senckađ
Group745
Group745
Group745
Group745
Group745
Group745
Trends and Insight in association withSynapse Virtual Production
Group745

Best Of 2016 Music Videos: Pt. 1

06/01/2017
Music & Sound
London, UK
244
Share
Leland Music narrows down 2016’s vast music video output

Instead of being ruthlessly cut-throat with our selections of Best Music Videos of 2016, our solution is to look instead at some key themes and trends featured in the promos of 2016, and list out some faves from each.

2016 was a turbulent year in many ways: politics continued to surprise. Numerous figures from the worlds of music, film, comedy and other popular cultures were taken from us. Injustices and crises were numerous, but it was also a year of optimism, looking back with fondness and looking forward. The clips of the year mirrored these themes.

Aesthetically, there was a noticeable return of VHS/home video graininess and analogue effects, and 4:3 (or even narrower) resolution. 2016 was also the year of the epic, long-form music video with David Bowie and Beyoncé reigning supreme. See below for part one of our 2016 round up.


POLITICAL

DJ Shadow feat. Run The Jewels – Nobody Speak

Label: Reconstruction Productions
Director: Sam Pilling

Definitely one of the office favourites this year, this clip brilliantly pokes fun at global politics. There’s just something so satisfying about smack-talking officials, and seeing all hell break loose in the most formal of circumstances.


PJ Harvey – The Wheel

Label: Island
Director: Seamus Murphy

Not just a promo, this film forms part of the documentation of the development of Harvey’s ninth LP, The Hope Six Demolition Project. The album features songs inspired by Harvey and collaborator Seamus Murphy’s travels around the world to Kosovo, Afghanistan and Washington, D.C. The entire endeavour has spurred an enormous creative output of music, poetry, film and photography, including the book The Hollow Of The Hand (2015). The film for “The Wheel” paints a picture of children in conflict-torn countries, in particular Kosovo, but Murphy noted that the current European refugee crisis also inspired the film and music, with the imagery of wheels commenting on the cycle and repetition of history.


ANOHNI – Drone Bomb Me

Label: Rough Trade 
Director: Nabil

ANOHNI’s debut release, HOPELESSNESS is a highly political album, criticizing among other things the Obama administration’s international policies and failures. In this video Naomi Campbell mouth’s ANOHNI’s words in a performance that lends a further sensuality to the heart-breaking desperation of the lyrics. The male dancers seem to represent the villains of our story, angry and lustful. Yet by the end of the film they themselves are felled and lifeless on the ground.


Danny Brown - Pneumonia


Label: Warp 
Director: Simon Cahn 

Strung up by chains Brown becomes a puppet at the hands of unseen controlling forces in this film. Dropped, dragged, spitting blood, Brown is at the mercy of these puppet masters. He has no qualms naming names displaying archive footage of former Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr. alongside lyrics about a cycle of drugs and crime. The most haunting moment occurs early on with a pan across Brown’s suspended body in shadow on the ground, a modern echo of the historical lynching of African American people in the United States.


The Veils – Low Lays The Devil 


Label: Nettwerk
Director: Tu Neill 

Some obvious digs at the world’s politicians here, including the former NZ Prime Minister John Key’s weird habit of pulling ponytails, and former UK Prime Minister’s David Cameron’s alleged…animal interference.


LONG FORM

David Bowie – Blackstar


Label: ISO Records 
Director: Johan Renck 

We lost the great David Bowie very early on in 2016. And what a swan song he left for us. Blackstar topped numerous end-of-year lists last year and also managed to help boost vinyl sales to a 25-year high. So much has been said about Bowie following his death so I won’t try to elaborate on countless better comments. Needless to say however, Blackstar was further proof of Bowie’s endless creativity and bountiful vision.


Sevdaliza – The Formula

Label: Twisted Elegance 
Director: Emmanuel Adjei 

We featured Iranian multi-medium artist Sevfaliza in last year’s music video summary. The shiny, 3D other-worldliness of “That Other Girl” is this time replaced by a realistic story of two lovers and the lives they occupy together, punctuated by Sevdaliza’s dark and jazz-influenced music. She also takes the leading role in this long-form film that examines themes of death, love and happiness.


Florence + The Machine – The Odyssey


Label: Island 
Director: Vincent Haycock 

One of the most epic of epics this year at 48 minutes, The Odyssey ties together clips for the singles from Florence + The Machine’s album How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (2014): “What Kind of Man," "St. Jude," "Delilah," "Ship to Wreck," and "Queen of Peace." The director Vincent Haycock described The Odyssey as “Florence’s personal journey to find herself again after the emotional storm of a heartbreak”.


Vince Staples – Prima Donna

Label: Def Jam
Director: Nabil

Prima Donna is a surreal exploration of fame and the psychological toll of a celebrity lifestyle, featuring tracks from the Staples’ new album of the same name. The film is a journey of fast cuts and nightmarish scenes, referencing Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and The Twilight Zone, whilst also featuring look-alikes of several artists that died young including Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Tupac and Amy Winehouse.



Beyoncé – Lemonade (of course)

Label: Parkwood Entertainment 
Director: Beyoncé, Kahlil Joseph

What more can be said about Lemonade that hasn’t already been said? Just watch it.

Be sure to follow us on twitter to see Part Two next week!

Codie Childs is Senior Music Researcher at Leland Music. Find out more about their work on lelandmusic.co.uk.

Credits
Work from Leland
CeraVe Super Bowl
CeraVe
13/02/2024
33
0
Dunk
Rightmove
15/09/2023
23
0
The Grand Train Tour
Switzerland Tourism
27/04/2023
10
0
ALL THEIR WORK