50 Best Music Videos of 2025 You Probably Missed Part 1: 50

Overview:

The best indie, underground, and alternative music videos of 2025.

It’s that time of the year where I regurgitate all the music videos I’ve consumed over the last 12 months into your eyes and ears like a mother board who is also a VJ. Each day this week, I’ll present ten music videos from outside the mainstream for your viewing pleasure. Today, let’s see some weird art projects and at least one video that will probably put you on a government list.

50. “Your Picture,” Vandoliers

Vandoliers offer this touching homage to how the images of our loved ones comfort us through life. I’m not sure how it plays with the generations where photos are just something that live in your phone, but for those of us who have stared longingly into folded old analog pictures there is just something extra powerful about the tactile sensation.

49. “Meimu,” TEKE::TEKE

Everything about TEKE::TEKE is weird, but sometimes you just got to make it weirder. That’s part of what their new album, Hagata Delux, is all about. The band took tracks from their 2023 masterpiece, Hagata, and released some remixes, but also this incredible combination of a lyric video and an art school student’s hallucination.

48. “Demolition Man,” Boko Yout

“Demolition Man” is everything I usually hate in a music video. It’s just the artist moving around a bit with a few camera tricks. There’s no plot! But you see Boko Yout twisting and spinning, singing and crooning, and damn if it doesn’t look like he invented the entire concept. Would love to see something from him with a little more scope, but there’s no arguing he’s a Presence.

47. “Freaks,” Haute & Freddy

Haute & Freddy take a party to the next level by introducing some carnival acts. Shenanigans ensue. Very, very entertaining shenanigans.

46. “Fleeting,” Sarah Kinsley

There are going to be a lot of videos about people feeling lost and adrift this year, so let’s start with the excellent “Fleeting.” Sarah Kinsley vamps on a dance floor, alternating between standing frozen to comment on her fellow partygoers or freezing them for a chance to breathe in the sudden stillness. These two strands eventually merge to a smiling catharsis, which may hopefully be a sign that things are going to be alright.

45. “Incline,” Ho99o9 feat. Nova Twins, Pink Siifu, and Yung Skrrt

“Incline” is basically the Avengers of weird Black electronica artists. The video doesn’t quite live up to the potential the song delivers, but it’s still a trippy who’s who of bands you should be listening to. For that alone, it’s worth the watch.

44. “Toad,” Nuclear Daisies

I’m going to be honest; Nuclear Daisies benefitted a great deal for being the last music video I watched before going to bed at 3 a.m. That’s the proper mindset for a hazy, scrambled CRT fever dream that looks like it crawled out of the Liquid Television credit sequence. By the end, I was sure I was seeing hidden figures in a Benadryl haze, and it’s not such a bad way to end a day.

43. “Smiley Virus,” My Baby

Digital artist Veronika Pell adds some whimsy and wonder to My Baby’s “Smiley Virus.” Like an old-school Gumby cartoon, everything is bright and happy and catchy as hell, but also with just a touch of street activism energy. I dare you to be unhappy while watching.

42. “Kill the President,” Barnaby Jones

While I was waiting for this video to load, I got a YouTube advertisement starring Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem thanking President Donald Trump for using ICE like an incompetent secret police (I paraphrase) over footage of minorities being marched in handcuffs onto a plane. It put me in exactly the mood for this medieval satire of modern politics. Note to the authorities: I said satire.

41. “In The Pines,” The Great Kat

Every year I check in on speed metal maniac The Great Kat to see what piece of classical music she’s put through the shredder. This year, her best work was a rendition of the traditional American folk song “In The Pines,” which she adds a throbbing bass line on piano in order to make it sound like a wendigo is chasing you through the winter wastes. See you next year, Kat! Never change.