Moddest Music Video of 2011

The end of the year always brings a slew of awards, best-of lists, and encapsulating accolades. Reductive, sure, but terribly fun. And if you're anything like me you've seen a slew of music videos this year and you must be dying to know which one best embraces the modernist spirit. Which one melds the frame-busing split-screen effects of the French New Wave with Girard-worthy pops of color, and a cameo from a furniture design classic, all while celebrating clean lines, Audrey Hepburn's pared-down sense of style, and the euphoric power of still really really really loving your husband? It's Beyoncé, guys. It's always Beyoncé.
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Beyoncé - Countdown - Music - More Music Videos

Sure you may have noticed the clutch of Eames shell chairs hanging out in the background of B's video for the bubbling brassy Countdown. Maybe you even caught the aluminum Emeco Navy chair keeping the shells company, but taken as a whole this retro-inspired video hits all the mod notes. How about those color-shifting panes of the warehouse windows? The monochrome palette (B's black and white hat) that explodes with vibrant hues (the seizure-inducing bodysuits)? The frames within frames that recall Saul Bass if he'd brought all the verve and invention in Grand Prix to recutting the opening titles to Pillow Talk? And of course your requisite Louboutins (one of the few contemporary aesthetic nods) providing their not-so-subtle splash of red when the rest of the costume is black. Nicki Minaj and her festival of bubblegum pink could take a lesson. Not that I'm down on Super Bass. Love that jam.

Aaron Britt
Aaron writes the men's style column "The Pocket Square" for the San Francisco Chronicle and has written for the New York Times, the Times Magazine, Newsweek, National Geographic and others.

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