So we have a cousin. No, this is not some coy way of referring to the newest -ist site, Austinist(welcome!), we're talking about our actual cousin. Anyways, our cousin plays this game whenever we watch videos together, called "spot the Asian." There's always one (but no more than one) Asian hip-hop dancer in any given video, for instance. Hapas Jay-Z and Foxy Brown count for half a point. And there's always Chad Hugo, or Linkin Park, or the kid who plays violin for Yellowcard.... yeah, it's kind of slim pickings on mainstream MTV -- which is why the Asian-Am Film Fest's Music Video Asia program is so key!

Every year, the Asian-Am film fest selects a number of music videos featuring bands from Asia, bands with Asian-American members, and Asian video directors and production crews. (Yes, Korean-American Joseph Kahn directed the Britney Spears video, but no, he was not featured this year.) Plus, we're always psyched every year to go to this show -- come on, watching music videos is our very favorite thing to do in the whole world!

This year's video selections ranged the map. Thoughtfully collected by program curator Chi-hui Yang, they included local SF Asian-American indie musicians, breakthrough British dance artist M.I.A., some excellently head-bobbing hip-hop from across the country and the globe, a local metal band, Filipino emo, a huge array of music from Japan, and a Hives-like Swedish band with an Asian lead singer. Brief reviews after the jump.

Image of Dealership video from director Jason Koxvold's site, bubble-squeak.com

Toxic