Ken Kellar
You’ve likely run into this situation already: You’re at home on quarantine or self-isolation orders. Try as you might, Netflix and Disney+ just aren’t cutting it today (or you’ve already exhausted everything there is to watch, we’re not here to judge), and you’ve done everything there is to do on your daily Animal Crossing task list. You’ve turned to YouTube, but your go-to channels aren’t releasing new material as quickly as you want them to.
What’s a homebound person to do?
The answer is to look for something new! As YouTube remains one of the most accessible and varied places on the internet for user created content across a wide range of skills, interests, subjects and production quality, we’ve put together a series of lists of some bigger and lesser known channels to check out while in self-isolation. Over the next few weeks we’ll try to cover a wide range of topics and video presentation styles. Some of these channels will introduce you to new hobbies, increase your skill levels in others, broaden your knowledge of different subjects, or just keep you entertained in the comforts of your own home.
Music
This week it’s all about music. Rather than sharing channels for specific mainstream artists, these are suggestions for individuals or groups who might be doing things a little differently, or taking viewers on a ride through popular songs in order to make them think about them in a way they might never have considered. These videos are interesting, entertaining and educational, and sometimes they’re all three at once!
Polyphonic
Video essays have become one of the most prevalent content formats on YouTube, mixing content, style and creativity with high levels of production quality.
Polyphonic is one such video essay series, where Ottawa-based creator Noah Lefevre takes viewers on a fascinating journey through some of pop-culture’s most enduring hits. Lefevre’s videos include such diverse topics as relating the hero’s journey myth to the lyrics of Led Zeppelin’s iconic ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ examining the power and precision of Freddie Mercury’s voice, and discussing how popular artists like Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift helped define music in the 2010’s.
Polyphonic isn’t as music theory heavy as other content creators, but the channel expertly weaves all of the different levels of a song into a compelling and thoughtful narrative that digs deep into some of our favourite music.
12tone
Moving away from Polyphonic discussing the complicated mythology of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rhiannon,’ to a channel that’s more interested in the nuts and bolts of music composition, 12tone is a music series that takes a theory-heavy approach to popular music.
While the content might be a little bit more niche, it’s a fascinating series that dives deep into how music works on a technical level. It’s a little bit like examining a Beethoven sonata, but instead it examines songs from artists like The Beatles, Nirvana and Leonard Cohen.
12tone also does an excellent series of music theory basics, allowing viewers to come to grips with concepts like intervals, keys and chord structure. Each of the videos is bite-sized, but filled to the brim with information, and even if you never studied music theory in school, 12tone is an excellent place to learn about why the chord progression in the Eagles’ ‘Hotel California’ is so mesmerizing.
Potmodern Jukebox
Have you ever wondered what your favourite song might have sounded like if it was written and recorded in a completely different era? Wonder no more as Postmodern Jukebox takes that concept to execution, transforming popular hits into classics of a bygone era. What if ‘Africa’ was recorded in the 50’s? What if ‘Dancing Queen’ was a hot jazz song form the 1920’s? What if the Beach Boys had recorded ‘Barbie Girl’? You’ll hear these delightful experiments and more from Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox.
Since the channel began in 2008, it has racked up nearly 1.5-billion views across nearly 400 videos on YouTube, meaning it’s almost guaranteed you’ll find a video from an artist you admire done in a style that you might never have heard of before. What’s more impressive is that all of these mashups work so well, you’d never have known that Nine Inch Nail’s ‘Closer’ wasn’t originally written as a 70’s Funk song.
When self-isolation measures are finally ended, you may even be able to catch them on tour, as Postmodern Jukebox plays cities around the world, from Iowa to Indonesia and pretty much everywhere in between.
