Ten Rapid: The best new music videos with The War On Drugs, Run The Jewels, Pixies and more

Welcome back to Ten Rapid, where we showcase a selection of the week's best new music videos, as curated by The Skinny's music team. This week's playlist features a solid mix of rock, indie, hip-hop and experimental music, with tracks from The War On Drugs, Run The Jewels and the Pixies. 

We kick off with a track by The Amazing Snakeheads, a Scottish band who deal in good old-fashioned rock and roll. With a devastatingly tight, driving garage rock rythm section and snarling vocals, these Domino-signed Glaswegians deliver a stripped performance of Here It Comes Again, taken from their debut album Amphetamine Ballads, out 14 March.

We folllow that up with the new video from Animal Collective founder Avey Tare, alongside his new band Slasher Flicks. The video combines puppetry, animation and black and white footage, and was directed by Abby Portner. We love the cuddly character in this video, and we'd love to see her out on a date with rapper El-P's' mascot Mr. Killums, from the awesome 36" Chain and The Full Retard videos.

Next up, a new track and video from Laibach, the seminal Slovenian industrial band, who a few years ago provided the soundtrack to Nazis-on-the-moon B-movie Iron Sky. Their new album Spectre is their first studio album since 2006, and new track The Whistleblowers is a definite standout.  

Gainesville, Florida's Hundred Waters have a new video up this week - it's taken from their new album, which drops on 27 May. The video, directed by Michael Langan, features very clever, digitally-manipulated silhouettes of the band's singer Nicole Miglis, intercut with footage of mysterious lights sweeping a desert landscape - it's haunting and beautiful, a perfect accompaniment to the delicate synth-pop of the track.  

London rapper, singer and producer Ghostpoet released his second album Some Say I So I Say Light last year, and despite not making as big a splash as his Mercury-nominated debut Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam, it's still yielding top-notch singles like Dial Tones, featuring guest vocals from Lucy Rose. Directed by Patrick Louwerse, the video explores nocturnal London streets and basement nightclubs, as Rose and Ghostpoet play lovers divided after an argument. 

 

And here's the latest from El-P and Killer Mike, aka Run The Jewels. This clip is inspired by the lurid colours and tweaked-out gang signs of their cover art, and was directed by Ruffmercy with animation by Patch Keyes. No sign of Killums in this one, but it's one of the standouts from their debut album. The duo advise: "Watch this at high volume, preferably in a residential area." All together... "Oh dear, what the fuck have we here..."

As The War On Drugs prepare to follow up the magnificent Slave Ambient with new album Lost In The Dream on 18 March, they have unveiled the new video for Red Eyes. Directed by Anthony Zagarella for Woodshop Films, the video sees the band judging a talent competition. 

We interviewed French shoegazers Sudden Death Of Stars for a recent issue - read the interview here. Their new video, directed by Chris Curtis from Passion Pictures, features "the covers of his overly large collection of 70s compilation LPs," according to the band. "He brought them to life using kinetic type - i.e. moving/animating text - of the song's wonderfully odd lyrics, and pan and track the camera around a world made up of the ladies and graphics inspired by these covers."

Our penultimate video this week comes from Holograms, a Swedish indie rock band with avant garde leanings, now on their second album, Forever. The moody black and white video for Lay Us Down follows two young men as they explore some abandoned landscapes, and get into a bit of the old wrasslin.' 

And finally, here's the new video from the revitalised Pixies, who will be playing a raft of summer festivals this year, not least Scotland's own T in the Park. Greens and Blues is taken from their ecent EP2. The video, directed by Josh Frank, features an astronaut, grafitti and beach scenes, which if you think about it, is actually a pretty comprehensive metaphor for the band's music. Nicely done!

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 Fathers, Aidan Moffat & RM Hubbert, Ubre Blanca, and much more! We'll see you back here in 7 days for another Ten Rapid.