By Chris Moore:
We’ve all heard — and perhaps even echoed — the common complaint about the contemporary treatment of music videos on broadcast television. It’s typically voiced in a sarcastic question, something like:
Do you remember when MTV used to play music videos?
These days, the music video feels like a lost art form. They’re more readily available than ever before, what with digital download software like iTunes and websites like Amazon.com, never mind free sites — like YouTube — where copyright is a questionable notion pushed to its limits by users and exploited by record labels in the form of add-on ads.
This being said, the Weekend Review’s “Best Music Videos of 2010” is one of the biggest lists of the season, and perhaps the one that calls for the most interaction from you, the reader. If there are any videos that you haven’t seen yet, you should definitely search them on YouTube and, depending on how far up the list they are, consider breaking down to download them.
These videos will hopefully remind you that the music video can be a fascinating and fun extension of songs and, sometimes even, albums.
The Black Keys take to the playground for a good old fashioned fight over a woman in “Tighten Up,” which ends up being hilarious. “Saskia Hamilton” and “King of Anything” are fast-paced, well-edited videos, the former being all the more impressive for being fan-created and Ben Folds-endorsed. Get ready for white rooms and clothes and lots and lots of paint in Locksley’s take on “The Whip,” and prepare to love the claustrophobic setting of Spoon’s “Written in Reverse.”
You get the idea: these videos run the gamut. I hope you’ll check them out — YouTube is probably the first, best place; simply search the title, artist, and term “music video.” This should keep you busy until tomorrow’s list!
The BEST MUSIC VIDEOS of 2010
1) “Tighten Up” – The Black Keys (Brothers)
2) “Saskia Hamilton” – Ben Folds & Nick Hornby (Lonely Avenue) – produced by charlieissocoollike
3) “King of Anything” – Sara Bareilles (Kaleidoscope Heart) – dir. by Laurent Brie
4) “The Whip” – Locksley (Be in Love)
5) “Written in Reverse” – Spoon (Transference)
6) “In the Sun” – She & Him (Volume Two) – dir. by Peyton Reed
7) “Memories” – Weezer (Hurley)
8) “By Some Miracle” – Philip Selway (Familial) – dir. by David Altobelli
9) “God Save the Foolish Kings” – House of Heroes (Surburba)
10) “Between the Lines” – Stone Temple Pilots (Stone Temple Pilots) – dir. by Christopher Sims
Honorable Mentions:
“Jefferson Jericho Blues” – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (Mojo)
“From Above” – Ben Folds & Nick Hornby (Lonely Avenue)
“Help Me Rhonda” – Al Jardine with Steve Miller (A Postcard from California)
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.