Awesome Covers

Ein. Zwei. Drei. Vier… Hier kommt die Sonne. Guitarist Alexandr Misko gives the Rammstein song Sonne a totally new, yet awesome sound. He still manages to capture the aggressive energy of the original but still makes it all his own.

Louis Zong presents a magnificent medley of tunes from the world of Yoshi, performed in the style of jazz great Django Reinhardt. The tracks include music from the soundtracks of Yoshi’s Crafted World, Yoshi’s Island DS, Yoshi’s Cookie, Yoshi’s Story, and Yoshi’s Island. The EP is available for download from Bandcamp.

You know two things we don’t think of when we hear the Kelis song Milkshake? Norway and heavy metal. Yet, here we are with another vigorous rock performance by Oltedal, Norway’s resident metalhead Leo Morachiolli, and this time he’s here to bring all the boys to the yard.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard the Super Mario Bros. theme performed on violin, but musician Teppei Okada’s version adds all the appropriate sound effects to a few different levels of the classic Nintendo platformer. He’s done the same for F-ZERO and Super Mario Kart among others.

Musician Luca Stricagnoli proves you don’t need a big or fancy instrument to produce an amazing sound, just raw talent. His cover of the Red Hot Chili Peppers 1999 track Scar Tissue has incredible depth, detail, and emotional impact performed on his ukulele-guitar hybrid.

Better known to most as the theme music from Monty Python’s Flying Circus, John Philip Sousa’s The Liberty Bell March suits the sounds of a pipe organ very well indeed. Turn up your speakers and enjoy this lively performance by Jonathan Scott on the big Wurlitzer in Neuadd Pendre, Tywyn, Wales.

Paul McCartney and Wings’ Band on the Run is one of the former Beatles’ best records, and one of the greatest albums of all time. One of our favorite tracks has to be Jet. Musician Leo Moracchioli hits it with his razor-sharpened edge, amping up the already energetic track to another level.

Aussie musician Lachy Doley pays tribute to late Procol Harum lead singer Gary Brooker with a phenomenal cover version of the band’s most famous song A Whiter Shade of Pale. Like Brooker before him, Doley demonstrates similar levels of brilliance on both keyboard and vocals.

The Device Orchestra is back to perform one of their most requested songs ever. Everyone’s favorite band of electric toothbrushes, typewriters, credit card machines, and miscellaneous appliances is perfectly suited to the thumpy and repetitive bass rhythm of the White Stripes classic Seven Nation Army.

Astrophysics celebrates Valentine’s Day with a music video and cover of the overplayed but still catchy A-Ha track Take on Me. Taking on lead vocal duties is synthetic singer Hatsune Miku, one of the few musical artists capable of hitting the same high notes as A-ha’s Morten Harket.

The talented vocalists of Stellenbosch University Choir performed this enveloping cover of the 2012 Fun. track Some Nights, giving the song a rich and layered new sound with a hint of South African flair. The performance took place at the Oude Libertas Amphitheatre and was wonderfully arranged by Tom Anderson.

Between the excellent theme music for The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, Ludwig Göransson is setting himself as the Star Wars franchise’s new go-to composer. Sit back and enjoy this great cover of the Boba Fett theme performed in three parts on cello by Nicholas Yee.

Star Wars tribute band Galactic Empire bangs out an awesome hard rock cover version of John Williams’ The Imperial March, giving the Empire’s most iconic theme song an appropriately razor-sharp edge to accompany all of their evil deeds. Even Emperor Palpatine approves, and he’s not easy to please.

Dan Dubuque is back with another phenomenal solo slide guitar performance. This time, he takes on on the 2002 Queens of the Stone Age track, Go with the Flow, which also happens to be one of our favorite songs of all time.

Musician Marcin Patrzalek shows off his blazing fast fingers once again with a flamboyant cover version of Black Sabbath’s 1970 track Paranoid. It’s a bit overcomplicated compared to the original, but it’s still incredibly entertaining.

(Flashing Images) Last Halloween, the Melodicka Bros. took The Cranberries’ 1994 track Zombie and reimagined it as a gloomy, synth-heavy track that could have easily have been a track on the Depeche Mode album Music for the Masses.

Vocalist Matthew Van Ness has impressed us with his orchestral vocal covers of the Star Wars and Jurassic Park themes. This time, he did something a little different, but similarly entertaining by turning 100 copies of his voice into the choir from the familiar opening theme from Halo video game series.

No one’s gonna take me alive. The talented musicians of Mariachi Entertainment System took on quite the challenge. With the help of a little tequila, they performed this awesomely unexpected cover of the Muse track Knights of Cydonia, which always felt like a post-modern soundtrack for a Spaghetti western.

Puddles Pity Party pays tribute to the late, great David Bowie with a powerful and emotive cover of the track Lazarus off of Bowie’s final album, Blackstar. It’s especially apropos how Bowie paved the way for performers like Puddles to express themselves through costume and theatrics. Grab the single here.

Randy Newman’s You’ve Got a Friend in Me is one of the most memorable movie songs of all time. We really enjoyed this soothing cover of the Toy Story tune, performed by Korea’s Pulse Percussion on a marimba. Disney fans will also appreciate their marimba covers of He’s a Pirate and A Whole New World.

We’ve been following musician Feng E since he was 10 years old. Since then, he’s continued to perfect and evolve his string instrument skills. You’ll want to crank up the volume for his sublime ukulele arrangement of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 2002 hit track Can’t Stop, performed with perfect pacing and precision.

Unlimted Time Only created this wonderful music video for John Roseboro’s warm and heartfelt cover of It’s You I Like by beloved children’s show host Fred Rogers. Roseboro said: “There’s a generation of people in the middle of figuring out who they are… and I think it’s a message that we all really need to hear right now.”

Equipped with her electric guitar, a microphone, effects pedals, and loop box, multitalented musician Kawehi follows up on her breakout performance of Nine Inch Nails’ Closer with a fantastic street corner cover of The Hand That Feeds. Who knew Lawrence, Kansas was so cool?