Lists I by I 22.05.16

The week’s best videos: Shabazz Palaces in space and Mykki Blanco does Shakespeare

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.

Read more: The 20 best music videos of 2015


Mykki Blanco
‘High School Never Ends’
Dir: Matt Lambert

Never one to shy away from bold statements, Mykki Blanco has teamed with director Matt Lambert for his boldest one yet: a stirring, Shakespearean short film that updates Romeo and Juliet for outsiders – whether queer or refugee. Gorgeously shot images of family, friendship and young love give way to a violent (and inevitable, perhaps) conclusion.


Lone
‘Backtail Was Heavy’
Dir: Hugo Jenkins

Inspired by Mike Leigh’s black dramedy ‘Naked’ and filmed in Newham, the rave nostalgia of ‘Backtail Was Heavy’ soundtracks a gritty portrait of a certain segment of working class British life that’s heavy with pub violence, sketchy strip clubs and easy crime.


Torn Hawk
‘Die Swimming in the Sea Here’
Dir: Torn Hawk

Torn Hawk unveils his inspirational “Outlook Management Program” with a self-help video that rejects his old habits – his “video mulching” projects, internet browsing, self-googling – as examples of “the false-present prison,” burying the Torn Hawk persona and flying to new heights.


Celestial Trax
‘Together’
Dir: ZODIACK

The faceless woman that adorned the cover of Celestial Trax’s From The Womb goes on an abstract journey, dancing underwater, riding with the top down, living in the club and battling a cyborg.


Shabazz Palaces
‘Dawn in Luxor’
Dir: Stephan Gray

We see plenty of videos that contrast interstellar imagery with otherworldly expanses, but few that use images and videos from NASA’s Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit and the Hubble and Cassini missions.


DJ Q
‘Sonic’
Dir: Prefix Studios

For DJ Q’s ‘Sonic’video, Prefix Studios crafts 3D images that recall the 16-bit graphics – gold coins, stars, grid-based grass – of the legendary Sega game of the same name.


Moderat
‘Running’
Dir: Jakob Grunert

Like that French Montana video from earlier this month, ‘Running’ features an airplane graveyard. Unlike that French video, this narrative of a pilot abandoning everything and searching for something is actually touching.


Danny L Harle feat. Caroline Polachek
‘Ashes of Love’
Dir: Sam Rolfes

In the latest sensory-overloading dispatch from PC Music, Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek plays the dance diva – in both video and 3D avatar form.


Pantha du Prince
‘In An Open Space’
Dir: Jonas Vahl

A triad of death-masked figures explore the countryside, chase rainbows and dance in medieval ruins as they try to make contact with the beyond.


Japanese Breakfast
‘In Heaven’
Dir: Adam Kolodny

Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner shares a neon vision of her personal heaven: a karaoke party, an Asian grocery store and martinis in the company of shirtless men.

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