CIRCLESQUARE: Dancers

Vancouver art star Jeremy Shaw has returned to the musical stage under his Circlesquare moniker. After the disolution of Output records, the fate of the abstract electronic project looked unclear. After being featured on the soundtrack for gaming title Need For Speed, and a decampment from native Vancouver to current cultural hotbed Berlin, this project is back on the rails, signed to K7, and features the bolder, brasher, live sounds prototyped with the Fight Sounds ep. Schoolmate and long-time visual collaborator Bienvenido Cruz lenses the minimal music video, inspired by the artwork of Robert Longo series, Men In The Cities. And, yes, you may recognize the faces some of dancers - Miles Faber and Vincent Noiseux of the premier season of So You Think You Can Dance Canada. Them kids can move. Watch the music video (qt).

WHITEST BOY ALIVE: Golden Cage

Yaaay! Berlin based wunderband The Whitest Boy Alive are back with a brand new self released record entitled Rules. Now there's no single yet released and, thus no new video to report, so here is a rather simple and elegant video treatment from their first album. As usually, vocals are provided by folktastic Norwegian, Erlend Oye (he of his solo and Kings Of Convenience work), and wonderfully illustrations are courtesy of artist Geoff McFetridge. For a limited time sneak peak of the new album, click here. Watch the music video (qt).

METRONOMY: A Thing For Me

I have totally gone insane for this track. The off kilter singing, the dorky school-boy lyrics, the awkward falsetto. All these seemingly asinine elements mix into a cocktail of pure genius. The karaoke-inspired bouncing-ball video is directed by Megaforce. Watch the music video (qt).

FLYING LOTUS: Parisian Goldfish

Internet meme classic- Flying Lotus (aka Steven Ellison), Warp Records and Eric Wareheim (of Tim and Eric) join on this pixeldelic porntastic dance floor smasher... featuring the now legendary Dance Floor Dale. Watch the music video (qt).

GRACE JONES: Corporate Cannibal

The 80's icon is back to eat you! Lifted off her forthcoming 10th studio album, Hurricane, the cultish beat will undoubtedly appeal to the high gloss, high drama fashionista set. Nick Hooker captures the still stunning, still angular lines of Ms. Jones is a heavy distortion black and white fever dream of rumbling basslines and menacing glares. "I consume my consumers... with no sense of humour." Pure Grace! Watch the music video (qt).

THE BPA: Toe Jam

Norman Cook is back but this time under another alias besides Fatboy Slim, Beats International, Pizzaman, or whatever. This time some high profile collaborations and a brilliant music video directed by Keith Schofield. Who new anonymous black bars could be so titilating? David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal lend guest vocals to this ska pop hip-hoppery first single. Watch the music video (qt).

BJÖRK: Wanderlust

You've no doubt heard the hype of this amazing new Bjork video. Directed by Manhattan based art collective Encyclopedia Pictura, not only is the clip a return to the fantastical world of Bjork's earlier music video work, but is considered a return to a golden age of all music videos- iconic, innovative, powerfully influential and musically illustrative. Combining puppetry, computer animation, miniatures and live action, the concept revolves around "creating mytho-poetic cosmology of a primitive world complete with water deities and the struggle towards the future. The main theme being nomadism since it is for the track ‘Wanderlust.’ Unfortunately this version is only in 2 dimensions, but there is the originally concieved 3D version out there... Watch the music video (qt).

SANTOGOLD: L.E.S. Artistes

More brilliance from Brooklyn, this time in the form of fusion hipster magnet Santi White, aka Santogold. Working the cool kids circuit with everyone from Switch, M.I.A. and Diplo, and recently anointed as one of Rolling Stone's 10 artists to watch, this girl has got all the right moves. Her debut video is directed by Nima Nourizadeh, last seen here attaching multiple arms on co-hort M.I.A. Watch the music video (qt).

HERCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR: Blind

This track essential tore apart the runaways of the recent fashion weeks across the world. Featuring the mesmerizing vocals of Antony Hegarty, last seen dueting with Bjork, you can imaging a bunch of sashaying fashionists delicately, dispassionately dancing to the saxophone infused tempo. It's an amazingly sophisticated track that stands proudly amongst a backdrop of harsh electrofied fakers. The rest of the album is reported to be just as outstanding. DFA does it yet again. Directed by Saam. Watch the music video (qt).

BOMB THE BASS: Butterfingers

How freaking cool is it that original innovator Bomb The Bass have returned with a brand spanking new record? The seminal cut-and-paste act from the eighties team up with the with surprisingly un-Japanese Fujiya and Miyagi for a kicker of a electropop gem. It likely won't wag heads, but its sublime, minimal production is just what cliptip likes. Puppet mixing deck courtesy of Parish Factory. Watch the music video (qt).

THE PRESETS: This Boy's In Love

Second single from the Syndey electro duo, The Presets. Surprisingly more melody and pop sounding that previous industrial edged efforts, this video features brawls in puddles of milk, black powdered faces and soaring vocals amid sparking rain drops and lead singer Julian Hamilton's menacing mouth. Never have crooked teeth looked so sexy. Watch the music video.

GOLDFRAPP: A&E

Goldfrapp glide back into the limelight this February with a new record that side steps the glam-pop chart success of Supernature. Now trumpeting a mellow, folk tinged atmospheric sensibility, Alison and Gregory veer Seventh Tree into pastoral territory somewhat explored with their debut album, but equally pop-ified to Felt Mountain as Supernature was to Black Cherry. The video builds on the Goldfrapp mystique, serene in nature, with shambling mounds of vegetation choreographed in swirling, collapsing oddity. Colonel Blimp's Dougal Wilson helms the lens. Watch the music video (qt).

MOBY: Alice

Moby's career as a back studio act or deejay booth spinner is a progression of the bald headed punk techno assembler emerging into the forefront like a pallid creature from a crypt. As evident in his other works, Moby's vocals are somewhat weak and, well, dorky to say the least. But his musical impact is often most memorable when his guests provide the lyrical lead. The new record is called Last Night and is said to feature more dance oriented sounds with a pile of vocal collaborators including "the original 70's mc grandmaster caz one of the writers of rappers delight, sylvia from kudu, the uk's mc aynzli and the nigerian 419 squad." This first video is directed by Swedish nutter, Andreas Nilssson, best know for his inspired and eccentric pieces for The Knife. Watch the music video (qt).

BJÖRK: Declare Independence

If you were a follower of this site, you obviously have seen this video already. I mean why wait for me to plug this stuff when you can easily just youtube it and have done with it, right? Well, at least you can get the podcasted cliptip. The reunion of Bjork and Michel Gondry is quite an event as they historically made such cool shit together. This video is no different. Thrashy techno shouty girl from Iceland brings another epic of microclasmic proportions. A spray-painted moebius loop of snowballing, recycled energy defines this video overshadowing the individual participating players. I hear this song originally was intended for Greenland, which Denmark apparently lays claim over. Rebellion and rock 'n roll. How Scandinavian of me. Watch the music video (qt).

SPEKTRUM: Kinda New (We All Live And Die)

The original track gets a killer remix and release in 2007 by Dirty South. Dazzling neon animations courtesy of Blinkin LAB. This track sharpens the Spektrum sound of 80's inspired electronica funk to a jagged, razor etched sheen to satisfy the South Beach sparkle crowd as well as the assymetricals of Williamsburg. I'm en route back from Brasil. See you soon! Watch the music video (qt).

TIMBALAND: The Way I Are

Another music video from the mega producer. This one was prompted by my recent attending of the Justin Timberlake concert in Montreal (who would turn down free tickets?) where Timbo made a guest appearance. In fact he played a set of mashed up singles he produced including Nelly Furtado, Aaliyah and Missy Elliott. He also played a reworked version of this video with vocals by D.O.E. and Keri Hilson and featuring eighties hyperdelic kaleidoscope effects and coochie aerobic wear. I actually prefer that tongue-in-cheek version than this official one, which falls very much into the glamourized slick hip hop music video realm. No disrespect to director Shane Drake, who does a great job in creating a polished blinger of a video. I just found the concert version to be more in line with both the lyrics and the early zeitgeist of colourful rap stylee when guns and ice grills were less the obsession. Watch the music video (qt).

BUSDRIVER: Sun Showers

My first introduction to Busdriver was not a pleasant one. I was at what was supposed to be the triple bill of CSS, Datarock, and Bonde Do Role @ La Tulipe in Montreal. Bonde Do Role was apparently unable to make it, and Busdriver was kind enough to fill in the bill. Unfortunately, I was not having any of that. No matter what the electro rapper from Los Angeles tried, my soul crushing disappointment in the nights turn of events was inconsolable. So perhaps, my douchey clouded judgement (or lack of judgement) prevented my from enjoying what could have been an interesting introduction to a novel act. Here's a indie lo-fi video, directed by Fluorescent Hill. See what you think. Watch the music video (qt).

THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS: The Salmon Dance

Rapping pirahna? Beatboxing blowfish? Bloody brilliant. Consistent to the aesthetics of London's Chemical Brothers is their love of electronic broken beats and psychedelic drug induced visuals. With raps by Fatlip and music video sculpting by Dom & Nic, its yet another triumphant visual feast to have your acid flashbacks to. The second single off their sixth studio album, We Are The Night. Watch the music video (qt).

M.I.A.: Jimmy

Easily one of the best tracks of the year, M.I.A. turns her ruffneck grime style to the camp disco of Bollywood. A genius, tongue-in-cheek remake of "Jimmy Jimmy Aija" of the Hindi film Disco Dancer, the swirling synths and psychedelic strings leave the average listener puzzled at initial hearing. When fully experienced with gold lamé multi-armed demigoddess choreography, bitmapped wallpaper FXs, and shapely shadow dancing, you fall in love with it all over again. The video is gloriously directed by Nezar Khamal. Watch the music video (qt).

GROOVE ARMADA: Get Down

Under the auspicious eye of E-Boy, Groove Armada, who I feared had disbanded, unleash a throbbing new LP and single. Perhaps we are on a bit of a bunny bender, but this video, which blends the best of the electro house zeitgeist infused with the ragga scat of vocalist Stush, video directing collective Pleix serve up an adorable rutting season mob of plush randy rabbits to maul any unsuspecting passerby with bunny spunk. Dance floors will be destoryed, casualties will be splattered. Cheers for Canada Day long weekend from Toronto. Watch the music video (qt).