5 videos you might have missed this week

Chromatics – Eclipse

Speaking of nostalgia, this “two week tour montage” from Portland-based band Chromatics has the viewer wistfully longing for something they never even experienced themselves. All faded lighting and Polaroid sentiment, the muted take on tour life is gentle and touching, taking the shimmer out of the dull tedium of life on the road, and yet still making it seem so alluring.
Echo Lake – In Dreams

Echo Lake – “In Dreams” Video from stereogum on Vimeo.

This muted, hypnotic Echo Lake video follows the band dreamily through performance, captured and directed by Lisa Ambjorn. Taken from their debut album Wild Peace, out now on No Pain In Pop, the track swoons and swarms in a typically shoegazey kind of way, but something irresistible glimmers brilliantly through all its colourful lights and sighing layers of melody. The group are currently collecting donations for the British Heart Foundation in memory of their late drummer Pete Hayes; you can donate here.
The-Dream – Dope Bitch

The-Dream’s latest video seems like its trying its hardest to be a post-modern, ironic take on the generic hip hop video, with its scantily clad video girls munching on doughnuts, pointlessly wielding umbrellas and being styled entirely in sleek monochrome. However, they are still scantily clad video girls, and they are still writhing around a car for the majority of this video. It might be pretending to be a little less cheesy than it really is, but still, it’s an amusing video set to a catchy, thumping track, so it’s certainly as reliable as it is predictable.
Hot Chip – Look At Where We Are

The latest Hot Chip video comes from the sinister imagination of director Danny Perez, experimental video artist and visual collaborator with Animal Collective. Mournful and unsettling like the track itself, the clip burrows into the brain of what seems to be a dead supermodel, sliding eerily from reality to surreality in a disorienting experience. Along with the dwindling, regret-fuelled guitars and soft vocals, it’s all a bit depressing, but worth a few minutes of your time for its moments of “oh, how did they do that?”
No Doubt – Settle Down

The video accompaniment to the brand new No Doubt single ‘Settled Down’ is about as 1995 as it could possibly get, bringing with it no fear that the group have in any way adjusted themselves to the current musical landscape of 2012. The fashion, clothes and even the dancing all amount to something garish, culminating in a ludicrous light-up drum kit – but it comes packaged in a soft glow of nostalgia.