a folk/pop singer from Tel Aviv Israel. While stop-motion is nothing new in the music video world (just ask Peter Gabriel) it can still be done right. The tone of the song mixed with the whimsical nature of the video make for a good combination. Title is "Her Morning Elegance" from the album The Opposite Side of the Sea.



British artist Jarvis Cocker gave is this next video in 2006. After fronting the band Pulp for years, Cocker released his first solo album, Jarvis, in November and from that came his first single "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time". The video for this song is a creative play on fake, in-studio car scenes and made me laugh out loud the first time I saw it.



For those of you familiar with Boards of Canada, you already know of their great music but reclusive nature. Not ones to favor the camera's eye, it took until their 2006 EP, Trans Canada Highway, for them to release their first official music video. While the beginning footage for "Dayvan Cowboy" is not original it has an amazing story behind it. The man falling from space is Joseph Kittinger, an Air Force officer who, in the summer of 1960, leapt from a weather balloon at an altitude of almost 103,000 feet. The music really fits the video here.



Last, but not least, is one of my favorites of all time. Kung Fu fighting Cowboys on Mars, Scantily clad damnsel in distress, robots, unicorns, lasers, etc. etc. You name it Muse had it in their video for "Knights of Cydonia". I actually owe my discovery of this video (and Muse) to MTV's extremely late night block of music videos. This video and its album Black Holes and Revelations started a coming out party for Muse and started it right.



Thats all for now. If you have any suggestions of your own music video favorites from classic to contemporary, feel free to post them in the comments below. You can even post bad ones if you're so inclined. Sometimes those are more entertaining than the good ones.