Ten Music Video Highlights of 2011

1. SunnyHill – Pray (기도)

Finally, the most memorable music video of 2011 has to go to Korean co-ed group Sunny Hill for their music video of Pray, which I guess was directed by Korean female director Hwang Soo Ah — but please, feel free to correct me.

All the other music videos on this list are really good looking technically, fun, quirky and colorful. They work great with their music source and everything, but Sunny Hill’s Pray takes a song that some may find “normal” and gives it an edge — the music video actually makes the song ten times better than it is.

Your turn?

Do you want it to be your turn or are you just going to complain why I didn’t include other videos?

Feel free to add your suggestion below with a reason why it was a highlight of 2011!

Ghost Writer

Here. There. Everywhere. Punished soul that usually watches what nobody wants, but sometimes gets lucky.

18 Responses

  1. amy says:

    This list needs a mention of Coeur de Pirate’s Adieu. It was scary funny, it wasn’t weird like Gaga stuff, but it was pretty decent. xD

    Also… in the unofficial mentions a couple of 2NE1 Cover Song contestants deserved mentions xD like the Bossa Nova version of Lonely or that version where they mix it with a version of the MV for Love Song. LOL

  2. ghost says:

    @amy, but Adieu was just funny – Kinda scary and funny… not really highlight material, you think?

    I can’t believe the Bossa Nova version of Lonely didn’t win the contest. Anyway, yah that version of Love Song/Lonely or maybe we should call it Lonely Love Song by 4NR was pretty impressive for the contest.

    What do you think of #1 pick?

    • amy says:

      @ghost, I’m still divided on whether I should get your #1 pick or not… I mean, it’s there in HD in the open for everyone to take.

  3. Camiele says:

    Call me a fangirl…but a music video list with no mention of Bjork seems like a travesty to me…HaHa! I love her video for “Moon”, nevermind the fact that she’s, yet AGAIN, thrown a wrench in the music industry and decided to get all ahead of her time again. Biophilia, though not necessarily her best work, is definitely her most ambitious in terms of what she did with it sonically and visually.

    “Moon’s” an astonishing video. However, I can’t be any sort of judge of your list seeing as I’ve only seen one of the videos that you mentioned in this post — DBSK’s “Before You Go”, and not of my own free will. Someone ::coughjulzcough:: showed it to me. The MV’s fun, but I’m more for the music…which was sexy as hell!!!!

    But, I digress. I’ll have to check out these videos and see what I’ve been missing. I love music videos and need to up my game because I’ve not watched proper music television for the past two or three years…YIKES!

  4. ghost says:

    @Camiele, I even considered adding Bjork to the list, but she’s set her bar way too high. Compared to anything she’s done, Moon and Crystalline is pretty normal stuff coming from her.

    Which version of Before U Go did you like the best? For me, the long version seemed to drag on and get lost in the dramatic emotions. The fighting sequence was particularly effective for a pop music video.

    Check back once you’ve checked out all of the videos on the list…

    @amy, I don’t think Korea is planning in releasing high definition versions of their music videos yet.

    • Camiele says:

      @ghost, Hey, yeah still haven’t gotten around to watching these videos — life’s so tough..HaHa. But, the version of Before U Go I saw had this intense infiltration sequence. I’ve only seen one version. There was a fast beat in the beginning and then the smexy came after the intro…so, I don’t know which version that is…HaHa.

      I suppose you’re right, regarding Bjork. Her bar is set rather high, but if we think about it in terms of just MVs of the year, Moon was pretty fantastic. Even in the scope of the videos on this list, which, from what you’ve said, seem pretty amazing, I think there’s still a place for it. Though, I will say Moon sort of harkened back to Human Behaviour a bit (what do you think?)

      I will, eventually, get to the vids on this list…HaHa. And I’ll give you a full report when I do :)

  5. Julyssa says:

    This is my highlight from 2011:

    http://youtu.be/sSMbOuNBV0s

    Having some of the best models of the 80’s front as Duran Druan? Brilliant.

  6. ghost says:

    @julyssa, aw. i miss supermodels too. too much hotness in that video.

  7. Camiele says:

    These videos…I don’t even know where to start. I think I need to take a breather because the SunnyHill video was one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever seen.

    So…yeah. Just wow. I don’t even know what to say.

    OH WAIT! How about Kid Gangstas! Fucking badass!!!!

    But, yeah, SunnyHill…wow.

    • amy says:

      @Camiele, and it came from Kpop huh xD – seems like you’ve been taken by the Kpop-mania haha… remember those days when you wrote about horror books? xD

      • Camiele says:

        @amy, HAHAHAHAHA! I’m JUST now responding to this (shame upon shame upon SHAME on me). Yeah… Kpop (or more accurately, DBSK) destroyed my existence there for a while. I think I’ve gotten better, though… HaHa.

        I still say Pray is one of the most heinously gorgeous and soul crunching videos ever created… HaHa. Literally, I don’t think I’d been moved by a video that much since I saw “Earth Song” by Michael Jackson… and that was, what, 14, 15 years before this one? So, yeah… DEEP!

  8. ghost says:

    @Camiele, I thought it was more like Kiddie Terrorists, the animation on it is fucking crazy. Very creative.

    And Sunny Hill is just beautiful. Too bad they don’t have as many YouTube views as cough, some others who have like 30 million hits.

  1. September 21, 2012

    […] friend Amy over at YAM Magazine, I got a chance to see this piece of beauty firsthand last year [1] “Pray (기도)” is easily one of the most heartbreaking videos I’ve ever […]

  2. March 28, 2013

    […] the other two years, you know I’m probably partial to SunnyHill [1], but I’ll go with Salyu’s Tadano Tomodachi [1] concept because it’s much more a […]

  3. October 12, 2013

    […] los dos años que faltan, seguramente tengo alguna parcialidad hacia SunnyHill [1], sin embargo me quedaría con el concepto de Tadano Tomodachi [1] de Salyu porque es más un […]

  4. December 18, 2013

    […] the band going through a colorful background of illustrations. Bed shot a la Her-Morning-Elegance [1] beginning with mixed […]

Leave a Reply to ghostCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.