Grapefeed

Five music videos I couldn’t stop watching in 2008.

Coldplay, “Viva La Vida”
The iTunes ad featuring this song turned me on to the album, which I found quite listenable in its own right. I featured the original version of the video a few months back, but a second version recently surfaced.

Madonna f/ Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, “4 Minutes”
I don’t consider “Hard Candy” my favorite Madonna album by any stretch – that title goes to “Ray of Light” – the lead single quickly grew on me. Incidentally, the album version of “4 Minutes” clocks in at 4 minutes, 5 seconds.

Alanis Morissette, “Underneath”
While I’ve enjoyed Alanis’ post-”Jagged Little Pill” albums (to varying degrees), I thought “Flavors of Entanglement” was the best yet. I know, some of you may look at me weird for digging Alanis after all these years, but I just do. So deal.

Finger Eleven, “Talking to the Walls”
I first got to know Finger Eleven while at my gym one day; their video for “Paralyzer” got me hooked. In and of itself, “Talking to the Walls” wasn’t a great video, but what I liked about it was the chance to make the video whatever you wanted with the available feeds the band offered on its website. It was actually part of a contest. I didn’t take the chance to edit my own version, but I dug the song quite a bit, which led to its replayability.

Beyoncé, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)”
Somehow, I don’t think this list would be complete without what is undoubtedly the most talked about music video of 2008. If not the most talked about, then certainly the most imitated, from the frighteningly accurate to the incredibly adorable to the hilariously weird to the just downright creepy, but we shouldn’t forget the inspiration. And yes, I catch myself singing along to this sometimes; that should give you some indication of how many times I watched this video… or an imitation thereof.