Top 50 Music Videos of 2012

We’ve come to the end of the first year of this site’s existence, and there’s been an explosion of talent in music videos in 2012. Unlike some years that have been dominated by an elite group of gifted directors, this year saw a diverse collection of new talent taking center stage. Among the up-and-coming directors that impressed me this year are Emily Kai Bock, who’s received much acclaim for her aesthetically cutting-edge work and Ninian Doff, who’s incredibly inventive concept videos have wowed me again and again. It was also a great year for Yoann Lemoine who continued his visually spectacular videos (and is quickly breaking into the mainstream), DANIELS who are still the most exciting and groundbreaking directing team out there, and enduring weirdo favorite, Andreas Nilsson who can pretty much do no wrong in my book.

The following is my list of the top 50 music videos of the year and I’ll note that it was both difficult to narrow this list down and also come up with any type of sensible ranking for the excellent selections, so consider the order to be about about 80% arbitrary. The best music videos this year encompassed the entire spectrum, with remarkably inventive concepts, biting social and political commentary, beautiful visual pieces, breathtaking animation, and dramatic, poignant storytelling all factoring heavily into the year’s best. These are the music videos from 2012 that I felt pushed the envelope of the medium and are worth your valuable time to watch and rewatch. The videos are all embedded below and if you have any favorites that you think I missed, feel free to leave them in the comments. Enjoy!

50. St. Vincent “Cheerleader” (dir. Hiro Murai)

49. Mint Julep “To The Sea” (dir. a nice idea every day)

48. Hilary Hahn and Hauschka “Draw a Map” (dir. Eric Epstein)

47. Of Monsters and Men “Little Talks” (dir. WeWereMonkeys)

46. tUnE-yArDs “My Country” (dir. Mimi Cave)

45. Flying Lotus “Tiny Tortures” (dir. David Lewandowski)

44. Delta Heavy “Get By” (dir. Ian Robertson)

43. Grimes “Oblivion” (dir. Emily Kai Bock)

42. JUSTICE “New Lands” (dir. CANADA)

41. Danny Brown “Grown Up” (dir. Greg Brunkalla)

40. Michael Andrews “Bubbles in Space” (dir. Josh Hassin)

39. David Byrne & St Vincent “Who” (dir. Martin de Thurah)

38. Yuksek “Off The Wall” (dir. Romain Segaud)

37. Connan Mockasin “Faking Jazz Together” (dir. Fleur & Manu)

36. Cave Painting “So Calm” (dir. Jimmy Ahlander & Robin Antiga)

35. OFF! “Borrow and Bomb” & “I Got News for You” (dir. Whitey McConnaughy)

34. Woodkid “Run Boy Run” (dir. Yoann Lemoine)

33. 2 Chainz “Birthday Song” ft. Kanye West (dir. Andreas Nilsson) [NSFW]

32. Purity Ring “Fineshrine” (dir. Young Replicant)

31. Punks Jump Up “Mr Overtime” (dir. Maxime Bruneel)

30. Beirut “The Rip Tide” (dir. Houmam Abdalla)

29. Flight Facilities “Clair De Lune” (Dir. Dave Ma)

28. Sigur Rós “Fjögur Píanó” (dir. Alma Har’el) [NSFW]

27. Kris Menace feat. Miss Kittin “Hide” (dir. Mathieu Bétard)

26. Lana Del Rey “Blue Jeans” (dir. Yoann Lemoine)

25. Jack Ladder “Short Memory” (dir. Michael Spiccia)

24. Be Brave Benjamin “Devil Fool” (dir. Pablo Maestres)

23. NO “Stay With Me” (dir. Ryan Reichenfeld)

22. Alt-J “Breezeblocks” (dir. Ellis Bahl)

21. Rudimental “Not Giving In” (dir. Josh Cole)

20. Miike Snow “The Wave” (dir. Andreas Nilsson)

19. Lushlife “Magnolia” (dir. LAMAR+NIK)

18. Grizzly Bear “Yet Again” (dir. Emily Kai Bock)

17. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros “Man On Fire” (dir. Brady Corbet)

16. Björk “Mutual Core” (dir. Andrew Thomas Huang)

15. Tenacious D “Rise of the Fenix” (dir. DANIELS)

14. Dan Deacon “True Thrush” (dir. Ben O’Brien and Dan Deacon)

13. JJ DOOM “Guv’nor” (dir. Ninian Doff)

12. Half Moon Run “Call Me In The Afternoon” (dir. Człowiek Kamera)

11. Van She “Idea of Happiness” (dir. Andreas Nilsson)

10. Bat For Lashes “Laura” (dir. Noel Paul)

9. The Hickey Underworld “the Frog” (dir. Joe Van Houtteghem)

8. Antony and the Johnsons “Cut The World” (dir. Nabil)

7. Darwin Deez “Free (The Editorial Me)” (dir. Ninian Doff)

6. The Shins “Simple Song” (dir. DANIELS)

5. Moones – “Better Energy” (dir. Peter Sluszka)

4. Keaton Henson “Small Hands” (dir. Joseph Mann)

3. Flying Lotus “Until The Quiet Comes” (dir. Kahlil Joseph)

2. Gotye “Easy Way Out” (dir. Darcy Prendergast)

1. M.I.A. “Bad Girls” (dir. Romain Gavras)

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Posted December 6th, 2012 by taylor in Lists | 11 Comments »