We Carry On

My friend Maura found this archive of Manila-produced karaoke videos on YouTube: It features more than 150 songs, most of which contain stock imagery and low-fi keyboard arrangements (as a result, a lot of the vocal lines sound like pan flutes). The biggest surprise is that these seem to have been produced recently, as there are clips from such artists as Corrine Bailey Rae, Ne-Yo and Paris Hilton; considering how few companies even bother to include footage in their karaoke videos nowadays, the inclusion of so many recent tracks qualifies this as a mini-goldmine.

The highlight of the whole batch is this take on My Chemical Romance's "Welcome To The Black Parade," which pairs the song brooding lyrics with shots of floating swans, surfers and a fashion-show catwalk. I honestly can't tell if this is intended to be ironic—in fact, I hope it's not, as that would take away some of the charm:

YOUTUBE: KARAOKE - My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade