Welcome to the top ten of our annual look at the best indie and underground music videos. This year had some incredible standouts, and narrowing it down even to 50 was a monumental task. Thanks for reading, and enjoy.
Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4
10. Twin Tribes, “Monolith”
In this frantic video directed by Sultan Mars, two aspects of the same woman (Gale Yavorski) are trapped in a strange room dominated by the titular monolith. One is an angelic figures who dances among flower petals, the other is a screaming demon that leaks black blood from every orifice and cakes the white walls with it. Slowly, they are drawn toward each other by the power of the monolith. The video benefits a great deal from the trad goth tune and Yavorski’s amazing physical storytelling. It’s a soulful (if sticky) good time.
9. 070 Shake, “Black Dress”
Cards on the table, I don’t have clue one what’s happening in “Black Dress.” There’s a plane crash and a burning tree and Shake can apparently fly. Whatever the meaning, it’s immediately haunting, doubly so because of the eerie song. Director Noah Lee created something confusing, but inarguably beautiful.
8. Vision Video, “In My Side”
Released in partnership with Fangoria Magazine, “In My Side” is an appropriately creepy horror short set music by one of the best modern goth bands around. The group hit a witch in the woods with their car, and she slowly stalks them at a gig by turning audience members into zombies. If you ever wanted to see Evil Dead stripped down to its bare components and a musical to boot, here you go!
7. Jazmin Bean – Favourite Toy
Time for a low-self-esteem, co-dependent musical interlude! All joking aside, Jazmin Bean’s “Favourite Toy” is a beautifully brutal trip through one woman’s army of cartoonishly shitty lovers. Directed by Bean and Zak Watson, it features some compelling gore effects (including a surprisingly whimsical arrow through the skull) and some top-notch acting by Bean.
6. BLACKSHAPE, “ITIIITIATIIHYLIHYL”
Director Trevor Free’s video is a white knuckle affair. A young woman (Sarah Santoree) stumbles through a Lynchian nightmare where her reality keeps shifting. Something inside her slowly breaks, lending her to unspeakable violence. Every second of the video is like a guitar string tuned too tight, and when the vocals finally kick in in the last third of the song, it’s like a bolt from heaven.
5. Urban Heat, “Like This”
I am convinced that “Like This” is a low-key adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s short story “Re-Boot,” which is about a revolutionary new cancer drug that swaps people’s sex when they take it. The video plays with the idea of recreational drugs being used for gender expression, and does it with an unforgettable bop as well.
4. hemlocke springs, “sever the blight
Naomi Udu shot to virality on TikTok with “Girlfriend,” but “sever the blight” is her most ambitious and impressive music video yet. Set against swirling backdrops meant to represent Renaissance paintings, she wails as Red Riding Hood while a high born lady (Koi King) plots a gruesome scheme to free them both. Udu’s high octane danceable pop mixed with the strange, dreamlike setting make the video an instant classic. Both Udu and director Ana Peralta Chong are talents worth keeping a very close eye on.
3. Chelsea Wolfe, “Whispers in the Echo Chamber”
A truly great music video is one that takes the theme of the song and runs it head first into a wall until it causes brain damage, and “Whispers in the Echo Chamber” is a most exquisite bleeding head wound. Wolfe and Medúlla perform a twisted duel of body contortions in a stark black and white set. Their movements mimic the lyrics about wishing to cut ties with various societal binaries. It’s far closer to an experimental dance film than a typical music video, playing with the human form and nightmare imagery. As moving as it is unsettling, it’s another grand masterpiece from Wolfe.
2. færy – blýth
For more than a decade, I’ve been looking for a pagan music video that hit me the same way Ulver’s “Magic Hollow” did, and “blýth” is the first one to do so. It opens with a powerful evocation of love and protection from the old gods before amping up into worshipful dance. Interspersed throughout are visions of a fascist church that eventually starts persecuting the pagans. Created by Liana Cornell, it’s more mini-rock opera than strict music video, but every second is a joy and a wonder. Truly, it’s magic.
1. yeule, “Dazies”
Everything that yeule does is weird and cyber and wonderful, and “Dazies” is no different. They sing most of the song as a dismembered doll until they start shooting wire-like glowing innards into the sky. Yeule has a wonderful ability to mesh the macabre with the vibrantly beautiful, and the result is a most pleasant tragedy. Hands down, this was the best music video of the year.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
