The Video Mix Tapes Thread

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Happy Cycler
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There has to be some folks on here that are into this kind of thing... you sick little monkeys!

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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Dayvan Cowboy
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Checking them out now, thanks!
Video mix-tapes feel very BoC to me especially with tracks like "Iraq says" "Devil" and "Light, clear hair" from their Old Tunes collection.

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Happy Cycler
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Valotonin wrote:Checking them out now, thanks!
Video mix-tapes feel very BoC to me especially with tracks like "Iraq says" "Devil" and "Light, clear hair" from their Old Tunes collection.


Totally agree. In fact, there are a few old tunes scattered in the mix of that Memorex video I posted. Lot of VHS Head, too.

I was just thinking earlier how their Old Tunes cassettes are like proto-vaporwave albums. I don't think the genre would exist as it does had those cassettes not been floating around.

That said, the Memorex video is a bit different than the others. It is more of a visual soundtrack. The others are more Monty Python / Tim and Eric / Cheesy sitcoms / Public Access / B-Movies / horrifying decline of the human species!

If you are digging on the Memorex style I have another one you may like...

Midnight Television
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Off the Air

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All episodes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVeq4-2Z0n8&list=PLQl8zBB7bPvLWfGCVicg_kVmSVTGml2y4

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Dayvan Cowboy
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These are great, I'm digging em.

Reminds me a lot of the Gate to the Mind's Eye movie I had on VHS tape as a kid. Basically one long surreal post-apocalyptic sci-fi music video with early CGI animation.

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Happy Cycler
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Oh yeah! Off The Air is a great example of this.

There was a new show I saw on Adult Swim recently that is very much like Off The Air but I think it was all done by one person...
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I hope there are more of these someday.

Man, that Gate to the Mind's Eye movie reminds me of one I saw as a kid. Cannot for the life of me remember hardly anything about it other than that it was early CGI, Dire Straits' Money For Nothing style.

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Happy Cycler
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The undisputed master of video mix tapes...

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And now... expect the worst!

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Sherbet Head
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Wow, I am surprised noone mentioned the most popular of them all.

SPIN (1995) !!!

Context: In the 80's 90's public access television and regular channels were still on air during TV commercials (God bless the analog)
Allowing AM Radio enthousiasts with a satellites dish to pick up on that feed and peak behind the scene of "what happens during TV commercial breaks" It is a brilliant compilation of footage that sums up to close to an hour.

WARNING: This one is censored often on youtube, I have seen many links go out during the years and some of them either shadow banned or there is magically no audio anymore. so you may have to find it yourself if you are reading this post in the future!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wopt8-hBrgg

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Dayvan Cowboy
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TheStatPow wrote:Wow, I am surprised noone mentioned the most popular of them all.

SPIN (1995) !!!

Context: In the 80's 90's public access television and regular channels were still on air during TV commercials (God bless the analog)
Allowing AM Radio enthousiasts with a satellites dish to pick up on that feed and peak behind the scene of "what happens during TV commercial breaks" It is a brilliant compilation of footage that sums up to close to an hour.

WARNING: This one is censored often on youtube, I have seen many links go out during the years and some of them either shadow banned or there is magically no audio anymore. so you may have to find it yourself if you are reading this post in the future!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wopt8-hBrgg

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My god that is fascinating. About 30mins in at the moment. Thanks for sharing, shows the extent of shady dealings and a glimpse at the extent to which politicians hold a public facade that quickly melts away when they don't feel they are being watched.

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Happy Cycler
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TheStatPow wrote:Wow, I am surprised noone mentioned the most popular of them all.

SPIN (1995) !!!

Context: In the 80's 90's public access television and regular channels were still on air during TV commercials (God bless the analog)
Allowing AM Radio enthousiasts with a satellites dish to pick up on that feed and peak behind the scene of "what happens during TV commercial breaks" It is a brilliant compilation of footage that sums up to close to an hour.

WARNING: This one is censored often on youtube, I have seen many links go out during the years and some of them either shadow banned or there is magically no audio anymore. so you may have to find it yourself if you are reading this post in the future!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wopt8-hBrgg

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Whoa! I cannot wait to watch SPIN. Thank you, TheStatPow.

That Washed Out video was pretty nuts! Thanks, Crystalspike.

Found an updated link to the Smash TV Memorex video.
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Happy Cycler
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One of my favorite artists is Winston Hacking. He specializes in collage art and his work has been commissioned by the likes of Flying Lotus, Washed Out, and Andy Shauf for their music videos, all of which are incredible.

The following video is a fine showcase of his talents. It works well as both an art collage and video mix tape. Enjoy!
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Happy Cycler
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THIS. WILL. DESTROY. YOU.
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Eagle Minded
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Holy shit.

I love this stuff. I wasn't around in the VHS and analog TV days and I can't wraå my head around how these things were made? Like how do you create something like this with just two VCR's? Or were they made in computers? I find it seriously intriguing.

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Happy Cycler
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Oh yeah, I have no doubt that most of the ones in the last 15 or so years have been compiled on a computer. But those old ones, and the whole VHS bootleg tape trading scene, is indeed fascinating.

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Sherbet Head
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I got my VHS not long ago in a thrift store for 10$. best thing I bought in a while. been playing with it a lot and made some Video mixtapes

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Suck my BUTT

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Happy Cycler
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TheStatPow wrote:I got my VHS not long ago in a thrift store for 10$. best thing I bought in a while. been playing with it a lot and made some Video mixtapes

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Heavy stuff! Are you utilizing your video synth on some portions?

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Sherbet Head
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mechanismj wrote:
Heavy stuff! Are you utilizing your video synth on some portions?



Not my analog one. But I was using the Vsynth package from Max MSP.
Suck my BUTT

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Friendly Stranger
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Amazing thread. Smash TV is pretty incredible but can't watch in a single session, it's a pretty brutal watch. Great stuff.

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