 An end of the year list for music videos feels like a fool's errand in 2013. By the time we tally everything up, there will have been more than 8,000 music videos released in 2013. That's around 22 a day, every day, all year. The volume isn't the issue, it's that so many of the videos we see released every day are great videos. Every week we saw our list of our favorite music video releases run into the double digits. Based on how hard it was to compile this list, we know 2013 was a great year for music videos, not even taking into account their ever increasing cultural relevance. And speaking of the cultural relevance of music videos, 2013 was a year where the question of "are music videos relevant" no longer seemed relevant itself.
So our top 50 list has been compiled using a simple metric - what did we come back to over and over again throughout the year? When we could watch whatever we wanted, what did we search for on IMVDb and watch again? Our list comes down to basically what we really loved. Below are our top 10 with comments as well as our top 50 in playlist format (you can watch all of them in a playlist here). If 2014 is anything like 2013 in the world of music videos, we're excited.
Credits Director
Emily Kai Bock Director of Photography
Evan Prosofsky Editors
Emily Kai Bock Leo Scott Writer
Emily Kai Bock Production Company
Ramble West Productions Producers
Kathleen Heffernan, Executive Producer Justin Benoliel, Executive Producer Anne Johnson, Producer Directorial
Brando Tourville, 1st Assistant Director Trina Peterson, 2nd Assistant Director
One of the artistic freedoms that the medium of music video affords is the ability to set up a narrative without the obligation to resolve it using a traditional story arc. Conventional short films and features don't really have this luxury, but in music videos you can set up your characters and then just let them be. Emily Kai Bock's video for "Afterlife" by Arcade Fire is a beautiful example of this - a tiny slice of time in the life of a family that lays out the desires, regrets, and frustrations of each of its members. Taking a cue from the title of the track, the video explores the idea of an afterlife and what it can mean to us. It sounds cliche when you type it out like that, but Emily Kai Bock treats the often explored idea of afterlife and regret with such skill that the theme seems brand new and urgent. Adding to the direction is DP Evan Prosofsky's striking black and white photography, which turns an outdoor processing facility into a stark and alien landscape. -Adam
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Credits Director
BRTHR Director of Photography
BRTHR Producers
I/O, Producer BRTHR, Producer
If you are detecting a little vanity in this pick, I can't blame you. That is IMVDb co-founder Doug Klinger right there in the screen shot, wearing a hat and holding the hands of two children. Doug's coincidental cameo aside (he was shooting a behind the scenes video), "Wasted My Time" is a fantastic video by a duo that have had a breakout year - BRTHR. This video is a fascinating example of music video making in its rawest form - no budget, no label involvement, just BRTHR, I/O, and a camera. Even with little to no money, "Wasted My Time" is uniquely stamped with BRTHR's style, and mixes mystery, violence, surrealism, and a sundial man wailing on an electric guitar. It is the perfect example of what can be done with music videos in 2013, when three dudes and a camera can go into the woods in Long Island and come out with something like this. -Doug
Credits Director
Isaiah Seret Director of Photography
Bradford Young Editor
Luke Lynch Writers
Isaiah Seret Mindy Le Brock Production Company
Prettybird Producers
Candice Ouaknine, Executive Producer Braxton Pope, Producer Directorial
Todd Thompson, 1st Assistant Director Nicole Disson, 2nd Assistant Director Mindy Le Brock, Creative Director Video Commissioner
Bryan Younce Video Rep.
Jamie Kohn Rabineau
A lot of videos feature a badass antihero doing badass things, but no video in 2013 was able to capture the human side of that type of character better than “Cool Song No 2.” Starring Michael Kenneth Williams as a gangster who, as director Isaiah Seret describes it, “is so sensitive, that every moment of violence causes him pain,” the video establishes both authority and vulnerability in the character, allowing the audience to relate to the character on a more complex level. The intense colors help to establish a surreal vibe in the world of this video, giving Isaiah the freedom to take things to some really abnormal and disturbing places. -Doug
One of the most rewarding diretor/artist combos of the last few years has been the collaboration between Hiro Murai and Earl Sweatshirt. It isn't a combo that produces a lot of videos (Murai has only directed two Earl Sweatshirt videos over the last few years), but it is one that has established a visual and musical combination that is unlike any other collaboration. "Hive" is what most hip hop videos are not - dark, visually complex, unapologetically free of irony, and genuinely disturbing. Even more impressive is that Earl fits right into the world that Hiro Murai creates -
even Casey Veggies and Vince Staples look right at home next to the video's bike-riding hat monsters (for lack of a better term). Larkin Seiple's camera moves slowly, plodding through the dark, and editor Isaac Hagy knows when to cut on the beat and when we're too wrapped up in what we're watching to look away. "Hive" is a chapter in a director/artist relationship that we'd love to see more of. –Adam
Going down the checklist of awesome things in a music video, we realized that "Kangaroo Court" hits all of the main ones: love, betrayal, dancing, unexpected yet nonexplicit violence, and most importantly, a cast full of animal people (anipeople?). Co-directed byCapital Cities and Carlos Lopez Estrada, "Kangaroo Court" has the soul of an independent video, with the size and scale of a big pop video. It also features some really outstanding performances from the band in character roles (playing the Zebra and Lion), and it serves as a great example of what is possible when a pop band commits to an ambitious creative idea. Doug
While Terry Richardson's sledgehammer-licking clip may have been the video to parody in 2013, the shadow of Miley's wrecking ball ride is in danger of blocking out the limelight for what we consider to be her biggest achievement this year - "We Can't Stop". Directed by Diane Martel (who made many waves this year with videos like this one and "Blurred Lines"), "We Can't Stop" almost singlehandedly redefined the career of a former Disney star who was struggling to find a unique voice. In a year filled with veteran female pop stars looking for repeat succcess, Diane Martel made Miley look exciting, new, sexy, and weird - all on Miley's terms. And whether you prefer the director's cut or the regular version, "We Can't Stop" is a brillantly executed video that never seems to run out of ideas or things to show us (we're partial to the teddy bear backpack dance). Without the adept execution of this video, Miley may have been a footnote (or worse) on most people's end of the year lists. On the bright side, we'd all have been spared everyone's dumb twerking jokes. -Adam
No video from 2013 was more surreal and unexpected then “IFHY” by Tyler, The Creator. Shifting between sad and funny, the video manages to address issues that are actually found within a dying relationship, but in a bizarre, uncomfortable, and aggressive way. Shot by Tyler’s long-time video collaborator Luis Perez, the video looks and feels like some kind of fucked up kids television show (that should never be shown to any real children), full of bright colors and face prosthetics that look just real
enough to be gross and unsettling. As an added bonus, the last minutes of this video features a second track, "Jamba," which serves as the perfect, jarring ending to this twisted video. –Doug
The line between novelty and art is one that music videos are constantly blurring, and "Bubble Butt" is a music video that pretty much removes it from the equation altogether. Directed by Eric Wareheim of Tim & Eric, the video takes an already provocative song with novelty concepts and runs as far as it can in each direction. Behind all the bouncing butts of various sizes (seriously, there is a weird amount of variety), is an extremely memorable dance video. While it probably won't win awards for technical dance achievement, "Bubble Butt" hits an unforgettable tone, and the clear stars are the trio of yellow-clad ladies who take the lion's share of the actual dancing. It should also be said that for one of the most gratituous videos of the year that features (almost) all males on the track, there are no dudes in this video at all. Now where can we get a copy of the dolphin beat from the opening sequence. Is it on Soundcloud? That beat is fucking dope. Adam
“Pursuit� is the video to point to from 2013 when you want to show people the level of talent within the music video industry. It is a concept that is so ambitious and so perfectly executed that it definitely takes several viewings to fully wrap your head around. The 71-second long tracking shot that begins at the 1:00 point of the video - starting with a close-up of a naked butt and ending on a wide shot of engineers working
on a giant jet – is easily our favorite minute of any music video released this year. “Pursuit” is the first of two spectacular collaborations between Fleur & Manu and Gesaffelstein in 2013, hopefully they keep that pace up in 2014. -Doug
In a year of videos featuring amazing narratives, performances, and special effects, the video that made the biggest impact on us this year was one that stripped away all of those things and left us with a documentary-style journey across 15 states - "Modern Jesus" byPortugal. The Man.
Some of what makes "Modern Jesus" stand out is what it avoids. Although shot on the road, it never falls into the self indulgence of a "road trip" music video. It doesn't feel exploitative while still keeping a documentary aestheric. It never makes its theme or point of view too explicit. Instead, what you take away from "Modern Jesus" largely depends on what you bring to it. The point of view is uniquely warped by the song itself, which lyrically hinges on an "us vs. them" theme, using "we" throughout the song to refer to an undefined group. The subjects in the video all seem to fall under that "we" umbrella, and your point of view depends on whether you identify with them or not. The images we're shown feel like nobody would've seen them if director AG Rojas, DP Michael Ragen, and producers Corbett Jones and Anna Rau hadn't been there to capture them. They range from the bizarre (the wrestling) to the vaguely familiar (the cattle rancher), but they all seem to form a group at the end that you can't help but feel part of - aimless, isolated, and not too concerned about it. All of us here kept coming back to this video, just to be taken on the ride. -Adam
Music Video Superlatives Best use of animals OneRepublic "Something I Need" Directed by Cameron Duddy Best product placement Britney Spears "Work Bitch" Directed by Ben Mor Best dance Tallie Medel in Passion Pit "Cry Like A Ghost" Directed by Daniels Best acting by a musician Sean Stockham as Aunt Betty in Middle Class Rut "Aunt Betty" Directed by Lance Drake Best interactive video Pharrell "Happy" Directed by We Are From LA Best animated video Talib Kweli "Come Here" Directed by Galen Pehrson Best use of nudity Panic! at the Disco "Girls/Girls/Boys" Directed by DJay Brawner
Best use of Miley Cyrus as a featured artist Mike WiLL Made It "23" Directed by Hannah Lux Davis Most literal interpretation of song lyrics Uffalo Steez "Wassup" Directed by Viktor Horvath Best video you haven't seen (under 10k views) Anastasia "Extranjero" Directed by Pete Lee Most ambitious video Sebastian Ingrosso, Tommy Trash & John Martin "Reload" Directed by Jodeb
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