Top 40 Music Videos of 2008

Dec 07 2008, Written by Baishi Wu in Music,Playground, 1 Comments

Feist “I Feel it All”

Pitchfork Media has recently posted their Top 40 Music Videos of 2008. Scott Plagenhoef and Mark Richardson explain how the music video has evolved alongside the internet:

The web was also there to capture musical moments that stoked the computer age equivalent of water cooler conversation (Jay-Z’s skewering of Oasis’ “Wonderwall” at Glastonbury) as well as loose, charming goofs that turned out to be hugely entertaining (Bon Iver backing Lykke Li on “Dance Dance Dance”). And big budget extravaganzas like Björk’s “Wanderlust” still have their place.

I guess the internet makes it okay for them to post ridiculous live videos and fan videos. Looking through most of these videos, I don’t think any of them would be on TRL (you know, if it still existed). As a whole, they are just very odd. That’s not even mentioning the fact that Flying Lotus’s “Parisian Goldfish” and Sigur Ros’s “Gobbledigook” contain too much nudity. Even the adorable She & Him video is really strange. Meanwhile, Hot Chip and M83 actually have relatively normal music videos. Girl Talk’s “Still Here” has a music video in the form of a mash-up of former videos (I wonder if that’s illegal art). Wiley’s “Wearing My Rolex” has similarly produced fan video. But my pick for most bland video of the top 40 selected by Pitchfork … of the year … goes to Radiohead’s “House of Cards.” I’d rather watch Justin Timberlake’s flashing head.