As the title should imply, this is a list of some of the better music videos that debuted this year; one which was apparently marked by an efflorescence of color not felt in music for a long time. We could get used to this, though. The list starts out, appropriately enough, with the video for the new Daedelus single, Fairweather Friends. It begins in an animated world which has gone “101 Days Without Color” before sprouting into an extravagant spectrum. The colorful trend transcended genre boundaries, gracing everything from hip hop to indie rock with some much needed happiness. Let’s hope we haven’t seen the last of this.

Daedelus – Fair Weather Friends

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRJ2YvRv3N4[/youtube]

Daedelus’ catchiest song yet is an expression of joy unlike anything he’s offered up before.

Abe Vigoda – All Night And Day

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9Mcj4UXIyY[/youtube]

This year saw the emergence of several important releases from the LA underground scene. Bands like No Age and Silver Daggers (who are also included on this list) released albums on Fat Cat and Load. Abe Vigoda, originally from Chino and frequent Smell performers, are in the midst of recording a full length this very minute. All Night and Day is a track culled from the Animal Ghosts 7″, out on PPM. The video makes the list partially because it’s built on such an amazing song, but also because the video itself is so much fun. What face paint, fake blood, catholic iconography, and food have to do with each other I don’t know, but I’m not sure it really matters. Check out Abe Vigoda’s new songs.

Escort – All Through the Night

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqRDct1IDI8[/youtube]

You probably didn’t know that you needed to witness the entire extended cast of the Muppets take part in what might be the greatest disco extravaganza of our era, but until you do you couldn’t possibly understand.

Black Dice – Kokomo

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9WSNMKf_Vw[/youtube]

Black Dice are easily the most abstract band on the list and it comes as no surprise that their video is its most abstract contribution. The video for Kokomo, one of the more accessible tracks on the new Load Blown album, is comprised of collaged found footage from Saturday morning kids commercials and any number of other sources. The whole thing ends up looking like what you might expect to find if you stumbled in on a kindergarten class stuck in a transdimensional feedback loop.

Gia Janashvili – Favorite Georgian Pop

Dan Deacon – Crystal Cat

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFlBJ1xZK10[/youtube]

Dan Deacon became a household name this year (well, maybe not in everybody’s house) based on his spastic performances of a style of music which is entirely his own. He’s been often quoted describing his music as “the kind of music really cool six year-olds would make” and I couldn’t pin it any closer that. This video is all neon and as ADD as any kid who’s grown up on Firefox tabbed browsing. You should also see this video in which Dan Deacon improbably manages to perform a song of his on the Savannah, Georgia NBC affiliate morning news program. With his zipper down.

M.I.A – Boyz

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZv-G7IISgs&feature=related[/youtube]

Pretty much anything that can be said about M.I.A has already been said, so anything here would more than likely be superfluous pixel space. Suffice to say that Boyz is an amazing track with an amazing video. Ms. Arulpragasm is also the only artist to have more than one entry on this list.

OOIOO – UMO

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ1FLn7T448[/youtube]

OOIOO’s Taiga was one of this year’s most interesting releases, ensuring a steady stream of creativity from the Boredoms camp. The tracks UMA and UMO pioneered the realms of psychedelic pep rally music like perhaps no band prior to them. UMO, though, has the better video. Stop motion masked figures beating communal drums amidst rhythmic Japanese chanting. This is the kind of music that should get you dancing (when nobody else is watching, of course).

Silver Daggers – Joy

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5GTSz0mdY0[/youtube]

Silver Daggers New, High & Ord was released earlier this year on Load records. The video for Joy is one of the most unexpected joys on this list. Set against a backdrop of colorful balloons, this one minute thirty second slice of dumb wave is irresistibly catchy despite its chaotic discordance. And the screaming breakdown, if we can call it such, is a nice touch.

No Age – Boy Void

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obEEbhU598g[/youtube]

No Age became huge this year, releasing Weirdo Rippers on Fat Cat, and later getting signed Sub Pop. All things considered, it’s been a great year for No Age. The video is set at the Smell, the legendary downtown LA all ages venue where most of the interesting underground music coming out of LA can be found these days. The video raises the speculation that maybe attention deficit isn’t a disorder, but the evolution of the human ability to multi task.

Y.A.C.H.T – See a Penny Pick it Up

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUAuWH9I5d4[/youtube]

Jona Bechtolt, former member of the Blow is now apparently doing his own project, Y.A.C.H.T., full time now. KUCR has been spinning Y.A.C.H.T. since Super Warren MMIV, but this year’s I Believe in You. Your Magic Is Real blew him up completely. See a Penny Pick it Up is a strong contender for cutest video of the year, and let’s not forget that it’s a fantastic song too. Jona played an art gallery in Pomona earlier this year and when we tossed him pennies, he picked them up.

M.I.A. – Jimmy

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9_Dk_F98cU[/youtube]

Whether or not the original version was better, M.I.A.’s take on Parvati Khan’s 1982 contribution to the Bollywood film, Disco Dancer is definitely worth noting. M.I.A. comes off as a highly psychedlicized Kali against a neo-disco backdrop of cosmic future retroism, igniting crushes in the hearts of every hapless Jimmy who catches her gaze.

Bat For Lashes – Whats a Girl To Do

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1wnOUH2jk8[/youtube]

What’s a Girl To Do reminds me of PJ Harvey’s take on Peggy Lee’s Is That All There Is, with it’s similar spoken verse, sung chorus structure, and to be honest I kind of wish the new PJ Harvey sounded a little more like this song. The video is a strange amalgamation of Donny Darko and E.T., replete with bunny masked bike riders, all shot in a single take. Big brownie points for the bicycles. This is probably the darkest video on the list, but it’s tough to resist such an excellent contribution. And did I mention they ride bicycles?

Honorable Mentions

Justice – D.A.N.C.E.

The song just might go down as the song of the year, but the video is just alright.

Architecture in Helsinki – Heart it Races

Great video, but for some reason they’re not allowing embeds.

Los Campesinos – You! Me! Dancing!

This song has gotten a lot of love this year and it is really good, but the tortured Scotsman vocals break it for me. The video, however, is easily the most grandiose, dare I say epic video concept in a year in which nobody really went for epic.