My monthly Best Of lists are fairly maximal — sometimes having a few more videos than there are days in a typical months — so I figured we'd go for the opposite tack for a mid-year list.
These are the six best music videos of 2013 so far. In my opinion. At this moment. Ask me tomorrow and they may be different.
And picking six meant leaving off some insanely great stuff — I love love love director Vincent Haycock's Raffertie "Build Me Up" and I know at least three directors who will want to grab the mic and tell the world, "Yo, I'm really happy for all these videos, but Gesaffelstein "Pursuit" is one of the best videos of all time!!!" — but so it goes.
Six Best Music Videos of 2013 (through July 1)
#1. Robin Thicke "Blurred Lines" (Diane Martel, dir.)
Call me crazy, but I still prefer the original "clothed" version, even though director Diane Martel says the "clothed" one was the compromise. That said, everything about this video just works perfectly and is a huge shift from what you usually expect from a pop video, giving us something that's casual, playful and seemingly effortless. For example, watch it again and pay again to the lighting with the those shadows on the cyc. It's all wrong, but so right.
#2. Miley Cyrus "We Can't Stop" (Diane Martel, dir.)
Maybe this video should be #1, but I see it as a riff on the "Blurred Lines" template. It takes the same palette, vibe and intention, but pushes things to an odder place.
#3. Is Tropical "Dancing Anymore" (Megaforce, dir.)
Sometimes NSFW videos can be nothing but creative masturbation. Megaforce realizes that and creates a perfect video to illustrate that exact point. And yes, it's extraordinarily NSFW.
#4. Biting Elbows "Bad Motherfucker" (Ilya Naishuller, dir.)
This is one of those totally unexpected gems: A violent free-for-all Russian video made possible by tiny cameras, the massive reach of YouTube/Vimeo, and a totally fearless creative sense.
#5. Darwin Deez "You Can't Be My Girl" (Keith Schofield, dir.)
Why so great? It takes the the most stock filmmaking — literally: Almost everything here except Darwin Deez is a stock video clip — and gives it an off-kilter spin. A perfect example of the amazing things possible with the Internet remix culture (or, how I learned to stop worrying about copyright and decided to just be creative).
#6 Justin Timberlake "Suit And Tie" (David Fincher, dir.)
If you want a perfect example of what a traditional music video can look like when executed by the best of the best, this is it. There's nothing profound going on here. No concept. It's just exactly what it should be. And sometimes, that's all you need.
