The Internet is Awesome 25 - Year End Extravaganza!

It's my last post of the year! And as such, I decided to make it almost twice as long! No special reason, except that I still have a ton of videos saved that I need to use in posts. :p

Let's start off this final post with another Hollens Disney song. They are just magical together. :)



Leave it to Kurt Hugo Schneider and Kina Grannis to come up with something like this. I already loved this song, but this unique spin on it is just so good.



This next video is an utterly amazing rendition of Danny Elfman's Spiderman theme done spectacularly by Lindsey Stirling and Lang Lang. It is so incredible. It makes me nostalgic for the days when we actually had memorable themes and scores in movies.



I have a bit of a confession. I have never really liked the song Danny Boy. I've always thought it was way too schmaltzy, and even years ago when my favorite artists like Charlotte Church or Celtic Woman covered it, I just wasn't that impressed. I don't think it's a bad song, I just never cared for it. I actually cared so little for it that when Peter Hollens announced he was starting an email newsletter and giving away an exclusive track to anyone who subscribed, I was so disappointed and actually did not subscribe when I found out that it was Danny Boy. Then he released a video. I couldn't believe it. For the first time in my life, I LOVED a version of Danny Boy. How foolish I had been. I immediately went and signed up for his newsletter to get the track. :p



Pentatonix's Scott Hoying and Mitch Grasi, who have been best friends since they were little kids, have had their own YouTube channel for years now, Superfruit, on which they normally post vlogs and challenge videos, but lately they've been putting out some great stuff, including this cover of a Katy Perry song. Hopefully they keep this up! As entertaining as they can be when they aren't busy as part of Pentatonix, they are at their best when they are singing.



Recently there was a Disney movie called The Queen of Katwe released in theaters. It is about a girl from Africa who becomes a chess champion. It sounded really unique, and I wanted to go see it, but I pretty much never have time to go to the theater. However, Disney released a song from the movie on their Vevo channel, and it is amazing. I was tempted to buy the soundtrack based on this song alone. I didn't, because I like to see movies before I start buying their merchandise, but still, how great is this song!? Now I need to see this movie!



A couple months ago I discovered a British show called Yonderland. It is about a 30-something mother of two that gets sucked into a portal in her pantry to a magical land where she has to fight monsters and save the world. And also it's full of songs and puppets. It's like they made it for me. :p This song was one of the best parts of the show.



Pogo has been one of my absolute favorite electronic remix artists for years, and this video is everything I love about him.



I heart Tessa Violet.



I love it when my favorite things collide into one giant mashup of awesome! Twenty One Pilots, Kurt Hugo Schneider, and VoicePlay!



This song is literally everywhere, but thankfully everyone seems to put a new spin on it, and the Piano Guys are no exception. :)



Technically Pentatonix did this song for their new Christmas album, but I've never thought of this song as a Christmas song, so it didn't go in my Christmas post. Either way, they killed it. :)



Everything that Bad Lip Reading does is incredibly stupid. But for some reason I can't help but love it anyway. This song was one of my favorite things they have done in ages. It's so dumb, but so catchy. Also, I almost died laughing at "That log had a child!"



We'll end this with another amazing video from Lindsey Stirling. And she's themed it around Alice in Wonderland. This video is everything! :D

TIIA 20 (The Internet is Awesome)

Everyone stop what you're doing! Pentatonix just collaborated with Dolly Parton! I never knew how much I needed this! This is amazing!



Lindsey Stirling just released a new album last month and every song is amazing. It follows then that the videos for those songs should also be amazing. And they are.



Postmodern Jukebox has a habit of taking a song that could get old because it's so popular and literally everywhere, and putting a fresh new spin on it that makes it completely different. Case in point: A bluegrass cover of Major Lazer and Justin Bieber's Cold Water.



This new song by Tessa Violet is so good, but I can barely focus on it because the music video is just so amazing!



And now, for something completely different. I'm not even going to tell you what this is, you just need to experience it.



This song is blowing up this year, and I am really enjoying it! The best part about a song getting so popular, is that everyone wants to cover it! Like Kina Grannis!



And Sam Tsui and Kurt Hugo Scheider!



We'll end this with another amazing Peter Hollens video, a medley of The Sound of Music with Shay Carl and his family.

TIIA 18 (The Internet is Awesome)

Let's start this off with a wonderfully weird video from Karmin. I LOVE this take on Pure Imagination!



Next up is a video from Ellen. She recently had Adele on her show and together they pulled off one of the funniest pranks I've ever watched. This is just one more reason that Ellen is one of my favorite people. :p



Sia is currently one of my favorite mainstream artists. She has such a unique voice, she writes all her own songs and music, and her videos and performances are all completely unique. Like this performance of Cheap Thrills, my favorite song from her latest album.



As I've said before, PBS was a huge part of my childhood, and one of the shows that was such a big part of my life back then was The Joy of Painting, with Bob Ross. So this video about him by Mental Floss was really interesting to me.



I love how two (or more) artists can take one song and go in two completely different directions with it. Example: Megan Trainor recently released her song, No, And Pentatonix did an amazing cover of it!



But then Nataly Dawn and Kina Grannis took it and did something completely different with it.



And then Kurt Hugo Schneider and Sam Tsui took it and put their own ridiculous spin on it as well!



Peter Hollens is always amazing, but some of his best work is when he does music from and inspired by the Lord of the Rings series. Like this video for Misty Mountains.



And we'll end with a video from Peter's wife, Evynne. She recently finished a video that she's been working on for ages, and I think it was worth the wait. :)

More Music!

I've decided that these music video posts will be called More Music. Until I don't like that name anymore. The name change was a split second decision like 2 seconds ago. Sometimes I can be fickle.

Behold the worst Owl City music video ever. That's not to say it's bad. As it is an Owl City song, there is no way that it could ever be bad by default. That's just impossible. But it can be not as good as any other Owl City music video. And it is. It is not as good as any other Owl City music video ever.



I love the song, I just don't like the video. Literally the only part that I liked was the female wolves dancing. And the music. I love the music. Also, if there were any illuminati symbols mixed into those flashing pictures, I'd love that too. I love it when people do that kind of thing. Freak out the paranoid conspiracy theorists watching. If I ever make anything like that, I'll cram it full of so many symbols it'll be flagged by all manner of tin-foil hat society.

Anywho... Now that we've had one not-so-good Owl City video, here's an AWESOME one to make up for it.
BEHOLD: Owl City and Lindsey Stirling! My universes have collided, and it is a Beautiful Time!



It has such a great "Fireflies" vibe. I love this so much!

Next, Pentatonix. I want to call them amazing, but that word doesn't seem to be quite enough.



I love everything about this video. The singing/music, the lighting, the makeup and costumes, this video is halfway to perfection.

The song in this next video has quickly become one of my favorite songs. It is by the incomparable ShmoYoHo, aka the Gregory Brothers. I would suggest watching just the first three minutes of it though. After three minutes, the song is over, and it get's weird and awkward, and not it a funny way. And this is coming for someone who loved weird situations.



It could have been funny, but it was like... Not. I know you'll watch it anyway, because no one ever obeys warnings to not watch something, but at the very end you'll be like, "Why didn't I listen? I feel like I need to scrub the icky off myself with a baby wipe."

Rhett and Link recently came out with an awesome new song. I bought this for my iPod, and I have listened to it to death.



I have had, and sometimes still have, occasional OCD-like symptoms, so I felt most of this video. At least until it got ridiculous.

Here's another song from Kina Granis' new album.



This is my favorite song on the album. I love it.

Next is a song by a new band called The Madden Brothers. I had never heard of them, (Because they haven't even released one album yet) but they were featured on an episode of YouTube Nation, and I went to check them out. This is the only song on their channel so far, but I loved it, and if it is any indication of things to come, I'll be a big fan.



Once the choir came in I was done. Subscribed immediately.

Last, we have, for the first time in AGES, a new OK Go video. Bathe your eyes in the glory.



They have a new album coming out this fall, and I can't wait!

Music Mix

I was getting tired of the old "Video Blitz" title. I'm not even sure why I chose that word anyway. Blitz. It means attack. Was I attacking you with videos? Sometimes I wonder about me...

Anyway, I'm changing it. I'll have to think of something else if I want to share videos besides music, but since that's almost everything I share, I figured this would do for now.

First up, Peter Hollens and his wife Evynne, just released a Phantom of the Opera Medley, and it is SO good.



I have loved the music of the Phantom of the Opera since I first saw it, and this is one of the best covers I've ever heard.

Next we have Lindsey Stirling. She just released a new album, and this is the title song. It's her first foray into lyrical songwriting, and it is a great start! Plus, Lzzy Hale's voice is amazing! And no, Lzzy is not a misspelling. I looked it up to make sure.



The other day she also released an orchestral version of the song. It's just as amazing as the original.



I hope that someday she'll do a whole album of orchestral versions. I love all her dubstep and dance stuff, but these orchestral versions are awesome as well.

Next up is Dear River, from Kina Grannis's new album.



It is kind of strange, with an odd ending, like, what, did they get turned into children? Whatever. I like oddness, and the song is great. :)

Speaking of odd, here is my latest find, World Order, a male J-Pop group.



It's Japan, so weird is almost a given. I love it. I have all their albums. This song isn't on any of them though, which is a shame, because it's one of my favorites. BTW, the girl group they go see is another J-Pop group, AKB48, in case anyone cares. :)

Next is Ariana Grande's latest single, "Problem."



I am usually not all that into "Mainstream Music," but there is something about Ariana's voice that is just hypnotizing. I can't wait for her next album.

I'll end with another of Peter Hollens' videos. It's a year old, but I just found it, and I can't believe I'd never seen it before. I love it!

Video Blitz: Safe and Sound

I thought about putting one of these in the last compilation, but I decided to wait and just do one post with all four videos. This is Capital Cities' Safe and Sound, covered by Kurt Hugo Schneider, Kina Grannis, MAX, and Zendaya. I was thrilled to see Zendaya collaborating with well known YouTubers. It just goes to show that the lines between traditional artists and YouTubers are blurring.

At first glance it appears that this is the same video four times, but there are slight variations in camerawork, choreography and arrangements. I've listed to them all over and over, and I can't decide which one I like best.

Each artist released their own version on their own channel.

First up is Kurt's. Though he barely sings at all in his version.



Then Kina's.



Then Zendaya's.



And finally MAX's.

Video Blitz 6

First up, Lindsey Sirling has a new album coming out, and this is the first single!



It's amazing! I can't wait for the whole album!

Next up, in case you're not totally sick of Frozen covers, this is an amazing version of Let it go, by Alex Boye.



I had avoided posting covers from this movie on my blog, since there were just SO many, but this one was too good not to share. It's a completely original take, rather than a straight cover like most of the rest.

Next, we have Karmin, one of my relatively new favorite groups, covering their own song, Acapella, with Mike Tomkins, and actually doing it in acapella.



I may like this version better than the original. I wish I could buy this one!

Next up, is another travel video from Devin Graham, featuring Dubai.



This place looks amazing. Dubai definitely went on my bucket list after I saw this video.

Last but not least, here is a Peter Hollens video, this time a collaboration with Kina Grannis.



As a bonus, I'm including an old Kina Grannis video that is so amazing, it deserves to be seen again.