Yeasayer – ONE (Vimeo)

Yeasayer are one of the favourite acts round at Bitter Fingers towers. After having a gander at Ambling Alp towards the end of last year, we now get to take a look at their video for the really rather brilliant ONE.

I’m not going to attempt to explain the video, because I have next to no idea what’s actually going on in it. There might be a plot, but that’s besides the point because it’s a flipping good pop tune.

In a shock move, the radio edit is actually better than the album version. Which is nice. I’m all for condensing pop songs down to the smallest possible length at any rate. Gives you more time to listen to… other pop songs.

In short, amazing.

Donkeyboy – Ambitions (Youtube)

A lovely, eighties influenced track for you now, coming straight out of Norway. Ambitions was originally released early last year, but it’s garnered a re-release this year and I for one am thankful it did, because it’s a bit special.

Featuring guest vocals by Linnea Dale (she’s big in Norway, I’m told), you’ve got some beautiful melodies and synth hooks, alongside a well shot and thought provoking video. They don’t do things by halves, the Scandinavians.

Essentially you’re looking at Alphabeat before they went a bit wonky, and that’s no bad thing.

Stars & Sons – If It’s Good For Me (Youtube)

Bit of British indie type pop for you now, with Brighton’s very own Stars & Sons.

They’re being featured here primarily for a banging chorus and an mental synth/guitar solo (I’m not sure which it is, but I like it). Also it’s a fun track all around and that’s the sort of thing that brightens my days.

More information on this lot as I get it – copies of their debut album are going to be handpainted by lead singer Mike, so I’m going to big them up so I can sell it on eBay for loads of cash in twenty years time. Hooray!

The Most Serene Republic – Heavens To Purgatory (Youtube)

A slice of extremely affable Canadian folk-pop for you now, courtesy of  the lovely types from The Most Serene Republic.

Their brand of music, with the odd horn and folk type noise going on in there, is a bit reminiscent of the UK’s own Fanfarlo, but ever so slightly breezier. Which is no bad thing, as this had more than enough steam to nicely fill two and a half minutes. And that’s all you can really ask from such fresh faces.

The video’s a nice little touch as well – a single camera rotating around dismembered body parts playing the various parts of the song. I realise that makes it sound a bit grim, but I assure you it’s sweet and adorable. Thanks Canucks!

N.A.S.A. featuring Tom Waits & Kool Keith – Spacious Thoughts (Youtube)

It’s difficult to know where to start with on this one. Firstly, we’ve got one of the most sumptuously animated videos I’ve seen in a long time. On top of that, you’ve got some of the freshest beats Kool Keith has dropped in a long time (look, be thankful I didn’t say lyrical science). And if that wasn’t enough, you’ve got a the growling, shambling vocals of Tom Waits. It’s enough to make you need a lie down in a darkened room.

But that’s what N.A.S.A do, and they do it extremely well. The clash of styles creates something truly special, and the video only adds to it. The faux-3D effects, exploding paint and smooth animation create one of the best videos of the past few years, let alone 2010. The directors, Fluorescent Hill, have outdone themselves.

Take it in, and bear in mind it gets better after a few views. Spacious Thoughts, indeed.

Acid Washed – General Motors, Detroit, America (Youtube)

Some blissed out electro for you today, courtesy of Acid Washed.

It’s a lovely bit of noise with a pounding beat, but it’s the video that really sells this one. It’s got lines. Lots of lines. Also shapes, and circles. And COLOUR. Yeah, it’s definitely got colour. And that’s pretty popular these days.

I defy you to watch and not be mesmerised. It’s impossible. Six minutes never felt so short.

New Young Pony Club – Chaos (Youtube)

There’s a couple of reasons to like New Young Pony Club – the fact that they put out Ice Cream, which may have been one of the best tracks of the 2000s, and they’re just so damn cool. They wouldn’t talk to me under any circumstance, and you don’t get much cooler than that.

Anyway, this new one isn’t quite as good as Ice Cream, but what could be? Regardless it’s still a thoroughly enjoyable electro romp, and there’s costume changes a-plenty in the video. Hooray!

Spoon – Written in Reverse (Vimeo)

I make no apologies when I tell you that Spoon are one of my all-time favourite bands, so it’s fitting I should post their latest video the day before their London show in support of new album Transference.

The video is all it needs to be – a stark, black and white clip of the band performing the track live. The two piano chords that fill th everse, Britt Daniels’ inimitable voice and the pounding bass as it romps into the track – it’s everything that makes Spoon great.

I’m going to be interviewing the band for BBC 6 Music as well, so if there’s anything you want me to ask the band feel free to drop a comment below and I’ll see if I can fit it into the eight thousand questions I’ll be wanting to throw at them.

Archie Bronson Outfit – Shark’s Tooth (Youtube)

Not a band I know a lot about here, but I’ve been swayed by the winning combination of a great track and an absolutely mental video. That is literally what it takes to impress me.

Space vikings! Wireframes! Rising cities! Space vikings! Also there’s lasers in there and everybody loves lasers, right? Of course I’m right. The tracks a nice, angular piece of indie alt rock and it’s catchy as you like.

Laura Marling – Devil’s Spoke (Youtube)

Apologies for an absence from blogging which has been rather longer than I would have liked, but the twin attacks of no home internet and some really rather fantastic work have double teamed me. Regardless, I’m back now, and serving up an amazing new track by Laura Marling.

I still find it hard to believe she was born in 1990, because the music she’s making has a maturity to it that comes through in leaps and bounds. Devil’s Spoke is a swooning, swirling track with a pummeling guitar line.

If you liked her previous tracks, such as Night Terror you might be taken aback by this one, but in a good way. A beautiful folky way to spend three minutes.