Video Surveillance: January 2015

In our Video Surveillance series, we comb through hours of footage to gather the most eye-catching visuals and unique storylines and bring you the best music videos of the month. Happy watching.

10. Savant “Kali 47”

From dogfights to gunfights, Savant’s “Kali 47” video, directed by Mike Diva, wows with its Wild West steampunk battle of good versus evil. Sepia tones and retro camera effects drive home the spaghetti Western feeling, while skillful synchronization of choreography and music make both the soundtrack and the shootout all the more exciting together.

9. The Prodigy “Nasty”

The Prodigy’s ominous red wolf has become the ambassador for their forthcoming return album, The Day Is My Enemy. The mischievous little guy stars in the video for “Nasty,” another impressive display of animation with enough grit and energy to rival its track. Production company Better Feeling Films draws on an array of textures applied in clean fluidity to create a dynamic environment that successfully embodies the track’s raw power.

8. Cash Cash “Surrender”

If you’re digging the risqué, Cash Cash has no shortage of bare skin, group sex, spontaneous tattooing, and other taboo behavior. There’s a metaphor in here for pretty much any shameful indulgence you can think of. Go ahead: Make rash, permanent decisions. Break the bank. Ignite a ménage à trois. Whip off them tighty whities. Live life.

7. Guti “El Solitario” (Carl Craig Remix)

The video for Carl Craig’s remix of Guti’s “El Solitario” exemplifies the track’s theme of being alone with its dreamlike, black-and-white environment. The playful animation leaves us wanting more at the end of this short but charming visual that brings style without trying hard at all. The track and video are timed perfectly to reflect the stages of our small protagonist’s surreal journey of solitude, making for a superbly enjoyable experience.

6. Matias Aguayo “Run Away From the Sun”

A vampire with his own cooking show stars in the moody video for Matias Aguayo’s “Run Away From the Sun.” Director Sander Houtkruijer crafts an unsettling series of visceral images broken up by run-ins with the vampire cook, who must literally “Run Away From the Sun.” Houtkruijer brings originality to the obvious interpretation of the tune’s lyrics and demands attention with tense moments in a simple, occasionally bleak environment. Altogether, it’s a perfect companion for the track’s anxious, macabre nature.

5. Deichkind “Denken Sie Groß”

In the daydreaming video for “Denken Sie Groß” from German electro hip-hop outfit Deichkind, we join a young homework-dodger deep in procrastination with 3D modeling. The increasingly strange imagery created by the young computer whiz grows more complex by the second, eventually taking on a life of its own and making for an effortlessly entertaining music video.

4. A-Trak ft. Andrew Wyatt “Push”

Director Ramon Ayala dreams up scene after surreal scene of lavish living with a playful flair for “Push,” an ode to the classic hip-hop-style party video in all its extravagance. Guest star Atlanta producer TM88 and his counterpart, one of A-Trak’s many resident topless models, live it up in opposite wings of his magical mansion of misbehavior. Every symbol of luxury, every image of grandeur, every scene of fine artistic tribute still offers a hint of A-Trak’s unique style and sense of humor.

3. Hot Since 82 “Restless” / “The Core”

A pair of Hot Since 82 tracks—off the Knee Deep in Sound compilation—gets a spooky, two-part video treatment in the Sleepwalker series. “Restless (Sleepwalker Part.1)” sets up a long string of déjà vu continued in “The Core (Sleepwalker Part.2),” as a man and a woman traverse their dreams in an unsettlingly jerky fashion, passing one another and led by a mysterious piece of yarn. While the director unfortunately keeps the meaning of the tale as ambiguous as his identity, surely it has something to say about life’s susceptibility to monotony and daily tedium.

2. GUNSHIP “Fly for Your Life”

The “neo ‘80s retro futuristic assault” known as GUNSHIP debuts in the music video world with “Fly for Your Life,” a breathtaking aerial dogfight delivered in high-contrast, comic book-style animation and slick 3D layering. Aesthetics aside, the five-minute feast of drama unfolds with a complexity that does justice to its lush animation. Feel yourself cringe with each dense symbol—the photo, the rosary, the map—as they paint a picture of the gladiators mid-flight and add depth to an already stellar visual experience. Damn, are they still fighting? These guys don’t give up.

1. Disciples “They Don’t Know”

This tense, dramatic short film by director Luke Jacobs is an edgy and stylish manifestation that brings romance and revenge in a thoroughly entertaining package. Jacobs uses a vocabulary of colors in distinct palettes from moment to moment to convey different moods and ideas. The video ultimately communicates something smart behind its pretty face. You might recognize the bad guy as the star from I See MONSTAS’ epic “Circles” video, although he sees a more interesting death scene.

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