The Daily Swarm

Lady Gaga “Bad Romance”

This week the entire Internet formed a circle to hold hands and watch the latest Lady Gaga video. Why? Because we’ve been unerringly conditioned to expect spectacle from Gaga. She delivers again with “Bad Romance” – but it’s a spectacle with tons of dazzle and no point. One thing Gaga does that no female pop star has ever before done is thwart the male gaze. You don’t watch her because she’s beautiful but she’s not so unattractive that it’s worth remarking on. You can stare at her all day without pure interest in the shiny objects it’s so over the top ridiculous that the morbid sexuality of a Britney Spears never enters the picture. She might not be making real art but she really is fucking with your head.

Themselves “Roman Is As Roman Does”

Talk about where the wild things are. What the fuck do these creatures have to do with this song and why do they love cupcakes so much? Also is some of that frosting made of the slime they use in the Kids Choice awards? This entire video is like a childhood nightmare come true.

Spiral Stairs “Cold Change”

This video starts with an effect more video directors should use – it appears as if you wake up, disoriented and in an alien environment, viewing things through the eyes of an unknown narrator. This particular effect allows the viewer to engage in a suspension of disbelief that makes your participation in the video inevitable. And fucking weird.

Michael Ashanti “The Internet (There’s Nothing Wrong With Love)

You thought one R. Kelly was enough? How a less attractive, older and much more wired version? Seriously though, this video captures the weird irreverence of the early days of music video – you know, back when they didn’t mean jack shit and just flashed some colors at you on top of a loosely connected story line that sort of tied into the theme of the song. Internet dating ya’ll, it’s here to stay.

Piano Club “Love Hurts”

I don’t think there’s been a more mesmerizing use of animation in a music video since “Yellow Submarine.”

Follow columnist Courtney E. Smith on Twitter or read her blog.