I love this music video for several reasons: Great song accompanied by fantastic animation that tells a story because of the professional directorial talent of Christopher Alender. The animation features the Steampunk style that is popular online.

Steampunk emerged in the 1980s through speculative fiction that imagined what the world would be like if we had stuck with the steam power technology that as prevalent during the Victorian era. That notion has spread to many art forms, as you see in this video. YouTube has created a renaissance for the music video as an art form after it had seemingly died after the heavy rotation of MTV 80s heyday.

This video might be called a musical short film rather than a music video, if you want to account for its cinematic feel.

With the competition over musical attention spans never greater due to the distribution of the Internet, musicians and bands must pay close attention to visuals that arrest the eye. This does just that. Found at YouTube from SoapboxOnline.

The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Chipotle restaurant chain, sponsored this animated PSA touting the merits of sustainable farming, featuring a Willie Nelson cover of Coldplay’s song The Scientist. The clip will be broadcast in movie theaters across the country and the song can be purchased at iTunes, with the proceeds benefiting the work of the foundation.

It’s a natural fit for Willie Nelson, who has long supported the family farmer but also benefits the country singer by aligning himself with Coldplay, thus raising awareness of Nelson among Coldplay fans.

Back To The Start

Coldplay – The Scientist

An animated music video for Tooth Decay by Black Moth Super Rainbow. Found at YouTube from hairycandy.

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Animated music video for Bubble by King Creosote & Jon Hopkins, directed by Elliot Dear. Found at YouTube from DominoRecords.

• Amazon: King Creosote MP3s| Bubble MP3

A crowd-sourced, fan-made music video for Ain’t No Grave by the late, great Johnny Cash. Found at YouTube from Galaxyhiker via the Johnny Cash Project. Check out how this Johnny Cash video was crowdsourced at eStrategy.tv.

• Amazon: Johnny Cash MP3s| Ain’t No Grave MP3

Music video for Shakeytown by I Heart Hiroshima. Found at YouTube from rnkntube.

• Amazon: I Heart Hiroshima MP3s

A neat music video for the song Squeeze Me by Kraak & Smaak that uses a flipbook effect. Found at Vimeo from WEAREWILL.

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An amazing animated music video directed by Cyriak Harris for We Got More by Eskmo. Found at Vimeo from Ninja Tune via Stereogum.

• Amazon: Eskmo MP3s| We Got More MP3

A very clever music video of Aaron Dean’s song Minneapolis, directed by Jonty Fine. Found at YouTube from arrondeanmusic.

Music video for Jungle Animal by Pomplamoose (With Allee Willis). Found at YouTube from PomplamooseMusic via Julio Ojeda-Zapata.

• Amazon: Pomplamoose MP3s