“I’m looking for something that’ll…break through. You know?” James Woods’ Max Renn yearns in David Cronenberg’s 1983 cult classic Videodrome. Oh, how things have changed. In today’s day and age, we’ve already drowned in media. It’s swallowed us. We’re nothing but a bubble amidst one infinite, engulfing abyss. Intimidated? You should be. With each passing second, you’re losing opportunities to take advantage of a culture that’s moving ahead and at an exhausting rate. You could very well be alone…left behind…abandoned. Terrified yet? Yes? Well, that’s more like it.
-Michael Roffman President/Editor-in-Chief
The Darkness – “Nothin’s Gonna Stop Us”
They say that anything is possible through the wonders of animation. Nothing could be more of a testament to that statement than this latest video from The Darkness. Exhibit A: the part at 2:05 where the guitar player’s arms, legs and head all transform into more guitars while he’s mid-solo. Come on, don’t pretend you didn’t miss them.
Die Antwoord – “I Fink U Freeky”
How did we last almost an entire year without a single music video from these South African rapping weirdos? This clip plays kind of like a much darker, more bizarre version of their “Enter The Ninja” video from 2010, and takes their brand of shock-rap to almost uncomfortable levels.
Feist – “The Bad In Each Other”
Martin de Turah must have just seen Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life before he directed this latest video for Ms. Leslie Feist. It’s a grand and poignant analysis of the human condition that manages to be gritty and pastoral at the same time.
Lil Wayne feat. Bruno Mars – “Mirror”
In this video, Weezy up and goes Jackson Pollock on us all. With the help of Bruno Mars, he literally paints a picture of his soul, his demons, and his regrets. The result is a vaguely sacrilegious self-portrait of himself as a Jesus-like martyr up on a cross. Funny, because it’s exactly what my own self-portrait would probably look like.
M. Ward – “The First Time I Ran Away”
This latest animated video from M. Ward is as whimsical as a young child’s imagination and will make you wish you had a pet llama to go on adventures with when you were a kid.
Mark Lanegan Band – “The Gravedigger’s Song”
In a mere three and a half minutes, Mark Lanegan manages to conjure up images of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Psycho and The Grudge among other famous horror flicks. In other words, don’t watch this one before you go to bed.
Miracles of Modern Science – “Eating Me Alive”
Steps for making a decidedly low budget yet instantly charming indie music video: 1. Find an empty room. 2. Buy several rolls of Christmas lights. 3. Begin playing.
Pretty Lights – “We Must Go On”
A spacey montage of city life in all its grime and poverty puts an almost political spin on Pretty Lights’s down tempo R&B jam. It’s essentially a view of the proverbial “rat race” through the eyes of someone who has just taken ecstasy. Hey, whatever makes life in the concrete jungle easier.
The War on Drugs – “Brothers”
Who knew that the combination of kidnapping and cowboys would be so creepy?
