Songs to Watch!

I don’t know about you, but what really draws me into a song is if it’s got a really sweet music video. Many people will put music on in the background. You know, for background noise? When I’m listening to music, I tend to focus on it. Sometimes hanging out at a bar with friends I’ll get a little too into listening to the music rather than the conversation (is it a problem?). When you come over to my house, instead of a movie playing in the background or whatever TV show, I’ll play all my favourite music videos. So here is a list, one could almost call a top 4 (but there are so many more out there), of my favourite music videos that pop up first on my YouTube feed. These are Songs to Watch!

Breezeblocks by Alt-J

Great song, but I’ll say this for the music video, it’s… dark. The whole video is in reverse and leads you down a path of thinking one way but ends with a real M. Night Shyamalan twist. It’s kind of scary, but it’s such a mind-bending twist it’ll probably make you need to watch it more than once.

Learn to Lose by Bakermat Ft. Alex Clare

To lighten the mood after Alt-J, how about some Bakermat? Great songs with very feel-good lyrics – and wouldn’t you know it – the music videos also make you feel good! If you watch more of Bakermat’s music videos there is a theme that runs through them.

What I’ve come to understand so far is that Bakermat, who is an animated dog through multiple music videos, comes from space in a rocket to… start a party! He gets stuck on Earth, and after a few adventures, does manage to make it back to… his home planet? I’m still a little fuzzy on that. I find it hard to get all the music videos in order to tell the proper story, but the music is great, the animation is great, and every time I watch one of his videos, I seem to learn a little more of the lore behind the universe he’s created. Music tells the best stories!

Hunnybee by Unknown Mortal Orchestra

I love knowing this band just because of their name (see also I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME). These guys are another great group who have some amazingly animated videos, although you aren’t going to be finding threads to follow in-between videos here. Stand alone, weirdly animated videos, and when I say weirdly animated, I do mean that. Each video I’ve watched of theirs seems to be done differently.

One is done with mirror effects and what I might call ‘lag-ridden’ imagery. Another is with puppets. The one showcased here is so chill, and the animation style is so beautiful I feel you could freeze it at any point, print out whatever is on screen, and put it on the wall and you’d have one beautiful piece of art. The part of this video I love so much is when video starts an instance where you think something big, some kind of climax, is going to occur. But it just doesn’t. It’s just as chill as the whole song is. Some may be disappointed by that, but I feel it fits so well with the overall feel of the song, it’s what makes it for me. It’s just so thematic!

Two Against One (Ft. Jack White) by Danger Mouse, Daniele Luppi, and Jack White

This is from an album called Rome, which may be the easiest easy-listening album I own. The whole album is quite subdued, and very relaxed. I’m not sure how I every came across the music video for this song, Two Against One, but it’s one of the best music videos I feel I’ve ever seen. The way the animation warps around, matching the music perfectly, is mesmerizing. I’ve heard some online have said it’s reminiscent of the animation stuff from Pink Floyd’s The Wall, which I think I can agree with.

Well, that’s a small sampling of the stuff you’ll catch filling my TV screen in my off hours. Keep listening to NR92.com and I’ll do my best to keep you informed of the great music video’s I tend to come across. If a song doesn’t have a great music video, it may just fly past my radar! Let me know some of your favourite music videos down in the comment section and maybe it’ll be my next favourite too! Keep your eyes and ears happy with Songs to Watch!

(Header image by Maxwell Read with Pixel Studio)

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