Memphis music was vibrant as ever in 2018. Every week, the Memphis Flyer brings you the latest and best video collaborations between Bluff City filmmakers and musicians in our Music Video Monday series. To assemble this list, I rewatched all 34 videos that qualified for 2018’s best video and scored them according to song, concept, cinematography, direction and acting, and editing. Then I untangled as many ties as I could and made some arbitrary decisions. Everyone who made the list is #1 in my book!
10. Louise Page “Blue Romance”
Flowers cover everything in this drag-tastic pop gem, directed by Sam Leathers.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (13)
9. Harlan T. Bobo “Nadine” / Fuck “Facehole”
Our first tie of the list comes early. First is Harlan T. Bobo’s sizzling, intense “Nadine” clip, directed by James Sposto.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (11)
I used science to determine that Fuck’s Memphis Flyer name drop is equal to “Nadine”.
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8. Aaron James “Kauri Woods”
The smokey climax of this video by Graham Uhelski is one of the more visually stunning things you’ll see this year.
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7. Daz Rinko “New Whip, Who Dis?”
Whaddup to rapper Daz Rinko who dropped three videos on MVM this year. This was the best one, thanks to an absolute banger of a track.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (9)
6. (tie) McKenna Bray “The Way I Loved You” / Lisa Mac “Change Your Mind”
I couldn’t make up my mind between this balletic video from co-directors Kim Lloyd and Susan Marshall…
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (7)
…and this dark, twisted soundstage fantasy from director Morgan Jon Fox.
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5. Brennan Villines “Better Than We’ve Ever Been”
Andrew Trent Fleming got a great performance out of Brennan Villines in this bloody excellent clip.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (6)
4. (tie) Nick Black “One Night Love” / Summer Avenue “Cut It Close”
Nick Black is many things, but as this video by Gabriel DeCarlo proves, a hooper ain’t one of ’em.
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The kids in Summer Avenue enlisted Laura Jean Hocking for their debut video.
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3. Cedric Burnside “Wash My Hands”
Beale Street Caravan’s I Listen To Memphis series produced a whole flood of great music videos from director Christian Walker and producer Waheed Al Qawasmi. I could have filled out the top ten with these videos alone, but consider this smoking clip of Cedric Burnside laying down the law representative of them all.
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2. Don Lifted “Poplar Pike”
I could have filled out the top five with work from Memphis video auteur Don Lifted, aka Lawrence Matthews, who put three videos on MVM this year. To give everybody else a chance, I picked the transcendent clip for “Poplar Pike” created by Mattews, Kevin Brooks, and Nubia Yasin.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018
1. Lucero “Long Way Back Home”
Sorry, everybody, but you already knew who was going to be number one this year. It’s this mini-movie created by director Jeff Nichols, brother of Lucero frontman Ben Nichols. Starring genuine movie star (and guy who has played Elvis) Michael Shannon, “Long Way Back Home” is the best Memphis music video of 2018 by a country mile.
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Thanks to everyone who submitted videos to Music Video Monday in 2018. If you’d like to see your music video appear on Music Video Monday in 2019, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
