‘All We Ever Wanted Was Everything’ by MGMT, Directed by Oneedo

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

Video for ‘The Morning’ by The Weeknd

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

‘Scale It Back’ by DJ Shadow feat. Little Dragon

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

‘Numbnuts’ by Nacho Picasso

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

Major Lazer was behind the jian sword dancer for their new track, ‘Original Don’

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