Kendra Brea Cooper
Music videos have been through everything,from being blamed for the faults of a generation, to being praised as an important art form. Here are 7 music videos that deserve to be watched from beginning to end, and over again.
Maddie Ziegler from the reality television show "Dance Moms", dances between dark grey walls lit up with the dull light from dirty windows. It's a breath taking one-shot dance video, where the excitement and anxiety of the song escapes through the limbs of the dancer. You simply cannot look away.
Arcade Fire is well known for heavily artistic videos, and "Reflecktor" is no different. The band is hauling the masked versions of themselves (from other videos), in the back of a truck. The obvious symbol threaded through the video is the mirror, which multiplies light in the darkness, and beams it off of the characters. Art and culture often do the same thing, reflecting and illuminating all at once, and testing our ideas of what is original and what is a reflection.
Jared Leto (lead singer) is an L.A. vet, as an actor and musician. The video starts out with messages to a city, which sound like a love letter written during a complicated relationship. We tend to stamp personality traits on cities, which adds an intimate energy to every street sign. Because of this, the city as "other" becomes part of who you are.
It's the LEGO video. Michel Gondry directed this memorable animation that's made with the building blocks of our childhood. LEGO can do anything, even build a music video piece by piece. More than a toy, LEGO can reconstruct culture starting with one small block.
Some would say this video is disturbing, and others would say it's an artistic masterpiece.The only ones that make an impact on memory are those that are both, and Stinkfist is a disturbing artistic masterpiece. It carries a sci-fi surrealism only fit for dark dreams.
"Jeremy" tells the story of a boy taunted by classmates as the scenes flip in a frantic motion. The feeling of hopelessness escalates as the clips get faster, leaving the viewers mind racing. Both the character and the viewer hope for some relief in the end, and reach it in different ways.
Along with being a fun animation to watch, this video pulls in other pieces of pop culture for its whole. Starting with the "Clint Eastwood" title as the first, the references that follow are The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Resident Evil, and Thriller. The effects are cool, and its one that's watched for more than the song.
Rage Against the Machine doesn't hold back. This music video is like a revolutionary short documentary. They have something to say, and they want you to embrace your rage while they highlight injustice.
It doesn't matter how many times I see this video, I always find it captivating. It's as if they've somehow mastered angst in it's visual form. It's cathartic to watch.
It might make you a bit queasy, but that's the point. It's as if he wants you to sit through what makes you totally uncomfortable. More people need to face what makes them uncomfortable. Should we be thanking him for this?
Pop culture and all that ideology sitting in the blind spot. Also crafts.
