Playground magazine

Like we have already done with albums and EPs, today we try to bring some order to the chaos of video releases from the first six months of 2011. The video is a powerful promotional tool for music in the internet age. Furthermore, aside from helping spread the work of new artists, it's also a highly interesting art form in itself. Something everybody knows, of course. So this is not so much a list of songs, but a list purely based on the quality of the videos accompanying them – eye candy, not ear candy. There's no number one, either – this list comes in alphabetical order.

Austra: “Beat And The Pulse”

Directed by Claire Edmondson



Battles: “Ice Cream”

Directed by Canada



Beastie Boys: “Fight For Your Right (Revisited)”

Directed by Adam Yauch



Beni: “It’s A Bubble”

Directed by Cédric Blaisbois



Beyoncé:  “Run This World (Girls)”

Directed by Francis Lawrence



Bill Callahan: “America!”

Directed by Okay Mountain (Sterling Allen, Peat Duggins & Ryan Hennessee)



Britney Spears: “I Wanna Go”

Directed by Chris Marrs Piliero



Broken Social Scene: “Sweetest Kill”

Directed by Clair Edmondson



Chrissy Murderbot: “Bussin’ Down (feat. DJ Spinn)”

Directed by Jon Sands & Jay Schroeder



Cults: “Go Outside”

Directed by Isaiah Seret



Cut Copy: “Need You Now”

Directed by Keith Schofield



Dan Deacon: “Surprise Srefani”

Directed by Andrew de Freitas & Mathieu Arsenault



Death Grips: “Guillotine (It Goes Yah)”

Directed by Flatlander for thisworlds.net



DJ Cam feat. Chris James: “Swim”

Directed by Sonia Sieff



Fall On Your Sword: “The First Time I Saw Jupiter”

Directed by Rupert Cresswell



FunkinEven: “Rolands Jam”

Directed by Hiroo Tanaka aka Inumikaku



Handsome Furs: “What About Us”

Directed by Scott Coffey



Iamamiwhoami: “John”

Directed by Iamamiwhoami



Is Tropical: “The Greeks”

Directed by Megaforce



John Maus: “Head For The Country”

Directed by Jennifer Juniper Stratford



Kanye West: “Monster”

Directed by Jake Nava



Katy Perry: “Last Friday Night”

Directed by Marc Klasfeld



King Creosote & Jon Hopkins: “Bubble”

Directed by Elliot Dear @ Blinkink



Lykke Li: “Sadness Is A Blessing”

Directed by Tarik Saleh



Mario & Vidis feat. Ernesto: “Changed”

Directed by Phantom



Memory Tapes: “Green Knight (CREEP Remix)”

Directed by Ellen Frances



Mendetz: “Hap Your Clands”

Directed by Mario Barranco & Hugo Baena



Metronomy: “The Bay”

Directed by David Wilson



Mogwai: “San Pedro”

Directed by Anthony Crook



Mums Of Death: “Golden Axe”

Directed by Scattle



Panda Bear: “Surfer’s Hymn”

Directed by Sam Fleischner



Peaking Lights: “Amazing & Wonderful”

Directed by Ben Shearn & Amanda Brown



PJ Harvey: “Let England Shake”

Directed by Seamus Murphy



Pusha T feat. Tyler, The Creator: “Trouble On My Mind”

Directed by Jason Goldwatch



Salem: “Sick”

Directed by Douglas Burgdorff



Scissor Sisters: “Invisible Light”

Directed by Canada



The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart: “The Body”

Directed by Phillip Van



The Sound Of Arrows: “Magic”

Directed by The Sound Of Arrows & Andreas Öhman



Twin Shadow: “At Me Heels”

Directed by Carol Weaks & Cassidy and Ruth Leitman



Tyler, The Creator: “Yonkers”

Directed by Wolf Haley



Wiley: “Numbers In Action”

Directed by Us