Best music videos of the decade (10 - 6)

#10

"Whale Song" (2009)

Modest Mouse
Director: Nando Costa
If I had to pick a hall-of-famer from America for their video achievements in 2000s, it would be Modest Mouse. This one is about drawing no less, and this contraption thingy lets Isaac Brock go on a mind trip, extrapolating visions from the paper. Neither gravity nor snails prevent the band from rocking in this waking dream. And, when used right, projectile intestines and ejected organs are a perfect touch.

#9

"Invincible" (2007)

Muse
Director: Jonnie Ross
Oftentimes great videos have stale follow-ups (usually because the previous had an overblown budget). The previous wow factor isn't there most of the time, but Muse nearly equals "Knights of Cydonia". The It's A Small World After All ride may be a tad cliche here, but the CGI-laden climax is really cool. I don't know what the message here is, but time travelers are definitely good alien killers.

#8

"Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" (2002)

The White Stripes
Director: Michel Gondry
There's a sizable chance you've never heard of this song or video. In the are-they-siblings-or-lovers era, nothing can come close to fitting the Jack and Meg White public personae. It's amazingly simple and yet something only seen regularly in Disney World's Haunted Mansion... I don't know why this projector effect isn't used more. This is just one of the few Michel Gondry musings that made the White Stripes a household name.





BEST OF THE DECADE INDEX [ Intro .:. Hon. Mentions .:. 15-11 .:. 10-6 .:. 5-1 ]

#7

"Tonto" (2007)

Battles
Directors: United Visual Artists
Performance videos are done to death, as they are cheap and take about 10 seconds of post-production. Battles (better than anyone) can make standing in front of a bunch of keyboards look cool. And a rookie error is the use of a stage and a crowd. But UVA aren't rookies. They found a sweet rock quarry and put up some lighting fixtures and now the song lives, embedded in rock. What a good way to make a weirdly-constructed song (which has about four minutes of outro) into a video!  Too bad "Atlas" gets all the press.

#6

"The Crystal Cat" (2007) 

Dan Deacon

Director: Jimmy Joe Roche

The Baltimore scene has blossomed these days, and collaborators Jimmy Joe and Dan Deacon are at the forefront. Deacon plays gigs in the middle dance floors, and invites people to huddle around while he jams out. Roche captures that vibe in the video, which is just an blitz of psychedelic imagery comparable to MGMT or Flaming Lips.


...check an upcoming post for the top five and more!


BEST OF THE DECADE INDEX [ Intro .:. Hon. Mentions .:. 15-11 .:. 10-6 .:. 5-1 ]