The Best Music Video (and song) of the Year

Okay, maybe that headline has a little bit of hyperbole in it. Then again, maybe not. Because yes, this is a music video for a pop song from Norway featuring a bunch of kids sporting Flock of Seagulls hair and dudes in eyeliner playing synth instruments while singing in falsetto.

By Nov. 04, 2010

Okay, maybe that headline has a little bit of hyperbole in it. Then again, maybe not. Because yes, this is a music video for a pop song from Norway featuring a bunch of kids sporting Flock of Seagulls hair and dudes in eyeliner playing synth instruments while singing in falsetto. But that’s because it’s European pop, and god damn, European pop can be so amazingly catchy when it’s done right!

I mean, I’m admittedly a huge pop fan in general, but in America a good pop song gets overplayed so much, you hear it everywhere, and then you just want to punch the lead singer in the face over and over again. But European pop? It’s just as catchy and fun, but a lot of it doesn’t cross over here so you can enjoy it at your own pace! And sometimes the lyrics are in other languages you don’t understand, so it doesn’t matter if they’re just singing about having sex in a night club because you can pretend like the song’s about anything you want!

As far as the video for Ambitions goes, Brett Sullivan doesn’t hit the level of inspiration Jonze topped with Weezer’s Buddy Holly or anything like that (although he does owe a debt to the video for Praise You), but in an era where music videos are only consumed online and therefore more and more of them are just attempts to go viral (the videos rule, but I’ve never actually listened to any of OK Go’s albums) the 1980s dance contest in this video fits the song nicely, touches on the flashy colors the kids love, but still avoids pandering too much.

And after listening to the song 100 times I’m ready to get my hands on as many of their albums as I can. Also, this one’s actually in English.

Anyway, check out Donkeyboy‘s video for their chart-topping (in Norway) song, Ambitions:

I stumbled on that gem while doing research for the Viking Boat Party during Fantastic Fest 2010 over at Europopped, a blog that brings daily updates featuring the best (and worst) music from the land of neverending dance club jams by Robbie Williams. It’s rapidly become one of my favorite sites, and you should check it out.

Or don’t. I’m sure I’ll post a ton of things featured there over here anyway, because it’s all AWESOME.

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