In case you missed some of the amazing new videos released in June, music video aficionado and Scroll contributor Tristan Viner-Brown has trolled music blogs and youtube and rounded up the best in music video art direction from June. Read below for his ranked list of his five favorites!
1.) DIE ANTWOORD – ‘BABY’S ON FIRE’ (displayed above)
(Directed by NINJA and Terence Neale)
In the music video for their latest single, “Baby’s On Fire,” South African rap-rave duo, Die Antwoord, enter new stylistic territory. Unlike their previous video for “I Fink U Freeky,” shot in black-and-white, this one is dripping in washed out pastels. Before the beat drops, there is a mini-scene in which Ninja and Yo-Landi Vi$$er, cast as siblings, fight at the dinner table about Yo-Landi’s bad boy love interest, ‘JP’. Throughout the video, JP continuously attempts to get it on with Yo-Landi while Ninja must leave his harem of girls to chase him off. All the while, their robotically uninvolved parents sit watching TV. Visually, the video is supremely satisfying, incorporating lots of ravey costumes, weed smoke, swords, guns, BMX tricks, oil wrestling, and just enough booty shaking to have you pressing replay immediately.
2.) COCOROSIE – ‘WE ARE ON FIRE’
(Directed by Emma Freeman)
In the video for their single, “We Are On Fire”, twisted sisters CocoRosie fall in slow motion, wear tattered Victorian outfits, and burn at the stake while smoke and an amorphous black figure (reminiscent of Madonna’s video for “Frozen”) swirl around the two girls, drawing on themes of possession and the occult.
3.) AZEALIA BANKS – ‘LIQUORICE’
(Directed by Rankin)
After the success of “212”, rap diva Azealia Banks follows it up nicely with a clip for “Liquorice”, the second single off her 1991 EP. Styled by Nicola Formachetti, better known as Lady Gaga’s fashion guru, Azealia rocks an all-black sheriff outfit, complete with leather chaps while she rides horseback through the desert. She also snacks sexily on a hot dog and a rocket pop before having a wild-west style showdown…with herself. Yes, in this video, there are no buff backup dancers or model love interests. It’s just Ms. Banks and a horse ready to lasso some cowboys…or girls…or whatever tickles her fancy.
4.) SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS – ‘THE NIGHT’
(Directed by Allie Aviatal Tsypin)
Some artists have really started to use the advent of YouTube and other video hosting sites to their advantage. Lately, there have been more than a few prolific musicians who have worked with such websites to set up competitions where hopefuls can submit videos from which the band chooses one. For the latest single, “The Night” off their new album, Ghostory, NYC-based band, School of Seven Bells, chose the winner of their video competition very wisely. The clip, directed by Allie Aviatal Tsypin, features a little girl wistfully mouthing the profound lyrics or dancing her heart out. The girl’s resemblance to the band’s lead singer, Alejandra Deheza, is uncanny and it is hard not to be mesmerized by her precocious performance.
5.) IAMAMIWHOAMI – “GOODS”
(Directed by Robin Kempe-Bergman)
“Goods” is the final video in the string of singles and accompanying videos leading up to Kin, the first LP from Swedish alternative pop enigma, iamamiwhoami. It features the mastermind and voice behind the project, Jonna Lee, in a retro, black-and-white jumpsuit dancing around angularly like an electro-Harlequin. If this video piques your interest, start from the first video in the series “Sever” to see how it all connects.