KINGS OF CONVENIENCE: Misread

Simon and Garfunkel comparisons aside, the Bergen folk duo of Erlend Oye and Erik Glambek Boe are necessary to every single record collection. Unless, of course, you hate beauty, love and affection. This video may be from their 2004 album, Riot On An Empty Street, but it still rings of classic, timeless songcraft, enduring beyond the fads of the modern pop machinations. The Erlend half of the duo has formed a side band called the Whitest Boy Alive, which I hope to cover here as soon as a video is released. But in the interim, enjoy the summery tones and warm ambience of this Francois Nemeta directed music video. Watch the music video (qt).

GNARLS BARKLEY: Gone Daddy Gone

Well. I think it's official. This may be one of my favourite videos of the year. The crazy combo of Cee-lo Green and Danger Mouse do it again with another brilliant single, this time with an updated, hook laden cover version of the Violent Femmes original. In the video, the dynamic duo are rendered as tiny insect vermin caricatures, infesting their way around household pets, carpet and the sweet, sweet ass of the bombshell blonde homemaker. Shrek who? Directed by American video hot pick, Chris Milk. Watch the music video (qt).

BADLY DRAWN BOY: Nothing's Going To Change Your Mind

That knitted hat is back. Along with that lost boy voice and those warm, rub my belly lyrics and those popstaticular melodies. The clever little video by Dougal Wilson features a music powered car that plays like an instrument and requires an occasional "tune-up." It's Damon Gough, with bird shit splats, as quirky as ever. Watch the music video (qt).

WHERE IS CLIPTIP?

Cliptip is stepping out to Montreal for the day. No, I'm not attending Pop Montreal, which would have been cool (Methinks Chromewaves will be attending so you'll wanna check out his coverage). Be back soon!

SI*SE: Mariposa en Havana

The groovy downtown NYC outfit, Si*Se have recently released their sophomore collection of hip hop soul jazz latin fusion. Lead lady Carol C brings some sultry smooth vibes with this latest single that has that whole summertime extending effect. Keep this one turned on to hold the autumn back. Not sure who the director is on this one, so if you know, let me know. This video is directed by Phil Aupperle (thanks John Earle). Watch the music video (qt).

WHERE IS CLIPTIP?

Toronto adopts thie first Nuit Blanche tonight. It's essentially an all night festival where artists present their work in urban spaces from midnight to the wee early hours of the morning. I believe the origins of the festival started out in Paris in 2002, where it has since spread to Montreal and Toronto and who else knows were. Partake this Sleepness Night.

CACOY: Mo Ma W Maw

Originally released in 2003, the rest of the world is finally catching up with Japanese trio Cacoy. Consisting of DJ Klock, Saya and Ueno, they collectively fuse hip hop and electronica in unconventional ways to keep you chilling or grooving. From the Human is Music album released on Rumraket. The videos clean animated design is by UFX. Watch the music video (qt). Bonus MP3: Pinacle

TENACIOUS D: The Pick Of Destiny

Jack Black and Kyle Gass are back with another collection of epic rock awesomeness. But this time, it's not just an album or television show. It's a whole freaking movie of epic rock awesomeness. And they want you to experience Tenacious D. Since it's the title track for the forthcoming movie, there's the gamut of movie quick-cut segments, but it's all held together by the meta-self referencial narrative of Jack and Kyle as viewers experiencing the movie they star themselves- like a mobius looping, death spiral of epic rock awesomeness. It's directed by Liam Lynch who has a bit of the epic rock awesomeness humour in himself. Download/Podcast the music video (qt).

KELIS: Blindfold Me

Second single form the leftfield R&B singers fourth full length, Kelis Was Here. This track features rapper husband Nas in a slick interpretation of the crunk friendly track. It's quite a departure for Kelis to amp up the urgency in a such conventional way. Something rings contrived, and I'm not sure if it's the throbbing pulsing kick track which feels strangely hollow, or the lyrics that seem, maybe, too obvious or literal. Now that she's targeting what has eluded her for so long, American pop success, it remains to be seen if this one of kind music and style personality has lost her edge along with her wild child hairstyle. Director Marc Klasfeld fetischizes a fully blinged out kidnapping scenario. Watch the music video (qt).

PLASTILINA MOSH: Millionaire

It's not just Mexican band Kinky making waves with spliced up mashed out genre busting new music. Monterry based alternative band Plastilina Mosh is on their fourth album of mongrel disco / jazz / samba fusionism and this is their latest release. Directed by Punga Visual Consorcio it clearly pays homage to hypercouloured, city stomping Japanese pop culture. Watch the music video (qt).

BAND OF HORSES: The Great Salt Lake

Seattle's Band of Horses second video. Perhaps I'm a little slack on getting this one to you, as it has the incredible summer breezy feel to it, where you drive to some outdoor festival in a beat up old car with stacks of cds, a cooler and good friends. The video takes that summer feel and places it in hipster stacked baseball game. Today's lesson? Hipsters need excercise, too. Directed by Whitey McConnaughy. Watch the music video (qt).

MUSE: Starlight

DIRECTOR'S CUT Muse are yet again poised to conquer America with another anthemic release from their Blackholes and Revelations album. The single is shockingly catchy (its lodged in my brain) with a noble piano riff and that signature Matt Bellamy howl. The singles spacious, epic sound is well captured by director Paul Minor using aerial shots, dramatic pyrotechnics and a looming Japanese cargo ship called the Ocean Chie. You should note there are multiple versions of this video in circulation, but only cliptip is first to bring you the director's cut. We're such a sucker for artistic integrity that way. Watch the music video (qt).

BASEMENT JAXX: Take Me Back To Your House

This single would not be my choice as the second release from the Crazy Itch Radio album (the collaboration with Swedish pop singer Robyn is far funkier), but here it is with a freshly minted music video. Directed by Dougal Wilson, the Russian Cossack vaudville Siberian nightclub theme works well. The plunky banjo lends to a folksy feel, and the video treatment runs with it, complete with dancing bears, Cossack dancing, and Borat styled characters. My favourite scene is the coat check, when our heroine has roughly five layers of furs to schlep out. It's almost exactly how I remember nightclubbing in Edmonton... Watch the music video (qt).

KASABIAN: Shoot The Runner

Noel Gallagher of Oasis gives huge props to Kasabian in NME saying "they [Kasabian] were the fucking business." He also goes on to say 'he now considers them to be among Britain's best. "They're up there with Prodigy and The Primals," he explained. 'Screamadelica' is the definitive guitar dance record, it's not even indie dance or any of that shit, and The Prodigy did it with 'Breathe'. Kasabian are there now, and they're making music which is unique." Sean G. tips me to this latest video from their recently released killer new album. The single is a glam rock stormer with subtle electronic undertones to give it that distinct British edge. Directors Alex and Martin rotoscope the band into a rainbow acid trip of solid colours, embellishing the performance piece with ink splashes that double as enlivening fireworks and blood spatter pyrotechniques. Watch the music video (qt).

PRIMAL SCREAM: Dolls

Recipe for a rock video: take one gaunt rock singer, dress in black and white motif, add a smattering of lithe, semi-clad dancing fashion model types, set in a giant warehouse space. The bluesy bar rock has gentrified the formerly electroclashed neighbourhood of Primal Scream's sound, and this catchy la-la-la second single from the Glasgow originating band. Taken from the recently released Riot City Blues album. The music video is directed by Pedro Romhanyi. Watch the music video (qt).

DATAROCK: Fa Fa Fa

Groovy Norwegian Datarock bring the electronica funk with this debut video. Too polished to be slotted into a post punk category, the track has the rock holler of a rollerskating The Rapture with the disco funk guitar work of a Nile Rodgers production. The video is directed by Benedicte Aubert Ringnesm and borrows the tracksuited youngsters from Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums. Watch the music video (qt).

THE MOST SERENE REPUBLIC: (Oh) God

The Milton fourtet have a second video that combines milk, swimming pools and pasty pre-adolescent physiques with a indie-pop android rock. Everytime I hear this track I think "Is someone beating the singer up?" or "Why is he out of breath?" and "Does he want me to administer a beating?" I've said it before, the band is interesting live on stage, but somehow gets lost in translation. Graydon Sheppard directs. Watch the music video (qt).

FELIX DA HOUSECAT: Runaway Dreamer

Chicago electroclash deejay and producer Felix Da Housecat has been laying low as of late. But there are rumblings of a new album forthcoming. Here's a clip from the debut long player that really help define the electroclash house sound. The music video, directed by Icelander Einar Snorri, looks remarkably like the colourized retro futurism of the 30's and 40's. Watch the music video (qt).

BENNY BENASSI: Satisfaction

This classic foam party club anthem is going out to our porn loving friends at Fleshbot. Although it is strictly softcore (it is both SFW and NSFW depending which side of the Atlantic you live on), it is in celebration of the sexed up netizens seeking digital carnal thrills by which that unblinking pink Fleshbot eye was so gracious in sending this way. If you caught the season's debut of America's Next Top Model (I swear I was channel surfing), you will know that, according to one contestant, stripping is close cousins with modeling. Just like pornography is close cousins with music videos. Well, not really. This video, directed by Dougal Wilson, is a fine example of that crossover potential. My personal favour touch is the steel toe lucite platform heel the ladies wear on the the construction site. Mmmmmmm..... jubblies + powertools = ultimate milkshake. Watch the music video (qt).

THE SUGARCUBES: Walkabout

For a one time only event, Iceland's first international pop band is reuniting to play one gig. In Reykjavik. So if you happen to love the Sugarcubes, get yer faux fur-lined vintage parka, hop on a plane and get your butt to the Iceland capitol on Novermber 17th, 2006. The reunion is to celebrate their 20th year anniversary of the single Birthday. Unfortunately, my search was no able to yield a high quality, podcast friendly version of that video, so here's another one. Vocals by some little know singer called Bjork, with special note that Einar Orn's chattery is kept to a minimum. Watch the music video (qt).

THE KNIFE: Like A Pen

My love affair with Swedish electro eccentrics The Knife continues with this playschool gone mental music video as directed by Andreas Nilsson. Follow as crudely drawn characters navigate a world of building blocks, Dig-Dug type caverns, blobby buses and reality altering colouring pencils. Lyrically, your guess is as good as mine! Watch the music video (qt).

MALAJUBE: Pâte Filo

See? See? The Polaris Prize really does work. This is the second video posted herein from the nominated Montreal band. It's good. And the video is cool. And I don't care that these guys did not win. They are winners! As the sole Francophone nominee, they represented. With a mix of equal parts dreamy pop melodies, crunchy guitar rock and warm, soaring vocals, if these guys sang in English, Phoenix would have quite a run for their money. The whimsical animated music video is directed by Louis-Philippe Eno. Watch the music video (qt).

HOW TO PODCAST CLIPTIP

The cliptip podcast has been rocking the few savvy subscribers who knew how to hook it up in iTunes. Those peeps were able to download the majority of cliptip's featured music videos straight to the their own hard drive to watch, rewatch and general enjoy when a internet connect to the cliptip website was not available. Those even savvier know how to import those videos directly to their iPods for portable cliptip podrocking. But today's tutorial will walk those new to the whole podcasting phenomenon on how to set themselves up in 3 easy steps.

STEP 1: Make sure you have iTunes. Download the latest version here. Install it and then launch iTunes!

STEP 2: Go back to your web-browser on the cliptip page. See that image to the on this post? See the corresponding image on top right hand side of the blog? More your cursor over to it and right click on it (PC) or ctrl + click on it (Mac) and select "copy link" from the drop down menu.

STEP 3: Back to iTunes! Click on the "'Advanced" menu and select "Subscribe to Podcast". When it the window opens up, select 'paste' into the URL box and click OK. You're done!

Now, you can adjust your podcast settings so that everything a podcast friendly cliptip music video is posted, you should be able to automatically save it to your computer. So easy! Enjoy!

PEACHES: Boys Wanna Be Her

In her second video release from the Impeach My Bush album, Peaches channels her inner glamazon with this heel stomping tribute to her gender bending fandom. Slicked gold and silver lamé, lacquered face paint, tongue teased hair and massive, gaping, self-induced head wounds. If you've seen a live Peaches show, it's guarranteed to end in bloodshed. Personally, I would thought the infectious Do Ya would have made the second single cut, but instead is featured in a Gap commercial. This T.Rex sexed-up video is directed by Kris Lefcoe. Watch the music video (qt).

RICHARD ASHCROFT: Break The Night With Colour

Brit super songwriter Richard Ashcroft brings a certain charm to the way he sings. It's a heartfelt northern soul type of vibe, which is great, because he really is sort of a stand-out solo male artist of which there are few comparable talents. Everyones else kind of falls into the super art-star Thom Yorke vein or the loutish ex-boy band pop star Robbie Williams stock or the so inoffensive it's offensive James Blunt category. Director Borkur lets us spend some prison time with the piano plucker in a gritty solitary video. Is it me or does Richard Ashcroft have that whole handsome/unhandsome bloke thing going on? Watch the music video (qt).

I LOVE YOU BUT I'VE CHOSEN DARKNESS: According To Plan

I'm not sure about you, but when I choose darkness, I choose darkness. And I mean the darkest of darkness. And when I listen to Austin based I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness (ILYBICD for short), I feel as though I have chosen correctly. Lifted from the Secretly Canadian label debut, Fear Is On Our Side, the sadness and the loneliness lingers like a haunting, droning, moaning sound. Does anyone know who directed this this fog filled music video? Research yields nadda. The director is Eric Tu (thanks to Kevathens). Watch the music video (qt).

FINAL FANTASY: He Poos Clouds

Congratulations to Owen Pallett for being the first recipient of the Polaris Prize. His second album, He Poos Clouds takes home the $20,000 cash prize and the ensuing buzz of marginal mainstream attention that will hopefully translate into indutsry respect for independant music that is not architectured towards bland, formulaic crap. Phew! That sounded like a rant. Here is the rare occasion where we feature a podcast unfriendly google video music video. Directed by Jesse Elwes, this is the title track visualized with a Dungeons and Dragons adventure themed zoetrope. Watch the music video (google).

UN HOMME ET UNE FEMME PROJECT: La Falaise

The French are invading! Un Homme Et Une Femme are a rock trio from France and they play le rock music with style and swagger. I like them, and if you like Interpol and le tongue francais you probably will like them too. This single is taken from the debut album called Alamera, and I have a feeling it will be playing at finer cafes occupied by la hip boheme from the Left Bank to the Lower East Side. The video is directed by the artful eye of Francois Nemeta with beautiful sprouting polaroids of both time lapsed and stop motion persuasions. Watch the music video.

EMILY HAINES & THE SOFT SKELETON: Doctor Blind

First solo outing by Metric's Emily Haines. The energetic new wave pop is placed aside as Emily plucks the ivory keys to melancholy chamber pop genius. Minimal ghost-like synths wash underneath to create a spacious, haunting tone. A perfect compliment to the single is surrealist director Jaron Albertin's treatment. Set in a sterile, big box department store flooded with cold, fluorescent lighting, we find a Emily's want for low-fee prescription pharmaceuticals tipping a cascading domino chain of patrons. Watch the music video (qt).

ZERO 7: Futures

Jose Gonzalez guests on this downtempo gem from the British purveyors of modern downtempo classics, Zero 7. Directed by Duckeye, the video is a mixture of Google Maps and Indonesian Wayang Kulit shadow puppetry. This is make-out music. Listen, touch, but never alone. Watch the music video (qt).