The Best Music Videos of 2010

Hey kids, it's time to list the best music videos of 2010! What's that you say? "Music videos? What is this, 1987?" YEAH IT IS YOU DIRTY BEATNIKS, YOU! WOOOOOOOO!!!

First up is the Rube Goldberg machine version of "This Too Shall Pass" because Rube Goldberg machines are freakin' sick and decidedly cooler than marching bands.

Next up is a stop-motion video because stop animation is pretty sweet, but not quite as sweet as Rube Goldberg machines (note: dogs are cooler than everything) . This video is also cool because one of my friends helped film it.

Speaking of stop animation, here's a crazy video with claymation by Gogol Bordello. The claymation tells a pretty sweet story, I think.

Speaking of Gogol Bordello, here's another video by Gogol Bordello:

OK GO, GOgol Bordello, GOrillaz? I'm sensing a pattern here. This is a great video, a homage to car chase movies like Vanishing Point. Murdoc, 2D, and a robotic Noodle, looking worse for wear, tear across the desert in a beat-up Camaro. Soon though, homicidal hitman Bruce Willis is hot on their tail, chasing the beleaguered band in his El Camino. It's good that this video has some sweet action, because the song itself can feel kind of repetitive.

"On Melancholy Hill" starts off pretty sweet, showing a masked Noodle getting into some serious trouble. The the bullets and explosions are the perfect counterweights to the breezy 80's synth music. From there, the video picks ups where "Stylo" left off, with Murdoc and 2D in a shark sub. For some reason, Robo-Noodle is still and 3D and vomiting up one-eyed octopi. Whatever. Anyway, the video gets boring from there as the rest of it is basically cartoon versions of all the guest musicians featured on Plastic Beach. I get it, you got a bunch of famous dudes to contribute to your album. Get over yourself. At least now we know what the hell the lyric "Up on melancholy hill sits a manatee" is supposed to mean.

This video's on the list because I think they made Daley's submersible look really cool

I don't know how, but the infectious, text-only video that made Cee Lo's "Fuck You" a viral internet success, is just as good, if not better, than the official video:

In this well-executed video, The Black Keys combine their knack for humor with a classic story to compliment a great song:

Speaking of a classic story, electro/hip-hop duo LMFAO decided to go with an untimely Dodgeball parody for their song "Yes", adopting the TV setting to a curling tournament (Get it? Curling? Party Rock, rock, stone, curling?). The 10-minute epic has a couple laughs and a surprise guest star at the end but I much prefer the song's original bootleg video.

While we're on the subject of silly sports videos with famous guest stars, here's Vampire Weekend at a tennis match, joined by the RZA, a Jonas brother, Lil' John, and a very goofy Jake Gyllenhaal. Who said these guys were preppy?

Here's another video with Japanese themes and competition:

This video is the debut of Irish comedy hip-hop duo Rubberbandits. The makes the song as the silly lyrics are augmented wonderfully by frontman Blindboy Boat Club's dance antics.

You may have seen these guys in the last month doing holiday commercials for Hyundai but this spunky duo has been hamming it up on Youtube for quite a while now. I encourage you to go to their Youtube channel and check out their Video Songs. They do a great cover of Lady Gaga's Telephone, which is saying a lot. Because I hate Lady Gaga.

Then there's My Terrible Friend, which is a team-up between Pomplamoose's Nataly Dawn and Lauren O'Connell

Lauren O'Connell's got some cool stuff too:

Anyway, it's time to wrap this thing up. I want to round out the listen with Janelle Monáe, an inspired performer and creative dynamo. Her song "Tightrope" is a blast and the video is a lot of fun, combining some sweet dance moves with the freaky sci-fi fantasy elements she's developed a reputation for incorporating in her work (see: "Many Moons").

Stark and simple compared to her other videos (and all other music videos in general) Monáe manages to evoke something sublime here, relying solely on the strength of her music, her emotion and her subtle sexuality. Today's pop divas better be taking notes

So that's it! Say When? 2010! is almost done. The final playlist will be published tomorrow or the next day or the next day or never.

Album Review: "Trans-Continental Hustle" by Gogol Bordello

When you listen to Gogol Bordello's newest album you're probably going to pick up on some Latin roots mixed in with the usual gypsy punk madness, undoubtedly influenced by singer Eugene Hütz's relocation from New York to Rio. Hütz's pursuit of Afro-Latin beats has led to a personnel change in the band. Original drummer Eliot Ferguson (once called the only sane member in the band) has been replaced by a drummer by the name of Oliver Charles. Here's a a quote from Hütz on the band's newest addition:

"He comes from a dynasty of drummers from Trinidad, (which is) so essential for some of the new elements in our music. Oliver comes in with a full knowledge to break out the gypsy punk samba. It is out of this world."

Though I hate to see people leave bands (oh what will RHCP be without Frusciante?) as much as I hate to see good bands break up (Rage is never coming back) I can only hope that the split was made on good terms.

Anyway, back to the album. Trans-Continental Hustle opens strong with Pala Tute a song about a gypsy girl from Hütz's youth. The song, which has been a solid promotional favorite and was first heard on the DVD extras portion of Live From Axis Mundi, immediately gives the listener the basic gypsy goodness that can be expected from the band.

My Companjera continues along in the same vein. Musically, this song sounds a bit like a re-hash of My Strangle Uncles From Abroad, from 2007's Super Taranta. Sun Is On My Side adds some variation to Gogol Bordello, starting out as a somber and tender ballad.

The band brings back the fire with Rebellious Love and the album's first single and most punk-influenced effort, Immigraniada (We Comin' Rougher), before bringing it back down again. Hütz gets reflective on When Universes Collide, bringing the heavier fare of gang violence and war to the table. Despite serious musings, the band doesn't let it overcome then, instead rising triumphantly over the melancholy before finishing in a relaxed reprise.

The Latin sound starts coming out with Una Menina and Raise The Knowledge, which sports some mean violin licks and some electric organ (a rare addition for Gogol). The album ends strongly with Break The Spell and the title track. Break The Spell is perhaps the best rock number on the album, featuring exciting rhythms and riffs. The final track boasts samba rhythms and a chorus ripped from You Gave Up (Roumania), a song from the band's BBC Sessions featured on Live From Axis Mundi.

Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with this album. There's not a bad song on this album - all of the songs are extremely catchy and fun. The band, while employing a lot of the same tricks, is using some new influences to freshen up their sound (moving away from a lot of the dub sounds on Super Taranta!)

It's always a party with Gogol. Go get it.

The whole album can be streamed from their Myspace page here

For info on the band and their store go to their website here

Concert Review: Gogol Bordello in Boston on 4-29-10

This past Wednesday I had the enormous pleasure of seeing Gogol Bordello at the House of Blues in Boston. While I came late and missed the opening acts of Jesse Malin and The St. Marks Social and DeVotchKa, it was worth the ticket price just to catch the main act.

By the time I made it to the venue (a really great space, by the way) Gogol was already into their song second of the night, Wonderlust King, and the energy was building. The energy was high all night. People were dancing, moshing, crowd surfing and singing all night. I myself took part in all of this (never crowd surfing myself but lending a helping hand).

The band played a good mix of songs, concentrating on their latest albums, including material from their latest album, Trans-Continental Hustle. The only album they neglected was their first, Voi-La Intruder (although "Start Wearing Purple" can be considered a Voi-La song). All the songs were played wonderfully and every number was a crowd favorite. Eugene Hütz was a wild man all night, paying great attention to the audience, dancing, encouraging participation and spraying his drinks into the audience. The crowd was like a mad ocean of sweat and bodies, caught up in alcohol-fueled abandon, driven on by gypsy punk madness.

Perhaps the best part of the night was the encore. The band stepped off the stage for a breather,

and after a few minutes Hütz returned to the stage to begin an acoustic version of "Alcohol" and was joined later by violinist Sergey Ryabstev and accordionist Yuri Lemeshev. Then the rest of the band came to play their usual closer, "Baro Faro". However, the song that usually makes for a super-long jam session, took on a different nature as the band broke out into a medley, playing bits of a whole bunch of different songs they hadn't played yet, including "My Strange Uncles from Abroad" and "When the Trickster Stars A-Poking."

Unfortunately, though the show was dynamite overall, I was disappointed that dancer Pamela Racine was not there to perform. The duty of playing the marching drum was passed onto MC and percussionist Pedro Erazo. Racine's absence was still felt since it meant that there would be no marching drum crowd surfing. Still, it was a great show. Party!