Anyhoo, yesterday he showed me this, and WOWEE you guys gotta see!
Not only is the whole five-people-playing-one-guitar thing amazing to watch, the song is super catchy. I only listened to it twice yesterday, and I've had it stuck in my head all day! (Not necessarily a bad thing.)
And if you like that one, watch this one next. The technique alone will make your jaw drop:
HOW?!
I love how artists are taking advantage of viral videos to market their music now - like OK Go and Pomplamoose. Half the time I start watching just for the visuals, and end up loving the music.
Speaking of which, here's a song I never would have listened to if it weren't for the video, and it's been one of my favorites for months now. It's by a Finnish singer named Lauri Ylönen, but if you like 80s pop you'll probably love it:
The vid's also a bit dark. And confusing. But hey, cute puppet!
I originally saw this on SuperPunch last year, and then spent a while hunting for a place to buy it, since it doesn't appear to be available in the U.S. It's a shame there are more places to download it for free than there are places you can actually purchase it (ie, I haven't found one yet), since I'd gladly pay a few bucks for it. Take my money, iTunes, please.
Hit the Ok Go & Pomplamoose links above to see my favorites of their videos, and then tell me who I'm missing in the comments! Maybe you guys will turn me into a Youtube junkie after all. ;)
Ha! Small world! I just discovered the original Somebody That I Used to Know by Goyte (http://youtu.be/8UVNT4wvIGY) a few days ago and have been listening to it non stop. Great song. And I LOVE Walk Off the Earths cover! Thanks for letting me know I'm not crazy :)
ReplyDeleteOmg! Lauri Ylönen's old band, The Rasmus, was the first gig I went to, way back when I was a little teenager. That just brought back a world of memories! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteTotally loving the innovative videos from Walk Off The Earth too... going to have to look into them some more!
Wow. One of my friends just posted that original Goyte video to Facebook this morning. Now i've seen 2 cool versions in one day. Like Morgen said.... small world!
ReplyDeleteLike Morgen, I have been listening to that song (by Gotye) dozens of times a day the last few weeks. I can't get enough of it. I like the original best, but the WOTE version is pretty cool too. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHere's one that caught my eye today.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2012/01/05/144737123/first-watch-two-against-one?sc=fb&cc=fp
My favorite video along these lines - all done by a single guy in a single take (using looping)
ReplyDeleteGREAT song, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjEsAEsYCw4
Jarle Bernhoft's Cmon Talk
I've been enjoying the music of Gunnarolla and Andrew Huang . Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing on Rainbows by Andrew Huang bounces in my head almost daily. Gunnarolla (also an Andrew) has Canadian Please as his most viewed vid.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't discovered her Drunk Kitchen, Hanna Hart is a singer too Show Me Where Your Noms At is catchy.
:) all together now: thank you, John!!
ReplyDeleteLOL
Walk Off the Earth is simply awesome and I will do my part to introduce them to people.
The original is also fantastic...and a blogger I often read did a cover of it with her brother on a CD they did together to give to their family for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThis went around teh internetz awhile ago, but Oren Lavie's Her Morning Elegance is still a favorite.
I also got a chance to see Lisa Hannigan in concert, knowing nothing about her. But watching her videos was amazing (Knots, Lille, Safe Travels - they're all great)
Not new but one of my favorites Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/2_HXUhShhmY
and I love the remixes by Fagottron and his Disney Alice remix most of all: http://youtu.be/pAwR6w2TgxY
Thanks for sharing your finds.
This, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSByjqMGtaU
ReplyDeleteI've seen an artist do the thing where she records all the parts and mixes it together... LIVE. For the life of me, I can't remember her name, but she had a Lorena McKennett vibe. It is pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteBut the five-people-one-guitar thing... that blew me away.
That's a great cover of Somebody That I Used to Know! I was glued to it from start to finish...love the ten hands on one guitar. The original is really visually appealing as well:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NhkK-1epUA
Gotyes' "Somebody That I Used to Know" (feat Kimbra from NZ) has been the biggest song in Australia since it's release mid year. Gotye took out Single of the Year, Best Male Artist and Best Pop Release at the ARIA Awards and this song is set to take out the number 1 position in the world's largest music poll, the Triple j Hottest 100 for 2011. This is an awesome cover, but track down the original as his voice is amazing and gives you goosebumps. Also for some fun there is a cover by Eskimo Joe with a computer singing the female lines.
ReplyDeleteLove Epbot btw, reading since day 1 but first time commenting :)
And this has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but my all-time favourite youtube video is the human tetris performance:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0LtUX_6IXY
(Although it drives me CRAZY because the player pretty much sucks. Ha!)
Sorry for the second comment, but I just remembered (how could I forget?!) If you haven't seen the vlogbrothers, make sure you check them out. Nerdfighteria FTW.
ReplyDeleteIf you're into that second video, check out MysteryGuitarMan (on Youtube). He doesn't do any singing, but he does a ton of awesome stuff looping and music-wise. (Looping not as often as of late.)
ReplyDeleteWell considering that you and my husband are my two main sources for great internet videos, I'm not sure I have anything new to share. But just in case someone missed them, here are a few of my favs:
ReplyDeletePork & Beans by Weezer
Maxwell Dorian, Valedictorian by Barats and Bereta
19-2000 by Gorillaz
by Owl City
Fireflies and Deer in the Headlights
And two foreign ones:
Fish Fight! by Japanese group Yaen
Tunak Tunak Tun by Daler Mehndi
Man, that took forever to write! (Yes, I had to watch them all again, hehe.)
I found The Piano Guys on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgAlQuqzl8o&list=UUmKurapML4BF9Bjtj4RbvXw&index=3&feature=plcp Their Cello Wars is awesome, as is their rendition of "Linus and Lucy."
ReplyDeleteYou know, I enjoy watching the OK Go version you linked, but this version is the one that makes me smile uncontrollably.
ReplyDeleteNotre Dame's marching band had been performing OK Go as their half-time show, the band liked it, and did this as a tribute to the tribute. And I still get chills when the full band steps in at the end. : )
If you like Lauri Ylönen, I recommend these two Apocalyptica songs:
ReplyDeleteApocalyptica - Bittersweet
Apocalyptica - Life Burns
@Kadri Soz: I was hoping someone would have mentioned Vlog Brothers!!!
ReplyDeleteThey really did take over you tube and have done all sorts to, as they put it "decrease world suck", such as raising money for clean water supplies in Haiti, and every year just before Christmas, they get the entire youtube community involved with the "Project for Awesome" day, inviting people to make their own videos and raise awareness for their favourite charities. The monay raised from this day, is then divided between the top five charities as voted for by people via a forum.
It is all really cool stuff. John Green is a New York Times Best Selling author & Hank is an environmentalist. He also had his own record label (DFTBA) which was set up one, for his own purposes and 2) to give musicians from youtube a chance to get their music out there. Unlike most record labels, invitation to join is by invite only.
It is just amazing (if you go back to the very first video and flick through archives) how much two brothers who decided only to commicate via vlogging for a year, have done.
Anyway, favourite songs of Hank's include Tetris Piece, I'm Going To Kill You. The two I really think you will appreciate though are: Accio Deathly Hallows (Scary thing is he predicted about half of it!!) & Dead Boy's Girlfriend.
It is just all mind blowing stuff and, in all honesty, these are the only ones I have subscribed too & make a point of watching.
More recently, they have just started making more educational videos on Crash Course, In which John will talk about World History & Hank will talk about science.
I know this is an insanely huge post, but I just figured someone as geeky as you, would appreciate the concept of being hugely entertained as well as informed!!
Best Wishes!
(TL:DR - Awesome. Check them out when you get chance!!)
Thank you so much for posting the WOTE videos! I got sucked into their channel for about an hour. They are freaking clever.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't seen his stuff already, Brett Domino is the perfect amount of audio nerd/music geek/british adorableness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTwweLJ78KE&list=PL2A8EA573A54E4459&index=7&feature=plpp_video
Oh man, I have so many of these, but I need to go to bed soon, so here are four:
ReplyDeleteClassic '80s hits, interpreted for ragtime piano. I don't think I need to say anything more about that one.
Charlieissocoollike sings Exterminate, Regenerate (an awesome, original song about the final episodes of series four of the new Doctor Who) while accompanying himself on ukulele and melodica. Plus he wears a Captain Hammer shirt. It's brilliant.
Erato covers Robyn's Call Your Girlfriend as they accompany themselves with empty plastic containers. They have great harmonies and amazing concentration. I think my favorite part is that for the most part, the rhythm is the same as a cup-tapping game I played when I was younger (I learned it from the TV show ZOOM).
The Complete History of the Soviet Union, Arranged to the Melody of Tetris. This is simply stunning, both musically and graphically. As a bonus, it's also entertaining and reasonably educational!
--gg_83
Finite Simple Group (of Order Two) by
ReplyDeleteThe Klein Four Group
I cant stop it if I have started listening to it. That might be because my love is a matematician and I have taken enough maths to recognice enough of the words even if I dont understand the matematical meaning of them.
Also anything by Helen Austin, either the funny ones like Childbirth song or her newer stuff like Happy.
And if I mangaged to do the html thing I will be jumping of joy, cause I have never been able to do that before, if I didnt do it right, im sorry.
Oh I went to school with Lauri. He looked exactly the same 20 years ago :D
ReplyDeleteThere's a guy named Reggie Watts (you can look him up on youtube) that uses that same technique for a lot of his music, the one from the second video.
ReplyDeleteOut of Control by Reggie Watts
None to share this time. But did want to comment... fellow readers, PLEASE use the html cheat sheet that Jen (and John) have left for us on the post a comment section. Do you know how difficult copy and paste is on a smart phone???? :-)
ReplyDeleteNot crazy about the Wiz Khalifa cover - just don't care for rap/hip-hop much - but "Somebody I used to Know" is terrific!!
ReplyDeleteYoutube is being evil and won't give me the embed link, so you'll just have to copy and paste.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVwSP51KVO8&ob=av2e
Hooray For Earth, True Loves. I loved the song and then the video came out and I was just blown away.
Since you liked the five-players-on-one-guitar, check out this fantastic two-players-on-one-cello! (Not the Piano Guys -- different duo entirely.)
ReplyDeleteAmazing Cello Duet with Four Hands, One Cello | ptinkerhess | YouTube
I'm partial to Danielle Ate the Sandwich: Where the Good Ones Go
ReplyDeleteAnd if you like Walk Off the Earth Sarah and Gianni's making of video for Karma Police is pretty cool.
Karma Police - Behind the Scenes (Gianni and Sarah)
although you might want to watch the actual video first:
Karma Police - Gianni and Sarah (Radiohead Loop Cover)
If you like clever YouTube musicians with a level of geekiness, make sure you check out FreddeGredde
ReplyDeleteThe second video reminds me of a video MysteryGuitarMan (he's on YouTube) once did which was neat. I like those. Imogen Heap has also done something similar live before, which was really cool.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=JIw9yZTorZY
ReplyDeleteLoved this one. I have never looked at OK Go before.
I second Kadri Soz's comment about the Vlog Brothers and all their related projects (Hank has songs available that you'd probably love!) http://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers
ReplyDeleteIf you like the crazy guitar stuff, you must check this out!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY7GnAq6Znw
One of my favorite songs of all time right now!
I just found another thing (posting so many times, apologies) where two two boys sing meow in different variations in all seriousness. Seriously, it's awesome, and the best version I can find: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d63jKihoYRg&feature=related
ReplyDeleteI discovered Pomplamoose myself last year and made everyone listen to them. Now I guess I'll be doing the same with Walk Off the Earth! Thanks for sending me down that rabbit hole.
ReplyDeleteSince you're such a Disney-lover, you NEED to see this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOoMztym1LU&feature=share It starts off maybe a little slow, but trust me.
ReplyDeleteThis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp1BYzIVi0U&feature=related is also pretty fantastic, and very talented! Enjoy. :)
My new favorite song - Baywood, I Can Breathe Again
ReplyDeleteAlso - LOVE the link to OK GO with the marching band!!
I'm loving this song right now:
ReplyDeleteStargate Universe - Les Friction - Torture - YouTube
It's not an official video, but the Stargate Universe footage adds a geekiness factor to it...
Here's "Forever Yours" by Alex Day. It got to number 4 in the UK charts for the week of Christmas. The music video is by Charlie McDonnell.
ReplyDeleteAlso Alex and Charlie are also members of the band Chameleon Circuit that writes and plays songs about Doctor Who. All of those songs can be heard for free on Alex's site (scroll to the bottom of the page). http://alexdaymusic.com/music/
Kina Grannis + over a quarter-million jelly beans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOu0DuxFAT0
ReplyDeleteI haven't read all the posts so I don't know if anyone has posted this, but I found where to buy Heavy!
ReplyDeleteHeavy song
Thanks for introducing me to these artists. And I love that Heavy video--it's very much up my alley!
I'm at work (post-op unit at a hospital) so I can't watch this now, but if you want something that will immediately implant itself in your brain, you HAVE to listen to "Hell in Heels" by Pistol Annies. I heard it for the first time yesterday morning, immediately bought it and listened to it at least 15 times since! And I have already memorized all the lyrics! :) You can buy the album on Amazon - immediate gratification - if you like the video on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteThe Erratic Man - Back in the Day
ReplyDeleteLOVE the song! The video makes me laugh because I also read The Bloggess and I can't help but think of her affinity for taxidermied animals.
I used to love the Rasmus! (Lauri's old band). And Walk Off the Earth are incredible! There goes the next few hours worth of revision, i'm gonna be looking them up =s
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I'm not even going TRY to embed a link (@Silje - smartphones stink sometimes, eh?!) but Gianni's nephew, Myles, does a two-part cover of Tiny Dancer that blew me away - both because he's a dang good singer (there's a kid in my house about the same age and unfortunately, he did NOT inherit his Mother's musicality) and because, well, think about how technically difficult it would be to play along with the radio - sing, sure - but play an instrument? One poster was lamenting the fact that the world was getting bieber and this kid was unknown - I'd have to agree!
ReplyDeleteJen, you have NO IDEA how much I LOVE this post! I'd never heard "Somebody I Used To Know", and the song is very meaningful to me right now. See, my husband of 30 years told me on New Years Day that he's "found someone else" and wanted to leave. Lunacy. But what a pretty song, and I know Epbot and CW will help keep my spirits up! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, thanks for the musical links today. They were great to watch.
ReplyDeleteThe second video immediately reminded me of the great one-take version of "Go To Hell" that David Ford did back in 2008 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x29l5eHHoXo). He regularly does the looping track work entirely by himself on stage. I saw him open for Ingrid Michaelson and ended up hunting down and buying everything he's ever done.
David Ford's "State of the Union" is another great example of one-take looping done well. Warning: the lyrics may be NSFW (e.g., uses the "f" word), but the picture is totally SWF--unless your workplace is anti-tambourine. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1884245285097018421
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you've already seen this one (it's been on the internets since it was a wee babe) but there's always Yatta!
ReplyDeleteThis is done by the guy who did Engineer's Guide to Cats. It's my favorite version Hard Time Killing Floor.
You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone It's a cover from Lulu and the Lampshades (here's the original) but I like the cover because the girl's voice is so smokey and smooth.
Completely random and out of context.
Here's a fun one: ,a href="http://youtu.be/zlK5abIJRyM">Genki Sudo/a>
ReplyDeleteOK, let's try that one again...
ReplyDeleteHere's a fun one: Genki Sudo
(for some reason keyboard isn't producing the left angle bracket. I cut and pasted from the text above to get it this time. Hopefully it works)
There isn't a cool video for this but the song rocks-- Max Raabe redoes Tainted Love a la 1920s big band. It was played at the Time Traveler's Ball last year.
ReplyDeleteTainted Love
those were great!
ReplyDeletehave you ever checked out Fredde Gredde on Youtube? He does the most amazing things with music. my all time favorite is his take on the Zelda: Windwaker theme (guaranteed to make you smile):
http://youtu.be/uRv8gnBMiWM
i would also recommend his video game songs with lyrics
ah- i see akahige also recommended Fredde Gredde (that's what i get for posting before reading comments). My bad
ReplyDeletebut srsly- check him out!
Gotye's doing some really wonderful songs and videos lately. From the current album, Bronte is a gorgeous video, and my two always-favourites are Heart's a Mess and Learnalilgivinanlovin.
ReplyDeleteHe's playing Coachella this year, definitely worth looking up. He's worth the hype.
This one! It's an a capella disney medley sung by one woman. I love it and all the fun makeup/costumes she uses.
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/F8ZJrfeohzU
I saw KT Tunstall do Black Horse and Cherry Tree live and SOLO with loops. She did a whole concert that way. Very cool. She recorded the loops at the beginning of each song as part of the intro to the number.
ReplyDeleteHow about books and music?
ReplyDeleteor the next gen of same (looove the music on this one)
This video from Ludo is pretty funny (though the song itself is a little crude):
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ANazeJodro
Jen, if you're into breathtaking guitar playing, check out Rodrigo y Gabriela, a duo from Mexico (who are very popular in Ireland, uh huh). To quote from a comment on another video, "that guitar better be 18." The things they can do with two guitars are astounding, and I think you would love them.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-qgum7hFXk
Five people all playing the same guitar at the same time is really four tons of fun. I'd like to see more of that.
ReplyDeleteThe one guy playing six instruments (one of which is a microwave oven!) is kind of cool, too, though.
My fave video of late is "Bizness," by tUnE-yArDs. Here, I'll try to put in a link to it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ1LI-NTa2s
The choreography, with both adults and children, is really wonderful.
I just watched that Gotye cover the other day too! Saw it on thedailywh.at, I think. Ever since the original came out I've been a huge Gotye fan...his song "Bronte" makes me wanna cry every.single.time.
ReplyDeletethe gotye version has been smashed by australian commerical radio after originally being played on australian youth radio, is it an amazingly beautiful song, and if you have some time check out music by kimbra! (the new zealand singer on the track)
ReplyDeleteI live in Orange County, CA and I just heard "Somebody That I Used to Know" on the radio and just about died! I love it! I finally caught up on your blog and saw the video 2 days ago and now I hear it on my local rock station! How awesome! So many people have fallen in love with it, including me! :-) Thanks for sharing!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI just remembered this song. It's a mash-up of clocks by coldplay and chicago by sufjan stevens. It's played by one guy with a violin and loads of awesomeness. I feel like I'm understating how awesome it is somehow, but I can't figure out how to say this better.
ReplyDeleteHere it is.
I also just noticed that it has surprisingly little traffic by youtube standards. Someone should fix that...