There's no doubt that Spike Jonze is an enigma of a director and artist. He's worked in all types of mediums: he filmed bullriders at the Astrodome, changed the world of skateboard videography, and visually recreated the brilliance of Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are. Plus, he's made us all want to buy things like Adidas shoes and an Ikea lamp-ugh.
Most importantly -- for this Rocks Off rep, specifically -- he's captured the essence of modern music for 20 years now; starting with Sonic youth in 1992 and expanding his cache to 2011 with Jay-Z and Kanye West. Of course, there's many more artists in between, from the likes of Beck and Pavement.
We're taking a look back at the past two decades of Jonze's music videos and hand-picking the most memorable. What were some of your favorites? Let us know in the comments.
Sonic Youth, "100%" (1992)
Skateboarding, flannel and Jason Lee when he was a skateboarder...long before he was acting with Chipmunks. This was the golden age for skateboarders and Lee's "acting" roles in music videos would soon land him a role in Kevin Smith's Mallrats.
The Breeders, "Cannonball" (1993)
How could we leave this one? one The video for The Breeders' first single from Last Splash was co-directed by Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth.