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: "Contra" by Vampire Weekend

So, I went online to listen to Vampire Weekend's newest album, Contra. The first thing I noticed is that the tracks were listed in a format similar to the track listing for Radiohead's In Rainbows. While Vampire's Weekend isn't available for free download like Radiohead's was, you can stream it for free, which I am thankful because I am currently strapped for cash.

As I said before, I have been excited for this album because I wanted to see what was going to happen to Vampire Weekend's sound. The good news is that this album is not a re-hash of their eponymous debut. The better news is that it's still catchy. Vampire Weekend has released another album that's perfect for the summer, this time combining familiar strings and tropical guitars with electronics. There's plenty of fun melodies and rhythms to be had here. Contra is definitely an improvement over Vampire Weekend, providing more variation in the way of instrumentation supporting Ezra Koenig's vocals.

Highlights include the ska-tinged "Holiday" , the subdued "Taxi Cab", and the soulful "I Think Ur a Contra".

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.

Vampire Thanksgiving Weekend

For last year or so I've been awaiting Vampire Weekend's next album, not because I'm in love with the band, but mostly because I've been extremely curious about what they're gonna do next. Would they stick with the same sound or try something new? Where do they go from there? Well I've recently received a hint of what's to come, thanks to a tip from Spin Magazine. Vampire Weekend will be following up their eponymous debut with Contra, which drops January 12th.

So far I've listened to the first two singles from the album, "Cousins" and "Horchata". Both songs maintain the light feel of previous Vampire Weekend songs as well as some familiar instrumentation. "Horchata" includes electronic sounds and percussion that sound occasionally as though they were borrowed from an N64 game (Ocarina of Time?). "Cousins" sounds more like Vampire Weekend's debut material except a little sillier. The song is energetic and incredibly catchy and is accompanied by an equally fun and infectious video. Check it out.