Music Blog

Favorite Music Videos of 2011

Dave Cusick on January 04, 2012 at 02:15 AM, last updated January 05, 2012 at 06:26 PM

If you're not a parent, then you may not know this: Having kids makes it really hard to sit down and watch a film, and even harder to go out to one (and watchable family films are few and far between). Even keeping up with TV shows, which require less uninterupted viewing time, proves challenging. Personally, I'm at least one season behind on Dexter, Curb, Walking Dead, Bored to Death, and I haven't even started Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, and three or four other shows I'd like to, but simply aren't appropriate for a four-year-old.

But not to complain. Childhood is wonderful, and parenting a child is arguably more rewarding than being one. And for me, music videos are a good way to get that film-fix in a timeframe that works with my lifestyle.

Favorite Use of Childhood

Every year, when I compile my favorite music videos, I notice a few common themes and techniques that emerge. I'll start with childhood, since, so does life.

Creating videos from the point of view of a child allows a director to explore unbounded imagination and themes of innocence, curiosity and even cruelty.

Alcoholic Faith Mission - Legacy

A young girl explores various rituals to mourn her first loss—a white pet mouse.

(See also: The Cave Singers' Black Leaf, STRFKR's Julius, Youth Lagoon's Montana, Is Tropical's The Greeks, S. Carey's In the Dirt, M83's Midnight City.)

Favorite Use of Adolescence

For many of us, the most blissful and carefree moments in our lives occurred at age 16 or 17. And although they may have been bookended by heartache and awkwardness, they remain etched in our minds. Meaningful bonds of friendship are seldom forged as easily later in life.

James Blake - Lindisfarne

This one might give you an anxious, where-is-this-going feeling. But rest assured, they're all dear friends, I'd imagine since early childhood, and have simply created their own ritual to mourn the departure of one member of their group.

(See also: Best Coast's Our Deal, Destroyer's Kaputt, Letting Up Despite Great Faults' Teenage Tide, The Decemberists' This is Why We Fight and Calamity Song.)

Favorite Use of 3D Stop-Motion Animation

Years ago, in the heyday of Will Vinton Studios' California Raisins commercials, Portland kids were abuzz that cutting-edge animation (computer animation was still years off, and this looked so fluid) was happening right in our own city. 25 years later, none of us are particularly fussy about where our raisins are grown, but real, physical animation is a warmly wecomed reprieve from the barrage of silicone-looking Shrek sequels.

Dead Snares - The Language

A man and woman in love struggle against an evil and deadly beast.

(See also: King Creosote & Jon Hopkins' Bubble, Amos Lee's Flower, The Thermals' Not Like Any Other Feeling, Björk's Crystalline, DeVotchKa's 100 Other Lovers, Vetiver's Wonder Why.)

Favorite Use of 2D Stop-Motion Animation

Many artists create moving collages on a surface below a camera. This art form is especially challenging, because moving tiny pieces of paper around...well, just be sure not to sneeze.

Fleet Foxes - The Shrine/An Argument

Sean Pecknold, brother of Fleet Foxes' frontman Robin Pecknold, directs and co-animates this story of an antelope's journey across its arid and dangerous environment.

(See also: Young Galaxy's Blown Minded, Sufjan Stevens' Get Real, Get Right.)

Favorite Hand-Drawn Animation

Hand-drawn animation, done either using flip-books or Flash, allows shapes to morph easily and surrealistically into others. The effect can be simply absurd, or illustrate a broader point.

The Mountain Goats - Estate Sale Sign

Crafted by a composite of mediums, a man and woman shed layer upon layer of various forms, until their true nature is revealed.

(See also: The Wooden Birds' Two Matchsticks, Chad VanGaalen's Peace On The Rise, Bill Callahan's America!, The Heavenly States (featuring Britt Daniel)'s Berlin Wall, Young Galaxy's two-parter We Have Everything & Peripheral Visionaries.)

(I also enjoyed these computer-animated videos: Explosions in the Sky's Last Known Surroundings, Justice's Civilization, Belle and Sebastian's I Didn't See It Coming.)

Favorite Use of Reverse

In the film Memento and the Seinfeld epidsode "The Betrayal", the power of the storytelling is that it's told end to beginning, thus creating a mystery without a dectective.

They Might Be Giants - Can't Keep Johnny Down

This fan-created video, chosen as a contest-winner by John Hodgman, sees an unhinged young man running in unflattering white Hanes through the streets of his quiet town. Buy why?

(See also: Jared Mees & the Grown Children's Hungry Like a Tiger, Metronomy's She Wants, AgesandAges' Souvenir.)

Favorite Use of Mad Men Actors (or Wardrobe)

Due to that parenting thing I mentioned above, I'm also two seasons behind on Mad Men.

The National - Conversation 16

If the idea of Kristen Schaal, who played the obsessed fan Mel on Flight of the Conchords, as president is too far-fetched (even more so than Jack Black as a senator), John Slattery grounds it by playing the Secret Service agent stoically pining for his charge's affections.

(See also: Herman Düne's Tell Me Something I Didn't Know, Low's Try to Sleep.)

Favorite Use of Robots

Due to the phenomenon of the Uncanny Valley, at least in Western culture, our possible dystopian futures probably don't include being overthrown by anthropomorphic robots, because we're just too weirded out by them to mass-produce them. Now nanobots, those are scary.

Alex Metric & Steve Angello - Open Your Eyes

British actor/director Peter Serafinowicz creates a Rocky Balboa-style man-vs-machine story, fighting against a robot which is more can-like than uncanny.

(See also: Apparat's Song of Los, Mayer Hawthorne's Dreaming, World Order - Machine Civilization.)

Favorite Use of the Paranormal

In the current standoff between vampires and zombies, I'm going with ghosts.

Toro Y Moi - How I Know

Three hapless dudes decide to explore a house which is haunted by two beautiful and mischievous girls. I should mention that of all these favorites, this is my most favorite.

(See also: Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus [Stargate Remix], Beirut's Santa Fe, The Raveonettes' Apparitions, Talkdemonic's City Sleep, Memory Tapes' Yes I Know.)

Favorite Use of a Solo Dancer

Our most natural response to music is to dance to it. But in our culture, particularly on the West Coast, we're usually too encumbered by self-consciousness to muster more than a foot-tap. Secretly, we all want to not only let our Freak Flag fly, but to wave it wildy on the dance floor.

SebastiAn - Embody

A young teen dances to a Daft Punk-inspired track and is metaphysically transported into the lives of others.

(See also: Radiohead's Lotus Flower, Madeon's Pop Culture. R.E.M.'s ÜBerlin, The Black Keys' Lonely Boy, Lia Ices' Grown Unknown. My Brightest Diamond's All Things will Unwind feaures a pair of talented and well-choreographed dancers.)

Favorite Use of Puppets

When used well, puppets can be very expressive and evocative. News outlets, when reviewing The Muppets last November, nearly all mentioned that many grown adults cried at various points throughout the film. Oh, wait, they didn't? That was just me? Oh, well, whatever.

Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside - Cage

Sallie Ford's father, Hobey Ford, is a puppeteer (which probably trumped all her classmates' dad's job titles). He crafted marionette versions of she and her bandmates to perform the song "Cage".