Top Music Videos 2011 – No. 10-6

10. Spoek Mathambo – »Control« directed by Pieter Hugo. Great video, every sequence and every frame is brought to the point. With a lot of wows and ohhhs. »Control« is a cover of the Joy Division classic »She’s Lost Control« of the 24 year-old South African producer and musician Spoek Mathambo. The video was shot in Langa (Cape Town) with the help of the local dance troupe, Happy Feet. The song itself is only medium.

9. Fucked Up – »Queen of Hearts« directed by Scott Cudmore. A slightly confused teacher leads her class through a rendition of Fucked Up’s »Queen Of Hearts«. An epic battle of boys vs. girls, which ends with an ominous blurring of »reality« and artifice.

8. St. Vincent – »Cruel« directed by directed by Terri Timely. »Cruel« is a comedy of horrors in which St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) is kidnapped by a mom-starved family, who proceed to torment the singer before sending her to an early grave. Literally. »Cruel« has got something disturbing and a great creepiness.

7. Woodkids – »Iron« directed by Yoann Lemoine. Great shots, the stage-setting is clean and artificial, the atmosphere dramatic and the use of a super slow motion reveals even more detail of motion. Yoann Lemoine tends to exaggerate easily. The clip to Woodkids song »Iron« is highly confusing and leaves you speechless for a while. The only drawback is that the song itself is not so good.

6. Skrillex – First Of the Year (Equinox) directed by HK Corp. By now everyone must realise that 2011 was the year of the children. Remember Manchester Orchestras »Simple Math« (Winner Video of the Year 2011 UK Music Video Awards), Is Tropicals »The Greeks« or Modeselektors »Shipwreck«. Wherever you look: children play a key role, often in violent actions or, as in the case of Skrillex, in a very creepy story. This video did a million views in its first week of release (now more than 20 million) – not that bad for a dubstep artist.