15) "Rebecca Black - "Friday" - Hold on, let me state my case. The grading of a music video technically has nothing to do with the quality of the song, so throw that argument out the window (back or front, it doesn't matter). This 2011 landmark daringly plunged further than any prior work into the deep, unexplored conflicts of weekend seat-choosing. But really, in a millenium where music videos have become anything but necessity, this was a video that everyone saw and that, after the initial shitstorm of hatred was flung, sort of united people in a big, viral what-the-fuck smile. And for accomplishing that while kindly making every other music vid look great in comparison, we honor you Rebecca. (Fun Fact: "Friday" was my most-played song of 2011 because one day I just listened to it on repeat until I learned all the words, rap included, under the assumption it was gonna help me pick up chicks or something.)
14) Girls - "Honey Bunny" - Girls do this whole tongue-in-cheek shout-out to retro American music, and they've never been more tongue-in-cheek or retro than in this clip, which does a great job of showing off Chris Owens's boney body and dirty hair.
13) Radiohead - "Lotus Flower" I'm not a huge Radiohead-head or anything, but I'm all for watching Thom Yorke dance like a goofnugget for five minutes. Also, there's this.
12) Beirut - "Santa Fe" - Zach Condon is from Sante Fe, so it's probably not a stretch to assume this song is about the desire to go back. Sometimes you can go home. And other times, you just have to steal people's shit while they're getting baptized.
11) M83 - "Midnight City" - There are some filmic allusions here that I didn't catch, but another film certainly comes to mind when watching this kid-centric clip is "Super 8." Basically, I wish this was a movie — if only to give that kid's eyes some more screen time.
10) Youth Lagoon - "Montana" - This video perfectly encapsulates this man's past — not in a nostalgic, smile-guided way, but rather in an examination of the fuzzy pieces of childhood that make up who he is today.
9) Lana Del Rey - "Born To Die" - I'm a sucker for most non-Gaga Springsteen references, so Lana kind of had me hooked from the start on this one. She calls herself a "gangster Nancy Sinatra" and style of her videos definitely enforces that great description.
8) Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris - "We Found Love" - No one ruled the airwaves in 2011 like Rihanna, and with songs like this, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. This video visualizes the unabashed fun-fest produced by the song with an added touch of despair, as the video seemingly looks back on Rihanna's relationship with Chris Brown. Plus, it was pretty cool how they got Tyrann "The Honey Badger" Matheiu to be in the vid.
7) Fleet Foxes - "The Shrine/An Argument" - There is some really cool animation work going on here, but my favorite part of this video, by far, is the two-headed serpent battling itself. I've never seen a scene of a music video add so much to the interpretation of the song. After months of listening to it, all that bass clarinet jazz finally made sense when seeing its visual counterpart.
6) St. Vincent - "Cruel" - Apparently Annie Clark has some real fears when it comes to becoming a mother. It's kind of a shame, because I pictured myself as having kids, but I guess as long as Annie and I are happily married I can make that sacrifice.
5) TV on the Radio - "You" - I was really disappointed that TV on the Radio didn't play this song the two times I saw them this year, but this video was a pretty good consolation prize. Apparently TVOTR is on hiatus (they're not actually) and after having a little reunion, Tunde Adebimpe reflects on trying to make it big as a Samba-wearing, in-denial Prince wannabe, dove and all. It's pretty funny stuff. (It's also pretty sad stuff. Bassist Gerard Smith, who works as a waiter during the band's fictional hiatus, died of lung cancer shortly after this video was released.)
4) Tyler, The Creator - "Yonkers" - This video was probably the peak of Tyler's 2011 (fame-wise), and I don't think it's any coincidence that this 34-million-view YouTube phenomenon also brings together the two specialties of Odd Future: 1) Do some crazy, over-the-top, controversial shit. 2) Make quality shit. Golfwang.
3) Best Coast - "Our Deal" - Best Coast and Drew Berrymore and Donald Glover and Chloe Moretz and Maeby from Arrested Development and iCarly from iCarly and gangs and roof-top brawls and dramatic irony and love and death and greaser hair-dos, oh my!
2) Beyoncé - "Countdown" - Beyoncé gets grouped in with the Lady Gagas and Katy Perrys of the world, but this video just shows how much catching up everyone else has to do when it comes to: 1) Soul and/or swagger. 2) Song quality. 3) Music video quality. 4) Aw-shucks cuteness.
1) Kanye West - "All of the Lights" - Ha, and you thought I was done putting Kanye at the top of lists. Nope! This video is just so cool. If you're even minutely interested in fonts, you'll get at least a quarter chub watching this vid. And if you're even minutely epileptic, you'll get at least a quarter-hour-long seizure. There are a lot of lights. But that's what makes it so cool. That and Kanye dancing on a cop car and Rihanna's tits hanging out. Hey, they even took Fergie's verse out! Narcissism at its West-ward best, the words celebrate Yeezy's masterful body of work last year and the ridiculous lineup of talent that assisted with this song. Even Face from Nickelodeon makes a cameo, as blank colored panels flash at strobe speed to finish the song. And really, once that guy shows up, what more can you ask for?
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