5 Videos I Watch Once a Year

I know it sounds clickbaity, but with Rdio going away, I need to get my playlisting fix, so I made a playlist out of the videos I keep going back to. You can watch the whole thing on YouTube and subscribe for future updates or go one by one here.

theyshootmusic: Sweet Sweet Moon Plays Daniel Johnston’s “Devil Town” [5:17]

The original version of this song is absolutely haunting and intense — the story of Daniel Johnston is an interesting one that you should also look into — and this beautifully shot performance renders it in a strangely soothing way.

James Murphy Interviewed by Swedish TV Show [9:15]

If you’re between the ages of 25 and 50, this may be the most important 10 minutes of your year. James Murphy covers topics like growing up a “smart kid,” dealing with failure, ownership and creativity, and genuinely engaging in culture.

Kenny Werner’s Masterclass on Developing Skills, Being Creative, and Focused Practice vs. Play [1:25:26]

The original audience for this talk was all music students, but I think everyone stands to benefit from a couple of his main points:

• Play is loving what you create without question, because when something good is coming out, that questioning will break the flow.
• Practice is a routine of focused training on a single skill. For best results, deeply internalize a skill before moving on to the next.
• Both of these things are skills and both involve training your mind to extend the endurance of two very specific types of focus.

Fr. Martin Laird : Out of Silence Something is Born That Leads to Silence Itself [1:47:45]

Where Kenny Werner is practical and forthright, Friar Martin Laird has incredible depth to his approach. He gathers the wisdom of many generations of spiritual thinkers on the meaning and power of contemplation, and presents a rich picture of what it means to

35 Faceballs in 32 Seconds [0:35]

My love for this video predates YouTube. America’s Funniest Home Videos puts on a clinic in physical gag compilations. It’s a tight 35 seconds with title card, the pacing is perfect, the escalation is clean, clip selection is on point, really the only thing not to love is the image quality.