Bat For Lashes: What's a Girl To Do (Dougal Wilson, 2007)

This spooky video suits the mood of the track perfectly, with Natasha Khan cycling through a dark wood accompanied by a variety of strange animals, who appear, do tricks on BMX bikes and then disappear again.

OK Go: Here It Goes Again (Trish Sie & OK Go, 2006)

It may have been produced on a small budget, but OK Go's video for Here It Goes Again made a big impact. It exploited the growing trend for videos to go viral – people forwarded it on and emailed links to their friends until the song became a chart hit.

Franz Ferdinand: Take Me Out (Jonas Odell, 2004)

Don't want to do the narrative thing?

Fatboy Slim: Weapon of Choice (Spike Jonze, 2001)

Jonze somehow persuaded Hollywood bad-guy Christopher Walken to do an improvised dance routine – and the result is history. The video won six MTV awards, including best choreography for Walken.