Aug 7, 2009 1:39 PM

YouTube Music Community Manager's Favorite Videos of All Time

It’s either a dream job or a nightmare reminiscent of Fantasia‘s “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” scene: sifting through all of the music-related videos submitted to YouTube to separate the wheat from the chaff. That task falls to YouTube music community manager Michele Flannery. A quick glance at the site’s music section makes it clear which videos she […]

It's either a dream job or a nightmare reminiscent of Fantasia's "Sorcerer's Apprentice" scene: sifting through all of the music-related videos submitted to YouTube to separate the wheat from the chaff.

That task falls to YouTube music community manager Michele Flannery. A quick glance at the site's music section makes it clear which videos she likes from a professional perspective. We thought it would be more interesting to ask her which videos – out of the thousands (millions?) she's encountered in her 2.5 years in this position – are her personal favorites. After all, someone who spends that much time professionally watching music on YouTube must have stumbled across some undiscovered gems.

Here are the all-time favorite videos of professional video filter Michele Flannery, for your Friday amusement, as provided to Wired.com (our descriptions). She divided them into two sections. The first features creative videos; the second, unsigned artists.

Creative Clips

ケータイ狂想曲烏田晴奈 (Cellphone Caprice)
Haruna Karasuda created the animation and composed the music for this dramatization of the cellphone and our increasing reliance on it, featuring clarinet, guitar, three voices, and (of course) cellphones.

François Macré - Thriller (64 track a cappella version)
If more people exhibited the attention to detail and execution shown here by François Macré, the world would be a stranger place.

Introduction of handmade vegetable musical instruments
Heita3 takes playing with food to the next level.

Jeffrey Lewis - A History of Rough Trade Records
24 Hour Party People this is not. But it does a fine job of telling the long, strange story of Rough Trade Records using the most rudimentary of materials – more proof that it's the thought that counts.

Kutiman/Thru-you - Mother of All Funk Chords
Kutiman's "Thru You" creations unite YouTube musicians, as you probably know by now, but this still works as well as it did the first time we saw it.

Mistabishi - Printer Jam
Objects + patience = music.

Shugo Tokumaru - Green Rain
Here, Shugo Tokumaru proves that Cornelius wasn't a fluke.

Sleeveface
Remember sleeveface? No? This was sleeveface.

Time Machine, "The Groove That Just Won't Stop"
Still photography meets epilepsy on the dancefloor.

Timbuktu - Lika Barn Avvika Bäst Del 2
Whatever this Swedish guy is rapping about, he's onto something.

YouTube Mosaic Video
This innocent-looking video is actually a navigation interface for 1.4 million YouTube pages.

Unsigned Favorites

Conversations With Dead People (Original)
Flannery told us that one of the biggest trends on YouTube music-wise is the continuing rise of the singer/songwriter, possibly due to the uncomplicated production demands (you just point and shoot).

Embarcadero Blues by Goh Nakamura
San Francisco: where the meter maid can make off with your entire paycheck.

Interlude:Slidy- PROJECT Trio -Greg Pattillo, Eric Stephenson, Peter Seymour
If you've never seen someone beatbox into a flute before, this is what you've been missing.

Maybe I Will, Julia Nunes (me)
The appearance of a second ukulele player on this list suggests that musicians who want YouTube promotion might want to consider taking up the instrument.

Mario Kart Love Song (Original)
How does he love Mario Kart? Let him count the ways.

Pomplamoose VideoSong - Pas Encore
They make it look far too easy.

Lou song (Covoriginal :)
This composition combines four songs and zero (somehow) lawsuits.

"Winter" with marbledrops
A true YouTube original, this whimsical ditty is comprised of a beat by one user, lyrics and melody by another.

W. #15 - Tommy Wallach - Elodie
Ingenious.