Clean your ears & tune your eyes for antville's showcase of the top 101 music videos of this decade. The 424 studiously nominated videos were collectively voted in the highest 'ville poll turnout ever, to establish a definitive ranking of best/landmark/most memorable/top of the crop - never mind what others may claim.

The top-tier 24 are featured below by the best available youtube embed, plus links to original 'ville post and mov/mp4, where available; a further 29 are similarly featured in the comments, as are the subsequent, youtube-linked, 48. All meta-analysis, comparative and commentary is welcome, as always.



1. The White Stripes - Fell in Love with a Girl, Dir. Michel Gondry, 2002 - 66% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


2. Jay-Z - 99 Problems, Dir. Mark Romanek, 2004 - 64% of voters ('ville post, .mp4)


3. Bat For Lashes - What's A Girl To Do, Dir. Dougal Wilson, 2007 - 60% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


4. Fatboy Slim - Weapon of Choice, Dir. Spike Jonze, 2001 - 60% of voters (.mov) (youtube HD here.)


5. The White Stripes - The Hardest Button to Button, Dir. Michel Gondry, 2003 - 60% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


6. Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar, Dir. Michel Gondry, 2001 - 58% of voters ('ville post, .mp4) (youtube HD here.)


7. Justice - Stress, Dir. Romain Gavras, 2008 - 58% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


8. The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army, Dir. Alex & Martin, 2003 - 58% of voters (.mp4)


9. Justice - D.A.N.C.E., Dir. Jonas & Francois, 2007 - 52% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


10. Björk - Wanderlust, Dir. Encyclopedia Pictura, 2008 - 48% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


11. Feist - 1, 2, 3, 4, Dir. Patrick Daughters, 2007 - 48% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


12. Kanye West - Flashing Lights, Dir. Kanye West/Spike Jonze, 2008 - 46% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


13. Basement Jaxx - Where's your head at, Dir. Traktor, 2003 - 44% of voters ('ville post, .mp4)


14. MGMT - Time to Pretend, Dir. Ray Tintori, 2008 - 44% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


15. Depeche Mode - Wrong, Dir. Patrick Daughters, 2009 - 42% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


16. Kylie Minogue - Come Into My World, Dir. Michel Gondry, 2002 - 42% of voters ('ville post, .mp4)


17. Muse - Knights of Cydonia, Dir. Joseph Kahn, 2006 - 42% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


18. Dizzee Rascal - Sirens, Dir. W.I.Z., 2007 - 38% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


19. Gnarls Barkley - Who's gonna save my soul?, Dir. Chris Milk, 2008 - 38% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


20. Grizzly Bear - Knife, Dir. Encyclopedia Pictura, 2007 - 38% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


21. Hot Chip - Over and Over, Dir. Nima Nourizadeh, 2006 - 38% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


22. Aphex Twin - Rubber Johnny, Dir. Chris Cunningham, 2005 - 36% of voters ('ville post, .mp4)


23. Johnny Cash - Hurt, Dir. Mark Romanek, 2002 - 36% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


24. Beyoncé - Single Ladies, Dir. Jake Nava, 2008 - 34% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


         

25. Battles - Atlas, Dir. Timothy Saccenti, 2007 - 32% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


26. Carpark North - Human, Dir. Martin De Thurah, 2005 - 32% of voters ('ville post, .mp4)


27. Fever Ray - If I had a heart, Dir. Andreas Nilsson, 2009 - 32% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


28. Justice vs Simian - We Are Your Friends, Dir. Rozan&Schmeltz, 2006 - 32% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


29. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps, Dir. Patrick Daughters, 2005 - 32% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


30. Beck - E-Pro, Dir. Shynola, 2005 - 30% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


31. Chemical Brothers - Believe, Dir. Dom & Nic, 2005 - 30% of voters ('ville post, .flv)


32. Justice - DVNO, Dir. So-Me & Machine Molle, 2008 - 30% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


33. Queens of the Stone Age - Go With the Flow, Dir. Shynola, 2003 - 30% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


34. Radiohead - Knives Out, Dir. Michel Gondry, 2001 - 30% of voters (.mp4)


35. Sigur Rós - Glósóli, Dir. Arni & Kinski, 2005 - 30% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


36. The Horrors - Sheena Is A Parasite, Dir. Chris Cunningham, 2006 - 30% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


37. Benny Benassi - Satisfaction, Dir. Dougal Wilson, 2003 - 28% of voters ('ville post, .mp4)


38. Cornelius - Fit Song, Dir. Koichiro Tsujikawa, 2006 - 28% of voters ('ville post, .mp4)


39. Tiga - Shoes, Dir. AlexandLiane, 2009 - 28% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


40. Audioslave - Cochise, Dir. Mark Romanek, 2002 - 26% of voters (.mp4)


41. Coldplay - Strawberry Swing, Dir. Shynola, 2009 - 26% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


42. Electric Six - Danger high voltage, Dir. Kuntz & Maguire, 2002 - 26% of voters ('ville post, .mp4)


43. Emily Haines - Our Hell, Dir. Jaron Albertin, 2007 - 26% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


44. Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood, Dir. Jamie Hewlett & Pete Candeland, 2001 - 26% of voters ('ville post, .mp4)


45. Junior Senior - Move Your Feet, Dir. Shynola, 2002 - 26% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


46. OK Go - Here It Goes Again, Dir. Trish Sie & OK Go, 2006 - 26% of voters ('ville post, .mp4)


47. Outkast - Hey Ya, Dir. Bryan Barber, 2003 - 26% of voters (.mp4)


48. Röyksopp - What Else is There, Dir. Martin De Thurah, 2005 - 26% of voters ('ville post, .mp4)


49. Sigur Rós - Untitled #1 aka Vaka, Dir. Floria Sigismondi, 2003 - 26% of voters (belated 'ville post, .mov)


50. The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist, Dir. Kuntz & Maguire, 2005 - 26% of voters ('ville post, .mp4)


51. The BPA (feat. David Byrne & Dizzee Rascal) - Toe Jam, Dir. Keith Schofield, 2008 - 26% of voters ('ville post, .mov)


52. The White Stripes - Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, Dir. Michel Gondry, 2002 - 26% of voters ('ville post, .mp4)


53. Yuki - Sentimental Journey, Dir. Nagi Noda, 2005 - 26% of voters ('ville post, .mov)

54. Beck - Girl, Dir. Motion Theory, 2005 - 24% of voters 55. Daft Punk - Technologic, Dir. Thomas Bangalter & Guy Manuel De Homem Christo, 2005 - 24% of voters 56. Futureshock - Late at Night, Dir. Ne-o, 2003 - 24% of voters 57. Radiohead - House of Cards, Dir. James Frost, 2008 - 24% of voters 58. The Presets - Are You the One?, Dir. Kris Moyes, 2005 - 24% of voters 59. Bumblebeez - Dr. Love, Dir. Tom Kuntz, 2007 - 22% of voters 60. Coldplay - Life In Technicolor, Dir. Dougal Wilson, 2009 - 22% of voters 61. Foo Fighters - The Pretender, Dir. Sam Brown, 2007 - 22% of voters 62. Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River, Dir. Francis Lawrence, 2002 - 22% of voters 63. Liars - Plaster Casts Of Everything, Dir. Patrick Daughters, 2007 - 22% of voters 64. Metronomy - A Thing for Me, Dir. Megaforce, 2008 - 22% of voters 65. Röyksopp - Remind Me, Dir. H5, 2002 - 22% of voters 66. The Knife - Pass This On, Dir. Johan Renck, 2003 - 22% of voters 67. Vitalic - Poney Pt. 1 (Birds), Dir. Pleix, 2006 - 22% of voters 68. Cassius - The Sound of Violence, Dir. Alex & Martin, 2002 - 20% of voters 69. Daft Punk - Prime Time Of Your Life, Dir. Tony Gardner, 2006 - 20% of voters 70. Deichkind - Ich betäube mich, Dir. AlexandLiane, 2006 - 20% of voters 71. Fatlip - What’s up Fatlip?, Dir. Spike Jonze, 2000 - 20% of voters 72. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy, Dir. Robert Hales, 2006 - 20% of voters 73. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks, Dir. Patrick Daughters, 2009 - 20% of voters 74. Klaxons - Golden Skans, Dir. Saam, 2006 - 20% of voters 75. MSTRKRFT (ft. John Legend) - Heartbreaker, Dir. Vincent Haycock, 2009 - 20% of voters 76. Robbie Williams - Rock DJ - Vaughan Arnell, 2000 - 20% of voters 77. Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes, Dir. Nima Nourizadeh, 2008 - 20% of voters 78. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion, Dir. Patrick Daughters, 2006 - 20% of voters 79. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Y Control, Dir. Spike Jonze, 2004 - 20% of voters 80. Air - Playground Love, Dir. Sophia Coppola, 2000 - 18% of voters 81. Animal Collective - Peacebone, Dir. Timothy Saccenti, 2007 - 18% of voters 82. Cat Power - Where is my love, Dir. Josh & Xander, 2007 - 18% of voters 83. Chemical Brothers - The Test, Dir. Dom & Nic, 2002 - 18% of voters 84. Emily Haines - Dr. Blind, Dir. Jaron Albertin, 2006 - 18% of voters 85. Fatboy Slim - Ya Mama, Dir. Traktor, 2001 - 18% of voters 86. Four Tet - Smile Around The Face, Dir. Dan Wilde, 2005 - 18% of voters 87. LCD Soundsystem - Tribulations, Dir. Dougal Wilson, 2005 - 18% of voters 88. M83 - Lower Your Eyelids to Die With the Sun [Fully Flared Intro], Dir. Spike Jonze, 2008 - 18% of voters 89. Mr. Oizo - Flat Beat, Dir. Quentin Dupieux, 2000 - 18% of voters 90. The Streets - Blinded By The Lights, Dir. Adam Smith, 2004 - 18% of voters 91. Architecture in Helsinki - That Beep, Dir. Krozm, 2008 - 16% of voters 92. Chairlift - Evident Utensil, Dir. Ray Tintori, 2009 - 16% of voters 93. Chemical Brothers - Get Yourself High, Dir. Joseph Kahn, 2003 - 16% of voters 94. Coldplay - Speed of Sound, Dir. Mark Romanek, 2005 - 16% of voters 95. Cornelius - Drop (Do It Again) , Dir. Koichiro Tsujikawa, 2002 - 16% of voters 96. Erik Prydz - Call on me, Dir. Huse Monfaradi, 2004 - 16% of voters 97. Interpol - Evil, Dir. Charlie White, 2005 - 16% of voters 98. Kanye West ft. Zach Galifianakis & Will Oldham - Can’t Tell Me Nothing, Dir. Michael Blieden, 2007 - 16% of voters 99. REM - Imitation of Life, Dir. Garth Jennings, 2001 - 16% of voters 100. The Dead Weather - Treat me like your mother, Dir. Jonathan Glazer, 2009 - 16% of voters 101. The Strokes - Last Night, Dir. Roman Coppola, 2001 - 16% of voters
         

Amazing work Progosk.

Might I suggest you limit the initial post to the top 20 for the sake of not killing everyone's computers with all the embeds? When you have that many embedded Flash players, it slows things down a LOT.

         

Ditto on familiar's suggestion.

         

Congrats for the awesome work antville.

         

Here is my link from La Videotheque: lavideotheque.wordpress.com

Great work guys! Amazing work!

         

Great work. Star Guitar over Justice? which one has more replay value. Other than DM Wrong being high on the countdown (? awesome work at the Antville, voters.

         

progosk. I salute you sir. great job. I'm going to share this around.

         

Thank you very much Progosk. Wonderful work!

K

         

Great list! May it prosper and crush Pitchfork's scenester lists beneath it.

Some weird ones made it higher than expected. Seven nation Army is hardly cutting edge and made it above some much better videos.

Dizzee rascal sirens was also a big surprise.

That strangest entry though is perhaps Futureshock - "Late at night" coming in at 56. Huh?

         

good job, although 20 videos instead of 50 would've been enough. still, no shynola's for unkle?

         

Gotta say I really enjoyed this process. This isn't the exact list I would of picked but I think it comes as anything can to representing the broad spectrum of Antville taste. I have to say that I find the last 50 entries a little bit more satisfying than the first 50. I feel like the top 50 covers all of the obvious touchstones, most of which have already gotten their fair share of exposure. The bottom 50 is a little more eclectic and has some nicely curated selections.

It's interesting and somewhat disappointing that after all of the debate on this site over Marc Webb's career (at some point there were actually three hotly contested threads over Marc Webb's merits) that he didn't get a single video on this list. Dave Meyers was also shut out, Francis Lawrence got one. Joseph Kahn got a respectable two. Hype got zero (what no one liked "Drive Slow"?). Lil X, zero. Melina, zero.

The big winners on this list: Kanye, Shynola (both well deserved), Patrick Daughters, Tom Kuntz

In my opinion there seemed to be a little too much love for recent favorites and for the director's label gang. I have a hard time believing that "If I had a heart" had come out in 2003 instead of 2009 it would be #27. Also I'm confused by Flashing Lights massive popularity, it seemed kind of broad and one note to me. Wouldn't "Triumph of a Heart" and "All Falls Down" be better representations for both parties? On a Gondry note I always preferred Steriogram's crazy sugar high to Radiohead's claustrophobic fever dream but that's just me.

I gotta give some shout-outs to a few of my personal favorites that didn't make the cut: Deathcab for Cutie - I Will Follow You Into the Dark Dir. Jamie Thraves.
It's a crime that Thraves didn't make it onto this list since both this video and The Scientist are certifiable classics. So many videos are based on a central metaphor but this one gets the tone just perfect. Audioslave - Doesn't Remind Me Dir. Chris Milk This is one of the few music videos that has managed to provoke a genuine emotional reaction out of me. It's subtler and more nuanced than "Who's Gonna Save My Soul" but it's older and for a shittier band so it didn't make the cut. Stone Sour - Looking Through the Glass Dir. Tony Petrossian If you can ignore the music, this was one of the best crafted videos of 2006. Great special fx that fit the song thematically.

There were also some true antville gems overlooked: Ben Rollason's "Dirty Blue Jeans," Andy Bruntel's "Baby C'mon," Adam Bizanski's "Modern World" and Johan "Oceans"

I'd also like to offer my thanks to Progosk for putting all of the effort into the site that he does and to the frequent posters who keep this site running. Also a shout-out to everyone who nominated, there are a lot of forgotten gems hidden in those nominees.

Here's to wondering what the hell the list will look like for the next decade.

         

nicely nailed on all counts, otc.

         

Agreed re: Marc Webb. He is something of a master in the mainstream, emo arena. This is NOT my kind of music, but at the very least, "Move Along" should have made the list. That video is stunning, and yet so simple. Also, no representation for Samuel Bayer (personally not a huge fan, but he's a big name). I think we can all agree that Hype's best work is behind him.

It's fun to see who the next "Director Label" type guys might be, and I think this list pretty much cements at least 2: Patrick Daughters (6 videos), Dougal Wilson (4 videos). Maybe Ray Tintori too, but we'll see...

         

Amazing how Glazer's "A song for the lovers" didn't make the cut. Or even "Live with me"! In my opinion, these two would have to be in the top 50 at least…

         

you bet

         

I agree brigs, I think it is because Glazer is more classically cinematic and doesn't use as many tricks. Just look at what came in at #1 and it all makes sense.

         

funny how antville was shitting on pfork for not having enough hip hop and all you guys did was add "99 Problems"

(The streets and Dizzee do not apply, you know what I'm talking about)

         

what´s about this video...

www.youtube.com

         

Macguffin, I agree. I think it's an example of that old adage about lists saying more about the taste of the people who compile them than anything else. I think it's extremely telling that Spike Jonze's Kanye video gets top 20 honors, when Hype did 3 superior Kanye videos that don't even get mentioned.

         

budget, if you're such a hip hop head, why didn't you mention them yourself?

         

shame on me i so forgot about magnus renfors' video for tiger lou - sam, as in samantha

         

fyi: www.alexandliane.com

         

wut, orph?

         

This list got a little mention in the Guardian Guide mag today

         

yeh, leo, plus a boatload of links/tweets/stumbles/tumbls&whutnot - i stopped keeping count.

         

Kinda neat/odd list. www.pastemagazine.com

         

That paste magazine list makes no sense at all.

         

i've never understood antville's obsession with "99 problems". Awesome track, but the video is full of all the usual hiphop video clichés. Only difference is the look is gritty rather than blingbling. Is that enough to deserve a #2 spot ????? Great list overall though.

         

I'm with the captain. I just don't see what is so special. I would honestly enjoy an essay discussing why "99 Problems" is a landmark video. With the top honors it gets, I think that's deserving regardless.

All in all a good list, full of variety and tastes. It's my personal opinion that the best kind of music video times itself at least partially to the song (and one of the reasons I would put Star Guitar at no. 1), but I can appreciate most of these.

I took myself out of contributing directly because of my disconnect with the universal love of "99 Problems", so just to get it off my chest, here are a few videos I thought were missing:

<a href=www.youtube.com>Royksopp - Poor Leno <a href=www.youtube.com>Basement Jaxx - Do Your Thing <a href=www.youtube.com>Fionn Regan - Be Good or Be Gone <a href=www.youtube.com>Arctic Monkeys - Leave Before the Lights Come On <a href=www.youtube.com>JF/DS - Piemories <a href=www.youtube.com>Lemon Demon - Word Disassociation <a href=www.youtube.com>The Horrors - She's the New Thing

         

Most of the videos are not playable/link broken?

... deleted spam ...

         

Broken links might be coz this post dates from 2009 bro'