Voting in Australia’s biggest music democracy, the Triple J Hottest 100, may already be in full swing, but the general public have already spoken on some of the best of last year in another great Aussie music institution.
Rage brought an end to their 2013 with the results of their annual Rage Fifty, the viewer-voted poll of the music videos that mattered most in the last 12 months, and the long-running music clip show’s audience showed their patriotic preferences with half of the results being Australian bands, including the top position, as FasterLouder points out.
While New Zealand sensation Lorde is looking strong for the #1 position on the Hottest 100, with her globe-conquering single ‘Royals’, she was pipped to the crowning spot by Perth rockers Birds Of Tokyo and their video for ‘Lanterns’. Perhaps not a huge surprise given the song’s popularity with audiences and commercial radio alike, (spun a whopping 17,419 times across all commercial stations in 2013).
The next most popular Aussie band on the Rage Fifty at #6 is prog powerhouse Karnivool, a band tied with Birds Of Tokyo via frontman Ian Kenny, for their Christopher Frey-directed video for ‘We Are’, the lead single/clip that heralded their chart-topping third album, Asymmetry (which landed the Perth five-piece their first ever ARIA Award).
Just behind Karnivool on the list at #7 is Dead Letter Circus, with both bands hitting the road for the Polymorphism tour (opening this week), the latter landing in the list with their narrative driven video for ‘Lodestar‘, likewise the lead single from the band’s ARIA-topping The Catalyst Fire.
Rounding out the Aussie contingent in the Top 10 is the enigmatic tricks and visual illusions of Vance Joy’s ‘Riptide’ video, which was previously nominated by Triple J as one of the year’s best, before recognising Clubfeet’s one-take wonder ‘Everything You Wanted’ with the J Award, the South Africa-via-Melbourne group’s video landing at #11 on the Rage Fifty.
Other Aussie artists among the 25 acts that make the Top 50 include the B-boy dancing of Flume and Chet Faker’s ‘Drop The Game‘ team-up (at #13), Tame Impala’s animated wet dream in ‘Mind Mischief‘ (#14), Kingswood’s bloody B-movie minded ‘Ohio’ mini-movie (#17), Violent Soho’s single-shot backyard blitz ‘Covered In Chrome’ (#24), The Paper Kites’ viral photo play for ‘Young‘ (#27), as well as videos from Cut Copy, Kirin J Callinan, and Andy Bull.
Popular international artists included Arctic Monkeys, with two clips making the cut (the drunken escapdes of ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?‘ and animated ‘Do I Wanna Know?‘), Nine Inch Nails’ David Lynch-directed video for ‘Came Back Haunted’, Beach House’s ‘Wishes’, featuring college football shtick directed by Eric Wareheim of Tim & Eric fame, who makes a second appearance with his OTT clip for Major Lazer’s ‘Bubble Butt‘.
A number of pop stars also made the Rage cut, including Katy Perry’s Tarzan-inverted ‘Roar‘, and the sexually explicit videos from Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke, as well as the single and video they inspired: the debate-stoking clip from Lily Allen for ‘Hard Out Here’.
You can even relive the full Rage Fifty countdown courtesy of the fanatic historian behind Rage Again, the incredible online database that uses YouTube and internet sources recreate every episode of Rage that’s gone to air since 1998. Head here to watch the Rage Fifty episode and view the full Top 50 below.
Rage Top 50 Music Videos Of 2013
- BIRDS OF TOKYO Lanterns (EMI)
- LORDE Royals (Universal)
- ARCTIC MONKEYS Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High? (EMI)
- BEACH HOUSE Wishes (Mistletone)
- JAMES BLAKE Retrograde (Universal)
- KARNIVOOL We Are (The Right Profile)
- DEAD LETTER CIRCUS Lodestar (Warner)
- ARCADE FIRE Reflektor (EMI)
- KATY PERRY Roar (EMI)
- VANCE JOY Riptide (Liberation)
- CLUBFEET Everything You Wanted (Independent)
- MACKLEMORE and RYAN LEWIS Same Love (Independent)
- FLUME and CHET FAKER Drop The Game (Future Classic)
- TAME IMPALA Mind Mischief (Modular)
- FLIGHT FACILITIES ft. CHRISTINE HOBERG Clair De Lune (Future Classic)
- MILEY CYRUS Wrecking Ball (Sony)
- KINGSWOOD Ohio (Independent)
- ROBIN THICKE featuring T.I. and PHARRELL Blurred Lines (Universal)
- YEAH YEAH YEAHS Sacrilege (Universal)
- QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE I Appear Missing (Matador Records)
- PARKWAY DRIVE Wild Eyes (Epitaph Records)
- HAIM The Wire (Universal)
- MAJOR LAZER Bubble Butt (Warner)
- VIOLENT SOHO Covered In Chrome (Illusive)
- ARCTIC MONKEYS Do I Wanna Know? (EMI)
- VAMPIRE WEEKEND Diane Young (XL Recordings)
- THE PAPER KITES Young (Sony)
- JOSH PYKE Leeward Side (Ivy League)
- MUSE Supremacy (Warner)
- QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE If I Had A Tail (Matador Records)
- THY ART IS MURDER Reign Of Darkness (Nuclear Blast)
- BLUEJUICE SOS (Universal)
- CLOUD CONTROL Dojo Rising (Ivy League)
- CUT COPY Free Your Mind (Universal)
- DAVID BOWIE The Next Day (Sony)
- NICK CAVE and THE BAD SEEDS Jubliee Street (Independent)
- DAFT PUNK featuring PHARRELL WILLIAMS Lose Yourself To Dance (Sony)
- LILY ALLEN Hard Out Here (Warner)
- NINE INCH NAILS Came Back Haunted (Universal)
- A$AP ROCKY F**kin’ Problems (Sony)
- RUDIMENTAL featuring ELLA EYRE Waiting All Night (Warner)
- SARAH BLASKO God Fearing (Universal)
- MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS Ballad Of The War Machine (Independent)
- THUNDAMENTALS Smiles Don’t Lie (SGC Media)
- BRITISH INDIA Blinded (Liberation)
- CHVRCHES Gun (Liberation)
- GESAFFELSTEIN Pursuit (Warner)
- ANDY BULL Baby I Am Nobody Now (Universal)
- KIRIN J CALLINAN Landslide (Remote Control)
- BED WETTIN’ BAD BOYS Any Day Now (Independent)
