It is the next-to last chapter in our countdown of the Top 50 alt, indie, and underground idol MVs ever as chosen by the Homicidols community, a group of music aficionados with impeccable taste as evidenced below.

Strangely, none of the videos that ranked 11 through 20 won a Best MV of the Year award, although one of the tunes did win Song of the Year. It also appears that I made an error last week in identifying “Hallellujah” by  Shihatsu-machi Underground as our countdown’s most-nominated MV with four nods. It turns out that one of this week’s entries edged them out with five. As always, commentary from the nominating parties are included below. Some of them have more to say than others.

Speaking of the nominating parties: every reader of Homicidols dot com was allowed to nominate five MVs for consideration. Somehow, out of the 127 total nominated videos, three of ClawCarver’s five nominations all ended up ranking between 11 and 20. That’s some pretty good taste there.

One final note: I will be in Mexico next week on a well-deserved vacation so the final ten videos in our top 50 countdown will be presented in two weeks’ time after my return. I am sure it will make the Top Ten that much sweeter with an extra week to build the anticipation.

Enough banter. Let’s go!!

20. DAIDAIDAI, “ZZ Allin”

ClawCarver: DAIDAIDAI never cease to amaze me. Their musical explorations remind me of the experimental electronic acts of my distant youth: early OMD, John Foxx, Fad Gadget, even Throbbing Gristle. This song’s title references the notoriously challenging punk provocateur GG Allin. The MV, though not nearly as deranged as a GG Allin performance (thankfully), is still a full-on, glitchy, manic, surreal, psychedelic assault on the optic nerves that matches and enhances the music. Intensely memorable and just brilliant.

Eddie: The song is, of course, a banger and their best ever, but the video is the most psychedelic, disturbing MV I’ve seen ever. Simply brilliant!

19. Yukueshirezutsurezure, “Ideology”

Daemon: “Ideology” is probably most responsible for my early and enduring love of Tsurezure as, like a siren, this MV kept calling me back to watch over and over again. Even now, once it starts, it is impossible for me to turn my attention away. I’m transfixed and have to watch to completion. A lot of idol units use vocal dissonance as a device, but Tsurezure elevated the technique to high art, and “Ideology” is the unit in peak form.

18. BiS, “IDOL”

P. Roberts: Idol + Film Noir. This is the video you show to people who don’t “get” Idol.

Rey Helena: BiS are the pioneers of the weird idol genre and this MV is the perfect example. Crucified while paraded around the town? Sounds like a great way to announce to the world, “Idols like us exist too.” The MV’s tone is hella dark, and the song sounds evil, not to mention the scene where the crowd worships them, and another where the girls are performing an exorcism (I guess) on a half naked man. It really feels like witch hunting time. Curse you, Pour Lui, for making this evil MV.

Homing: The colors and the cult theme make my wannabe goth self rub my hands in glee. The Furby is a bonus.

BobIsRandom: I felt I must pay homage to the queens of alt-idol. I’ve always loved this video because it’s visually striking and creative and it screams “alternative” and edgy.

maxomai: It is the best, and final, MV of the group that got alt-idol really started. More to the point, it has all the raw emotion and DIY production value that one expects from an alt-idol group. All of these factors make this the obvious choice for best alt-idol MV.

17. MIGMA SHELTER, “Rabiddo”

maxomai: “Rabiddo” is a good track. Combine that with a visually stunning MV and you have a winner. Would that the entire ALICE album were presented as MVs!

16. BiSH, “My Landscape”

ClawCarver: In 2017 I was having a BABYMETAL binge on YouTube and the algorithm threw this at me. I’d never heard of BiSH. I’d never heard of “alternative idol” groups. I watched the video, confused but captivated by the high-definition, cinematic sweep of the thing. The desert landscape. The aeroplane graveyard. The badassery of these six mysterious women in strange sci-fi costumes singing while standing on fighter jets. The ebbs, flows, breakdowns and climaxes of the song itself. The weirdly compelling choreography. That thing LingLing does with her eye. It blew me away, all of it, and it opened my eyes and ears to a vast new musical landscape.

15. Minna no Kodomochan, “The Final Blinkings”

ClawCarver: Minna no Kodomochan’s work has the dystopian (perhaps specifically “Ballardian”) vibe that infused much of the music I liked in my formative years, so it’s nostalgic but somehow also futuristic. That’s a sweet spot for me. This song and MV are filled with violence and existential horror, but it’s not overwrought or histrionic. It’s coolly considered, restrained, even oddly beautiful. I feel this is an act that really deserves wider appreciation, beyond the alt-idol sphere.

Winner: Best Song of the Year, 2021 (Tie) 

14. You’ll Melt More, “Moimoi”

ckiemnstr345: It’s absolutely hilarious.

13. NECRONOMIDOL, “ITHAQUA”

Yuffie: Shooting an MV about Ithaqua/the Wind-Walker/the Wendigo on a snowy field while freezing and shivering: how awesome Metal is that?!  In my opinion, no other idol could pull off a stunt like that with as stoically as them. 

12. Jyujyu, “Noroi Hajime”

D4rkWzd: Capcom took a lot of inspiration from Jyujyu when making the first-person Resident Evil games. If you ever wondered how it is to be haunted by idols, this is the MV for you.

M. Flores: Once again: J-Horror. And once again: the idols are killing you. Literally (almost), because they shot it in first person or POV style. That was a clever, very stylish decision. That’s original. And nightmarish. They are chasing you and killing you again and again, and you keep waking up only to be killed one more time like in a real nightmare. And there’s just one location, so they had to be very creative to design the variety of killings without making it boring. And it’s the fact that it occurs in that same location what makes it achieve the slasher or survival genre style. The blood may be digital but that doesn’t bother you. It’s still Gore to me.

P. Roberts: Idol does Groundhog Day. Every time I watch this I still think the Guy might escape. Yeah, I know.

11. Maison book girl, “Raincoat and bird without neck”

Rey Helena: I’m a big fan this era of Megumi Koshoji. I love the tone, and this kind of edit really shows Maison book girl trademark. The shot itself is kinda aesthetic and artsy, like the transition scene on 1:16 and the Rin Wada scene on 3:39. The dance on 0:30 and 0:53 are hella good. The raincoat makes it looks better. Overall, I really love this “Artsy” look. Kudos to Megumi Koshoji for making a group like Maison book girl happen on the alt-idol scene.

HONORABLE MENTION

There There There’s, “There’s Something Behind”

Over on the Homicidols’ Discord server, both choqo and Cocoa lamented that no one nominated “There’s Something Behind.” They both meant to do it themselves but put it off figuring that someone else would be sure to give one of TTT’s most signature MVs a nom. This just proves the point that, if you want to make sure something is done right, you better do it yourself.

In all honesty though, the fact that this MV didn’t make it into consideration for the Top 50 is a gross oversight on the part of the Homicidols community, so this is here to make it right. If you feel there are other MVs that we have been criminally negligent in mentioning so far, feel free to let us know over on the Homicidols’ Discord Server.

• 50 Greatest Alt-Idol MVs: #21 – 30