Each week, FRINGE MUSIC FIX culls the latest music video releases, carefully selecting the most bizarre, provocative, and remarkable videos from across the world. Sit back, relax, and open your mind’s eye, things are about to get interesting. The following are our selections for the week ending February 14th, 2014.

In August of last year, Danish electro-Pop artist, Oh Land, released a simple but unique dance video for her song “Renaissance Girls." For reasons slightly beyond my understanding, this video became one of my most watched videos of 2013. Essentially the video featured Oh Land and a handful of other dancers executing uniquely styled choreography in a warehouse. Perhaps I was a dancer in a past life, or perhaps I have a “secret” aspiration to become one. In any case, there was something about this video that kept drawing me back. “Renaissance Girls” wasn’t included in FRINGE MUSIC FIX’s Best of 2013, but in retrospect, based on how many times I revisited the video, it probably should have been.

Canadian artist via NY/London, Kiesza has released a video of similar nature to Oh Land’s, which has already garnered a ridiculous number of views on my part. The video is an impressive single-take dance piece that shows Kiesza, joined by other dancers, all making their way across the streets of Brooklyn while employing an assortment of interesting dance choreography. The impressive dance arrangement was all made possible by choreographer, Ljuba Castot.

At this point, I wish I could break down the dance styles used in the video, but alas, my dance knowledge definitely leaves something to be desired. It’s safe to say that 5 styles were used, all 5 are awesome and apparently Kiesza learned them in an impossibly short amount of time in preparation for the shoot. Interesting fact - Kiesza was at one time a trained ballerina before almost committing to a career in the Canadian Military as a sniper. To my satisfaction, she finally landed on her current claim to fame, as an emerging Alt-Pop phenomenon.

Another highly interesting fact about “Hideaway," is that earlier on in the day of the video shoot, Kiesza broke a rib. The video was completed in two takes, and in an interview with Rolling Stone, she claimed she couldn’t move months after the shoot had wrapped. She conceals her pain and discomfort very well in this video, which is testament to her dedication to her craft, even at this early point in her career. If you are a dancer, or like dancing, or like me, may have been a dancer reincarnated as a geek with two left feet, I urge you to give this fun energetic video a look.

Slow motion makes everything better. It shouldn’t be surprising then, that super slow motion, like the effect employed in SOHN’s new video for “Artifice," makes things even better.

Artifice literally has one of the slowest reveals ever. As the scene is lethargically set, we are introduced to a scenario involving people running, at night, in the rain. I immediately wondered if the video would feature some form of narrative. By video’s end, it’s clear that an automobile accident of some nature has occurred, and we bare witness to the shock and frantic reactions of both witnesses and the drivers of the vehicles.

The video contains a lot of subtleties that engaged me as a viewer. The first thing I noticed was how intriguing, and how much like snow the rain looks when slowed down to this extreme. If not for the puddles along the streets, someone would be hard pressed to identify the form of precipitation presented.

The last detail, and definitely my favourite, is the manner in which all the light sources in the video sync up with the track’s beats. Through the rain and at night, the lighting creates a series of lense flare effects that add to the video’s rich visual quality. While it’s likely this effect was added during post production, it’s a small touch that adds a lot.

Echoing shades of “The Serpent and the Rainbow” and the Buffy The Vampire Slayer first Slayer character, Sineya, Little Dragon’s excellent video for “Klapp Klapp” reveals a narrative involving a sinister mistress committed to the task of literally raising the dead via dark voodoo rituals, incantation and blood sacrifice.

The video is highly effective at complementing the track despite not being at all what you’d imagine upon first hearing “Klapp Klapp." The video was directed by Taylor Cohen with NABIL serving as Creative Director. It has also been revealed that NABIL has directed an alternate version of “Klapp Klapp," which based on his substantial videography, will undoubtedly be as engaging and essential as the first version.

As an adolescent, my musical palette was dominated by Industrial and goth rock. I refused to listen to anything else, unless it made prominent use of themes of death, decay, and loss. The more black and white makeup, distortion, screaming and terror, the better. Those were the good old days. Simpler times.

Since American Goth Folk songstress Chelsea Wolfe first emerged in 2010, it would seem she’s aspired to revive the dark Goth stylings of my youth, both musically and visually. A movement I can’t help but embrace wholeheartedly. For her video for “Feral Love," Wolfe recruited legendary music video director Mark Pellington, perhaps best known for his remarkable video for Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy."

“Feral Love” employs a series of disconnected shots that have one thing in common, they’re all creepy as hell. The video also sets out to pay homage to a few classic horror tropes along the way. Things grow increasingly uncomfortable as we are presented with absolutely startling sequences involving, frightening masks, torture, bloody laundry, young children, a nekkid gramma and VHS quality footage.

In addition to the rest of the amazing stimuli in the video, Chelsea Wolfe, on her own, is a solely engaging sight for sore eyes. Seen here, dressed to the nines in her jaw-dropping gothic attire, Wolfe tops off her whole stunning look with her trademark morbidly alluring black contact lenses.

I usually try to avoid controversy in my column, but I’m going to go out on a limb here with a highly provocative statement: I am a huge fan of Michel Gondry’s work. I like his work more than you do. Trust me. I apologize if any of you are reeling at the impact of that remark, but it had to be said.

After some time away from music videos, Metronomy was able to secure the acclaimed director for their new music video for “Love Letters." Besides his phenomenal work in film, Gondry is known for his idiosyncratic music videos which include the likes of Foo Fighters’ “Everlong," Daft Punk’s “Around The World” and The White Stripe’s “Fell In Love With a Girl."

For “Love Letters," Gondry recruited a team of creative individuals to construct and paint a beautiful set which would become the literal and functional heart of this unique single-take video. The beautifully handpainted box like set features a series of thematic settings through which we see the band performing at the centre. As the video unravels, the images interlock, and through the use of mirrors and carefully executed shots and angles, our sense of space and the meticulous attention to detail Gondry and crew have taken in the conceptualization of the video becomes starkly evident. The result is an enchanting and inspiring video that has Gondry’s style written all over it.

From his highly creative artistic sense, to his do it yourself style of filmmaking, it’s hard to not feel inspired by everything Gondry does. “Love Letters” is no exception, and a perfect fit in his already exceptional body of work.

Honorable Mentions

Angel Haze - Battle Cry

Blouse - Happy Days

Chet Faker - Talk Is Cheap

J. Cole - She Knows

Kevin Drew - Good Sex

Lo-Fang - When We’re Fire

The National - I Need My Girl