Welcome to FACT’s weekly video round-up.
As we note at the end of every year, music videos have never been better. But too often, music videos — along with documentaries, live sets and interview clips — get lost in the shuffle of news and new music.
With that in mind, FACT is doing what it does for mixes, mixtapes, vinyl and more: rounding up the internet’s best videos on a weekly basis. And to remove our bias, we won’t be including our own content — you’ll have to stay tuned to FACT TV for all your Against The Clock, FACT Freestyles and Confessions needs.
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David Bowie
‘Blackstar’
Dir: Johan Renck
Now this is a return to form. Not only is Bowie’s ‘Blackstar’ a masterpiece that looks back at the music of his nearly half-century career, but the video is epic, too. Bowie stars (no pun intended) as a blind prophet who leads movers and shakers towards their scarecrow destinies, and no matter how creepy, he seems to be having a helluva time.
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Nao
‘Bad Blood’
Dir: Ian Pons Jewell
In the monochromatic video for Nao’s sultry ‘Bad Blood’, a stunning nude woman makes her way through a post-apocalyptic ruin, taking revenge and invoking fractal trees that burst from mouths and eyes.
Mykki Blanco
‘Coke White, Starlight’
Dir: Tristan Patterson
The video for ‘Coke White, Starlight’ plays like a short film in several acts. First, Mykki Blanco is drugged as riots play on the TV, stripping away his drag as he runs into the streets of Athens; this is followed by self-discovery and rebirth in the forest, and then an octopus-stabbing swim to (and escape via) the ocean. As always, Blanco’s videos never disappoint.
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Lafawndah
‘Tan’
Dir: Lafawndah & Nick Weiss
Warp’s latest signee passes the mic and the spotlight, letting a singer and a crew of interpretative dancers bring her percussive, hypnotic ‘Tan’ to life.
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Empress Of
‘Icon’
Dir: Eli Born
Singer-songwriter Empress Of finds peace in a gorgeous fall forest and steams up a cabin lit by kaleidoscope before driving back to the city.
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Rabit
‘Artemis’
Dir: Rabit
Rabit slices bleached out footage of men in prison with the same disorienting approach that he uses on Communion, emphasizing the fear, pain and anxiety of captivity.
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Julia Holter
‘Silhouette’
Dir: Rick Bahto
8mm footage is cut, looped and repeated in the abstract video for Julia Holter’s ‘Silhouette’, images and sounds half-remembered but not forgotten.
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DonMonique
‘Drown’
Dir: Hidji Films
New York up-and-comer DonMonique makes her way across the city’s arcades, corners stores and street corners, getting faded with a friend while clad in Calvins.
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Alex G
‘Brite Boy’
Dir: Elliot Bech
Alex G’s jangly indie pop soundtracks this black-and-white cartoon trip, with animation somewhere between Robert Crumb and Don Hertzfeldt.
