October 2012

Best Music Videos of October 2012

Best of the month. Videos are presented as a playlist, but not in any sort of rankings... As always, I am genre agnostic. Some of these videos are pretty silly, some are serious, some are pop, and some aren't family friendly.

Both NYC-centric videos —  FUN. and Titus Andronicus —  feel way more resonant in the wake of the hurricane, so consider that the centerpiece here.

Presented as an embedded YouTube playlist, or check the full list and individual post links with full credits below. 

BEST MUSIC VIDEOS OF OCTOBER 2012

Director Chris Marrs Piliero on RZA/Black Keys "Baddest Man Alive"

Does anyone remember the big-budget soundtrack video? Aside from the occasional Twilight or Hunger Games tie-in, they've largely gone the way of soundtrack albums, made somewhat irrelvant by the post-iTunes "why buy compilations when you can buy singles" marketplace.

The interesting thing about soundtrack videos was they'd usually have a top-notch director, a generous budget, and then they would saddle it with a requirement that a certain percentage of it had to be film footage. The simple way out was just to intersperse movie clips with band performance, but there are other ways to work that footage into a narrative.

WATCH IT: Ciara "Got Me Good" (Joseph Kahn, dir.)

Joseph Kahn knows that shooting an artist in the desert makes them look elemental, like capitvating forces of nature. Ciara is raw, uncut starpower (especially when she's inviting us to the gun show) and Kahn showcases her for maximum effect with the camera moving in unique ways that make us feel intoxicated by her dance moves. Plus, adorable dancing kids!!! --> watch "Got Me Good"

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