Crazy Loop

Swedish record label Armada Music  was founded in 2003 by Armin van Buuren and specializes in 'trance.' Their following on You Tube is HUGE, in the millions of viewers. Closely related to the Armada Music videos, as You Tube helpfully points out, are a whole slew of *other* videos by Top Music Mix, which I'd like to link to or explain, but I really have no idea how it all works or what it is precisely.

Unfortunately, most of the videos by both entities have been disabled to prevent embedding. Which is a total shame because the videos are all well-produced, if a little holographically hollow in the same way MJ's You Are Not Alone or the Amnesty International videos are. And they all have an enthusiastic innocence that hearkens back to what videos used to be like maybe 20 years ago; glossy,sexist but inherently fun and cheesy in a way only world music can be.

For whatever reason there was some kind of golden age in Top Music and Armada videos that occurred between March and October of 2008. This one is my favorite:

Rio is so life-affirming, how can anyone resist this? (3 million viewers agree!) He's some sort of messianic figure, possibly created by Bacardi that bestows benevolence and luck on turtles and beach partygoers, but for some reason saves his wrath for fishermen.

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No really, my favorite is this one by Crazy Loop called Johanna Shut Up, that features giant dolls come to life and the obligatory frustrated parents trying to beat down bedroom doors as well as the refrain "Why don't you kill me and then shut up?" Which seems to be a little bit beside the point to me.

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And I wish I could post this one, Shaun Baker featuring Maloy Hey Hi Hello because I love the lyrics, "Don't give up, don't choose submit. Sh-t on it!" and the part about the stars being "irregular."

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Armada star Dash Berlin's Till the Sky Falls Down, over 1 million hits. Lots of skygazing.

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Here's one by the CEO himself, handsome Gabriel Macht lookalike Armin van Buuren (featuring Sharon den Adel)...20 Million views!
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Armin Van Buuren featuring Sharon den Adel: In and Out of Love.mp3

Rio: Shine On (Sample only).mp3

Shaun Baker Featuring Maloy: Hey Hi Hello Alex C. Club remix.mp3