Top 10: Music Videos of 2008

Last week we brought you a list of the 10 best new artists of 2008, and this week we are continuing the series of year-end lists that will of course run straight through till the end of December. Each week it will be a different category for the regular Wednesday Top 10, there will be three weeks of listing the Top Albums (it will be 50 this year, not 100) and the top singles of the year will appear the last week of December. All in all it has been a pretty strong year for music and these lists should reflect that in all sorts of different ways. Of course you are welcomed to share your own lists in the comments or to completely shred why my list is totally wrong in every way. As always I hope it spawns some interesting discussions on the state of the music here in the late stages of 2008 and I hope you guys get something out of it (even if it's just an mp3).

10. Jukebox the Ghost - "Victoria" ; Jukebox the Ghost are always a personal favorite of mine, what with their wistful word play and catchy piano melodies, but on video the band takes its wit and humor to the next level creating playful images to accompany their quirky songs. This video is definitely the best of the bunch with an excellent split between shots of the band and progressing the story arch of the song.

9. Ane Brun - "The Treehouse Song" ; I am honestly not all too familiar with Ane Brun's work, but this video is an absolutely gorgeous piece of short cinematography. The way it blends everything together is done perfectly and I love the way everything is bathed in that sepia tinge. Beautiful video.

8. Lykke Li - "I'm Good. I'm Gone" ; I've made two year-end lists so far and Lykke Li has placed on both of them. I have a feeling she's going to be making a lot more appearances as we go through the rest of the lists as well, but for now let's talk about her slightly creepy, definitely pretty video for the best of her songs. When you take all the elements of a music video and dissect them into what makes it work the song is definitely the most important part and "I'm Good. I'm Gone" is a nearly flawless song. Lykke Li also does an excellent job of pairing the song with some imaginative images that are difficult to get out of your head. Overall this is a damn good, impossible to forget video.

7. Deerhoof - "Chandelier Searchlight" ; The use of stop-camera animation is a personal fave of mine. It's a technique that almost anyone can do, but few do particularly well. Luckily Deerhoof found someone that could manage through it and created a perfect video for their song.

6. Kanye West - "Homecoming" ; If you read my regular Thurday's Track Reviews column you won't be surprised to find out that this is not the only Kanye West video on the countdown this year. Few artists are making videos like Kanye West is right now, blending excellent songs with visually stunning images. This Hype Williams directed video reminds me a lot of Jay-Z's "99 Problems", with its pieced together street imagery, but considering that that is one of my favorite videos of all-time it makes sense that this video would hit me in a similar way. I also love the use of the clipped out shapes of piano playing hands and Chris Martin throughout the video.

5. The Mae Shi - "Run to Your Grave" ; I don't wanna tip my hand too much but The Mae Shi's "Run to Your Grave" will most definitely be making an appearance on my top singles of the year, so that helps the video's case but it certainly doesn't make it for it. The band could have rested on the catchiness of the song to carry the video, but they didn't opting to make a video that is energetic, colorful, and insanely fun. The layering of all the various versions of themselves is done perfectly never losing the continuity of the timeline or the rhythm of the song for a second.

4. Radiohead - "House of Cards" ; As far as influence go few bands in the history of rock music have as wide a reach as Radiohead. They have revolutionized what alternative rock should sound like, have re-written the rules of the music business, and now they have taken music videos to a new uncharted land where cameras aren't necessary. Using a new technique that replaces the use of cameras with lasers, Radiohead crafted a stunning video for "House of Cards". I have a feeling that this, like everything else Radiohead does, will influence artists for generations to come.

3. Justice - "Stress" ; The video for this song is gritty, realistic, and despicably violent, in other words it matches the sound of the song perfectly which is always a good formula for making an unforgettable music video. It's a bit reminiscent of U.N.K.L.E.'S video for "Rabbit in Your Headlights", but it is far from a straight copy. Instead this is a shocking, eye opening video to the real world violence on the streets of France, like a mini version of what The Wire showcased in Baltimore.

2. No Age - "Eraser" ; No Age's musical career has shown a natural progression through the band's singles and albums thus far, taking noise-punk to varying degrees of noise while also blending in some nice pop aesthetics as they're songwriting has progressed. Watching the video for "Eraser" you can't help but be realize this progression as it is basically all laid out for you. Starting at the end of their video for "Keechie", the song blends old and new No Age together in one sweetly orchestrated video. I love the whole slo-mo technique and the use of the "Keechie" scene and "Impossible Boquet" lengthens the video to include some excellent shots.

1. Kanye West - "Flashing Lights" ; The first time I saw this video I was left with my mouth agape after the sexy woman finished stabbing Kanye with the shovel. Though you can't see the ultimate result of the act, the violence and hatred with which she repeatedly jabs the shovel inside of the trunk of the car is so thoroughly raw that it leaves little thought to what the outcome was. The entirety of this video is dazzling in it's simplicity. Only two people in the video, the excellent use of censoring certain images, and of course the use of sex and violence to create a complex story arch in just a few minutes. Like the best of all music videos this doesn't feel like a piece of marketing, coming off as its own piece of art instead.