Welcome back once again as we explore the deepest depths of the underground for the best music videos of 2023. You’ll find no Top 40 artists here. Just the weird, wild, and whimsical. We’re at the halfwayf point now, so keep tuning in for the next couple of days.
30. Stain the Canvas, “In Reverse”
The only reason that this video isn’t higher on the list is because it kind of needs context to understand. A prequel of sorts to the band’s video from last year, “Dead Circus,” features singer Bryan Marte’s blind circus freak character, this time as a shopkeeper. Over the course of the video, he screams and offers some extremely disturbing wares. The setting and direction by Mattia Castiglia are wonderful, though the video doesn’t quite half enough plot for its runtime. Still, watched with its companion piece, it builds on the band’s world while being highly entertaining.
29. JMSN, “Feel Like A Woman”
Whether you love “Feel Like a Woman” is going to largely depend on whether you think radical exploration of gender is cool or not. I do, and so I literally applauded watching JMSN sing a heartfelt plea for a loving touch from a crowd around gathered around a red birthing pod. Later, he gets dragged around by hunky men by his umbilical cord. It’s like someone saw the goo batteries in The Matrix and wanted to turn it into a love story. This is not a complaint from me.
28. Mavis, “Calypso”
It’s my opinion that you can tell a lot about a year by recurring themes in the music videos. This year there were so many about running away to the woods to embrace bastard gods. Mavis brings one of the best and certainly the most metal.
27. Benjamin Earl Turner, “HEADSPACE/BENT”
“HEADSPACE/BENT” is a two part video about a man trapped in a loop of gang violence along with his Muppet-like bodyguard. The puppetry effects are really next level, and help to make the whole thing even more dreamlike. Turner acquits himself well as a man who seems to be explaining his sins in multiple afterlives while literally throwing up bullets. It’s a trippy video that maybe wants to be a Jim Jarmusch film a little too hard, but still wonderful for all of that.
26. Magdalena Bay, “Top Dog”
Embracing a broken aesthetic can be a powerful narrative tool because it frees the viewer from any consideration of quality to focus on the message. “Top Dog” is a shining example of how that works best. It looks like it was filmed on an Angelfire page that someone was viewing on a PlayStation 2. The result is charming, and fits in well with the nostalgic, childish message of the song.
25. Tardigrade Inferno, “Clockwork God”
I miss steampunk, so it was quite refreshing to have Tardigrade Inferno shout some at me. The video is a raucous anthem to crafting a mechanical deity, mixed with some Pygmalion themes and a lot of screaming. The video is instantly engaging, high energy, and really leans into its subject matter.
24. grouptherapy, ”TrunkPoppers.com”
You have to give this video a minute to get going, but once it does you realize it’s something amazing. Half of it is shot in one solid take involving at least a dozen extras, which means it must have been a nightmare for grouptherapy to coordinate. On top of that, the sudden swerve in the middle is something no one will see coming.
23. Empress Of, “Femenine”
And the award for most unabashedly horny video of 2023 goes to “Femenine.” Empress teams up with Euphoria director Ryan Heffington for a writhing orgy of a video that is high on visual impact. The choreography is magnificent, as is the head-spinning cinematography.
22. The Funeral Portrait, “Dark Thoughts”
Mental illness is always potent soil to grow a twisted music video in. “Dark Thoughts” has a sick boy (Caelan Galatas) meet three strange angels on his quest to leave the darkness in his mind behind. Directed by James Wightman (hell of a name for a spooky video director!), the video excels through its creature design and the oddly uplifting music. I also always love directors who dare to put subtitles for action on the screen that isn’t mirrored in the lyrics. It creates a kind of narrative friction that makes the story more robust.
21. Poppy, “Knockoff”
Here comes another stellar dance-based video, of which there were a huge number this year. Poppy is a commanding presence, whether backed by other dancers or just strutting around with an improbably large magic scepter. Every frame of this video is a piece of modern art.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
