Another lazy Saturday afternoon spent watching YouTube. I know that since its demise as the worlds premier copyright infringement showcase (and the attendant corporate-sponsored dreck that’s sprung up as a result of this), YouTube has become very uncool to talk about, but I’m perpetually behind the times on these sorts of things. Anyway, some random observations:

- In a world where even the cheapest professionally produced TV show can afford a little CGI here and there, YouTube is one of the few places that we can all reconnect with a style of video production where things like chyrons are a huge technical achievement. Many videos are made with single camera setups and minimal post-production. What this means is that, even if we are now a society so well versed in the language of visual representation that we innately understand its rules, YouTube artists often have no choice but to break those conventions due these technical limitations. And, when you’ve watched as much television as I have, there can be a pleasurable frisson in watching something that doesn’t quite achieve that level of polish. You see the rapid zooms, the poor framing, the stumbles and flubs (no second takes, here) and soft or weak focusing, and it’s a little charming.

- Too much of that sort of thing can be annoying, however. I enjoy semi-pro video production in the same way I enjoy fanzines: I think their attempts to rise to a professional level make these videos… I don’t know, cute? I don’t want to just say “charming” again, but I suppose that’s the better term. Anyway, I’m predisposed to be a little affectionate about this kind of thing.

- Conversely, while some people might enjoy it, I can’t get into the jerky home movie handicam style of video. The wild panning, which results in nothing so much as a wash of psychedelic smears of color, the bad audio, the incomprehensible purposes behind these creations – it’s just not for me. Do a search for “I’m bored” on YouTube sometime (if you happen to be bored), and you’ll find some really unwatchable shit. But, it’s an aesthetic that might grab some people. At least they know where they can find it.

- Whilst looking for Joy Division covers (I’m a hopelessly nostalgic goon, I’m afraid) I stumbled across a video by a 15 year old kid who does these amazing note-for-note recreations of songs from some of my favorite bands. (At least, when I was a teenager, they were.) This inspired a certain amount of joy ("Hurray! Maybe kids today don’t universally have terrible taste in music!”), but also a corresponding amount of pain (“Boo! This kid is a freaking musical prodigy with a home studio, who can play every rock instrument that exists, while I’m an fat old bastard who takes twenty minutes to work his way through an eight-note scale, and hasn’t ever played a barre chord without completely farking it up!) Then I remembered how I’m not supposed to look upon the successes of other people as opportunities to beat myself up, but it didn’t help much. Still, good for ya’, wunderkind.

- I can’t claim that my viewing of an official music video from some random band is likely to make me run over to the music store to pick up their CD, but I can still make a case for bands and record companies to allow their videos to be posted. Google let’s one find music by simply typing in a lyric or two of a song whose title and artist has completely slipped my mind; but YouTube allows me to confirm almost instantly whether or not the song in question is the one I’m after. These special, earworm types of songs are the ones I’m most likely to buy off iTunes. So, people, please post your songs (with lyrics, if applicable) so I can send a buck or two your way, huh?