Spotted this video on Vimeo earlier and it grabbed my eye immediately. The song is by a fellow named Úlfur (full name Úlfur Hansson) who I’m 99% sure is the bassist for Jonsí’s band when he tours. Striking out on his own he’s created this beautiful electronic track which reminds me a bit of something you might hear in a Miyazaki film. The video was directed by Máni M. Sigfússon who created an abstract piece of art that’s sort of gothic Enya. He directs videos for all the biggest Icelandic musicians, so I’d highly suggest you check out the rest of his videos as well.

Hopefully Úlfur releases a full-length album soon, I’m really digging his sound.

Bobby

To coincide with the release of Matthew Dear’s new EP Headcage he’s released a trippy new video directed by Morgan Beringer. The song is called In The Middle (I Met You There) and features vocals from Drums front man Jonny Pierce, which brings an interesting angle to Dear’s music. The song is rather vibrant and melodic, like a natural progression of where Dear’s music is potentially heading. The video itself is pretty crazy, like watching paint melt on drugs or something. It fits though, and certainly sets a mood for the song.

Bobby

My old friend Jean Jullien has teamed up with his brother, who goes by the name Niwouinwouin, to start Jullien Brothers, a music/music video production duo making some amazing shit. Niwouinwouin released his Troll Slayer EP late last year, and now they’ve upped the ante with a brand new video which is amazing. The video all takes place on the wall of a bedroom, told through the medium of the posters. The protagonist hero must rescue his love from the evil troll, traversing different posters and battling foes as he goes. The images above give you a sense of the the story, but you have to see the rest to truly see how brilliant these two are. Also be sure to watch it full screen, the experience is that much better.

Bobby

36000 photos, 40 blocs of ice, 40 timelapses of 4 hours, 25 liters of water. That’s what went into the the making of the this video for Mimi Goese and Ben Neill’s song Cusp. Director Christophe Thockler has done a great job of turning the mundane act of ice melting into something engaging, perhaps even beautiful. It’s funny though, that as cool and exciting the video is, the making of video (see below) shows how rather mundane the process was, just a guy with his Canon 60D chilling in his backyard melting some ice with heat gun. But that’s also sort of the genius part of it all, that you can create such amazing work with just one person and a few simple (ok, expensive) tools.

Bobby

Earlier tonight I was ranting on Twitter that there should be a movie about hipsters with super powers, and this awesome music video is what sparked the thought. The song is CHLLNGR’s Change, which I’d describe as space dub, but I have no idea if that’s a real thing or not. The video is wonderfully vague, featuring a sunglass wearing beard-o aboard an organic spaceship floating around space. Suddenly he’s attacked by a crazy lady in another spaceship, shooting at the beard-o’s ship. He goes into defense mode and handles the situation in a spectacular way.

What I love about this is how out there this is. There’s mystery, there’s power, there’s spectacle – really everything that gets me excited. The video was co-directed by Chad Turner and Ryan Todd, and I think they did a great job. The color palette and special effects are really well done and the pacing makes the video something special. I’d totally watch a full-length feature of this.

You can also download the track for free by clicking here. You can also read about behind-the-making of the video on Wired by clicking here.

Bobby

Despite enjoying the odd MGMT song from time-to-time, I must admit I’m not their biggest fan, and so, I’m a little late in sharing this great video they released last month. It’s directed by Onnedo (aka: Ned Wenlock) who you might remember we posted about back in May when he created an amazing video for the band Danger Beach. His video for All We Ever Wanted Was Everything is of a similar vein but this time he has created an unfolding universe where images paste over one another to create a richly-textured world full of busy streets and smoggy factories. It’s a truly wonderful piece of animation.

The track itself is a cover of the old Bauhaus song which was featured on the band’s Late Night Tales compilation. If you’re interested in reading about Wenlock’s process in designing the video then check out his blog. He’s written an interesting post about the process that went into creating the animation.

Philip

Abel Tesfaye has had a rapid rise to fame, one that could only be done on in the modern music world. Releasing a full length to great success before anyone knew him, his moniker The Weeknd attracted a steady following from all over the music world. His first release, House of Balloons, came out in March. Five months later, a sequel, Thursday, was released to almost similar acclaim. And several hours ago he released the final piece of the triptych, Echoes of Silence, on his website.

It seems like selling music is out of fashion. In 2011, giving your tracks away is the new black. If you haven’t heard of The Weeknd before, you couldn’t do much better than this track, The Morning, from House of Balloons. It’s a version of neo-soul that takes the best electronic-glop and synths from ambient and IDM and tosses them on a hip hop sway. It’s effective and infectious. Tesfaye was blessed with a great voice and a soaring falsetto. He utilizes it to near perfection, creating a hazy, insomniac-fueled sound to tell the story of prostitution and forgotten dreams. The video drives the story home pretty well. Regardless of the depressing, almost-too-real story, the song is beautiful, well crafted, and one of my favorite singles of 2011.

Alec

I’ve heard really mixed reactions to DJ Shadow‘s latest album The Less You Know, The Better, and so I’ve been putting checking it out on the long-finger for a while now. That said, I was interested in hearing his collaboration with Yukimi Nagano of Little Dragon and so last night I watched the video for Scale It Back.

While the track itself is an enjoyable and infectious listen, it’s the music video by Ewan Jones Morris and Casey Raymond that really caught my attention. Inspired by a memory sequence created by Ben Pridmore, the video really does an excellent job of bringing such a wonderful concept to life. Both inventive and playful, it’s well worth checking out!

Philip

In a year where mainstream rap has degenerated to rhyming the same word with the same word with the same word with the same word (and maybe with “rozay,” why spell it correctly), it seems that the guys with the wildest rhymes and beats are all in Seattle.

With one of the best names in the rap game, Nacho Picasso’s new record, For the Glory, seems to encapsule both sides of the name. At times he reveals the young, naked, inner dealings of a young man who medicates it with drinkings, smoking, comic books and reruns of Half Baked. The other half is a guy who paints images and scenes while running with his words, controlling them with handles like Chris Paul. It’s a great combination and this track totally shows off some of the skills. “I’m blowin money / killin bills, black mamba / I’m a monster, Nacho the chupacabra / you’re a coon I’m hakuna matata” is both hilarious, revealing, and just great wordplay.

Nacho is giving away his album free on his website. Cop it.

Alec

About a month ago, Kottke posted this video he found through Than Tibbetts which began making the rounds because of just how silly and off-kilter it was. It featured few random looking people – one jian sword dancing, one busting out some moves with a pocket knife, the other being a grandma with her dog, chilling out and watching what was going on.

When I saw this it seemed too well put together, and as it turns out my instinct was right. This morning Major Lazer released a video with this motley crew of weirdos for their newest track, Original Don, featuring Party Squad. It’s a pretty rad song, and definitely fits in with the dancing they’re doing. It’s also funny to see Diplo chilling in their world. Glad to see people like Major Lazer weirding it up more and creating a “viral video” that grabbed a lot of attention, or so I’m assuming.

Down below you can also see a behind-the-scenes-ish video of Diplo chilling with the grandma, as well as the original videos that were posted.

Found through Gorilla vs. Bear

Bobby