A perennial HN recommendation, brought up whenever sampling, copyright or music history comes up, often described as a must-watch.
Topics › Arts, Comedy, Music & Film
The best music performance & songs videos, according to Hacker News
238 videos about music performance & songs that Hacker News commenters keep pointing each other to, ranked by how many separate months they were recommended. Part of Arts, Comedy, Music & Film.
HN recommends it as a funny, accurate and easy primer on Keynesian versus Austrian views of the business cycle.
It comes up whenever threads touch on fake languages, accents, or gibberish that sounds plausible, and commenters like sharing it with people who haven't heard it.
Commenters repeatedly call it a favorite and a mind-blowing introduction to jazz.
HN recommends it, often emotionally, as an auditory depiction of memory loss, in threads about dementia and aging.
Recommended in coding-music threads as lyric-free, repetitive music that aids focus.
HN points to it as an example of ambitious, practical-effects creativity in music videos, made without CGI.
HN shares it whenever Zork or text adventures come up, as a fun tribute for geeks.
HN commenters point to it as a showcase of astonishing drumming and music that gives chills.
HN commenters repeatedly recommend it as a surprisingly good cover that brings out the contempt in the lyrics.
Recommended as a well-produced, accessible explanation of Giant Steps and the harmonic ideas behind Coltrane's work.
Commenters recommend it for the sense of wonder and chills it gives, and bring it up in threads about Bowie, space and astronauts.
Commenters recommend it as a creative music video shot entirely in zero gravity, citing it in threads about parabolic flights and space.
HN commenters bring it up in threads about the internet, attention economy and smartphones, mostly as a favorite, with a few dissenters.
HN commenters share it as a favorite audiovisual experience, with some calling the sync the best thing they have seen.
Posted as timeless, comforting life advice in threads about careers, aging, and uncertainty.
HN recommends it as a striking visual breakdown of how the song was constructed.
HN holds it up as a model of interview preparation, where thorough research on the guest impresses the interviewee.
Used as an example of prototyping music and, in a Copilot copyright thread, of a handmade reconstruction that sounds like the original.
HN people recommend it as the work of an unusually creative artist-engineer whose whole channel is worth exploring.
HN shares it as a fun, cheerful introduction to Lisp culture that people say they rewatch.
HN commenters hold it up as the greatest video game song, evoking wonder and pride in humanity.
HN recommends it as an engaging look at how an organ works as a whole orchestra, in threads about organs and live-coding them.
HN commenters recommend Snarky Puppy as proof that vibrant, progressive modern jazz is being made today.
Recommended as an expressive performance on a historically significant organ with good videography.
HN commenters recommend it as a catchy, accurate piece of science edutainment, and admire its footnote practice.
HN recommends it as an accessible explanation of rhyme craft that works even for people who aren't hip hop fans.
HN commenters recommend it as a favorite synthwave album, good for programming and long drives.
Cited as the prime example of what clever programming can do with a 1-bit audio output.
HN brings it up whenever curriculum fads or Common Core complaints appear, as a funny precedent from the 1960s.
Recommended in Sesame Street and children's TV threads as a favorite example of the show's funkier past.
HN commenters point to it as an impressive showpiece of the demoscene and a nostalgic career retrospective of a legendary group.
HN commenters hold it up as one of the greatest cover versions ever, so powerful that Trent Reznor said the song was no longer his.
HN users share it as a delightful example of people making real music from obsolete electronics and self-built instruments.
HN commenters suggest it as atmospheric, near-ambient music for programming and focus.
Offered as an example of live-coded music and a fun entry point to Sonic Pi.
Commenters name it among their favourite Cohen songs, especially in threads after his death.
Brought up in threads about chord progressions and musical copyright as the funny canonical version of the idea.
HN people recommend it as the most impressive demonstration of live coding music, especially to those curious about programmable music.
HN quotes it constantly, mostly as a joke or reference, whenever rocketry, engineers' ethics or skill-versus-morality comes up.
Recommended as powerful soundtrack music, including for listening while coding.
Recommended as an accessible entry to Satie and calm ambient classical music, and mentioned as a famous influence on game soundtracks.
HN points to it in threads on black MIDI and player pianos as a look at an artist writing tuneful music beyond human playability.
Commenters recommend it as an artist's informed explanation of streaming economics and why Spotify pays so little compared with alternatives like Bandcamp.
Posted in space-spending threads as a classic critique of priorities, usually with a quip.
Linked in music theory and tuning threads as a listenable example of microtonal guitar that sounds good.
Recommended as a music visualization that makes the structure easier to follow than sheet music.
Fans of Transport Tycoon and OpenTTD point to it as a nostalgic, live-instrument version of the game's music.
HN recommends it as the canonical talking-piano example, uncanny and impressive once you read the captions.
HN commenters use it as the canonical demonstration that popular songs reuse one chord progression, especially in threads on music analysis and AI-generated music.
HN recommends it as a showcase of what the demoscene can do, with high-res antialiased vector graphics and motion blur.
Pointed to in tuning and temperament threads as an audible demonstration of how meantone differs from equal temperament.
HN points to it as a demonstration of the OP-1, a well-designed instrument and an accessible way to start making music.
Mentioned as an example of Sesame Street respecting children's intelligence and as an early gateway to modern classical music.
HN recommends it as an inspiring interview about passion, minimalism and deliberately imposing restrictions on creative work.
HN recommends it as an energizing space-themed song, and references it when Apollo go/no-go calls come up.
HN points to it as a memorable performance that doubles as a parody of TED talks and a showcase of live vocal looping.
Posted whenever Lehrer comes up, as the best way to see him perform, and treated as a complete stand-up-style set.
HN points to it as the canonical example of extreme audio stretching making pop music into something entirely different and relaxing.
HN commenters point the uninitiated to it as a beloved parody series, often in threads that mention yacht rock.
HN commenters recommend it as a showcase of remarkable sight-reading and a favorite when sight-reading or notation comes up.
HN points to it as an explanation of how Max Martin builds hit songs.
HN people recommend it as a great live KEXP session with standout guitar work and good sound.
Recommended as a showcase of Collier's harmonic and microtonal skill.
HN shares it as a delightful demo of the pentatonic scale's near-universal appeal and of a crowd syncing without instruction.
Recommended in threads on rap vocabulary and rhyme generation as a clear visual explanation of Eminem's rhyming technique.
Shared as an example of Artemyev, called the Russian Vangelis, and of great Soviet electronic film music.
Cited in threads about taste and terrible music as a famously engineered 'worst song', mostly for its curiosity value.
HN recommends it as a showcase of what skilled demoscene programmers can squeeze out of extremely limited hardware.
The go-to reference in threads on chord progressions, pop music similarity and music copyright.
Cited as a landmark looping music video, a reference point for creative video and editing tricks.
HN uses it as the go-to demonstration of the loudness war and what over-compressed mastering does to music.
Shared as a quick audible demonstration of the errors that equal temperament introduces compared with pure intervals.
Recommended as a definitive Gould interpretation whose playing makes Bach's counterpoint clear.
HN mentions it as a favorite ambient track and as a nicely edited tribute to Kittinger's jump.
HN commenters cite it as a favorite Lehrer song and invoke it as a joke whenever elements or science-themed wordplay come up.
Recommended as the best-known and most famous recording of the Goldberg Variations.
Resurfaces in threads on startups, valuations and hype cycles as a funny, prescient bubble satire.
HN treats it as the canonical example of a Rube Goldberg style musical instrument and a work of love, and references it in threads on unconventional instruments and machines.
HN cites it in arguments about the force of words, including the long debates over the GIMP name and username filtering.
Recommended as an example of inventive, physical-effects music video making, with the car as an instrument.
HN uses it to show that Lady Gaga is a genuinely skilled musician and writer of her own songs.
HN recommends it to fans of ancient music as a rare chance to hear an attempt at 4,000-year-old song.
HN uses it as an example of radically different musical notation and as a favorite, if challenging, modernist piece that anticipates sounds like the THX Deep Note.
HN points to it as an example of algorithmic, reactive live music that blends programming with jazz performance.
Offered as an entry point into Aphex Twin and IDM, and as a striking audiovisual piece in demoscene and neural-net visual discussions.
HN recommends it in threads about sheep-counting systems as the famous song that explains them.
HN brings it up whenever thermodynamics or entropy comes up, as the classic comic explanation of the laws.
Treated as a favorite hack and a go-to example in threads about machines playing music.
Used as an example in music theory and tuning discussions of continuous-pitch thinking beyond equal temperament.
Cited as an inspiring example of quickly picking up a new piece by ear and of expertise transferring across genres.
HN people point to it as a slowed-down song that sounds more plaintive and haunting.
HN mentions it as an enjoyable science parody song, one of a set of A Capella Science videos.
HN quotes it in discussions of engineers' moral responsibility and recommends it as a favorite of Lehrer's witty songs.
HN mentions it as a favorite documentary scene and as a reference for the Pruitt-Igoe demolition.
HN links it mostly for the glimpse of Cook's studio and his decades-old Atari ST, and as an example of a sample-based track.
Offered as an entry point to Bach's cello suites, which HN commenters praise for evoking rich harmony from a single line.
Praised as a standout example of kinetic typography that holds attention, and known as the earlier work that led to the animator's Weird Al 'Word Crimes' video.
Mostly cited as an example piece in audio and AI-music discussions, with one commenter urging people to hear the whole sonata, especially the third movement.
Brought up in threads on encryption and quantum cracking as a fitting song about future decryption.
HN quotes it as a prescient take on industry decline and on how young, hip managers can be more conservative than the old guard.
Shared in surveillance and civil-liberties threads as a powerful rap critique of the US.
HN brings it up as the sharpest satire of scientists who serve whoever pays them, and as a favorite Lehrer song.
Shared as a funny programming joke poking at the endless proliferation of web frameworks.
Cited as a famous, pointed example of Bowie challenging MTV's exclusion of black music, in threads on media gatekeeping.
Used in techno-history threads as evidence of Kraftwerk's role in the genre's origins and as an example of original work.
It is the canonical example HN brings up in threads about music hacks on floppy drives, printers and other junk hardware.
HN uses it as a short introduction to Glenn Gould and his distinctive playing.
Cited as an example of the Hagia Sophia acoustic recreation project, where a choir performs with the building's measured impulse response.
Mostly posted as a catchy reference or joke in threads about Istanbul or Constantinople, and as a favorite song.
HN mostly brings it up as a funny, cocky artifact of the Hotz-versus-Sony fight, sometimes with a skeptical eye on how seriously he took the lawsuit.
Cited as the example of turning raid footage into a hit music video, whenever the Afroman lawsuit comes up.
HN uses it as evidence that T-Pain can sing without Auto-Tune, so his sound is an aesthetic choice.
Mostly quoted or linked as a witty example of Lehrer's satire, often as a joke in unrelated threads.
Mostly posted as a joke in threads about corporate-speak, buzzwords and meeting culture.
HN mentions it mostly as a joke or a pop-culture reference, and as the campaign that titles play on.
It is mostly cited as a joke or a wry reference in threads about dubious statistics.
Mentioned as a striking example of sound producing physical effects and a favorite among his videos.
HN brings it up as a catchy example of pop music pushing back on consumerism, in threads about thrifting and spending.
Cited as a short, fun introduction to the phenomenology of music and as an explanation and critique of vaporwave.
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