"Peanut Butter"

Damnit again. This happens every year, so it should come as no surprise that we forgot more than one video that should've ended up in Vid Kids 2014. Last week we were reminded about The Gotobeds "New York's Alright," and this week it's Krill's "Peanut Butter," which earlier today was revealed as the Allston Pudding Readers' Best Video of 2014. And yeah, had we not thrown together our list in haste it probably would have made at least Top 10. Fuckin' shit damnit.

(Edit/Note/Thing: Seriously, look at this tweet: https://twitter.com/malfc/status/517368650781974530)

"New York's Alright If You Like Sex and Phones"

We didn't expect to find worthy inclusions that missed out on the deadline for Vid Kids 2014 so quickly, and especially not prior to New Years Day. But yes, it happened. "New York's Alright" has a quick back-and-forth sequence between one of their band members standing and a street mural drawn up of the same guy. The video ultimately culminates in a sequence at a record store where one of the band members smashes a copy of Parquet Courts' Light Up Gold LP. Fucking brilliant.

Vid Kids 2014: The Big List

One list completed before New Years Eve. We did it.



Don't look so sad and creepy, Taylor Swift. There will probably be room for you in Hot Mix 2014.

So this should buy us some time now. Plus, some friends offered to contribute to our EOY madness, so those will get posted here as they become available. Here's the complete "best of 2014" video list:

Tony Molina "Don't Come Back" (bonus)
TV On The Radio "Happy Idiot" (bonus)
Guided By Voices "Bad Love is Easy to Do" (bonus)
Action Bronson "Easy Rider" (bonus)

BERU "Beasts from the Sea" (Honorable mention)
JUCE "Call You Out" (Honorable mention)

#10 Uncle Acid "Runaway Girls"
#9 Vic Mensa "Down On My Luck"
#8 Lil B "I Love You" (2013)
#7 clipping. "Work Work"
#6 Indiana "Solo Dancing"
#5 Young Money "Senile"
#4 Warpaint "Love Is To Die"
#3 Thundercat "Tron Song" / Mr. Oizo "HAM"
#2 M.I.A. "Dubble Bubble Trouble"
#1 Flying Lotus f/ Kendrick Lamar "Never Catch Me"

Extras:
Beach House "Wishes" (2013)
Ariel Pink "Picture Me Gone"
Mac DeMarco "Passing Out Pieces"

Ready 2 prty dwn.

Vid Kids 2014 #1: Flying Lotus featuring Kendrick Lamar "Never Catch Me"

We made it to the big one, a spirited, upbeat and positive spin on what's typically viewed as the most devastatingly depressing shit ever. "Never Catch Me" was in a few other "best of" lists (notably Pitchfork), so we're assuming people have seen it already. So this might help a bit, as it's tough to describe almost anything that happens in this video without giving away the surprises. But we will say that we were totally cheering them on when they fucking stole the hearse. Like, "Yeah man, do it. Steal that hearse. Go go go!"

Vid Kids 2014 #2: M.I.A. & The Partysquad “Dubble Bubble Trouble”

Dude, first and foremost, any claim that regards M.I.A. as anything other than a genius is now no longer relevant since she has officially "gone there." Not because of the brilliance of incorporating 3D-printer-created guns in her video, but because she's the first to realize the power of sampling Shampoo's 1994 minor-hit "Trouble" pulled from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers soundtrack CD. Let's not even get into the warped half-faces printed on the burkas, or the teen make-out hallway party, or what can only be described as LSD-influenced flashes of joy and wonder. Okay, we should probably stop there before giving away too much. Edit: Also puppies.

Vid Kids 2014 #3: Thundercat "Tron Song" / Mr. Oizo "HAM"

Whoa, two many Erics. We had no other choice but to tie these up due to the E.Andre/E.Wareheim connection (both associated with Abso Lutely Productions). And of course who could forget Flat Eric, the star of what was once called our 20th favorite video of all time??

It may be difficult to ignore the intensity of "Tron Song's" juxtaposition. The song's chill atmosphere - nearly comparable to that of Chris Weisman or possibly a similar NNA artist - strangely works alongside the relatively extreme images typically associated with Andre's penchant for removing all oxygen from our brains due to excessive belly laughs. Plus, there's so many little details that only reveal themselves after the 10th time. Cod liver oil? Upside down bass? Fireplace on TV? And even though we've now seen this about 10 times, the post-song outro still kills us.

Wareheim recently contributed his acting skills to the Oizo-directed Wrong Cops, one of our favorite movies of 2014. And just over this past month, Eric returned the favor by not only directing Mr. Oizo's latest video, but getting John C. Reilly himself to star. As much as we're usually weirded out by the expression "icing on the cake," we're kinda lost for any other way to describe the happiness received from the Flat Eric references. Weirdo-dark lmao ending. (Perhaps some context can be shed here... We just noticed in the video description that this is an excerpt from something called Rubberhead. vimeo.com/ondemand/rubberhead. We may have to check this out soon.)

Vid Kids 2014 #4: Warpaint "Love Is to Die"

Damn yo. Congrats to Warpaint for pulling Chris Cunningham back in the game. This shit looks f'n gorgeous. And mad props to whoever posted the Youtube comment "when is this coming out?!!!!??!!!! lol" and basically capturing our exact feelings on how this thing has kept us excited in anticipation for so long. You couldn't ask for a better teaser vid.

Vid Kids 2014 #5: Young Money featuring Tyga, Nicki Minaj & Lil Wayne "Senile"

Can't believe we're only at #5 and already shouting "how the fuck is this not #1" during the last review. This might be an historic instance as probably the last video with appearances from both Birdman and Wayne. And what does it say on her tummy? Possibly "Barbie?" On that note, we might as well start handing out some awards:
- Best Huka
- Best Shake-weights
- Best Gang Colors
- The "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See" award for excellence in the field of black-light manipulation
- Best Alice Cooper (wait, that might not actually be him, but close enough).

Vid Kids 2014 #6: Indiana “Solo Dancing"

When we learned about Beavis & Butthead's resurgence back in 2010, our minds immediately started wondering and wandering around the idea of untapped music video commentary. And we know we weren't alone, although many of those in our company were probably thinking "hell yeah, boy band X and pop singer Y will finally get what they deserve." We simply anticipated ANY commentary, with dozens of videos produced between 1997 and 2011 coming to mind. For whatever reason, we had hopes reaching as high as Tyler The Creator's "Yonkers," No Age's "Eraser," or possibly even jumping all the way back to the untapped late-'90s with Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping." Our hopes - like the hopes of many others - were ultimately crushed after learning that Mike Judge was not using this as an opportunity to scratch that particular itch. B&B did watch a few videos here and there, but there were at least 2 instances where 30 minutes passed with no video commentary at all.

On occasion, a pop video like "Solo Dancing" will surface that seems almost too perfect for B&B's couch jokes. In this instance, the entire 3:33 is devoted to literal interpretations of euphemisms. Huh-huh-huh. Check it out. She's twirling her dreidel. Huh-huh. Hey, check it out. She's petting her kitty. And so on, and so forth...

Vid Kidz 2014 #7: clipping. featuring Cocc Pistol Cree "Work Work"

It's been a minute since we've seen a solid one-shot video (and as usual we're on the fence as to whether we should have "one-shot" in quotes since - like most "one-shot" movies - it appears to be comprised of more than one shot). One can imagine that it must hurt to bite onto concrete for longer than 2 minutes. Poor clipping. We don't know what he did to deserve such as fate. Perhaps it has something to do with keeping mice imprisoned.

Vid Kids 2014 #8: Lil B "I Love You" (2013)

Yeah we know this is from 2013 but we liked it better than any of his videos from the past year, and they're mostly all the same anyway. (Sorry.) He usually just lipsynchs into the camera and shows off some moves and it's pretty much always amazing. But Lil B has a softer side. When he's not pursuing the mean streets of Los Angeles, he's chillin' at the pet shop with Keke the Cat. Because Lil B and Keke love the pet shop. And for real, how many other rappers have cried fucking real tears in their video? "Most honest/touching" is not too far off.

Vid Kids 2014 #9: Vic Mensa "Down On My Luck"

So basically the whole point of "Down On My Luck" is that he gets to smoke weed at the end. We heard from sources that Bill Murray actually endorsed and funded this video after its premise was originally intended for the script of Groundhog Day 2 in which he goes through the whole process of reliving the same day over and over again until he finally makes it to the end just to light up a fat blunt. Believe us - we understand.

Vid Kids 2014 #10: Uncle Acid "Runaway Girls"

"Runaway Girls" continues the same concept and premise as their carefully crafted found-footage escapade "Ritual Knife" from way back in 2011. As a consequence, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats remain shrouded in mystery with their faces never shown, just the way it should be.

Vid Kids 2014 (HM): BERU "Beasts from the Sea" / Juce "Call You Out"

Much like our last go 'round with a "best videos of the year" thing, our favorite video directors were almost nowhere to be found. But that's not entirely true. AG Rojas had some stuff this year.

Also, we just found out that 2014 marked the end of Michel Gondry's 3-year hiatus from trippy weirdo vids after he agreed to shoot a quicky for Metronomy.

Mark Romanek fucked up big time. Had he stuck to music video retirement following 2003/2004, he would have gone out on top after capturing Johnny Cash physically entering the gates of hell ("Hurt") and one of the greatest portraits of Brooklyn ever committed to film ("99 Problems" - coincidentally a double-case of "shoulda stayed retired.")

But no, of course Romanek just couldn't say no to a request from Taylor "God" Swift asking him to purposely make her look as awkward and embarrassing as possible in the "Shake It Off" video. It was an intriguing idea that ultimately encouraged enough wincing and discomfort that they basically sacrificed its rewatchability, somewhat missing the point of trying to create something that still looks dope the 100th time.

And Jonathan Glazer's a big-time film director now. Under The Skin was as close to Kubrick as 2014 got. Hopefully he'll stick to more stuff like this in the future.

It's harder to keep up on videos these days. But we tried. And here are our honorable mentions...

The BERU video stars all of the organisms that exist on the green earth and everything else in the universe that is circular and colorful. This ensemble cast landed a coveted role playing themselves remaining unaware how close they have come to certain grim death, or at least that's what the music seems to be suggesting.


In the Juce video, she's all paranoid and bummin' because the girl who looks like Charli XCX is all up in this dude's shit, and Juce is too reserved to go all Jerry Springer on her ass and be like "yo punk get the fuck away from my man" or whatever.

Vid Kids 2014: Bonus vids

Vid Kids is proud to present our Bonus vids. These are the ones we nominated for the Top 10 that missed out completely but bonus is still cool n stuff.

Tony Molina "Don't Come Back"
Tony Molina was able to fit more than 1 quick song into his video. So he actually threw a bonus into the bonus. We like when those guys in the background have their own secret parties unbeknownst to Tony Molina. We probably also did burrito-on-the-beach once, but we can't remember.


TV On The Radio "Happy Idiot"
Paul Reubens has still never shaken himself clear of his compelling awkwardness, which usually shines through when he tries to do anything other than Peewee.


Guided By Voices "Bad Love is Easy to Do"
This reminded us of Yo La Tengo's "Sugarcube" while also kinda sadly foreshadowing Pollard and Sprout's IRL split a few months later.


Action Bronson "Easy Rider"
Dependable PCP fights.

EOY AYO EYE (Vid Kids 2014 starts now.)

Okay we're gonna start the EOY shit now.

Yeah so we did a videos list.

A note: Only two of the songs within this post or among the "Bonus" videos, Honorable mentions or Top 10 are redundant with Hot Mix 2014. So in case anyone was wondering if the videos list is spoiling shit, the answer is "no."

We didn't do a videos list last year, and so we'll post Beach House's "Wishes" here now because it would have made the list last year if we weren't so got damn fuckin' lazy.



And a couple others straglers that also weren't good enough. For shame.

At least Mr. Pink bothered to put a bulldog in his video. So he gets mentioned here. We like the creepy faces.


As for good ol' Mac, we like the first 40 seconds of this video a lot, but then the rest is just like "uhhhh" "ehhh."