The best of YouTube: #56

Drums made of ice? Cool (sorry!).
Drums made of ice? Cool (sorry!).

Every Friday, the MusicRadar team submits its own personal favourite music videos and clips on the net.

Some clips we really like, others are simply comedy classics or oddly intriguing. But all are worth watching.

This week, check out drums made of ice, LED-fretboard slap-bass antics (the playing's pretty good, too!) and the world's largest, er, organ... Enjoy!

Virtual Beatles - Happiness Is A Warm Gun

Guys covering The Beatles, who hasn't seen that before? Well, you've never seen anything like the Virtual Beatles. Singer Frenchytouch lives in France, drummer MG4150 in New Mexico and guitarist June 626 in Japan. They record their parts separately, send them to one another, edit them together and viola! - a 'virtual' band. While their clips are great for groups wishing to learn how to play Beatles songs fast, the really amazing thing is this: the Virtual Beatles have yet to meet! Joe Bosso

The world's largest pipe organ

The Macy's store in Philadelphia boasts the world's largest playable pipe organ - which, you'd think, probably makes it the world's largest instrument, too. (Actually, David Byrne and his playable house might have something to say about that.) Every Christmas, thousands of shoppers flock to the store to hear the magnificent organ in action, all of them wondering what sound could possibly be more relaxing during the stressful, last-minute Christmas shopping period. Check it out here - and don't miss the fancy pedal footwork at 1:37. Chris Wickett

The Specials - A Message To You Rudy live on Jools Holland

Despite founding member Jerry Dammers 'slamming' the reunion (chiefly because he wasn't invited), The Specials went ahead and did it anyway. Here they are on Jools Holland warming up for the festival season. Tom Porter

The King of thumb bass

I'm not a big fan of slap-bass outside of 'proper' old-school funk. Yet Level 42 veteran Mark King has silly skills. If only we all had this command over our chosen instrument? Michael Leonard

Tim and Eric's Minivan Highway

I'd never heard of Tim and Eric before someone sent me a link to this clip, but I'll say this for them: they know how to parody old-school computer music making. In fact, it took me a while to work out that this isn't actually the real deal. Ben Rogerson

Nirvana play School at Reading 1992

Incredibly, June sees the anniversary of two decades passing since Nirvana's 1989 Sub Pop debut LP Bleach. Here's a ferocious rip through Bleach track School taken from the band's 1992 headline set at the Reading Festival in the UK. If you were there, count yourself very lucky indeed. Chris Vinnicombe

One cool drum solo

For the full story behind this (basically, it's an ad for the Icehotel Jukkasjärvi in Sweden) head here but to cut a long story short - Matz 'Robban' Eriksson is the drummer from recently-defunct Swedish garage heroes the Hellacopters. This is a video of him in an ice box playing ice drums and hitting the hell out of ice cymbals. It looks insanely brilliant and it is impossible to write about without using the word 'cool'. For more, check this Making Of. Cool. Ah. Mike Goldsmith

The MusicRadar team

MusicRadar is the number 1 website for music makers of all kinds, be they guitarists, drummers, keyboard players, djs or producers...

  • GEAR: We help musicians find the best gear with top-ranking gear round-ups and high- quality, authoritative reviews by a wide team of highly experienced experts.
  • TIPS: We also provide tuition, from bite-sized tips to advanced work-outs and guidance from recognised musicians and stars.
  • STARS: We talk to musicians and stars about their creative processes, and the nuts and bolts of their gear and technique. We give fans an insight into the actual craft of music making that no other music website can.