I finished "The Office" on Netflix. Both actually. More specifically the British version, including the special. If you haven't seen the special than you're missing out on perhaps the finest ending of a television series I can think of. Let's just say it's simply beautiful.
Anyhow, the song by Yazz (or Yazoo depending if you're from Britain or not) plays in the back, and emplihpies the entire scene. Ever since I've been hooked. A beautiful song, and even though it's complete synth pop cheesiness it somehow never feels that way.
And the actual video for the song is pretty cute too.
So the most recent viral video that's been making its way around the 'nets is called "David After Dentist" and depicts a boy just after having a tooth pulled who is still drugged up on anesthesia and is basically drunk. It's been generating a lot of comment for being both funny and controversial. I think a lot of us can relate to what David is going through here, but was it right for his father (I assume) to film him in a moment of weakness and put it on the internet? Would he have guessed that it would garner a staggering 4 million views in just one week ? And that it would spawn a large number of "remixes"?
For The Win, David asks: "Is this real life?" The question of our times indeed.
Here is the original:
And here is my favorite remix so far, the METAL version! Headbanging and all. It rulez.
I'm sure many of you checked out the incredible inauguration of our 44th President of the United States Barack Obama (If not please go Youtube it, or read an article, or at least take your head out of the sand).
Of course it was an incredible event, with moving speeches and a groundbreaking social change. But, in my mind, one of the most stirring moments came from the musical performance written by John Williams. Alex Ross of the New Yorker had some brilliant words to say about it, "[what] I liked most of all the diverse picture of the classical world that the performers presented: an Israeli-born violinist, a Chinese-American cellist, a Venezuelan-born pianist, and an African-American clarinetist from the South Side of Chicago."
While it was a moving piece, the ensemble playing it was just as moving. They did personify the wonderful thing about this country, our diversity and acceptance. And while the election of our first black president epitomizes this fact, this piece played tribute to it through music. Check it out...
Via that always-wonderful directory of stuff known as BoingBoing, I've been informed that the Next Big Thing in the UK is apparently a woman-and-a-band known collectively as Florence and the Machine.
Their sound is a bit pop-punk, a shake of folk, a splash of soul and more than a pinch of catchy songwriting, at least so far. Check out the video for their debut single, "Kiss With a Fist", and listen/learn more about the band here (BoingBoing) here (MySpace) and here (Wikipedia).
I like Michael Jackson a lot. I won't say I "love" him, but I think he's incredibly talented, and I think it's a darn shame the downward spiral his career has made.
But like I said bottom line is that he's ridiculously talented. He changed the way acts dance, sing, and make music videos. He is, and always will be the "King of Pop".
I stumbled across this video. As as impressed as I am with him, I have even more respect for him now. Made skills.
Just saw this video over on Radioclash. It's a song called "2020", by Aussie collective The Herd. I think it's thought-provoking on a lot of levels and creative to boot. Of course, there's nothing really new about rap or reggae being political (or white guys making that kind of music to begin with), this video seems to be part of a widening genre that is distinctively post-millennial.
A friend of mine showed me this clip the other day. There are a few more out on the WWW if this stuff really interests you. This guitar player connected his guitar to a Tesla Coil then proceeds to play sans amp. Instead, the electrical output is fed through the Tesla Coil which in turns creates an electrical current, which in turn makes a noise. Maybe it's better if you see for yourself:
We've all done it, or tried to, at least. No, I'm not talking about naked sushi or methamphetamines, but that iconic 80's dance, The Robot. And if you learned how to do it from the below video, then you get extra props for . . . abandoning all hope of ever being "with it"?
BTW, you'll probably want to watch this in a room full of people, at high volume, because it's totally rad.
Merry Christmas. For all the good boys and girls, we ain't got shit. For the bad boys and girls (b-boys and girls) we have the Mad Decent Xmas video. So hot.
On the night before the birth of baby Jesus (from a woman and God - man had nothing to do with it), we present you with a video from a long time ago (30 years!) and a galaxy far, far away (whatever no-longer-existent sound stage this was made on): "Happy Life Day", from the Star Wars Holiday special! OMFG, I know!
Can you believe Harrison Ford would get down with this? Or the guy who played Chewbacca? I mean, of course C3PO would do anything for a spacebuck, but Chewie? I thought he/she/it was incorruptible!
Anyway, I didn't even watch the whole video, but it's hilarious. Carrie Fisher sings, there's an original trilogy flashback, and a wookie family in the suburbs of Endor say grace before eating their bantha meat or snowglobes or whatever.
Well it seems that this is turning into more like a "holiday mashup videos" series, most (if not all - we'll have to see what Santa brings on the 25th) coming from the oft-mentioned album Santastic Vol. 4.
Our latest installment features a mashup by Go Home Productions, with music by Blondie, Paul McCartney and Jennifer Lopez. It's simple and sweet, like any Christmas song should be, and the video flows very well, starting with a clip from "Miracle on 34th Street", where Santa winkingly informs a kid that yes, it's really him. Aptly chosen for a mashup indeed.
For all those atheists out there who feel a touch uncomfortable with the glut of religious holidays out there around the end of the year (though it should be mentioned that Kwanzaa is non-religious, though quite spiritual), here's one for you.
It's a cover of Adam Sandler's popular "Hanukkah Song", but instead of calling out famous Jews, our singer cleverly inserts famous non-believers. Which is better? You decide! (I'm agnostic, like Carl Sagan ;-)
Today we have another video mashup by DJNoNo, this one as a remix/response to a more conventional mashup video made from the aforementioned Santastic Vol. 4. No drum 'n' bass this time, just the Trans Siberian Orchestra and Blink 182. It's altar boy choirs with whiny pop-punk acapella by the Blink boys over holiday movie clips galore!
I'm sure you've all seen this clip before. It came out about two years ago and made the e-mail chain, then got picked up by some corperation for a TV commercial. Well as you can assume the fad caught on and now YouTube and other internet video sites are littered with hundreds of Christmas light spectaculars. And as you've also probably assumed they've only gotten better. Here is a clip from one of the best I've found, plus one of my favorite Holiday songs. This guy Holdman sets up Christmas lights every year then transmits the music to a radio station so that any passer-bys can hear the music that goes along with the show. The best thing? His whole rig is wind-powered! His website also has some how-to's, just in case you decide to create your own mega-light show. Check it out. And here is the video for you to enjoy.
In the spirit of the holidays, we're presenting a daily-dose of holiday-themed videos from 2008. Our first entry comes as a video mashup by the British DJNoNo, a.k.a. Tim Bear Cub of Radioclash fame. The song itself comes from the excellent Santastic Vol. 4, an annual Christmas-themed mashup album, which I believe is compiled by Boston-based taste-shaper DJ BC.
The video features a mashup of Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas is You" and Dillinja & Unknown Error plus a few odds and ends. At last, a Christmas song we can rave to!
With the holidays coming around the corner, this time of year always gives us a good excuse to come together as one in the name of compassion and Holiday spirit. A wonderful group called Playing For Change encapsulates this spirit perfectly.
In a nutshell they connect musicians from around the world through sophisticated technology (e.g. enabling a blue guitarist from Mississippi to play with a cellist from Moscow). They also try to spread music throughout the world by donating musical education resources to various communities around the world. Check out the interview with the producer Bill Moyer on PBS's site, it's very interesting. They also have a full documentary you can check out (I haven't yet, but definitely want to look into it). Check out their website (the link up top).
Here's an awesome clip of a collabortation they did for "Stand By Me". Enjoy!
DJ NoNo a.k.a. Tim over at Radioclash is a big muppets fan, and also, I assume, a fan of the Sesame Street puppets, created by Jim Henson. He recently posted a few of his favorite kids' show/gangsta rap video mashups, which came from this larger selection, most of which are not very good (though the Sponge Bob/Eminem one is pretty good). This one, however, is excellent - Bert and Ernie's mouth movements mimic the rapping quite well, and the actions seem to mimic rapper body language well. Also, I just like M.O.P. more than any of the other artists. Peep it for yourself:
Ante up, indeed. On some further looking (i.e. in the comments section of that 12-best list) this seems to be a pretty fleshed-out meme. What are your favorites? Tell us in the comments.
Oh my word, this has got to be the coolest thing ever: a demo of a touchscreen mashup-creation system pioneered and displayed at parties by the Evolution Control Committee. Doesn't seeing this just make you want to check out a mashup party?
One of my frequent stops on the world wide web is a fun little site called Today's Big Thing. Well for their Thanksgiving edition they showed a video of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, in which on of the floats "Rick Rolled" the collective audience. Now for those who don't know what that is, I didn't until I researched it, let me rewind a bit (if you'd prefer a YouTube explanation of Rocket Boom go here).
To make a long story short, Rick Rolling is basically the prank of sending your friends an interesting e-mail title with a link to a video of the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up", which looks something like this:
Apparently this trend was huge this year, and YouTube pranked everyone this year on April Fool's day by linking random videos to the video. Anyhow, this Rick Roll is apparently a phenomenon. It's been pulled on TV, the news, at baseball stadiums, one YouTbe fan even edited some Obama footage to create the Barack Roll (even though he didn't finish it).
Anyhow, I'm posting this cause I think it's kind of hilarious, and after hearing the song about a thousand times you kinda get hooked. Hey, it was a world-wide number on hit at one point.
