The best thing about the migration of music videos to the online space is that everyone's got full permission to get weird. When you don't have to fight for airtime or mass appeal, you're free to explore the darkest or strangest or zaniest corners of your creative mind—the outcome of which can be some beautifully idiosyncratic art. And whether you're a Top 40 heavy-hitter like Ariana Grande or a Puerto Rican pop duo promoting your debut EP, you're all created equal in the eyes of the interwebz. Here are our top music video picks from the last week.
Much like A-1's "Good People" featured in last week's round up, "Unconditional Rebel" was shot from a car window at an incredibly high framerate on a Phantom camera (1000 fps, to be more specific). The result is a 3.5-minute video that actually took five seconds to film before being slowed waaaaaay down, and it looks like a David LaChapelle photo come to life. You're seeing something like 80 people here lined up along more than 250 feet of road with a camera-strapped car zipping past them at about 30 MPH. You've got to get up pretty early in the morning to make a novel music video these days, but Siska and her team—including director Guillaume Panariello—nailed it.
Florence + The Machine are back so hard they might shatter! Florence Welch recently disclosed that she spiraled into a nervous breakdown during her time off between the Machine's last album, Ceremonials, and the new release, How Big How Blue How Beautiful, and "What Kind Of Man" looks like a properly cathartic start to exorcising those demons.
Maybe we're just suckers for a pretty face, but it takes some real guts to put the weight of your whole music video on just your face. No special effects. No dramatic enactment of lyrics. Just a camera and some real feeling. Stay captivating, Donn T.
If we were half-animated people inviting our significant others over for some dinner, dancing, and explosive firework sex, this is exactly the evening we'd hope to have.
When Ariana Grande is facing down the apocalypse, you guys, she's going to embrace her fate and peacefully watch the world burn. Ari's video presence for her album My Everything continues to be awesomely bad, but at least she goes over the top. And this time she even had Chronicle screenwriter Max Landis giving direction!
Here's a secret to success in the music video roundup: Put something together that feels like a genuine and honest and embodiment of your song, and we're likely to fall in love. It may not be elaborate, but these two crazy kids and their big gold picture frame had us fully invested in their romance.
This might be the best horror short film produced so far in 2015.
Clips used in this music video include, but are not limited to, Under Siege, The Big Lebowski, The Artist, Team America: World Police, Wet Hot American Summer, Hot Shots, and the Bound 2 parody video starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. Everyone wins.
The best music video about the nightlives of drag performers in Puerto Rico we've ever seen. Full stop.
We commend any MC who makes a video that looks like Tron and Lawnmower Man and Max Headroom and Grand Theft Auto all stitched together.
