In addition to our 2019 Booooooom TV Awards we wanted to share our picks for the 15 best music videos of 2019! We had a lot of fun going through a ton of videos to compile this list and we ended up with a bunch that were absent from the few year-end lists we saw on other sites. We’d definitely love to hear what videos made your list! Send us a tweet! Enjoy.
Sam Tudor – “Joseph in the Bathroom”
Director: Lucas Hrubizna
Images of people silently sliding face down along the floor stuck with us for months after we watched this one. A beautiful and haunting vision from director Lucas Hrubizna—someone we’ll definitely be keeping our eye on.
Solange — “Almeda”
Director: Solange
A stream of consciousness style journey into Solange’s mind, pieced together out of images from her film When I Get Home. Love the use of simple choreography in this strangely hypnotic self-directed video.
De Staat – “Kitty Kitty”
Director: Wouter Stoter
This one feels like it lives in the same universe as Kris Moyes’ video for The Presets’ “My People” some years ago. Love that Wouter Stoter and company went the extra mile here and used layers of many different takes rather than duplicating the same footage over itself.
Tierra Whack – “Unemployed”
Director: Cat Solen
Cat Solen was one of the directors behind Adult Swim’s The Shivering Truth (the pilot remains one of our fav things EVER) and this video has all the same funny/creepy/absurd vibes PLUS it has Tierra Whack. This is truly a gift from the music video gods.
James Massiah – “Natural Born Killers (Ride For Me)”
Director: Ian Pons Jewell
A sweltering surreal dystopia from the mind of visionary director Ian Pons Jewell. Can’t hear this song now without feeling like we’re sweating profusely.
The Hour – “Mother”
Director: Ben Strebel
Such a strange and intense energy to this one! The shot at 2:22 was definitely one of the most memorable of the year for us. Loved the art direction.
Joe Russo – “Phér•Bŏney Love Theme”
Director: Jonny Look
A brilliantly absurd sandwich ballet directed by one of our favs, Jonny Look. The humour in Erin Murray’s fantastic choreography really shines thanks to Chris Westlund’s cinematography and a masterful edit by Ting Poo. Love this so much.
FKA twigs – “Cellophane”
Director: Andrew Thomas Huang
FKA twigs’ pole dancing is so mesmerizing that our brains are already fried by the time Andrew Thomas Huang goes full-on Andrew Thomas Huang. An absolute eye-popper from two visionaries.
Hot Chip – “Hungry Child”
Director: Saman Kesh
Director Saman Kesh took a huge risk with this video for Hot Chip. Imagine explaining to a band that the characters in their video would become aware of their song playing in the background and be extremely annoyed by it. What could have easily been too irritating to sit through was instead one of the most memorable videos we saw all year.
A$AP Rocky – “Babushka Boi”
Director: Nadia Lee Cohen
Director Nadia Lee Cohen pays homage to Dick Tracy in this spectacular video for A$AP Rocky’s “Babushka Boi”. Flawless styling and set dec—every frame of this thing could be a poster.
Chris Liebing & Charlotte de Witte – “Liquid Slow”
Director: Fernando Nogari
Director Fernando Nogari presents a dystopian future in which a girl competes in an underground dance marathon to save her partner. Erik Henriksson’s cinematography buzzes with an intensity that is utterly entrancing.
Agoria – “You Are Not Alone”
Directors: Hernán Corera & Walter Cornas & Juan Cavia
An absolute stunner from directors Hernán Corera, Walter Cornas and Juan Cavia. Gorgeous cinematography by Mariano Monti and exceptional work by the art department. Four minutes was not enough! This really deserved to be a lot longer.
LANY — “Thick and Thin”
Director: Isaac Ravishankara
This is what it looks like when someone has the perfect concept and resists the temptation to add too much and over-complicate it. Isaac Ravishankara’s brilliant direction here allows the song room to breathe and the result is so satisfying. A round of applause for pulling off a oner like this at sunset and having it feel effortless.
Alaskan Tapes — “And, We Disappear”
Director: Meredith Hama-Brown
Images from this one have stayed with us since we first saw it. A visually stunning and deeply poetic work from director Meredith Hama-Brown and cinematographer Norm Li. Every frame here is pure magic. One can only hope their last moments on earth will feel like this.
Joywave — “Obsession (Director’s Cut)”
Directors: Laura Gorun & Cooper Roussel & Dimitri Basil
You would be forgiven if you watched most of this video before you realised that none of these films actually exist and you didn’t even get to the end because your mind was completely shattered and you had to rewind and start again. This is a masterpiece. We felt like we were back in our local Happy Video with a stack of VHS tapes deciding which ones to rent based on the box art. Had we not already watched everything Laura Gorun, Cooper Roussel and Dimitri Basil have created together we’d have been more surprised by how insanely good this is. *insert gif of Ralphie’s teacher writing A+++ on the chalkboard*
Share
Tweet
Email
