Top Ten Videos of 2007

Welcome to the end of the year. Video Static will be taking a much needed holiday break through January 2.

2007 was an amazing year for us and 2008 is shaping up to be even better. Big huge gigantic enormous massive THANK YOUS to everybody who has helped this site with advertising and/or information. We rely on both to keep in business and we are eternally grateful for the support. Don't be shy if you wanna get on baord.

We leave you with a Top Ten Video List of 2007... Instead of true number rankings, I've grouped them thematically and included short, somewhat relevant and/or cleverish rationales.

Top Ten Videos of 2007:

1. Snoop Dogg "Sensual Seduction" — Melina, director
   — This took some serious balls. Snoop unleashed a perfect, silly and totally unexpected homage to '80s r&b funk videos.
2. Alanis Morissette "My Humps" — no director credited
   — This took some serious humps.
3. Serj Tankian "Empty Walls"  — Tony Petrossian, director
   — Humorous and harrowing. War ain't child's play.
4. Chamillionaire "Hip Hop Police" — Marc Klasfeld, director
   — Chamillionaire as the new Eddie Murphy?
5. Justice "D.A.N.C.E." — Jonas & Francois, directors
   — Much better than most Gap ads.
6. Feist "1,2,3,4" — Patrick Daughters, director
   — Also much better than most Gap ads. And, a damn fine iPod nano ad. And way better than most videos.
7. Spoon "The Underdog" — Keven McAlester, director
   — Indie rock's greatest tracking shot and best band.
8. Grizzly Bear "Knife" — Encyclopedia Pictura, directors
   — Weirder and more elaborate and more ambitious than almost anything else this year.
9. Animal Collective "Peacebone" — Timothy Saccenti, director
   — Aliens are our friends.
10. Modest Mouse "Dashboard" — Motion Theory, directors
    — Life is a fishing metaphor. Unless you're Tom Cochrane, in which case it's a highway and you want to ride it all night long.

Happy Holidays. See you in 2008.

SHOT: The Duke Spirit - P.R. Brown, director

UK rockers The Duke Spirit share a laugh on the set of "The Step And The Walk." Don't let the joviality fool you: Duke Spirit are set to crush America with the scheduled April release of Neptune by Shangri-La Music, a new label imprint run by longtime music biz executive Jeff Ayeroff.

artist: The Duke Spirit
song: "The Step And The Walk"
label: Shangri-La Music
director(s): P.R. Brown
production co: Bauda*
commissioner: Lydia Sarno/Symphony 19

*P.R. Brown is signed with Anonymous Content

NEW RELEASE: M.I.A. "Paper Planes"

You know gangsta rap isn't quite so scary anymore when the likes of 50 Cent is considered safe enough to be the face of a line of vitamin enhanced sugar water. M.I.A., on the other hands, probably scares the heck out of lots of folks on the Giuliani mailing list with her militant and third world appropriation of hip-hop. M.I.A. takes the g-rap cliches of slinging dope and banking money, but adds a nice post-millennial terrorist spin with verses about forging visas and murdering hostages. Director Bernard Gourley — who has established some impeccable rap credentials with videos for The No Limit crew, Three 6 Mafia, E-40, etc, etc — plays down the menace, choosing instead to reinforce the connection to hip-hop by portraying M.I.A. as some sort of undercover dealer. Imagine Master P's "Ice Cream Man" — worth watching that clip just for the site of P clutching his old school mobile phone — as a food vendor in one of those ubiquitous Halal street carts. Nice. The rest of the video matches pastiche style of the song with a quick cameo by  original hip-hop outsiders Beastie Boys and an intro with "Paper Planes" descending upon NYC.

    At the end of the day, though, this video is really just a means to the slyly manufactured controversy that M.I.A. whipped up when she posted a (ow disappeared) rambling and ALL-CAPS blog post about how she was shocked — shocked! — that the song's distinctive gunshot chorus would have to be edited for play on any responsible corporate channel and decided to sabotage a big MTV run. It's a ballsy and calculated move that would have made The Clash proud — the ultra-catchy and compelling "Paper Planes" is basically a remix of the Combat Rock track "Straight To Hell" — but I have to say that one cringing look at this YouTube clip of two chicks doing it up M.I.A.-style is all I needed to understand why most TV stations either avoids or throws warnings on anything that might provoke imitable behavior. --> watch "Paper Planes"

M.I.A. "Paper Planes" (Interscope)
Bernard Gourley, director/editor | Maryann Tanedo , producer | Immigrant Film, production co | Robin Frank Management, rep | Joe Maswell, DP | Baked Goods, vfx

SHOT: Leona Lewis - Jessy Terrero, director

UK phenom Leona Lewis hit the streets of NYC to shoot a video with director Jessy Terrero to coincide with the US debut of her single, "Bleeding Love."

artist: Leona Lewis
song: "Bleeding Love"
label: J Records
director(s): Jessy Terrero
production co: Terrero Films

SHOT: Mates Of State - Daniel Garcia, director

Husband/wife indie rock duo Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner — aka Mates Of State — get animalistic for their new video, "Get Better." More pictures and info at the Mates Of State Babble Blog...

artist: Mates Of State
song: "Get Better"
label: Barsuk
director(s): Daniel Garcia
production co: MyActiveDriveway

SHOT: Sharam - Josh Forbes, director

Sharam is Sharam Tayebi, a dance music DJ/producer best known as one-half of the group Deep Dish. That's him on the left. On the right is fellow DJ Miss Nine and that's director Josh Forbes in the middle. They're on the set of the video for Sharam's single, "The One."

artist: Sharam
song: "The One"
label: YoshiToshi
director(s): Josh Forbes
production co: Razor Factory
rep: Lanette Phillips Management

NEWS: MTV2 Subterranean Top 20 Videos

MTV2's indie rock show Subterranean is celebrating the top 20 videos of the year as voted by viewers and fans. Tune into the December 17 episode of Subterranean to see the top 10, or visit mtv.com to see 'em all. Number one honors went to Pinback "From Nothing To Nowhere" directed by Joshua Nichols. Nice.

MTV2 Subterranean Best of 2007:

1. Pinback "From Nothing to Nowhere"
2. Ted Leo "Bomb.Repeat.Bomb"
3. Interpol "No I In Threesome"
4. Queens of the Stone Age "Sick Sick Sick"
5. Albert Hammond Jr. "101"
6. 1990s "See You At the Lights"
7. M.I.A. "Boyz"
8. P.O.S. "Bleeding Hearts Club"
9. Battles "Atlas"
10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Down Boy"
11. Cavil at Rest "Who's There"
12. Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova "Falling Slowly"
13. The National "Apartment Story"
14. Aesop Rock "None Shall Pass"
15. Minus the Bear "Knights"
16. The Shins "Australia"
17. Interpol "The Heinrich Maneuver"
18. Apples In Stereo "Energy"
19. Chin Up Chin Up "This Harness Can't Ride Anything"
20. Silversun Pickups "Lazy Eye"

Visit mtv.com to watch some/all/none in whatever order you like. Nice, right?

BOOKED: Louix XIV - Toben Seymour, director

Video for the lead track from the upcoming Louis XIV album, Slick Dogs And Ponies...

artist: Louis XIV
song: "Guilt By Association"
label: Atlantic
director(s): Toben Seymour
production co: DNA

BOOKED: Matchbox 20 - Ramon & Pedro, directors

artist: Matchbox Twenty 
song: "These Hard Times"
label: Atlantic
director(s): Ramon & Pedro
production co: Partizan

SHOT: Cobra Starship - Whitey McConnaughy, director

Look for this new Cobra Starship clip to boast cameos by Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy (or course) and Armor For Sleep's Ben Jorgensen.

artist: Cobra Starship
song: "The City Is At War"
label: Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen
director(s): Whitey McConnaughy
production co: Refused TV
DP: Jon Fordham

NEW RELEASE: Strata "Stay Young"

Never trust a TV news report that announces the end of the world and then tells you to stay tuned. Therefore, Strata singer Eric Victorino is smart enough to get up and look outside to check the state of affairs for himself. The sunlight pouring in from his windows makes it seem like all is not lost, and the miniature city that appears in the room where the band is performing reinforces the notion that it's a more personal or metaphorical collapse that's got something to do with getting old. --> watch "Stay Young"

Strata "Stay Young" (Wind-Up)
Popcore, director/editor | Mia Berggren, producer | Refused TV/Popcorefilms, production co

BOOKED: Ray J - R. Malcolm Jones, director

artist: Ray J feat. Yung Berg
song: "Sexy Can I"
label: Koch/Deja34/Knockout
director(s): R. Malcolm Jones
production co: Factory Features (R. Malcolm Jones is signed with @radical.media)

SHOT: Wiz Khalifa - Ara Jason Soudjian, director

OK, from left, on the green screen set of the new Wiz Khalifa video: Director Ara Jason Soudjian, some actor, another actor (identified to me as German Beer Girl), Warner Bros. A&R exec Craig Aaronson, rapper Wiz Khalifa (holding some sort of foreign currency), Warner Bros. A&R exec Kenny "Tick" Salcido, German Beer Girl #2 and another actor.

artist: Wiz Khalifa
song: "Say Yeah"
label: Warner Bros.
director(s): Ara Jason Soudjian
production co: Xapnet Productions

BOOKED: Dear Jayne - Sequoia, director

artist: Dear Jayne   
song: "Rain"
label: Music Line/Capitol
director(s): Sequoia
production co: Hidden Experience/The Filming Co.

NEWS: Radar Festival Videos Online For Voting

The Radar Festival is one of the better music video contests out there for two main reasons: 1) Aspiring directors are able to use pre-selected tracks from name-brand artists like Maximo Park, Kylie Minogue, Maps, Sondre Lorche and The Good The Bad And The Queen; and 2) The prizes actually give the winners get real experience at production companies and record labels.

A shortlist of finalists are up at dazeddigital.com/projects/radar/, where you can watch and rate each video through January 11. The results will then be tabulated and winners will be announced at an award ceremony on January 12 as part of the London Short Film Festival at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (tix are available).

Seventeen winners will get commissions of about $2,000 to create videos for the participating labels. Production companies Black Dog, Draw Pictures and TBC will each pick a winner for "mentoring," while Qoob.tv will dole out about $2k to the best student entry.

Watch and rate all the videos at dazeddigital.com/projects/radar/.

MTV Adds for the Weeks of 12/24/07

MTV Adds:
Britney Spears "Piece of Me" (Jive/ZLG)

MTV2 Adds:
Fat Joe f/ J. Holiday "I Won't Tell" (Imperial)
Shiny Toy Guns "Rainy Monday" (Universal Motown)

MTVU Adds:
Black Moth Super Rainbow "Sun Lips" (Graveface)
Celebration "Evergreen" (4AD)
Dem Hoodstarz "Uggh(remix)" (Lawless)
Fat Joe f/ J. Holiday "I Won't Tell" (Imperial)
Ludacris "Down In The Dirty" (DTP/Def Jam)
The Mars Volta "Wax Simulacra" (Strummer/Universal)
Rick Ross f/ R. Kelly "Speedin" (Def Jam)
Shiny Toy Guns "Rainy Monday" (Universal Motown)
Simple Plan "When I'm Gone" (Atlantic)
Verbal Threat "Reality Check" (Throwback)

MTV Jams Adds:
Omarion & Bow Wow "Hey Baby" (Columbia)
Freeway f/ Rick Ross "Lights Get Low" (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam)
Hi-Tek "Ohio All Stars" (Babygrande)

BET Adds for the Weeks of 12/24/07

BET Adds:
John Legend "Show Me" (Columbia)
Omarion & Bow Wow "Hey Baby" (Columbia)

Music Choice Adds for the Week of 12/24/07

Adds:
Alicia Keys "Like You'll Never See Me Again" (J)
Big Kuntry King f/ T.I. "That's Right" (Grand Hustle/Atlantic)
Black Tide "Shockwave" (Interscope)
Bobaflex "Home" (TVT)
Buckcherry "Sorry" (Eleven Seven/Atlantic)
Carl Brister "Pray For Me" (Agape Musicworks)
Ce'Cile "Goody" (Danger Zone)
Chingy f/ Amerie "Fly Like Me" (DTP/Def Jam)
Cold War Kids "Hospital Beds" (Downtown)
DJ Khaled "I'm So Hood" (Terror Squad/Koch)
Down "On March The Saints" (Down/ILG)
Gwen Stefani "Early Winter" (Interscope)
J. Holiday "Suffocate" (Capitol)
James Blunt "Same Mistake" (Custard/Atlantic)
The Killers "Don't Shoot Me Santa" (Island)
The Killers "Shadowplay" (Island) 
Led Zeppelin "Immigrant Song (Live)" (Atlantic)
Lifehouse "Whatever It Takes" (Geffen)
Lupe Fiasco "Superstar" (1st & 15th/Atlantic)
Madonna "La Isla Bonita (Live)" (Warner Bros.)
Michael Gray f/ Steve Edwards "Somewhere Beyond" (Thrive)
Miller Boyz (Master P & Romeo) "My Life" (Urban Digital)
Molotov "Yofo!" (Universal Latino)
Pitbull f/ Lloyd "Secret Admirer" (TVT)
Pitbull "Go Girl" (TVT)
Sean Kingston "Take You There" (Beluga Heights/Epic/Koch)
Snoop Dogg "Sensual Seduction" (Geffen)
Spice Girls "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)" (Virgin)
Still Remains "Dancing With The Enemy" (Roadrunner)
The Veronicas "Hook Me Up" (Sire/Warner Bros.)
Wyclef "Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill - remix)" (Columbia)

CMT Adds for the Weeks of 12/17/07

Rascal Flatts "Winner At A Losing Game" (Lyric Street)

CMT Pure Adds:
Brooks & Dunn "God Must Be Busy" (Arista Nashville)

Much Music Adds for the Week of 12/17/07

Adds:
Bedouin Soundclash "St. Andrews"
George  "Hurting Child"
Low Level Flight "Say"