Please enjoy jwz mixtape 098. This mixtape hits a record, I think: this time I had to omit five videos that I wanted to include because there is no embeddable version of them anywhere on the Youtubes. And even after checking all the others for embeddability, there are still three videos in here that just silently disappear, even though there is an embed code provided on their page. WTF?
Dealing with this bullshit is frustrating enough that it makes me want to stop doing these entirely. What a complete pain in the ass. I make a list of videos to include, organize them sanely, and then I have to go back and figure out which ones can't be made to work at all, which takes almost as long as constructing the list did in the first place.
I'm not even going to tell you what videos I had to leave out, because fuck those guys. Dear bands in question: you signed on to a major label, so welcome to enforced obscurity.
I don't see a whole lot of thanks for the mixtapes, but... Thanks! They allow me to keep pretending that I could be cool.
Please don't stop making these mixtapes. In addition to the immeasurable value I've derived from your writings over the years, I've discovered so many new bands thanks to your mixtapes. It's practically my only source for new music these days, god knows the usual venues are completely worthless.
Here's another vote for continuing these mixtapes. They may be a pain in the ass, but they are appreciated. I have neither the time nor the patience to go through, for example, 4GB worth of SXSW music to find the 15 songs that aren't going to make my ears bleed. And while I admit that I generally only really like about half of the songs in your mixtapes, that's still a good return on the time invested.
That, and I always get a rush of vindication when I see songs that I already know in your mixtape. (Sleigh Bells in this one.) And when, 6 months from now, I hear another song that I know I've heard before but I can't figure out where, I can come back here and facepalm for not paying attention to what you'd already recommended. (Ting Tings in an early mixtape and Blood Red Shoes in the last.)
Topic change: can I assume that the will.i.am song was more about "look how this dude is raping my youth" than actual enjoyment?
Let's call that 70% "o my raped youth" and 30% "that's a pretty neat-looking video."
Incidentally, when The Buggles played their first and only live show a few months back, they didn't actually play Video Killed the Radio Star -- instead they played a cover of that Will.i.am cover.
My favorite cover of Video Killed the Radio Star by Lolita N°18 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MauLePtrLk0 (Contains tits so treat as NSFW).
I'm partial to the obligatory punk cover.
My hive mind requires your concise pure input. please don't stop the play-list, even if the vids go away. If it gets bad, maybe just skip videos altogether and use a pure free music service like grooveshark or pandora? I glean good new music every single time you do this.
P.S. The last line (RE: enforced obscurity) of this article warms the core of my soul.
You have no right to complain as long as you're not living in a country where seemingly 50% of all YouTube videos are unavailable. :P
@JulianSR: Pandora isn't reachable at all in most places of the world, so that would just make it worse. Grooveshark would work nicely, but I somewhat doubt this kind of music is available there. Haven't checked though.
This list's replacement links for those of us not blessed with widespread YT access:
Video 1: Triángulo de Amor Bizarro - De la MonarquÃa a la Criptocracia
Video 2: Scissor Sisters - Invisible Light
Video 5: Oh Land - Sun of a Gun
Video 10: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - The Golden age (live version)
Video 15: My Chemical Romance - Na Na Na (LQ)
Video 16: Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill
Video 17: Roxy Cottontail - Bounce Little Kitty (alternative video, short, all others seem to be live videos recorded with a mobile)
Video 18: The Cataracs feat. Dev - Bass Down Low
Video 19: Will.i.am feat. Nicki Minaj & Cheryl Cole - Check It Out
Thanks for helping me through the Grooveshark scheduled maintenance. :)