The Resurgence of the Music Video?

Music video hasn’t been a big player in breaking new artists since MTV and VH1 stopped playing videos in favor of reality fare and “lifestyle programming,” whatever that is.

With the ubiquitous nature of social media it seems like more and more bands are discovering that a cool video that people can share has the potential to go viral and get their music out to a lot of new ears. OK Go is an obvious example of this working well, and there are others, but this really came to head within my own experience this week as I got links to a couple of very cool clips that expand the concept of a music video almost to the breaking point.

Dead Man’s Bones‘ new one for “Pa Pa Power” is almost thirteen minutes, more a short film than a music video, and it’s totally captivating and inspiring on several different levels. The Acorn uses the almost retro stop-motion animation technique in their latest video for “Restoration.” In both cases, it helps that they’re both really good songs as well as cool videos, of course.

Check out both clips below, and if you know of others pushing the video envelope, put a link in the comments.

My Favorite Albums of 2009

As published in this week’s Columbia Free Times, here’s my list of the favorite albums I heard in 2009:

My Favorite albums of 2009

Matt Urmy, New Season Coming (self-released)
Listened to this album more than anything else this year; hence its position at the top. Poetry as music, music as poetry, all with an understated easygoing nature that’s as deceptive as it is beautiful.

The Avett Brothers, I and Love and You (American)
Imagine my surprise when the Avetts’ major label debut leaned farther toward their quieter material than the raucous concert rave-ups that gained them a huge following. Probably a disappointment for some, not for me.

Mayer Hawthorne, A Strange Arrangement (Stones Throw)
White Midwestern guy as silky seventies soul singer? Why not, if he’s as good at it as Mayer Hawthorne.

Angela Easterling, Blacktop Road (De L’est)
A pretty voice and poignant songwriter from the upstate surrounds herself with A-list players (Will Kimbrough, Ken Coomer, etc.) and puts out a great alt-country album.

Andy Friedman and the Other Failures, Weary Things (Kindred Rhythm)
Friedman’s weary voice is a perfect companion to his version of country music.

Dead Man’s Bones, Dead Man’s Bones (Anti)
Normally I run screaming from an actor’s “music” projects, but this one from Ryan Gosling intrigued me from the start, and still does.

Throttlerod, Pig Charmer (Small Stone)
Unrelenting, unyielding, unbelievable hard rock.

Lucero, 1372 Overton Park (Republic)
They’ve been putting out the same album for years, but it’s a great one every time.

Tommy Keene, In the Late Bright (Second Motion)
Power pop never sounded better than Keene, and it still doesn’t.

Miranda Lambert, Revolution (Columbia Nashville)
The anti-Taylor Swift, or just her more experienced big sister?