Welcome to FACT’s weekly video round-up.
As we note at the end of every year, music videos have never been better. But too often, music videos — along with documentaries, live sets and interview clips — get lost in the shuffle of news and new music.
With that in mind, FACT is doing what it does for mixes, mixtapes, vinyl and more: rounding up the internet’s best videos on a weekly basis. And to remove our bias, we won’t be including our own content — you’ll have to stay tuned to FACT TV for all your Against The Clock, FACT Freestyles and Confessions needs.
Read more: The 20 best music videos of 2015
ANOHNI
‘Drone Bomb Me’
Dir: Nabil
Who knew that in a video starring Naomi Campbell, the focus would not be on her barely-there outfit, but on her tearjerking performance. Campbell lip sync’s ANOHNI’s ‘Drone Bomb Me’ as a crew of double-jointed dancers battle and fall with explosions in their eyes.
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Cat’s Eyes
‘Drag’
Dir: James Lawes
Warning: Contains violence that may be triggering.
The lyric “All the things we do when we’re together / if they only knew, they’d try to keep us apart” is instructive as Cat’s Eyes contrasts their disaffected, midcentury pop with brutal acts of domestic violence that result in broken noses and facial burns. The tension is visceral as the viewer waits for the next attack, be it by carving knife, corkscrew or bleach.
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Kero Kero Bonito
‘Lipslap’
Dir: Theo Davies
Kero Kero Bonito turns into the world’s weirdest 80s sitcom, with all the neon, stuffed animals and assorted toys that you’d expect from this JPop-meets-PC Music-meets-rave trifle.
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Skrillex & JAUZ feat. Fatman Scoop
‘SQUAD OUT!’
Dir: lilfuchs
Continuing his run of impressive videos with an animated, Adult Swim-ready clip, Skrillex and JAUZ find understanding in an elevator crash as they’re attacked by major lazers, subwoofers and a Gonzo-nosed Fatman Scoop.
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KING
‘Carry On’
Dir: Veronica Solomon
R&B trio KING are walking on clouds in this animated video that takes a psychedelic journey through space and time, balancing simple line art, expressive black-and-white and streaks of pastel.
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Julianna Barwick
‘Nebula’
Dir: Derrick Belcham
Julianna Barwick visits the iconic Philip Johnson Glass House, illuminated by a light installation by director Derrick Belcham in a video that is a meditation in chiaroscuro.
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Chairlift
‘Crying in Public’
Dir: Allie Avital
It’s winter in New York as Caroline Polachek cries giant glycerine tears and makes a scene on the train. Allie Avital cuts in Chairlift’s in-studio performance in this simple but touching video.
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Kyson
‘You’
Dir: Michael Williamson
Masked figures gather in the woods, connected to their past and future selves by yarn and memories as Kyson’s gentle, finger-picked ‘You’ builds to an electronic crescendo.
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Anna Wise
‘BitchSlut’
Dir: Anna Wise
Sonnymoon vocalist and Kendrick Lamar collaborator Anna Wise takes on misogyny in her half-rapped/half-sung ‘BitchSlut’, juxtaposing the song’s message with a light and playful iPhone-shot video.
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K. Michelle
‘Mindful’
K. Michelle slays as the queen of the trailer park, whether cleaning the house in high heels or dance-battling in Daisy Dukes.
