Best Music Videos of 2015: First Quarter

If you visit Vimeo daily, you’ll eventually find most of the best music videos.  But until this year, searching took a lot of time.  Recently, something changed at the channel, whose music video selections have greatly increased since January.  We suspect that a specialist may have been hired, but whatever the reason, we couldn’t be happier.

These are the best videos we’ve encountered so far this year, and this is one of the earliest batches we’ve been able to prepare.  The videos below burst with color and sound.  Some explore new techniques, while others present simple images in profound ways.  And now, without further ado, A Closer Listen presents the best music videos of the first quarter of 2015!

emulsifier
Direction and Music:  Thomas Medicus

A simple concept beautifully executed, “emulsifier” is a series of 160 hand-painted glass strips, which reveal four different images when viewed from different angles.  The video is primarily a promotion device for the art piece, but it works in its own right, especially when it goes macro.

solo scum
Director: Mukai Jumpei
Music:  Yuki Matsumura

The first thing one notices is the shape of the frame: an elongated, HD rectangle.  The second is the flow of the people.  A sweet contrast is set between those in slow motion and those in hyperspeed, topped only by the stretching of space along with time.

Rain
Director:  Victor Jardel
Music:  Senbeï 

A trio of creatures that appear to have been constructed from electrical plugs dance and lip synch to an old spiritual while standing in the rain.  The appeal of the video is the innocent joy they share.

Rouge
Director:  Loïc Andrieu
Music:  Keffer

Parental warning: this is a scary, bloody video, featuring nudity and decapitation, and it is not for kids.  But what a video.  In only two minutes, Andrieu and co-writer Hedi Chellouf tell a multi-character tale, revealing details slowly until the full picture is revealed; the unifying factor is rouge.

Periscopes
Director:  James Sampson
Music:  Jilk and Haiku Salut

Need some cheering up after the last video?  This should do the trick.  The opening images are more benign than they seem at first, and the later images are downright ebullient, a perfect match for the music.  “Periscopes” is a celebration of childhood, and this one is easily recommended for the kids!  But then afterwards you’ll have to buy them that colored paint dust, and it gets really, really messy.  Don’t worry about the squeaky dog, he’s okay; he’s just resting.

New Topia
Director:  Lilfuchs
Music:  This Will Destroy You

We’re happy to feature a post-rock video in this feature, especially one from one of our favorite bands.  “New Topia” features the melting and morphing of seemingly dissimilar objects, which often appear out of proportion (a milk pitcher poured on a smaller bed, a house turning into a bird).  At exactly the halfway point, BOOM!  Crescendo, color, catharsis.

Lilium
Director:  kynd
Music:  Yaporigami

The colors pulse along with the music, which sounds like a train traveling through a thunderstorm.  When the background goes black, the contrast grows even sharper.  Every big beat is matched by a scene or color shift; this is a perfect example of sight and sound in synch.

Genius Expo
Director: Mirai Mizue
Music:  Tensai Banpaku

Our old friend Mirai Mizue is at it again, with a modern fantasia of fantastic shapes.  The contrasts are especially brilliant, highlighting the happy nature of the song.  Color and shape flow into each other like melody and note.  As usual, the graphics get progressively busier, until the eyes are pleasantly overwhelmed.

Pandemonio
Director:  Valerio Spinelli (Pixelpongo)
Music:  Zu

The video begins with a phenakistoscope (similar to the works of The Brothers Lynch on last year’s Carly Paradis video), but soon it is revealed that the entire project is comprised of felt circles.  This is one crazy video, with clowns, cowboys, monkeys, monsters and more ~ a perfect reflection of Zu’s manic energy.

Richard Allen