Awesome Music

The musical Jesus Christ Superstar has some incredible songs and serves as a vocal showcase its lead performer. Some mad genius edited together performances of the song Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say) in which Jesus asks an essential question. Our new question: Why are you dressed like a sheriff, Lin-Manuel Miranda?

For decades, musicians have used talk boxes to combine guitar sounds and their voices into a robotic effect. Dunlop sent harpist Emily Hopkins one of their analog talk boxes and some other effects pedals, and she gave them a whirl to see what kind of sounds she could make. Mostly, it’s just a video of Emily cracking up.

After a 24-year hiatus, UK pop duo Everything But the Girl is back. From the sound of Nothing Left to Lose, they haven’t skipped a beat. The first single from their new album Fuse is a song about love, dedication, and desperation set against a sizzling electronic dance groove.

Eclectic Method is known for his creative music remixes and video edits. Now, he’s started to experiment with AI-generated imagery. In this animated music video, you’ll spot scenes from films like Saturday Night Fever, Dirty Dancing, Pulp Fiction, and Footloose, only with digitally-created characters performing the choreography.

We know from our past encounters with musician Carolina Eyck that she’s one of the world’s greatest theremin players. In this clip, she amps up the pace to that of a buzzing insect with a captivating performance of Flight of the Bumblebee on the gesture-driven electronic instrument.

Musician Davie504 is the self-proclaimed CEO of Bass, and with good reason. But he’s not the only great bass guitar player out there. In the first episode of Does It Slap?, Davie offers up his reviews some of the world’s most talented bass masters.

We’ve been following the work of animator Cyriak for more than a decade. His music video for prog rock band Light’s track Betray makes us of the artist’s surreal, kaleidoscopic collage style to tell a story of murderous mayhem bubbling beneath the surface of 1950s idealism.

Amen, Brother is an obscure B-side from a 1969 record by The Winstons, but it’s also the source for a six-second, 4-bar drum and bass sample which has found its way into literally thousands of hip hop, techno, dance, and pop songs. It’s even in the Futurama theme.

Musician Steve Welsh imagines what it might have sounded like if the album Appetite for Destruction wasn’t just written by Guns N’ Roses, but they shared writing credit with 11 other bands. We can’t decide if Motörhead It’s So Easy or Mr. Brownstone by Oasis is our favorite.

The 1973 Faces song Ooh La La is one of our favorite classic rock tunes, and introduced us to Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood. Musicians Matt Steeves, Ryan Barnett, Jordan Brissette, Gordon Brissette, and Clint Zold performed this excellent cover of the track, with a heaping helping of acoustic guitar and a little country twang.

With hits like White and Nerdy, Amish Paradise, and Like a Surgeon to his name, “Weird Al” Yankovic is considered by many to be the greatest novelty song creator of all time. Al breaks down his most iconic tracks in this GQ interview video, which reveals a far more accurate history of his career than his biopic.

The musical Grease is over 50 years old, if you can believe it. To celebrate the 1970s classic about the 1950s, the Ohio State University Marching Band performed a medley of tracks from the show, including Grease Is the Word, Summer Nights, Greased Lightning, You’re the One That I Want, and We Go Together.

Listen to Lauryn Hill’s track Ex-Factor as you’ve never heard it before. Musician Ronobir Lahiri shows off both his sitar-playing and vocal talents with this impressive and unique cover of the 1998 soul track hailed as one of the greatest breakup songs of all time.

Postmodern Jukebox might be a little late to the party with their cover of Kate Bush’s Running up That Hill, but they really nailed it. With warm and powerful lead vocals by Sweet Megg, they performed this wonderfully interpretation of the track deftly blending western and jazz styles courtesy of arranger Scott Bradlee.

Nyan Cat was one of the biggest memes to hit YouTube in its early days. The animation was known for its pixel art kitty, endless rainbows, and an infectious soundtrack. The Nate Sparks Big Band took that tune and turned it into an incredible 7-minute jazz jam.

Music on vinyl has made a comeback here in America, so a number of factories here can press records. But there’s only one record manufacturer in Korea – Machang Music & Pictures. All Process of World takes us inside the factory for a look at the process of creating a master disc which is used to press tiny grooves into vinyl blanks.

Finnish band Steve’n’Seagulls pays tribute to the Top Gun franchise with a jangly bluegrass version of the Kenny Loggins track Danger Zone. The video combines live performance footage and a series of vignettes featuring a stereotypical American dude who really wants to fly like an eagle.

The surf rock sound of the 1960s relied heavily on instrumental electric guitar and lots of reverb. Musician Mathieu Terrade performed this enchanting cover version of Surf Rider by The Lively Ones on a different kind of electric string instrument called a Harpejji. Mathieu’s YouTube channel is packed with more great Harpejji covers.

A few years back, musician Alexandr Hrustevich wowed us with his mad accordion skills. Now sit back and fill your ears with this nearly 30-minute classical solo concert that includes music by Bach, Sibelius, Vivaldi, and Albinoni. All we can say is he must have some serious calluses on his fingertips.

Food and drink writers André and Tenaya Darlington turned their book Booze & Vinyl into a card-pairing game. The set includes 100 full-color cards which challenge players to combine one of fifty classic albums with a delightful cocktail pairing. Includes an 88-page recipe book with notes on the music. For 1 to 3 players.

Leo Moracchioli is feeling glad, and he’s got sunshine in a bag. So kick back, crank up the volume, and enjoy his amped-up rock cover version of Gorillaz’s 2001 hit track Clint Eastwood. It’s so good that we want him to cover Dare now.

Kick off the holidays with this jolly brass arrangement of Joy to the World, performed on two trumpets, solo horn, flugelhorn, and soprano trombone by musician Seb Skelly. His brass cover of Elton John’s Step Into Christmas belongs on your holiday party playlist too.

Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin are back with the 2022 edition of The Hanukkah Sessions. This time, they performed in front of a live audience, along with a full band. For their first night of celebration, they were joined by filmmaker and producer Judd Apatow for a rousing cover version of the Blood, Sweat & Tears classic Spinning Wheel.