The Best Music Videos of 2013

And here we are. Another year. Another list. Another reason to make gifs. This is one of the best parts of our job, to be able to sit back and celebrate the visionaries in our field. The videos on this list made us think, some made us cry, some made us mad, others made us nostalgic. They all moved us in some profound way to articulate something about art and in this at-times-awful world, that’s a beautiful thing.

So sit back and celebrate with us. Here are our collective picks for best videos of 2013, Remezcla style.

20. HELADO NEGRO / “DANCE GHOST” / DIR. DAVID W MERTEN [USA]

Roberto Carlos Lange is one busy and creative dude. The Florida-via-Ecuador native is one of those artists who keeps a finger in various paint jars (or however that metaphor goes). Our favorite of his alter egos is his work as musician Helado Negro. His video for “Dance Ghost” perfectly encapsulates what his latest album, Invisible Life, is all about. The electronic tune is a melancholic mix of El Guincho and Neon Indian that evokes an odd feeling of dissociation, of being somewhere physically but not there spiritually or mentally. The video’s protagonist brings this feeling to life when he makes his way to a large but empty home devoid of anything, even furniture, and dances alone. “There’s no one home, just the ghosts who dance alone…” – Afroxander

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19. LOS WALTERS / “TOCA MADERA” / DIR. PAYOLA ISABEL [P.R.]

It’s a simple concept: get a group of objectively good-looking 20-somethings to swim naked and dance around deserted fields. But what allows “Toca Madera” to exceed its seemingly simple concept is its spirit. The video enacts a distinct sense of postmodern youth and euphoria, the kind that only comes alive when set against its antithesis: the rural outdoors. There’s a striking clash between the Urban Outfitters catalog clothing of the subjects and the untouched, unmanicured quality of the fields. It seems to want to articulate a new kind of Puerto Rican identity, one that’s beholden to both trend-based consumerism (a desire for a universal capitalist individuality) and environmental connection (desire for the anti-capitalist “authentic”). It’s where urban meets rural, city meets campo. – Paola Capó-García

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18. LA YEGROS / “VIENE DE MI” / DIR. JAVIER LOURENCO & MARIANA YOUSSEF [ARG]

The first lady of Argentina’s ñu-cumbia debuted with a gorgeous first single and an amazing first video to go with it. Not much of a storyline here, just beautiful visuals in a simple but effective and highly original concept. The many hats La Yegros wears (literally) during the video are not necessarily related to the song’s theme either, she just looks super cute in all of them, and since the song doesn’t have an explicit topic, it works out great. Ever since I first watched it I’ve stared at the white walls of my room secretly hoping she’ll pop out (dressed as a nurse) and start singing for me. – Juan Data

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17. BUSCABULLA / “SONO” / DIR. ROY DELGADO [P.R.]

If you were to apply a retro, tropicalia-tinged Instagram filter to contemporary ambient electronic music, you’d get something close to Buscabulla’s blissed-out sound. So it’s fitting that her debut video – shot on Super 8 film by director Roy Delgado – has the hazy wash of light, blurred edges and dreamy vibe that we could only hope to achieve when we throw that Earlybird filter on our photos. We’re living in a cultural moment infatuated with nostalgia, and Buscabulla manages to tap this trend while sidestepping its treaclier tendencies. Juxtaposing geometric shapes with natural landscapes, rays of sun with iridescent disco lights, and modern beats with a deliberate vintage aesthetic, “Sono” is a soothing, summer daydream of a video. Plus, let’s be real, the woman sure is easy on the eyes. – Andrea Gompf

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16. LOS PUNSETES / “LOS TECNOCRATAS” / DIR. MAURO ENTRIALGO [ESP]

This video is full of shit. I don’t mean that metaphorically. I mean that quite literally. The animated video by director Mauro Entrialgo features a group of technocrats who arrive on a foreign planet. Tecnócratas are those dudes who think they know everything and should, therefore, be in charge of everything. Unfortunately, in this case, everything “needs” to be swapped out with hella turds as per their unsolicited expert opinions. The dog plays fetch with turds before being replaced by a turd itself, two dudes bathe in a pond that gets overtaken by a river of mierda, and it even starts raining shit at one point.

It sounds slightly juvenile in the “lol, he said poop” way but it’s actually pretty funny and poignant, plus the lyrics provide some fun social commentary as well. – Afroxander

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15. TINO EL PINGÜINO / “VE NOMAS” / DIR. DANIEL M. TORRES [MEX]

It seems like 2013 was the year for voodoo magic, with everyone from Jarina de Marco to Juana Molina attempting to lure us into other worlds. Tino El Pingüino-–Mexico City’s revelation emcee—isn’t necessarily trying to lure us anywhere in his video for “Ve Nomás.” He’s trying to go there himself. For that, he enlists the help of two women, which he wakes up from the altar with a special code embedded in a tattoo. They search high and low, with maps and telescopes, radioing in for a sign. The Spanish guitar sample and the beats in the song are so damn catchy, that you want to follow them anywhere. This video—with its combination of humor, wit, fashion, sadness, and innocence—is a beast to be reckoned with. – Amaya García

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14. JUANA MOLINA / “ERAS” / DIR. MARIO CAPORALI [ARG]

Nobody can deny Juana Molina’s brilliance when it comes to creating weird, dissonant music that’s as eerie and danceable as it is heart-meltingly sweet. This also applies to the video for the second single off her new album, Wed 21, “Eras.” It has the quality of a horror show, with Molina’s sneaky title character (the girl with a bowling ball for a face) bewitching an army of dinner guests with potions and eggs, inducing them into a trance-like dancing state until they fall asleep. The goal: to get a new button for her doll. Yet, as soon as the dancing starts, the horror dissipates into cuteness and it seems like all is right with the world. The funny thing is that Molina’s music also holds that type of power; the syncopation and clashing sounds in her songs make us dance and forget all our problems. For that, she deserves to be on every list forever. – Amaya García

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13. ORQUESTA EL MACABEO / “LLUVIA CON SOL” / DIR. GUILLERMO GOMEZ ALVAREZ [P.R.]

Orquesta El Macabeo are not your typical salsa band, so you shouldn’t expect a typical salsa video from them. These “rockeros” who play salsa (as they define themselves) know how to avoid the traps of the genre’s common places while simultaneously paying homage to salsa’s golden age. “Lluvia con Sol” is a great example of this. Paired with a beautifully arranged song, the video masterfully employs vintage footage from Puerto Rican tourism advertisements aimed at gringos, taking it completely out of context, creating witty and hilarious contrasts. On top of the borrowed images, the director manages to make the band members travel back in time and sneak into parts of the film, sometimes in obvious ways, sometimes not so much. Clever. – Juan Data

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12. CAFE TACVBA / “OLITA DE ALTAMAR” / DIR. GUSTAVO DE LA TORRE & RUBEN ALBARRAN [MEX]

It begins with an idyllic landscape, an elevated desert land in front of an endless ocean. If you think about it too much, standing on that edge is as beautiful as it is frightening. That’s most of what you’ll see in Café Tacvba’s inspiring video for “Olita de Altamar”,” which features the band staring at the vast expanse, doing what they do best alongside Qhantati Ururi de Conima and Rubén Albarrán’s newly hatched alter ego: Zopilote de alas blancas y cabeza negra. Filmed in the paradisiacal Reserva de Paracas in Ica, Perú, the video feels like Zopilote taking us on a spiritual journey of self discovery and liberation. What feels like it should be private is translated into an astounding audiovisual for the world to share. Thank you Tacvbos for letting us in on that journey. – Amaya García

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11. MUSTAFA YODA / “EL HOMBRE BUENO QUE FUE AL INFIERNO” / DIR. NAZARENO ALBA & CELESTE LOIS [ARG]

This Argentine rapper had already raised the bar for hip-hop video making with his 2008 epic debut, “El Niño.” Breaking away from all the genre’s clichés—MCs worrying about twerking booties and bottle service at the VIP—Mustafá Yoda proves once again that rap is simply a vehicle that can be used to transport conscious message in an artful way, without losing entertainment value.

“El hombre bueno…” plays like a short movie set somewhere in the IXX century. The storyline is not very clear but, when listening carefully to the lyrics, we can infer that it’s about these different (and apparently unrelated) characters committing horribly evil acts while feeling righteous about it. It’s about crossing that thin line. – Juan Data

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10. JARINA DE MARCO / “SPELL ON YOU” / DIR. PABLO LOZANO [USA]

Since last year, Jarina de Marco has been blasting our senses with her clever spins on instant classics, like Jay Z’s “Big Pimpin’,” and she took it a step further by converting Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ classic, “Spell on You,” into an all-out, Caribbean empowerment anthem. The video, directed by Pablo Lozano, is a vivid splash of color and wit, where Jarina playfully (and a bit menacingly) guides us from the botánica to a full-on santero ritual, with a mixture of Haitian voodoo thrown in, hens included. It’s fun, catchy, tongue in cheek, and it also serves as a reminder of how rich and awesome Caribbean cultures are. That said, it’s also a reminder not to fuck with her, and that’s pretty badass, too. -Amaya García

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9. ALEX ANWANDTER / “TORMENTA” /DIR. ALVARO APONTE [CHL]

One of the more radical approaches to music video making this year came by way of Chile’s own Alex Anwandter. Although we usually get glitter camp and synchronized eight counts from Anwandter, “Tormenta” presented a more intimate side of him. To obnoxiously quote myself, the video, directed by Alvaro Aponte, works as an “inclusive taxonomy of sexuality,” a collection of sexual portraits that work to reify our expectations of bodily encounters (encounters with both others and ourselves). This is an important video because it gives agency to the dispossessed, to the misidentified. It celebrates a new non-normative context where bodies are allowed to act in the service of pleasure without shame and, most importantly, without categorization. Here, empowerment comes from one self coming into contact with an other. – Paola Capó-García

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8. SOUR SOUL / “UNDERMINE” / DIR. KANE LEE KWIK ALLAN & JULIO CESAR RODRIGUEZ [MEX]

If Guillermo Del Toro had started his film career doing music videos, they would’ve probably looked something like this. Sure, it’s a bit film-school artsy but it beats any other video of its kind in originality and the photography is superb. If we had an Oscar-like award ceremony I’d also nominate it for the costume design category, just for those beautifully creepy masks.

Like the song, it’s slow and gloomy, which could’ve made the watching experience a bit tedious. But just when you’re starting to feel like maybe skipping to the next video, the directors throw in a decent dose of T&A to recapture the viewers’ attention and voilà, you’ve got a masterpiece! – Juan Data

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7. LA MALA RODRIGUEZ / “33” DIR. ALBERTO BLANCO [ESP]

When La Mala María became La Mala Rodríguez and left the Sevilla underground hip-hop scene to become a worldwide crossover sensation, many orthodox rap fans were disappointed and accused her of getting soft and losing her edge. With “33,” the now-veteran rapper goes back to her “jarcor” roots and the raspy throat flow that made her stand out from all other femcees back in the late ‘90s. Her lyrical blade is sharper than ever.

The video manages to reflect this by taking La Mala away from all the pop glamour she indulged in in her previous work and showing her in the raw. As a result, she finally looks like the badass she claims to be while not wasting the opportunity to be sexy in her own way (upskirt alert for my fellow pervs). – Juan Data

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6. JULIETA VENEGAS / “TE VI” / DIR. HERNAN MARCELO CORERA, LUCIANO BENJAMIN CIEZA, OSCAR HECTOR FERNANDEZ, SEBASTIAN SUTTON [MEX]

I think it’s impossible for Julieta Venegas to write something that isn’t cute in some way. Like, she could join a death metal band called Kill Everyone Repeatedly In Many Ways and dress in all black with scary face paint and the results would still be cute. As you’ve probably guessed, “Te Vi” is a cute little song whose video focuses on a puppy love triangle. Guy and girl are in cutesy love but Mr. Third Wheel is also in love with the same girl who isn’t in love with him at all. Typical! The video is pretty amazing thanks to some stellar use of light and some excellent cinematography that could tell the story on its own. – Afroxander

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5. CAMIILA MORENO / “RAPTADO” / DIR. PABLO MIRANDA DINAMARCA [CHL]

Sometimes it can be hard to find a music video treatment that can fit the song to a tee. Chilean folk favorite Camila Moreno and her team make it look easy. Her music video for “Raptado” is an aesthetic trip that doubles as an art film. By taking several visual cues from Chicago-based photographer Kyle Thompson’s work, the intimate track is brought to life in the middle of a beautiful Chilean forest. Between the melancholy color palette and the beautifully crafted shots, we knew “Raptado” was a shoe in for this year’s list. – Cristobal Saez

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4. DËNVER / “REVISTA DE GIMNASIA” / DIR. BERNARDO QUESNEY [CHL]

It’s hard to tell what’s real in Dënver’s “Revista de Gimnasia.” Who’s the villain and who’s the victim? Is anyone ever really a victim or are we all complicit in some sort of violence toward one another? Bernardo Quesney, some of the best hands in the business, channels all of these anxieties of representation in the Chilean duo’s best video to date. A mixture of color and discomfort runs through the video, as we see the young gymnast stretched and pulled and gagged by her captor coach. She ends in a triumphant stance, as a burst of confetti rains down on her, conveying a visceral feeling of mischief and agency. This beautiful, lingering final shot proclaims victory for all those involved in the video. – Paola Capó-García

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3. LA BIEN QUERIDA / “A VECES NI ESO” / DIR. ERNEST DESUMBILA & LIMON ESTUDIOS [ESP]

If you’re a cinephile then this La Bien Querida video, directed by Ernest Desumbila and Limón Estudios, was like a Where’s Waldo in every shot. From Tarantino to Besson to Lynch to Coppola (one of them, at least), “A Veces Ni Eso” took us through a heavily referential journey that wouldn’t quit. All eyes are on the blue-bobbed protagonist who seems to embody every single female movie character, confidently stepping in and out of films via a slew of props—Blue Velvet gas mask, Christine-like car, and Uma Thurman’s Pulp Fiction get up—only to end up cuddling up beside her Bill Murray/Jean Reno conflation. It’s beautifully shot, cleverly done, and highlights the flexibility of the track (“A Veces Ni Eso” would feel right at home in many of these soundtracks). It’s a video that gets better with each watch, if only for the fact that you discover a new reference each time. – Paola Capó-García

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2. GUADALUPE PLATA / “MILANA” / DIR. NYSU [ESP]

Do you remember what happened the first time you watched Robert Rodriguez’s “From Dusk Till Dawn?” It was pretty freaky, wasn’t it? One minute, George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino are watching Salma Hayek do a sexy dance with an enormous yellow python. The next, Ms. Hayek and everyone else not linked to Clooney and Tarantino become vampires and the shit hits the fan for over an hour.

The video for “Milana” is slightly the same. The band’s singer is replaced by actress Silvia Vacas who does a really great job imitating Pedro de Dios Barcelo’s voice. She stops midway due to a coughing fit and…wait, is that blood? Wait, what’s happening to her face? WHY IS SHE MELTING?! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! -Afroxander

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1. BFLECHA / “B33” / DIR. TOMAS PEÑA [ESP]

I have seen the future and it looks a whole lot like the ‘80s. At least according to BFlecha. The Vigo-based singer has given us a lot to talk about this year, if only for the fact that there doesn’t seem to be anyone else doing what she does: 808-embracing R&B and pop. And so this mini film felt like a revelation, a gift in every shot that we weren’t worthy of receiving. It’s a confident yet vulnerable debut that takes us on an introspective, surreal walkabout guided by Belén Vidal herself. The scenes are outfitted with fantastic colors and costumes, all encompassing what it feels like to be in love. It’s both lonely and magnificent. Videos like these make me proud of what I do. – Paola Capó-García

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