''Diamond Sea''; ''Your Little Secret''; ''On A Bus To St. Cloud''; ''Just''; ''Dope Hat''

Reviews of the latest music videos:

''Diamond Sea'' Sonic Youth The group stops hiding behind irony and escapes the tyranny of lip-synching to achieve video's Holy Grail: a true visual equivalent of their sound. Five directors shot this one clip, a variety of motion-speeds and video/film formats that capture the band's pursuit of on-stage ecstasy. A masterpiece of short filmmaking. A+

''Your Little Secret'' Melissa Etheridge The Calvin Klein-ish glam-youth who make this video compelling contrast oddly with Etheridge's grittier, arena-rock posturing — is it her seduction of a younger market or a distraction from her dowdy band? The singer is intercut with a massive tower comprised of sullen, gorgeous models climbing a wall of love. Hot stuff, shot in sultry black and white, and featuring a steamy girl-girl kiss. B+

''On A Bus To St. Cloud'' Trisha Yearwood A sentimental, literal illustration of the song lyrics, as so many country music videos are. There's little visual style, only metronomic intercutting from Yearwood to sepia-toned portraits of average folks. But the unfortunate reliance on hackneyed images is redeemed by Yearwood's sweet strength and noble, comforting face. B

''Just'' Radiohead Presented in wide-screen and using the flat, bright light of Antonioni's Blow-Up, Radiohead evokes a generation of European art films in this riddle of urban alienation and modern hopelessness. Despite way too many close-ups of their geeky lead singer, the band willingly takes a back seat to the most compelling story in the best-rendered ''concept'' video in months. A

''Dope Hat'' Marilyn Manson Alice Cooper meets Sigue Sigue Sputnik, with all the shock-rock components: Boys in dresses, Frankenstein makeup, and weird-angle close-ups of dwarfs in fluorescent wigs suggest a sea cruise though Hades. Underexposing keeps the images dark so Manson's death-pale face can dominate. His desperate sincerity is strangely touching, but the ornate production gives the visual clichés more power than they deserve. B

You Might Also Like

• Review The Apple Of Your iTunes | Noah Robischon
• Music News Remake mania
• All About Marilyn Manson
• Movie News The Deal Report: July 14, 2006 | Hannah Tucker
• Music News Marilyn Manson is the Auteur of the Week