Art in the Age of Digital Ubiquity

February 5, 2008 12:14 AM

I was going to share the many amazing videos that StSanders has uploaded to youtube featuring guitar gods like Van Halen and Santana shredding, since they have inexplicably only received scant mention on mefi so far. But StSanders' account has been suspended all all videos have been removed!

So in the meantime the best I can offer is the work of John Michael Boling and Javier Morales. They are video artists whose hypnotizing and nostalgic and work can be seen at 53 o's. For those of you who didn't hover over that hyperlink, the website is http://www.gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooogle.com/.

posted by billtron (38 comments total)

*and all

*nostalgic work

:(
posted by billtron at 12:15 AM on February 5

writing out the name of that website breaks the fuck out of the front page on the teeny tiny screen of my Eee. Perhaps someone can move it inside. Someone named cortex.
posted by dersins at 12:25 AM on February 5

...since they have inexplicably only received scant mention on mefi so far.

orly?
posted by ODiV at 12:28 AM on February 5

Ah! I knew the shreds were here somewhere. They must have been hiding.
posted by billtron at 12:29 AM on February 5

And now they're gone. Hopefully there's a backup somewhere because they were truly great and hilarious.
posted by ODiV at 12:32 AM on February 5

SRSLY. Page broken. I thought MeFi was having trouble loading because there weren't any other posts on the page.
posted by Parannoyed at 12:37 AM on February 5

Hopefully there's a backup somewhere

I got some bad news for you. Dude mastered to youtube.com. Those Dutch nl.youtube.com links WERE his backups. So much for off-site storage-- keeping them on a whole 'nother continent didn't help a bit.
posted by dersins at 12:38 AM on February 5

...keeping them on a whole 'nother continent didn't help a bit.

Gaddam continents. They'll fuck you up every time. I wanna go live in the ocean.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:41 AM on February 5

I suspect the people in the "Hypnotizing" video eat Wonder Bread, subscribe to Reader's Digest, enjoy Norman Rockwell paintings, and laugh at the Family Circus.
posted by Tube at 12:42 AM on February 5

Yes, I realize that StSanders no doubt has his own copies.

I meant some web accessible backups for my enjoyment. That's what this Internet thing is all about right? :)
posted by ODiV at 12:43 AM on February 5

orly?

yarly
posted by nasreddin at 1:02 AM on February 5 [2 favorites]

Fucking epilepsy here I come.
posted by strawberryviagra at 3:38 AM on February 5

Here's his website, which should (hopefully) get some info up soon about the whole thing.
posted by flatluigi at 3:56 AM on February 5

In the meantime, a reunited Black Sabbath tears through The Wizard live on stage.
posted by The Straightener at 5:10 AM on February 5

What? They're GONE??
Good thing I've watched each of them nine hundred times.
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 5:52 AM on February 5 [1 favorite]

Funny, I spent some of last weekend watching shred videos; namely Eric Johnson, playing Cliffs of Dover, and a kid playing in his bedroom, giving it a good shot. Then there's the unbelieveable Michael Angelo Batio. And of course the workhorses, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai (playing with Frank Zappa, Zappa was no slouch btw).

As a classical guitarist I envy the speed that these guys work with. Problem is, until the 1970s or 80s, rock guitar performers had not attained this degree of expertise (in the jazz world you had Tal Farlow, Howard Roberts (no video), Herb Ellis among the stellar few who had reached an outstanding technical mastery). But back to the shredders; the playing at these tempos is so astonishing you don't know how to measure it; you don't really know what you are hearing; yes, it's fast, yes it is rare but is it therefore good? I would say "yes" even though my opinion doesn't matter a whit. In these accomplished players hands, though, the electric guitar becomes a different instrument: chords go out the window, as does any real counter-point; the guitar becomes a single note leading instrument like the sax or clarinet or violin. Fascinating to see/hear though.
posted by Dex Quire at 7:58 AM on February 5 [1 favorite]

WHOOSH!
posted by Horken Bazooka at 8:09 AM on February 5 [1 favorite]

They're not on Youtube anymore?? All of them or is it just Malmsteen??? Oh man, the one with Santana, particularly the guy with the snare drums and the keyboardist doot-doot-doot-ing The Final Countdown, had me crying.
posted by kkokkodalk at 9:04 AM on February 5 [1 favorite]

WHOOSH!

I'll say. Dex Quire, I regret to inform you that you've really missed the boat here.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:19 AM on February 5

HEART KILLING THE SHIT OUT OF BARRACUDA.
posted by The Straightener at 9:28 AM on February 5

Lame. Good riddance. And I'm not a fan of any of those bands or the original music, by the way.
posted by Jay Reimenschneider at 9:39 AM on February 5

Brown acid?
posted by The Straightener at 9:48 AM on February 5 [1 favorite]

Here's the Santana one.

Looking forward to your thoughts, Dex.
posted by ODiV at 9:50 AM on February 5

Also, StSanders' Myspace page and StSanders on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
posted by ODiV at 9:58 AM on February 5

Yay Legion of Rock Stars!
posted by billtron at 10:07 AM on February 5

ODiv,

OK, Whoosh! is right - the joke's on me...sheisse! Hope everyone is having a good laugh on me into their Starbucks cup...I'm still getting used to the wicked wicked wicked Metafilter sense of humor...

I love the audience applause track threaded on these videos - hilarious...
DQ
posted by Dex Quire at 10:53 AM on February 5

Well to be fair, it's impossible to know what we're talking about when the original clips are unavailable. Welcome to mefi!
posted by ODiV at 2:00 PM on February 5

Are 53 o's the same guys behind 60x1.com?

Regardless, some fun stuff. I only wish I could play Photoshop Asteroids.
posted by mrgrimm at 2:21 PM on February 5

And no offense to the 2nd-gen Legion of Rock Stars and followers, but you'll have to do much better to come close to StSanders stuff.

I just rewatched the Santana one and was laughing all over again. I'm sure millions have saved these.
posted by mrgrimm at 2:25 PM on February 5

StSanders is (was? *sniff*) funny, but nothing tops Legion of Rockstars' "Mother" video. . .
posted by flotson at 11:27 PM on February 5

Dex Quire writes "playing with Frank Zappa, Zappa was no slouch btw"

Vai transcribed Frank Zappa's "The Black Page" (featuring Terry fucking Bozzio on drums) and mailed it to him, which is how he got hired. Zappa then had him transcribe a number of guitar solos, which he later published as "The Frank Zappa Guitar Book." In the forward, Zappa wrote something to the effect that anyone who even wanted to transcribe his solos was crazy, but he found a guy who could do it and somehow enjoyed it.
posted by krinklyfig at 4:37 PM on February 6

StSander's myspace videos
posted by billtron at 8:42 AM on February 7 [2 favorites]

Wired's posted the videos on one of their blogs.
posted by Pronoiac at 5:54 PM on February 10

Future searchers may want to know that St. Sander's real name is Santeri Ojala, so that they don't mistakenly post a double about this phenomenon and look kind of dumb. Also, here's an interview Ojala did with Guitar Player magazine.
posted by whir at 1:06 AM on February 12

whir, I know that this post was practically a double, but did you really mean to say I look dumb?
posted by billtron at 7:15 PM on February 12

billtron: whir's beating himself up over posting a dupe.
posted by Pronoiac at 7:25 PM on February 12

Pronoiac, thanks for clearing that up. And just for you, I added some more tags.
posted by billtron at 8:56 PM on February 12

Er, yeah, no offense intended. Sorry for the obscurantism.
posted by whir at 9:46 PM on February 12