Top Videos of 2009

So it's nearing the end of the year and Oh My, '09! is almost ready for release. But since there's time between now and New Year's, I'd like to take this chance to go over my favorite music videos of 2009.

At the top of the list is "Spacious Thoughts" by NASA, featuring Kool Keith and Tom Waits. The animation for this music video is top notch, featuring vibrant splashes of color splayed violently over a gritty urban landscape.

The next video on my list, another animated video, is for "King Rat" by Modest Mouse. This video, directed by the late Heath Ledger, is composed of rough animatic animation. The video, which depicts a crew of whales hunting for humans in the ocean, is provocative but also extremely disturbing.

Next up is the video for "Cousins" by Vampire Weekend which is just a lot of fun to watch and, like the video for "Oxford Comma" seems to celebrate the band's love of film.

The last video I'd like to acknowledge is for "Oscar Wilde" by Company of Thieves. This quirky video, which was what originally drew me to Company of Thieves, is a homage to Wes Anderson's film, Rushmore.

Music You Should Listen To: Company of Thieves

If you're not listening to Company of Thieves, you might want to start. When I first learned about the Chicago-based trio it was from a poster in my dorm. Regrettably I just passed it by (that was in January when their debut album was released) and I didn't see anything about them again until they showed up as an ad on my Facebook page. The link brought me to the video for their first single, "Oscar Wilde". The video, based off the movie Rushmore, definitely caught my attention (Facebook knows me so well!)

So shortly after watching the video I bought their album Ordinary Riches off iTunes. The album, which contains 12 songs plus 3 acoustic tracks on the bonus version, is only $5.99 which, at a time when iTunes is raising its prices, makes it one of the best values on iTunes. Ordinary Riches is a solid album, containing well-crafted, thoughtful, catchy pop gems. Songs like "Old Letters", "In Passing", and "The Tornado" are filled with interesting melodic ideas that give the record a lot of variation and hold the listener's attention, while songs like "Pressure" and "New Letters" serve as more straight-forward rock songs. Genevieve Schatz is a talented singer and her stylish and often spunky delivery is accompanied perfectly by Marc Walloch's flexible guitar playing which borrows influences from everything from funk to latin music. Drummer Mike Ortiz holds it all together with his adaptive playing.

Overall, Company of Thieves is a talented group of musicians with a lot of potential. This promising young group is definitely one to keep an eye on.

Company of Thieves' website

Oscar Wilde music video

Pressure music video