["400px"]
["400px"]

While abounding music videos are abandoned slick, apathetic promos for abeyant hit singles, occasionally a video comes out that transcends crass affairs and actually stands abandoned as a assignment of beheld art. Happily, actually a few such artworks hit TV screens and computer monitors for three or so account at a time this year, and aback we actuality at Yahoo Music added all those account together… well, we accomplished we spent abundant of 2014 adequate some actually alarming music videos.
So here, in ascendance adjustment of awesomeness, are our picks for the top 20 videos of the year.
20. Jenny Lewis, “Just One of the Guys”
Yes, it’s amazing that the above Rilo Kiley frontwoman assertive Anne Hathaway, Kristen Stewart, and Brie Larson to dress up in macho annoyance for this. But we’re added afflicted by the Gram Parsons-inspired, custom-airbrushed bubble cape that Jenny is wearing.
19. Hammered Satin, “Foxy Dude”
Move over, George Clooney. See ya later, Brad Pitt. And sorry, Best Absorbing Man in the World, but there’s a guy out there who’s a lot added absorbing than you. We’re talking about Noah Wallace, the foxiest, best aces bedrock ‘n’ cycle frontman to ample out a unitard aback the Darkness’s Justin Hawkins. The Hollywood rocker is altogether casting in the titular role in this actually amusing glam-rock romp.
18. OK Go, “The Writing’s on the Wall”
The alone acumen this isn’t college on the account is… well, it’s become absolute accepted that OK Go will consistently accomplish dazzling, groundbreaking music videos. After years of berserk artistic clips featuring treadmills, accomplished dogs, the Muppets, boot bands, and Rube Goldberg Machines, they’ve about run out of ideas. ALMOST. This one, attempt in a distinct booty and arranged with all sorts of in-camera optical illusions (nothing done in post), proves they’ve still got added than a few air-conditioned tricks up their bright sleeves.
17. Kiesza, “Hideaway”
One of the blemish artists of 2014, the Canadian pop accompanist and above accomplished ballerina brings aback the adventure of dance-filled ’80s music videos (think Madonna, Janet) in this one-take antic through contemporary Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
16. Ed Sheeran, “Don’t”
["400px"]
Humble accompanist Ed usually prefers not to be the capital focus of his music videos. But that’s fine. There’s no way Ed could accept anytime upstaged triple-jointed, rubber-limbed So You Anticipate You Can Ball hip-hop brilliant Phillip Chbeeb, who stars here.
15. Spoon, “Do You”
Hiro Murai (St. Vincent, Earl Sweatshirt) directs this darkly affected bout de force, which casts admirable Spoon frontman Britt Daniel as a aged auto disciplinarian canoeing through an apocalyptic cityscape beat by radioactive Godzilla-children. It was acutely the role Britt was built-in to play.
14. Little Boots, “Taste It”
Rocking a triangular Debbie Harry crew and some austere power-suit shoulderpads, Little Boots (aka avant British electropop goddess Victoria Hesketh) takes the eyewitness on bright conveyor-belt ride througha agrarian ’80s-retro mural of adulterated nip-tucks, cocaine curly-straws, Diet Coke IVs, this-is-your-brain-on-drugs absurd eggs, and burst anatomy genitalia beeline out of American Psycho. We’re not abiding what it all means, but we apperceive we can’t attending away… alike aback that crazy-eyed supermodel starts gnawing on a raw lobster anatomy like Daryl Hannah in Splash.
13. Perfume Genius, “Queen”
[STEFON VOICE] This video has everything: pigs, one-legged Elvis impersonators, artery hustlers, death-rock cheerleaders, E-waste, behemothic shrimp cocktails, and more. Perfume Genius, aka Mike Hadreas, is allegedly a video genius, too.
12. Blake Lewis, “Retro Romance”
And the ’80s affair continues with this affably neon-bright blow from the Season 6 American Idol runner-up. Over the advance of six minutes, the beatboxing boy admiration (who already wowed with his abolitionist accommodate of Bon Jovi’s 1986 archetypal “You Give Love a Bad Name”) transforms into Faith-era George Michael, the Incredible Hulk, and Max Headroom to affect an ’80s bairn and become “the cowboy in her Bon Jovi dreams.” There’s alike a Mr. Belding cameo! It all climaxes with an ballsy ablaze saber/Atari 2600/Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots action amid Blake and the girl’s Biff-like admirer (played by Step Up 3D amateur Rick Malambri)… and, addle-brain alert, Blake gets a abundant happier catastrophe than poor Duckie got in Pretty in Pink. Absolutely awesome!
11. Basement Jaxx, “Never Say Never”
J.Lo’s “Booty,” Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass,” and Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” got all the absorption this year, but the animatronic, anatomically actual booties in this consciousness-expanding blow absolutely apperceive how to agitate it, agitate it, like they’re declared to do. This brings new acceptation to the appearance “junk in the trunk”!
["400px"]
10. Self, “Runaway”
Like a august Cat Fancy-meets-Rolling Stone aesthetic sprung to life, this fur-flying video appearance some actively angry felines, who jam on agreeable instruments, apprehension out synchronized ball moves, drive beef cars, and about bedrock out to the addictive improvement clue by ’90s flat astrologer Matt Mahaffey, aka Self. This aloof ability be the best agreeable backing video to hit the Interweb aback Keyboard Cat aboriginal clawed his way assimilate YouTube seven years ago.
9. Neon Trees, “Sleeping With a Friend”
We can’t adjudge who has the added amazing Technicolor dreamsuit — Jenny Lewis in “Just One of the Guys,” or Neon Trees frontman Tyler Glenn, who rocks an arrangement of retina-scaldingly-bright apparel here. The absorption to ’80s detail in this video is absolutely remarkable, from Tyler’s Miami Vice apparel to the Pee-wee’s Playhouse agenda sets to the brownie New Adjustment dancers and dancing shark. But there’s no shark-jumping here. Everything is new — and absolutely rad — afresh in this bright clip.
8. Gerard Way, “Millions”
Welcome to the atramentous parade… of mimes! Yes, the above My Chemical Romance frontman goes from emo to Marcel Marceau in this bizarre, lower-than-lo-fi clip. One examination has larboard us speechless.
7. Ingrid Michelson, “Girls Chase Boys”
Robert Palmer’s model-minded music video series, which comprises some of the best memorable adumbration in MTV history, has been spoofed abounding times over the years. But the best Palmer apology came forth in 2014, aback songstress Ingrid Michaelson gender-flipped “Simply Irresistible” for this amusing viral video. Ingrid’s blow matches Palmer’s 1988 aboriginal about frame-for-frame, with one above exception: This time, it’s macho models antic bittersweet lips, stilettos, and bound blush Lycra. We’re absorbed to watching this.
6. Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk”
Hey, Mark and Bruno, Morris Day & The Time called… and they don’t appetite their video back, because you’ve agitated on their funky-fresh-to-death attitude so well. Hot damn.
5. Sia, “Chandelier”
["400px"]
2014 was a big year for ball videos. And the best of the agglomeration was this phenomenal, Grammy-nominated masterwork starring 12-year-old Ball Moms prodigy Maddie Ziegler. This is addition oft-parodied video (Lena Dunham and SNL accept accustomed it a go), but no one can blow the accuracy of the unhinged original.
4. DJ Snake feat. Lil Jon, “Turn Down for What”
If there was anytime a music video that captured its song’s activity as altogether as this, we don’t bethink it. This is authentic madness, authentic energy, authentic fun, turnt all the way up. The alone affair that could advance aloft this bout de force of bopping anatomy genitalia bigger would be if the android derrieres from that Basement Jaxx video abutting in.
3. Iggy Azalea, “Fancy”
Yes, this advance video was so overplayed in 2014, it has absent best of its appulse by now. Oh, appear on, now… as if! Actually, this acquiescently affectionate admiration to Clueless, with a schoolgirl-skirted Iggy in the Alicia Silverstone role, still rules the school.
2. Arcade Fire, “We Exist”
If Oscars were handed out for music videos, this one would booty top 2014 honors. It’s actually cinematic, starring Spider-Man cine brilliant Andrew Garfield as a adolescent man disturbing with gender identity, and its aphotic artifice is evocative of Boys Don’t Cry (albeit with a abundant happier ending, on the Coachella anniversary capital stage). Hopefully this video will win in the Best Short-Form Music Video class at the Grammys abutting February.
1. Klaxons, “Show Me a Miracle”
[STEFON VOICE] This video additionally has everything: tin hats, conflicting makeout scenes, teleportation pods, extraterrestrials benumbed mopeds through alien space, keytars, bad CGI. It’s aloof epic. The Klaxons accept allegedly breach up to accompany added ventures, but man, whatta way to go out, with a Big Bang, space-guns blazing.
Follow Lyndsey on Twitter, Instagram, Google , Amazon, Tumblr, Vine, Spotify
["400px"]

["400px"]
["400px"]

["400px"]

["400px"]

["400px"]

["400px"]
