Awesome Music

We love the juxtaposition of nature and visual effects in director Michał Marczak’s music video for Mark Pritchard’s collaboration with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke. Pritchard’s original instrumental is about loss, contrasted with Yorke’s vocals about love and hope.

A fun medley of tunes from Fleetwood Mac’s classic album Rumours, played on ukulele by musician Eat My Uke. While we miss the vocals, we’re reminded just why this is one of the greatest albums of all time, and must go put it on the turntable right now.

While traveling through Berlin, vocalist EllandM spotted rapper INFIDELIX performing in the subway. She decided to join in and sing along with this awesome improv jam, backed by the beats of Phantogram’s When I’m Small.

Mondo is re-releasing the late Jerry Goldsmith’s intense and avant-garde soundtrack for the original Planet of the Apes film. The vinyls come in purple/black and green/black, as well as limited edition yellow/black variant.

Beat maker Crank Lucas has an ongoing parody series about trends in hip hop across the decades, from its inception in the ’80s until today. Watch his funny take on rap songs that involve drugs. It’s okay though, we gon’ be alright.

For his new Tonight Show segment First Drafts of Rock, Jimmy Fallon is joined by Kevin Bacon to sing what were the original lyrics to Tom Petty’s 1989 hit Free Fallin’, a song about a girl who really, really, really, really, loves horses.

Inventor and musician Jeremy Bell demonstrates the latest version of his musical instrument, a DIY rig that lets him scratch sounds from old magnetic cassette tapes, offering a cool alternative to playing on turntables.

Folk/rock musician Ted Yoder recently turned in an amazing live performance of the Tears for Fears 1985 classic Everybody Wants to Rule the World, played on a hammered dulcimer. His Journey, Kansas and ABBA covers are equally wonderful.

Frankly, we fink Die Antwoord are pretty freeky ourselves, so we can only imagine what our parents or grandparents would make of the provocative South African alt-rap-rave-??? band. Leave it to the Fine Brothers to find out.

(PG-13: Language) 21-year-old Englishman Isaac Gracie got a record deal on the strength of one song, Last Words. And he’s as good as his hype. Here’s the folk singer on the streets of Paris, singing Last Words and Terrified, both on his EP Songs from My Bedroom.

(PG-13 Language) “We wanted to make a positive, life-affirming video that captures politicians at their election-year best. We got this instead.” The music video for DJ Shadow and Run the Jewels‘ collab sums up the childish mudslinging going on in D.C. these days.

Max Fleischer’s 1931 cartoon Bimbo’s Initiation is arguably one of the greatest pieces of animation of all time. Watch this awesome clip, set to a modern instrumental score by Hussalonia and tinged with not too much color, courtesy of editor Craig J. Clark.

When we saw the title of Kuma Films‘ latest video we thought we’d be watching some kids playing Chopsticks on a piano, but instead, we got to hear some truly wonderful music by Sami Elu, made with a cool stringed instrument that’s played with chopsticks as the hammers.

Dee Snider channels Neil Diamond with his acoustic rendition of the Twisted Sister classic, which he sung on behalf of Criss Angel’s cancer charity HELP (Heal Every Life Possible), founded after his 2-year-old was diagnosed with Leukemia. Seriously, Dee, we’ve got chills.

(PG-13: Language) “Said she need a ring like Carmelo, Must be on that white like Othello.” Odd Future’s R&B wizard once again blesses us with his smooth flow. Featuring tons of producers and guest artists including André 3000, Kendrick Lamar and Hudson Mohawke.

A wonderful unplugged cover version of The Cranberries’ 1994 classic Zombie, as performed by musician Vedran Djurasovic, who brings a warmer approach to the track than the grunge sounds of the original.

The consistently captivating Tina S shreds an insane rock rendition of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata (3rd Moverment) on her Vigier electric, her fingers flying across the strings and frets at supersonic speeds. Arrangement by Dr. Viossy.

The Guess Who’s 1970 hit American Woman has lived on for decades, deftly combining an iconic guitar riff with memorable vocals, and quickly becoming an anti-war anthem. But it turns out the song wasn’t carefully planned out, and its creation was entirely serendipitous.

Angelo Baldamenti’s spooky yet comforting score is back on vinyl for the first time in 25 years, courtesy of Mondo. This release features a die-cut outer jacket that complements the David Lynch-approved cover art. Inside are liner notes by Baldamenti and song lyrics.

In her 40s, jazz singer and songwriter René Marie left her day job and her marriage to go pro. But there is no bitterness or righteousness in her work – just smart and smooth music. Watch her perform songs from her album Sound of Red.

The first half of synth band S U R V I V E’s original score for Netflix’s Stranger Things. The album is currently exclusive to iTunes and Apple Music, but a CD will be released on 9/16/16. The second volume’s CD will be released on 9/23/16.

Dam’nco owe more than a small debt of gratitude to Daft Punk (and the entire disco era) for plowing the fields for this kind of music, but that doesn’t make their funk-jazz track with a heaping help of analog synth and talkbox vocals any less awesome.

Judging from the first two singles, Bon Iver’s upcoming album eschews acoustic instruments and lo-fi recordings for digital experiments. But they’re no less melancholic and memorable. The album drops 9/30/16; vinyl and CD copies come with digital download codes.