Despite the dreadful circumstances of the world at large, we know amazing art still gets created everyday. People are still making both great music and great music videos. The problem was not creativity, but rather the worlds of promotion and distribution, both shriveling at an alarming rate.
While we know video quality is not necesarily a reflection on the state of rock music, great rock videos just didn't want us to find them throughout 2020. Again, hiphop seemed to rule the world of music videos, although only a handful felt worthy of any sort of modern canon for the new decade.
We recognize that this was not the easiest year for distributing art or music, nor was it an era that made it easy to collaborate on promotion. It was also a year packed from end to end with far more important world events that may have pulled many artists away from their craft. But still, we held onto some hope that a few of our favorite bands might find ways to get creative and utilize the world of streaming video resources.
We caught a handful of streaming concerts-from-home throughout 2020, and we're happy to report that a few of these got surprisingly weird and interesting. But we're also not sure if those count as music videos. Perhaps they should count, but some of them were only shown once and were never saved or made available for streaming, suggesting that these were intended as true concert-from-home experiences.
So we're left with the official and unofficial promo clips. We wrote down a few that we remembered from the past year that had some striking images. They're not all great, but we needed some bonus clips to write about before getting into the Top 10. So here they are:
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Go figure that we're kicking this off with a Mariah Carey video from 1996.
Watching this now, "Underneath The Stars" could feasibly timestamp the swan song of Mariah's "wholesome" era. The video originally intended to close Daydream's album cycle circa Spring '96 but was delayed due to the enormous success of "Always Be My Baby." We're guessing Tommy Motolla (or someone) eventually decided to shelve the video and prioritize the sessions for Butterfly -- the record which ultimately marked the arrival moment of her horny-makeover rebrand and eventual divorce from Motolla, complete with a "balls deep in Derek Jeter" announcement.
Flash forward to 2012: Mariah declared "Underneath The Stars" her lost video. A few years later, it was restored and then finally released to Vevo in November 2020. At least one blog placed it as their #1 video of the year, which only really makes sense when accounting for its mythic trajectory. The video would have been deemed as somewhat unremarkable and a huge marketing misstep had it been released 24 years ago as planned. But in the context of 2020, its miraculous exhumation feels sent from God himself.
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It actually scares us that we were somewhat attracted to THIS specific color palate throughout 2020. The classic couch quilt makes an appearance here. It's weird how so many of this year's videos reflect the exact circumstances of our own lives.
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It took a few years, but 2 Chainz has officially evolved into one of the most tasteful video artists of hiphop's modern era, alongside DaBaby and Young Thug. "Can't Go For That" has a great set up, but then we expected some extra narrative to resolve the conflict. But either way, the aesthetic won us over. And bonus props to the masked drummer.
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MTVZ played this one a lot in 2020, and we're still kind of unsure what they're going for. Definitely weird, surreal, and kind of confusing, it reflects a universe where low budget TV shows somehow get approved for on-air programming despite lacking any point or purpose. We're not sure if the cable access of the '90s nor the low budget public television of the '80s ever showed eventless purposeless people on TV just for the sake of filling time on the schedule. Even the worst of these shows typically include something resembling a message or theme. Like, we cannot at all imagine what the dialog on this hypothetical TV show could potentially resemble. But maybe that is the point? In either case, "Processed By The Boys" somewhat aesthetically reminded us of that one Chavez video, enough that we added it to our list of videos that we think Beavis and Butthead should watch when the show gets rebooted, which we know won't make any difference, but we can always hope.
Hope: The only real drug we have left.
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Not really sure why this is partially shown in 4:3 or why the filters seem intended to evoke suburban '70s aesthetic since The Strokes are all '80s babies who did not exist in the '70s (except for possibly Cassablancas, the eldest of The Strokes).
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The still images captured our attention, and we're fans of all three contributing artists. Oprah is played by Lil Yachty who interviews two rappers on her hit talk show. Not a bad idea. Decent concept. What could go wrong?
#1 Perhaps this video was doomed from the start since the song lacks a hook or any production elements that some might consider fun-sounding.
#2 We're pretty sure this video is shooting for "funny." So then, why were the extras in the audience cast as millennial cusp babes? Wouldn't it have been 1000x more interesting if they got the same Karen boomers who would typically fill up the audience on Oprah?
#3 We're unsure why this needed to be 9 minutes long, or why its final 20 seconds feature not only an immense credit scroll but also a blooper reel. The song is interrupted not once but TWICE with badly written joyless plodding 3-minute sketches. Just play the damn song.
If he really wanted to, Tyler the Creator could effortlessly nail this genre of video. We're also fans of everyone involved in "Oprah's Bank Account," which makes the experience all the more frustrating. DaBaby taints his previously flawless videography; Drake removes any doubt of his entirely nonexistant comedic acting chops. Somebody should get fired for this one.
If only it were 1991 again -- back when it was common for The Black Crowes' cover of Otis Redding's "Hard To Handle" and Ugly Kid Joe's "I Hate Everything About You" commonly bumped on MTV and Z100 transitioning in and out of jams from the likes of Janet Jackson and MC Hammer. (We're assuming Top 40 stations used to play "Once Bitten Twice Shy" in the late '80s, but that was before our time.) This long forgotten sub-subgenre is what Satan's Satyrs has sonically achieved with their update on a '50s R&B standard. Needless to say, we're all for it. It's hilarious and a lot more fun than it has any right to be. And it should never have disappeared in the first place. Why was there only one of these in 2018? We need more.
Mad respect to Rob Crow for even considering the immense creative challenge tackled through his 2018 Joyful Noise residency. But also respect is due for welcoming the breakneck release schedule as an opportunity to revisit Optiganally Yours and Thingy, two bands who hadn't released any new music since 2000. As far as we can tell, neither of these bands had ever split up, but the enormous success of Pinback (originally intended a a side project) resulted in the unexpected stretch between releases. We have not yet heard the entire box, but a random sampling indicates a lack of throwaways, performed entirely to precision, meticulously recorded and mixed, carefully sequenced -- especially 
"Slow Burn" is fine, but we don't really get why it turned into the critical favorite of this record. Same goes for "Rainbow" -- a very strange choice for the post-Grammy-hype radio single. "Butterflies" and "Space Cowboy" were also fine choices for album previews. But all of the above don't feel hooky enough to stand-out within pop-country radio. (Modern country fans still listen to old-fashioned regular-ass radio, by the way.) "Lonely Weekend" and "High Horse" are clearly the two songs that are easiest to remember after one listen. They are the obvious pop hits, and should have been treated as such. Another enormous blunder in the world of modern radio programming, further proof that "the biz" collectively has no idea what the fuck they are doing. 
Kanye's sees what's been going on with Pusha T as he's been forced to reckon with some extreme wackness over the past few years. And we don't think we're giving Kanye too much credit to suggest that he can examine beats that Pusha responded to most efficiently, like the dark, sinister shit in "Grindin'" or "Wamp Wamp." Kanye then extracts the elements that will respark and fuel Pusha's ferocity while adding a personalized flair of dopeness. His beats are never the same twice, and certainly understated when he compared to recent mindfucks like Yeezus or "Mercy." Density is wisely emphasized as well; if it's a 3 minute song that feels like 5 minutes, it's because Pusha and Kanye cut out every last ounce of bullshit, responding to internet immediacy's recent influence on concise brevity. 1997-era Jay-Z makes a quick cameo: "Mothafuckas can't rhyme no more / About crime no more." Clipse's mismanaged estate has forced them back into the crack game so frequently over the past 10 years, keeping them hard out of necessity. They had no other choice. 
It's not exactly the quiet storm it might be aiming for, but in between its flaws rests a glimmering allure, compellingly gorgeous enough to yield an irresistible gaze. While guitar solos in modern R&B can be as unstable as walking a tightrope (such as the guitar tone in TLC's “Red Light Special”), Monae's flashy guitar-god throws it behind his head and plays with his teeth Hendrix-style as Janelle and Miguel watch from across the studio nodding and shaking their heads in unison. It's still a flawed moment but a similarly glimmering one, fitting as a proper coda to its dreamy, familiar chorus. Miguel is the found last puzzle piece as he discovers his niche, fitting as a co-songwriter and singer just as well as on “#Beautiful” and more efficiently than on any of his hiphop collab's from pre-2013.
What initially appears as a deceivingly easy and playful scenario quickly dissolves into intense mind games. For some, its infamously bizarre video and various parodies may have burnt out the appeal of “Bound 2.” But from our end, they've only helped to widen our perceptions. It speaks volumes as the concluding chapter of Yeezus, intensifying the depth that flows in between each lyric and “uh huh honey.” Kanye's love song doesn't necessarily need to be written by and for the rich, famous and powerful in order to transcend as brilliantly framed storytelling, somehow conjuring a confusing and wildly intricate scenario reminiscent of a Charlie Kaufman narrative (possibly Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) where love hangs by a thread and the lines between dreams and reality rest upon an unreliable auto-focus lens.
Inserting earplugs at their live shows may help, but guts are typically no match for Ovlov. You will feel Ovlov in your gut. While Mike Thomas's overdriven production on Am achieves an outstanding job of capturing the Ovlov earthquake in all its glory, it wouldn't be worth as much without the initial axis-shift in the songs themselves. Daniel Johnston once sang about dropping your last dime in a wishing well with nothing left to lose. However, Ovlov maintain that no magical forces played a part in the story. Boner explains: "It's about a well. A real well. Non-fiction shit." Steve Hartlett agrees and had actually inserted real life events into the lyrics: "The second verse is about losing my cat Steve. The neighbors could afford canned food for him." We asked if this event was also the inspiration for the non-album track "Wet Food / Dry Food" which is due to be released on a split sometime in 2014. "Yeah it is, but it's just not as clear in 'The Well.'" 2013 was also the year that Ovlov were partially responsible for the success of Fort Flesh, a now-defunct house venue that hosted about 10 of the most lively and intense rock shows in New Haven's recent musical history, every one of which were completely devoid of the arm-folding wallflower nature of similar DIY spaces from that area. 
Jai Paul's leaked demos sound a lot closer to the “singer-songwriter-producer” genre than straight-ahead R&B or chillwave despite the obvious influences pulled from both. His presentation as an elusive laptop genius sticks out among pretty much everything else happening in music right now, disregarding 2013's emphasis on immediacy and instead adopting a marketing package that cherishes the shroud. Whether this presentation was intentional or accidental is up for debate. As a would-be third or fourth single from this collection, “Crush” specifically falls in line with this mystique and carefulness. Initially titled on Bandcamp as “Track 7,” the jam's spacy jumpiness, sparking vague memories of Moon Boots commercials, might take some time before it reveals itself as a cover of Jennifer Paige's long-cherished classic from the early days of TRL when the show was merely called Total Request and featured Carson Daly with no live audience. It's not exactly the flavor-of-the-moment 90s-nostalgia jam that a TRL-era cover song would suggest in writing, an interpretation that leans heavily toward suggestions for the future of electronic music. And watch out for our favorite part: That shred solo in the coda arrives like a paintball shot out of nowhere, with all the same pummel, urgency and fun that Paul McCartney once tore into his solos for songs like “Taxman” and “Good Morning Good Morning.”
No matter how good it sounds, no album has ever been worth waiting 14 years or 22 years or however long it took for MBV, or The Detox, or Chinese Democracy, or that long-promised Hendrix-influenced D'angelo album, or whatever Lauryn Hill's been up to. For whatever reason, the past year or two of music has served more long-awaited surprise records than probably any other era of pop music. But unlike The Pixies' bafflingly off-course Indie Cindy LP, MBV is no square peg among the rest of their catalog, maintaining all their orbit-shifting enormity, with “Only Tomorrow” acting as the rocket ship itself, bridging the 22 year gap in a single 6-minute-long trip. (Imagine if The Phantom Menace had been as amazing as the anticipation surrounding it.) The grandiosity of its guitar tones are perhaps the best preserved element from their previous records, evoking a combination of drugginess and lethargy risen from the euphoria of only the heaviest hard drugs coursing and working their magic. And in that instant, “Only Tomorrow” joins the exclusive trove of MBV's signature collection. Maybe we'll receive another one of these 22 years from now.
2013's finest anthem for living well was first discovered by our staff on MTV-U in January 2013, where Jame$'s appearance - fresh and fly as fuck - worked amazingly to perfect his first impression as we shouted outlandish statements of awe at our TV screen (probably something to the effect of “Holy fucking shit this guy is amazing”). Repeated listens did follow: It took a few weeks before the GoldenEye sample and “Gold all on my chains, gold all on my rangs, gold all on my watch, don't believe me just watch n********************” finally became unstuck. Meanwhile, “Pop the molly/I'm sweatin'/WOO” had already broke as the sickest catchphrase/meme/whatever of late-2012/early-2013. By the 50th listen, its magically infectious dirt became unshakable, with at least 5 or 6 more classic lyrics scattered throughout. It's unfortunate that many initial reviewers didn't give it much time to burrow like a summer tic, since it's basically infused within our DNA at this point. But it's not like Jame$ really cares: “Who's hatin' on you this summer? Fuck 'em.”
Spring is here again, tender age in bloom. We wish drum patterns like those on “Was All Talk” could more frequently accompany relaxingly rich and layered detail, along with the nuances and fluctuations in Kurt Vile's delicate vocals. Its construction appears to have been an effortless endeavor, enough that Kurt has no problem admitting “Makin' music is easy; watch me.” One of the most amazing things about this song is that it could have very easily been victimized by its New Age tendencies - not quite entering the realm of Pure Moods but not out of place if used to assist in relaxation therapy. Clouds, waves, wind, spacious nature, clear-headed, sober, traveling into the future, moving forward from something worth forgetting.
No one else among the past 25 years of pop music can truly realize the power of the summer song like Mariah Carey. 2013 was no exception as she added “#Beautiful” to her wall of platinum records, joining a proud gathering of past carefree #1 summer jams like “Dream Lover,” “Fantasy,” “Heartbreaker” and “We Belong Together.” An instant fan favorite, it seemed ripe for a month or two of consistent radio domination that unfortunately never happened, stalling on the Hot 100 at the curiously low #15 position. This low placement may indicate a recently strange evolution of modern Top 40 radio; its nostalgic, timeless and dreamlike aura seemed almost too perfect and may have owned in any other summer. But as she's clearly outdone herself in the degree of summeriness, the record was instead swept under the rug as an afterthought. Similarly breezy nostalgia jams like Ariana Grande's “The Way” and Bruno Mars' “Treasure” charted slightly better, but the official sound-of-yesterday summer jams were ultimately chosen as “Get Lucky” and “Blurred Lines,” with Miley Cyrus's unexpected crash landing seeming almost like a forced act of exhibition - an unavoidably intense scream for attention. The competition was anything but breezy, and the US charts may have finally found its own equivalent of UK's Christmas #1. As for “#Beautiful,” we have stronger longterm predictions for the understated sleeper hits. Its indescribably magical allure hasn't been as frequent since the days of Kylie's “Love at First Sight,” Amerie's “1 Thing” or Annie's “Heartbeat” - jams that transcend chart success, shooting for the stars. We're almost certain that “#Beautiful” is our current choice for “song of the decade.”