It’s time yet again for one of my very favorite parts of C’est Non Un Blog, the now traditional year end Best Of music video countdown. When I first started this in 2011 it was a pretty simple Top 10 list, but in 2012 there was just so much good music floating around out there that I had to get more ambitious and make it into a Top 20 list. Well, in 2012 I had to trim my short list of 50 videos down to 20, but this year my short list topped out at closer to 80 music videos. Trying to narrow that list down to 20 was becoming a bit of a Sophie’s Choice conundrum, so I figured fuck it, let’s add ten more to the tally like we did last year. Screw it. It’s the 10th Anniversary of C’est Non Un Blog. Why not go all out?

Because we’re dealing with 10 more videos than we did last year I figured why not add on an extra day to the countdown as well? So here we go, day one of six, counting down my Top 30 Music Videos of 2013 every day all the way to the New Year. Enjoy!

30. SZA – Ice Moon

The next time you find yourself strolling through the woods in the summertime try playing “Ice Moon” through some headphones as you walk between the warm beams of light cutting through the forest canopy above you and then try and tell me that your life isn’t 100x better in that moment. I dare you, because I know it can’t be done. You can’t listen to this magical Indian-influenced song without immediately feeling better about life; your life, the life around you, any and all life everywhere and anywhere. That makes it the perfect song to start off this countdown and get you in the mood for some more great music.

29. Tame Impala – Mind Mischief

If SZA’s “Ice Moon” wasn’t mind-altering enough for you then you might enjoy the cosmic stylings of Tame Impala, an Australian band that excels at creating psychedelic vibes. “Mind Mischief” may be the trippiest video of the year. A boy in boarding school meets up with his hot teacher in her car for a little after school sexual education, but before that can happen they smoke a little reefer, which results in him having quite the mind-expanding NSFW experience. By the time they finish you can tell he has no idea what the hell just happened on his trip, but right there at the end of the video that little smile in the corner of his mouth tells us that it was totally worth every minute.

28. Fryars – Cool Like Me

Religious-themed videos were hot in 2013, from the gospel preacher in Disclosure’s “When A Fire Starts To Burn” to Alexander Skarsgård’s cult leader in Cut Copy’s “Free Your Mind” to the conversion addict in Dizzee Rascal’s hilarious “Bassline Junkie” video. This year’s biggest religious experience came from Fryar’s “Cool Like Me” though. Two white-bread Mormon-esque missionaries travel into a black inner city neighborhood to preach the end of days and extol the virtues of being cool. They’re largely ignored and laughed at by the locals at first, but when they put everything they have into their admittedly dorky dancing they start to gain some respect by showing that being cool isn’t a state of being, it’s a state of mind, and that’s a positive message we can all take to the bank.

27. Annie – Back Together

Nostalgia was another big trend in 2013, specifically the look and sound of the 1990’s. One need only look at Charli XCX’s Spice Girl, Grrl power fashion sense and the current flood of 90’s R&B inspired acts that recently exploded on the scene to see that. Annie’s “Back Together” video is a rather adorable tongue-in-cheek throwback to the music video countdown shows of yesteryear, complete with primitive looking computer graphics, a fake countdown preceding the video including hidden Easter eggs for Annie fans, and VH1-style pop-up video bubble that hilariously takes up the vast majority of the screen, obscuring the video. After too long a hiatus 2013 was the year that Annie came back in a big way with her excellent A&R EP and her amazing collaboration on Ralph Myerz’s “Take A Look At The World”.

26. Delorean – Destitute Time

Delorean was another artist we hadn’t seen in a while and I didn’t realize how much I missed them until they started putting out new music again. Their “Destitute Time” video is easily the best of the bunch they released this year, really showcasing their bright New Wave sound with a video that deals with a relationship in a fun and interesting way, mixing realism with visual metaphor to show off the ups and downs of a dating couple.