Awesome Music

The Rolling Stones are definitely getting up there in age, so it’s easy to forget what they were like in their youth. This 1964 newsreel is a perfect time capsule of the early days of the band. Is it just us, or was their entire audience 10 years-old?

The New Order tune Blue Monday isn’t exactly contemporary – it’s nearly 40 years old. BBC Arts’ Orkestra Obsolete took it back even further, envisioning what the track might have sounded like had it been recorded in 1933, using instruments that were in favor at the time.

Crank up your headphones and enjoy as musician Alexander Mills turns in an absolutely fantastic cover version of Dave Matthews Band’s 1996 classic Crash Into Me. This is why we truly love the Internet – discovering incredibly talented people we wouldn’t have otherwise heard of.

Martin Molin is known for his amazing music-making marble machine. He’s been working on an even more complicated machine for years, and has been documenting the build. This conveyor belt assembly is one of the more enthralling parts he’s completed so far.

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page was once bequeathed a 1959 Fender Telecaster guitar. With a little help from Page himself, the animators at Nexus Studios share the mystical story of this illustrious and iconic instrument. Fender sells a replica of the psychedelic dragon guitar here.

(PG-13: Language) After an unpleasant encounter with some street urchins, musician Lil Dicky visits a magical animated world where he celebrates all the good things our planet has to offer. The celebrity-packed clip is actually for a good cause – saving our planet.

Guitarist Luca Stricagnoli is back to wow us with yet another incredible fingerstyle performance, this time, taking on the incredibly dynamic Muse track Supermassive Black Hole, and extracting way more sound out of single guitar than should be physically possible.

While Marvel’s theme music has missed the mark lately, there are still classic themes for heroes like Spider-Man and Batman. Listen up as Tom Thum gives these tunes the beatbox treatment. Sure, Knight Rider and Ghostbusters aren’t quite superheroes, but Tom is still super.

Polyphonic lists some of the best classic rock songs that may not have existed if not for the Vietnam War. The list includes hits by the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, King Crimson, The Rolling Stones, Credence Clearwater Revival, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Edwin Starr and Marvin Gaye.

Despite being known as Henry Hoover, the kooky canister vacuum isn’t made by Hoover. But that doesn’t matter right now. Instead, the perpetually-smiling cleaner ponders bigger questions, and dreams about another life – as a musician. And he gets his wish at 2:53.

Rivers Cuomo and gang dropped by the NPR office and turned in a wonderfully underproduced, all-acoustic set, including Longtime Sunshine, a rare 1994 track, the Pinkerton classic Across the Sea, and two tunes off of their recent Black Album.

Eclectic Method steals a page from Daft Punk’s Technologic with a track comprised of sound bites in which people use the word “it.” It’s amazing how such a simple two-letter word can be so good at establishing a rhythm. Also, we guess he really wants us to hashtag IT.

When I was… a young boy… my father… took me into the city… to see a marching bird. My Chemical Romance meets Lynyrd Skynyrd meets Elton John meets Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem in another great musical mashup by DJ Cummerbund.

12 credit card terminals and a small sewing machine, members of the ever-changing lineup of the Device Orchestra, perform a rendition of Pharrell Williams’ hit track Happy, bringing a smile to our faces, and not wasting too much receipt paper in the process.

Back in 2018, the awesomely-named Mariachi Entertainment System paid tribute to the late Stan Lee with this wonderful cover version of the theme music from The Avengers. Be sure to check out their other covers, including The Throne Room from Star Wars. (Thanks Philip!)

A couple can’t seem to stop their bickering and hostility, and their angst is reflected in the soundtrack which swirls around them constantly. This darkly comic music video gets us ready for Hot Chip’s new album A Bath Full of Ecstasy, due out 6/21/19.

A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty “Hi Yo Silver!” – the Melodica Men are here to save the day from bandits and other Wild West baddies with their frenetic rendition of Rossini’s 1829 overture, most frequently associated with The Lone Ranger.

The 8-Bit Big Band breathes new life into the soundtrack from the NES classic Super Mario Bros., with an energetic performance of the theme music from the game’s first two worlds by a full orchestra and a chorus providing vocal accompaniment.

The women of Thalia Strings tear up the place with an effervescent cover version of AC/DC’s 1990 rock classic Thunderstruck, arranged for acoustic strings by Amy Cave. Prefer Aerosmith to AC/DC? They’ve got you covered.

“Oh, will I find a love? Or a power plug?” Louie Zong wanted to test a program that synthesized a singing voice out of text. He ended up making an adorable bossa nova song about a digital computer filled with existential thoughts.

Vochlea Music’s hardware/software combo is a vocal recognition MIDI controller. It consists of a custom made USB microphone and a Mac and Windows program that lets you control synths and trigger samples with your voice. It works with practically any DAW.

The Vitamin String Quartet’s new album pays tribute to Iceland’s one and only Bjork. The first single is an enchanting cover version of Venus as a Boy, accompanied by a beautiful papercut stop-motion music video.

Musician Stev Aleksic presents a very special cover version of Blondie’s 1978 hit One Way or Another, with vocals performed by a digitally-doctored cat. If it sounds stupid, it is… but it’s still Internet gold.