As alluded to at the close of a previous post, my visit to Buenos Aires resulted in the rediscovery of something I thought was long ago lost. No, not my childlike sense of wonder, but a cable channel devoted entirely to music videos!

Count me among the many who’ve lamented MTV’s move away from the “M” upon which its name was made. But let’s not kid ourselves; the shift is not new news. Once The Real World took off in 1992, music became less and less the focus of MTV programming. So fifteen-plus years on, it seems more than a little silly to continue to complain (though there are plenty of reasons to protest the plague that is The Hills).

Fuse was supposed to be music television’s savior, a cable net created to fill the void, yet it still eats airtime with movies like Caddyshack and early-morning infomercials. So if you happen to be channel surfing in search of music videos these days, you’ll have better luck seeing your favorite artist’s latest epic on the web (where full-screen mode isn’t always available) or buying it sight-mostly-unseen from iTunes. You could check OnDemand, too, but the roster is rarely current or diverse. Such less than optimal options limit the likelihood you’ll stumble upon anything new.

And that’s why BitBox, a music video channel from Argentina’s Telefónica cable company, had me swooning from the moment my hotel-room remote connected to this musical nirvana. The channel airs a wide-ranging mix of rock and pop videos 24/7: Red Hot Chili Peppers; The Raveonettes; Pet Shop Boys; Alanis Morrisette; The Ting Tings; The Communards; The Klaxons; Alice in Chains; Alice Cooper. Sandwiched among familiar artists were plenty I hadn’t heard of, so I was often scribbling down song titles for later reference.

But what I found really cool is that when BitBox ventured down the retro rabbit hole, the channel unexpectedly zigged instead of zagging. Rather than cueing up The Cure’s “Pictures Of You,” for example, “Mint Car” was taken out for a spin. After watching BitBox for a day or so, a pattern of “familiar artist, less expected video” became obvious. From David Bowie’s “Never Let Me Down” and Tears For Fears’ “Advice For The Young At Heart” to The Rolling Stones’ “Undercover Of The Night,” BitBox surprised with left-field selections that hadn’t seen major-league play in years, if not decades, on American shores. The Ramones’ “We Want The Airwaves”? BitBox is a weird, wonderful winner of a channel. Here’s a good representation of a typical trio:

BitBox is markedly different in one very cool way from vintage MTV. There wasn’t a VJ, station ID, or commercial in sight. Just clip after clip after clip. I hungered to discover what makes BitBox tick, but found very little background online, save for a Wikipedia mention and a blog entry or two (all in español and none especially enlightening).

If I could have stowed BitBox in the overhead compartment, I totally would have brought it back with me. That’s how attached I became to my constant in-room companion, which illustrates how much I miss having such an outlet within easy reach. Michael Stipe of R.E.M. may have recently declared the music video a “dead medium,” but I think it’s the dearth of accessible broadcast platforms that’s the real killer.

So until I figure out a way to connect to BitBox here in the States (perhaps via the magic of the Interwebs), I’ve still got a lengthy list of new artists to read up on, listen to, and (hopefully) share here. ¡Viva la música, Argentina!