DownTuned

No. 1 – Pearl Jam – Do The Evolution

Music videos don’t come much better than this. Beautiful to look at, follows the beat of the song and tells a story. The story being man’s inhumanity to man through history and into the future. Wonderful, if heavy-handed iconography – but this is a music video – it’s better to use a big hammer than a scalpel to get your point across.

The video was co-directed by Kevin Altieri, known for his direction on Batman: The Animated Series – a massively underrated and beautiful show; and Todd McFarlane, better known for his work with the popular, if patchy comic book Spawn.

2. Royksopp – Remind Me

Who would think those cold, technical diagrams – most often seen in in-flight safety instructions and textbooks – could be so compelling and able to tell a story? Well – French animation studio H5 did when they created this wonderful video for Royksopp. The ‘infographics’ (as they’re known) zoom in on seemingly mundane things, adding a touch of isometric joy to drinking your coffee or riding the tube.

No. 3 – Omodaka – Kokiriko Bushi

I don’t know much about this video – I do know that when I first saw it, I then proceded to watch it repeatedly for much of the day. Directed by Teppei Maki, it;s a surreal skeleton puppet type thing, a bunch of eyeballs and the odd disembodied hand – sort of dancing. I dare you to watch it just once.

No. 4 – Daft Punk – One More Time

Not so much the individual video but for ‘Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem’ – an entire anime movie that accompanied the Daft Punk album Discovery. 68 minutes of a blue skinned band having a great big outer space adventure. If you like Daft Punk and anime you’ll be in pig heaven. If not, well, thats 68 minutes you’ll not get back. Created under the supervision of legendary Manga and Anime creator Leiji Matsumoto, it’s an overblown piece of high concept suitably befitting Daft Punk

No. 5 – The White Stripes – Fell In Love With A Girl

Michael Gondry and Lego – a perfect match if ever there was one. An amazing video made more impressive knowing that only a few seconds were computer generated. the rest was well planned, expertly executed hard graft. A video so simple it could be recreated in a living room, but so good it kicks the ass off of many a high budget, choreographed booty shakin’ dance video.

Five is not enough. Get to the comments and suggest some more!

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