Ten Rapid: the best new music videos with †††, Neneh Cherry & Robyn, Black Lips and more

A week in music videos, with Chino Moreno's ††† (Crosses) channelling 70s horror, Neneh Cherry & Robyn rocking out with Rocketnumbernine, raucous folk-punk from Black Lips, and a healthy dose of homegrown and international hip-hop talent

Feature | 21 Mar 2014

Once again it's Friday, which means it is time for  Ten Rapid! Each week we showcase a selection of the best new music videos, as curated by The Skinny's music team. This week's playlist features a healthy dose of hip-hop, both homegrown and internationally known, from the likes of Das Racist's Kool A.D., hotly-tipped Glasgow beatsmith Inkke featuring DePTHS, The Wu's Ghostface Killah in a collaboration with Autre Ne Veut and Flume, former Anticon rabble-rouser Sole, and Stanley Odd, who return with a dark-as-pitch new track. Elsewhere there's brooding synth-rock from Chino Moreno's ††† (Crosses), a Skinny premiere from rising Olive Grive Records stars Call To Mind, a new track from the Black Lips, and more.

We kick off with The Epilogue, the latest single from ††† (Crosses), who we interviewed last month about the electronics-based project, a collaboration between Chino Moreno, Shaun Lopez and Chuck Doom. "As busy as I am with Deftones, I have a lot of spare time left over," Chino told us. "I don't really have any other hobbies other than listening to music, researching music, and making music. I could either be making nothing or making something." Well, Chino, we're glad you're keeping busy, and we love the nods to classic 70s horror in this video.

Next up it's the man with the most impressive beard in hip-hop right now, former Das Racist abstract rap cat (just don't call it 'backpack'), the unmistakable Kool A.D. The lo-fi video (you can barely see him lip-syncing through that face-hedge) is for a track taken from his new solo album, released this week, Word O.K., which is available as a pay-what-you-want download. The album features production from Toro y Moi and a guest verse from Talib Kweli. 

The Skinny's Album of the Month in February was Neneh Cherry's magnificent Blank Project, recorded with Rocketnumbernine and Four Tet. One of the standouts from that album features Swedish pop minstrel Robyn, who is touring summer festivals with Röyksopp in the next few months. The video for Out of the Black was created by artist Dario Vigorito AKA 241-24-7.

More hip-hop up next - in-demand young Glaswegian producer Inkke, who has already featured on Big Dada's sprawling Grime 2.0 compilation and been chased by producers such as Wiley's Bless Beats, has released his debut album Faded With Da Kittens via Astral Black this week, and one of the standout tracks sees him collaborate with razor-wit Glasgow rapper DePTHS for Faded, a bass-heavy paean to ganja, with a video shot by Andy Brown.

A rather bizarre collaboration up next, with an awesome animated video - Flume is an Australian producer, and his self-titled debut album featured, among other things, a joint with alt.R 'n' B singer Autre Ne Veut and Wu-Tang's Ghostface Killah. A healthy dose of space-funk with animation by Bryan Caselli and directed by Jim Dirschberger, it's an infectious little ear-worm.

It's been a long time now since Sole left Anticon – since his departure in 2010, he's carved out a niche for himself, releasing his own albums and collaborating with artists from across the world of underground hip-hop and beyond, including a notable stint with the Skyrider Band. Here's his new track, with Sole riding a rock riff and clashing drums, featuring DJ Pain 1, who has produced beats for 50 Cent, Public Enemy and others, and Sean from Andrew Jackson Jihad, taken from a forthcoming album for which Sole is running a crowdfunding campaign as we speak – get involved here.

More homegrown hip-hop up next – it's the return of SAY Award-nominated band Stanley Odd, changing up their style to deliver a dark, claustrophobic, densely-written rap from front-man Solareye. It's taken from a limited-edition Record Store Day single, which will be followed by a new EP, Chase Yirsel, due to drop on 28 April, and for our money, it's one of the best tracks the band have ever produced, with Solareye channelling some of the dark humour and bleak concerns of underground hip-hop, with nods to the gritty black and white aesthetic of Tyler the Creator's Yonkers video.

Next up, a Skinny premiere - the new single from Call To Mind, taken from their debut album The Winter Is White, out on 14 April via Olive Grove Records. It's a melodic, uplifting, piano-driven dose of emotional indie rock with a euphoric chorus, with a beautiful video directed, animated, and produced by Nick Murray Willis at Bug Animations. The track is currently available for free download – cop it fast.

New York's RATKING, signed to XL Records, drop a video for their new collaboration with King Krule, taken from So It Goes, out 7 April. Combining classic NYC beats and rhymes with a cloud rap-style beat, and featuring Krule spitting in a half-rapped, half-sung delivery, this is already one of our favourite hip-hop tracks of the year.

Finally, here's the rambunctious, snarling new offering from Black Lips, taken from new album Underneath the Rainbow. The video, produced and directed by Andy Capper and Danilo Parra, features distressed VHS footage of the band playing live to a delirious crowd and behind-the-scenes malarkey, with more than a hint of the anarchic folk-punk of The Pogues at play in the song itself.

That's it for another Ten Rapid! If you want to cue up all of the videos, see below, or visit The Skinny's YouTube channel, where you'll find a tailored playlist of this week's videos, not to mention regular video premieres, exclusive sessions with the likes of Young FathersAidan Moffat & RM HubbertUbre Blanca, and much more! We'll see you back here in 7 days for another Ten Rapid.

 

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