Awesome Music On The Awesomer

Albums are typically a collection of an artist or a group’s new songs. Then there are concept albums, which are centered around a theme. Polyphonic explains how Frank Sinatra’s 1955 release In the Wee Small Hours laid the foundation for the concept album.

His piercing glance burning a hole through the lens, pianist Vinheteiro performs a brief snippet from 26 different classical pieces of music, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet. We never knew what Gymnopedie No. 1 was called, but we recognized it immediately.

Musician Taylor Davis presents a beautiful multitrack violin version of the famed theme from Doctor Who, ready to send us on a journey through space and time without leaving the comfort of our desks.

In a video that is the very embodiment of “don’t try this at home,” guitarist Davidlap performs a brief solo while it looks like his hands are ablaze. He created special gloves to protect his hands from injury, and the fire was far enough from the guitar that it didn’t get damaged.

After filling our eyes and ears with some of Queen’s most epic performances of the 1970s, the official Queen channel is back with a reel of the band’s best moments in the decade of Pac-Man and big hair. Despite the controversy, we never thought adding synths hurt their sound.

“It makes it sound a bit Russian.” In his segment at the We Are Most Amused and Amazed 2018, comedian and musician Bill Bailey focused on the difference between the major and minor keys, and gamely provided transposed examples to prove his point.

World-famous computer parts orchestra The Floppotron is back with another meme-worthy tune, Kenny Loggins’ track, Danger Zone, best known for its appearances on the Top Gun soundtrack – and its even better use in Archer.

Everybody’s rockin! Get up! Everybody’s gonna move their feet! Remix artist DJ Cummerbund brings us another unlikely pairing: KISS and The B-52s, two groups at their peak of popularity around the same time, but each with something very different to bring to the table.

It’s close to midnight and something evil’s lurking in the dark… Fortunately, musician Luca Stricagnoli is here to shine his light on it, with a simply fantastic fingerstyle cover version of Michael Jackson’s 1984 megahit Thriller.

Composer William Zeitler demonstrates a strange and wonderful musical instrument. The glass armonica was invented by Benjamin Franklin back in 1761, and is a spinning series of custom-blown wine glasses, each of which plays a different musical note based on its size.

Get Schwifty with musician Scott Bradlee (of Postmodern Jukebox fame), as he performs his arrangement of the theme song from Rick and Morty, played in a smooth, jazzy style. We’d love to see the versions of Rick and Morty that exist in the jazz quadrant of the multiverse.

By now, you’ve heard a thousand and one cover versions of Toto’s Africa, and it’s starting to wear out its welcome. But we couldn’t resist posting Toni “Pupsi” Patanen’s version, in which he performs the track using some delicious veggies and fruits. More edible fun here.

Aussie string quartet Dolce Ensembles provides their own upbeat interpretation of Walk the Moon’s 2014 pop hit Shut Up and Dance, performed on violin, viola, and cello. We especially enjoyed the plucky pizzicato bit.

While it’s in no way a comprehensive collection, musician Marcos Kaiser’s compilation of 12 classic movie themes performed on his acoustic guitar will bring back lots of memories, and occasionally tug at your heartstrings.

Miserlou was made famous by Dick Dale and Pulp Fiction. But it originated as a traditional mediterranean song. Here, the track both returns to its roots and gets a fresh coat of paint courtesy of violinist Caroline Campbell, pianist William Joseph, and cellist Tina Guo.

Love the music of Queen? Then tune in for the next 43 minutes and enjoy this epic compilation from the official Queen YouTube channel including 11 incredible live performances from their heyday, including Killer Queen, Somebody to Love, and Don’t Stop Me Now.

Mashup master Bill McClintock managed to combine the funky bassline and guitar riffs of David Bowie’s Fame with the rough-edged metal vocals of Pantera’s 5 Minutes Alone. The resulting track is like watching a spectacular trainwreck you can’t look away from.

As one commenter put it “He’s still pretty far from making sense in the traditional way, but I think he’s getting closer.” Bill Wurtz’s catchy new track is all about a guy having a bad day. We think it’s actually a retelling of Joker’s origin story. You be the judge.

Enjoy some holiday classics with a little extra edge, courtesy of musician Richard Campbell, who infuses some hard rock verve into tunes like I Saw Three Ships, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, and Carol of the Bells with this fun and energetic medley.

Ever wonder what it is about a song that makes it feel “Christmassy?” Vox explores how some secular Christmas hits share a common musical thread through the use of a specific chord progresssion. Guess we better get to work on our big holiday hit for next year.

Do you prefer your winters warm? Then you were probably rooting for the Heat Miser in the Rankin/Bass classic The Year Without Santa Claus. Now, enjoy the Heat Miser’s song like you’ve never heard it before, courtesy of the Ska Tune Network.

While it’s not quite the spectacle of 28 people playing Bohemian Rhapsody on trombones, musician Seb Skelly’s 10-part brass cover version of Queen’s 1976 classic Somebody to Love is still fantastically entertaining.

One of the great things about vinyl records is that they’re display worthy. Record Props gives you a variety of options to show off your records and their sleeves. You can set the sleeve on a tabletop, or hang the record and its sleeve on your wall.

Music teacher and arranger Michael Charles Smith knows how to get the most out of the marimba, as is demonstrated by his students Preston Bushnell, Sophia Domreis, Tyler Griffith, and Baden VanHuis cover of The Postal Service’s 2003 classic Such Great Heights.

(PG-13: Language) Adam Sandler’s Netflix special 100% Fresh is filled with surprises – not the least of which being this heartfelt tribute to his friend, the late, great Chris Farley. It’s a cautionary tale filled with laughter and tears, and may just give you chills.

From pickle tubs to washing machines, there are lots of unusual ways to create percussive sounds. But this clip from Japan’s Open Reel Ensemble is definitely the first time we’ve seen someone using magnetic reel-to-reel tape as a drum kit. More here.

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Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? After amusing us with their performance of Don’t Stop Believin’, HarvardTHUD is back with another charming cover, this time taking on Queen’s Magnum Opus on their colorful plastic noisemakers.

(PG-13: Language) The Wu-Tang Clan celebrated the 25th anniversary of Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) with this live set at NPR Music. They performed a medley of their hits, both from their discography as a group or from individual releases.

Rather than using traditional instruments, performers Daniel Gourski and DJ Jonas Appel headed to an abandoned industrial compound, and sampled sounds of the equipment to create every sound you hear. The good old metal drum seems to be the most versatile.

If you haven’t heard by now, Captain Jean-Luc Picard is coming back with a new Star Trek series on CBS All Access. In anticipation of the show, we suggest taking in this hard rockin’ cover of the themes from TNG and First Contact by Captain Meatshield.

With lawsuits taking down musicians for sampling even the tiniest sound bites, remix artist Eclectic Method decided to see if YouTube’s copyright ID system would flag his video for including samples of less than 0.5 seconds each from more than 100 artists.