The best of YouTube: #30
Roller-skates + glass bottles = Mozart?
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. We've got another packed selection of musical treats this week - may we recommend the Status Quo vs Scooter fondant?
Joe Bosso's choices
Man plays Through The Fire And Flames on Guitar Hero... on the drums?
I have to admit, he's super-fast and pretty darn accurate. But to all you drummers out there: if you want a real challenge, try playing this with a traditional grip. In fact, if anybody can do it, send us the video! JB
Pete Townshend demonstrates the correct way to smash a guitar
I've seen guitarists in their 20s try to smash guitars and wind up looking like total tools. Townshend, in his 60s, can rearrange a Fender in two whacks. That's what we call a pro. I'd say try it sometime, but remember, Pete gets his guitars for free - you don't. JB
Mike Goldsmith's choices
Multiple SIDosis
I was going to save this old favourite until Xmas but it's just too good. Wikipedia has the full skinny but in short, this is a 1970 short film by amateur filmmaker and musician, Sid Lavarents. One man, one song (Nola), eleven seperately-recorded tracks (an Akai M8, audio fans), all-manual overdubs… What you end up with is a bizarro outsider one man band that, alongside the Zapruder JFK film, is one of the only amateur films to selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. A quick visit to WFMU's peerless Beware of the Blog will see this on your iPod (and scaring fellow commuters) as quick as you like. Sid - we salute you still. MG
Earl Brutus: The SAS and The Glam That Goes With It
1996. Oasis play Maine Road as Britpop peters out. Spice Girls release Wannabe. Tupac is shot. Slash quits Guns 'N Roses. The Prodigy spit out Firestarter, The Fugees are bloody everywhere … But back on Planet Indie, glam racketeers Earl Brutus are thrilling all those right-minded people who believe only a mix of The Fall, Gary Glitter and warm bitter will save this planet. This video - chosen to commemorate the news this week that The Jesus and Mary Chain and British Sea Power are to headline a tribute gig to Nick Sanderson, Brutus frontman (and London-Brighton train driver!) who tragically died last June - is possibly their finest hour (although this rocks as well). In 2008, only the long-dormant Fat Truckers have anywhere near the same blend of balls, booze and beats. Music, chips, mum, dad… Nick Sanderson RIP. MG
Michael Leonard's choices
Get well soon Travis Barker
After his shocking plane crash, MusicRadar wishes Travis Barker a speedy recovery.
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He's a fine drummer. He shows just how good here. ML
My Bloody Valentine will deafen you
So, Kevin Shields and co are actually making a new My Bloody Valentine album? YouTube audio doesn't do MBV's intricate sound true justice, but here's a slice of their Fender Jaguar/Jazzmaster pulverisation on Soon, the final track from their last album, Loveless (1991). Recent footage from the 2008 reunion shows barely makes sense - MBV are simply too loud to be fan-recorded. Oh, and here's a rare interview with Kevin Shields, too. Crazy band. Can any of these people hear anything anymore? ML
Tom Porter's choices
A hauntingly polite rendition of NWA's Straight Outta Compton
Straight Outta Compton just took sixth place on VH1's top 100 greatest hip-hop songs. The very thought of Veruca Salt's Nina Gordon crooning "a crazy motherfucker called Ice Cube" might make you recoil in terror, but listening to it is actually a very moving experience. You'll hear the lyrics in a whole new light… TP
Fall Out Boy - I Don't Care (about product placement!)
After recent controversies regarding paid-for lyrics in popular music, it's fitting that the new video for Fall Out Boy's I Don't Care includes the most blatent piece of product placement we've ever seen. Pete Wentz complained about it on his blog but you can still see it here - skip to 2:25 for a stunning close-up of a mobile phone. TP
Ben Rogerson's choices
Status Quo vs Scooter
We told you last week about this ill-advised genre clash, and now the terrible video for Jump That Rock (Whatever You Want) has surfaced. In the future, historians will note that it set back rock/dance music relations by at least 15 years. BR
Girls Aloud as men
Popjustice reports that, for no good reason whatsoever, a YouTuber called petie71 has started creating 'male' versions of Girls Aloud songs by down-pitching the vocals in Audacity (the excellent free audio editor that pretty much everyone must have heard of by now). Check out Call The Shots and Sexy! No No No…, both of which are listenable, if a little creepy. BR
Chris Wickett's choices
Victor Wooten plays Amazing Grace for solo bass
Some bass madness this week from me. Here's Victor Wooten playing Amazing Grace using harmonic chords. As if that weren't enough, he even reharmonises the melody on the second repetition - not before a funk breakdown though, naturally. CW
Jaco Pastorius - Portrait Of Tracy live
Here's a clip of the best bassist of all time taking five minutes during a Weather Report gig to regale the audience with tales of shredding, incredible improv, and how-the-@#*!-did-he-reach-that-note harmonics. Jaw-droppingly good bass playing. CW
Chris Vinnicombe's choices
Ennio Morricone - Magic And Ecstacy
Most people are familiar with Ennio Morricone's sweeping, evocative film scores - The Ecstacy Of Gold from The Good, The Bad And The Ugly has been Metallica's live intro tape for years - but this cut from 1977's sequel to The Exorcist is a rather different proposition. When the vocals come in at 0:32 we're not sure whether to be very afraid or burst out laughing. CV
John Lee Hooker - Hobo Blues
I've included this clip because a) I'd never seen it before, and b) it's brilliant. Conclusive proof that real blues isn't boutique amplifiers and true bypass TS808 clones. CV
Still bored?
Got too much time on your hands? Why not use a pair of roller-skates, an empty street and hundreds of half-filled glass bottles to recreate Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G minor? Too easy, says MusicRadar! We want Liszt!
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