I have been digging through this stuff for the last couple years. It has shattered my fragile little mind to the point that I no longer enjoy regular television or movies. Regular programming cannot hold a candle to the emotional roller coaster of tragedy, grotesque horror, awkwardness, and hilarity that makes up a typical video mix tape experience.
In case any of you are not familiar with these things they are compilations of found TV and movie footage - most often of the awkward, public access and F-grade type. They were usually recorded to VHS and traded around, bootlegged, what have you. I guess you could think of these things as the precursor to youtube poop.
The best ones were edited and re-contextualized to have a theme, narrative, or to create a psychedelic viewing experience. They come in a vast spectrum of styles that range from genius to completely horrid and tasteless.
The best place to start, if you are new to this kind of thing, would probably be Everything is Terrible. Start with the short videos and work your way up to the full-length movies. The stuff created by Dante Fontana, such as Colorshop, Remote Control Magic, and TV Trip, are more laid back, leisurely cruises through 70's, 80's, and 90's television. It is like some hilarious channel surfing experience. The other EIT movies, however, get much faster, intense, and depraved... and seriously funny!
In case you did not already know, Everything is Terrible are the ones behind the Jerry Maguire Pyramid. Yes indeed!
In my opinion, the holy grail of the channel surfing narrative style is TV Carnage. These videos sit nicely between the laid-back vibes of Dante's videos and the intensity of the EIT movies. Perfect party viewing. There are a couple unsightly surprises sprinkled into the mix but it is few and far between.
Also sitting in this arena is the short-lived public access program called Forbidden Transmission. Each episode has a different theme.
From here you can branch off in a multitude of other directions depending on your tastes.
The CDT Crew offers up a buffet of short, hyper intense, gore encrusted edits that are sure to explode your brains. They are also responsible for the Crazy Dave Tapes. More info about these tapes and a whole clutch of others can be found here and here. A bunch of these cross into territory that is bizarre, disturbing, and downright disgusting. Explore with care!
And now, I would like to leave you with a video mix tape created by Smash TV. This is a superb, nostalgic, vaporwavey slice of tele-visuals set to a kick-ass soundtrack that I know you guys are going to love:
Memorex
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