Awesome Music On The Awesomer

Pianist Eshan Denipitiya presents a virtuosic medley of three classic Queen tracks performed flawlessly on the grand piano. He goes on to ask us which is our favorite, but can you really choose between Bohemian Rhapsody, We Are The Champions? and We Will Rock You?

Uh-oh, here comes a flock of wah-wahs… Reverb.com pays tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Dunlop Cry Baby Wah pedal, as their guitarist Joe performs a medley of some of the classic riffs that use the iconic distortion effect.

Musician Alexandr Misko works his magic on Klaus Badelt and Hans Zimmer’s familiar He’s a Pirate, the swashbuckling theme music from Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean movies. He manages to charm a rich array of sounds out of just a single acoustic guitar and a wooden stick.

This little critter may be small, but his voice is mighty. Thanks to animator Joe Vevers, we now know what Bohemian Rhapsody might have been like if it only starred furry little creatures. Magnifico!

Paweł Zadrożniak’s Floppotron performs yet another all-too-perfect tune for its clanky electromechanical instrumentation, the 1983 New Order classic Blue Monday. Those little click breaks on the hard drive servos are just what the doctor ordered.

It is the distant future… the year 2000… the robots have taken our jobs… and are dancing about it. The music video for The Chemical Brothers’ track Free Yourself, from directors DOM&NIC and effects house The Mill will take you on quite the ride. Boogie! Roboboogie!

This year’s heartstring-puller from UK retailer John Lewis & Partners tells the reverse-chronological story of music legend Elton John, and the importance of a single gift that defined his life. Super Bowl commercial makers, this is how you do it.

A man struggles with a strange ailment that makes him groove endlessly in director Finn Keenan’s darkly comic music video for MK’s smooth dance track. Directors Notes has a short piece on how they pulled off the trick shots by rotoscoping characters into position.

Reverb.com presents a series of quick guitar riffs from 100 classic TV series, dating all the way back to the 1930s up to the current decade, and played in chronological order. Challenge: Minimize the window and see if you can name them all without looking.

Great Big Story introduces us to artist Kolja Kugler, who built himself an animatronic band from scrap metal. The robotic musicians play the bass, drums, and flute, and seem to enjoy a bit of the old punk rock. Enjoy one of their performances here.

We’ve heard a number of covers of the familiar theme song from Tetris over the years, from bluegrass to dubstep, game fanatic insaneintherainmusic’s jazzy rendition is our favorite yet. Beyond the cool arrangement, the man has some serious sax skills.

Melbourne, Australia musician Josh Cohen presents powerful and engrossing piano arrangements of two David Bowie classics – Life on Mars and Space Oddity. Trust us when we say you’ll be glued to your speakers or headphones from the minute you hit “play.”

At BBC Radio 1’s Piano Sessions, Thom Yorke performed Radiohead’s Everything In Its Right Place from their 2000 album Kid A. He also played a version of Suspirium, one of his tracks from his score of the Suspiria remake.

The stop-motion music video for Said the Whale’s pop track features a meticulously planned and edited sequence of 2250 still photos which were sequenced to create the illusion of motion within the frame. It took a team of 6 over 80 hours to put together the clip.

The last time we checked in with the talented young Feng E, he was entertaining audiences in the park. Now he’s wowing us from the back seat of a car, and asking Annie if she’s okay with a fantastic ukulele cover of Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal.

While the song’s sound is distinctively 1980s, the music video for I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME’s track Do It All the Time looks like it was created by Kraftwerk back in the late 1970s. Even if they got their dates a little wrong, the track is a serious earworm.

Musician AaronGrooves puts a seriously shiney new coat of paint onto the theme music from the 1980s arcade game Pac-Man, playing the classic 8-bit tune on xylophone, drums, ukulele, cowbell, and a loop machine.

Vibes discreetly slip into your ears and lower the volume at a concert or event, while also enhancing sound clarity. You won’t look like a nerd while they’re in, but you will be protecting your hearing from all of those decibels. Grab a pair today in The Awesomer Shop.

Musician and vocalist Morrissey applies his trademark sad wail to The Pretenders 1982 hit Back on the Chain Gang, offering up a delicious mindmeld of two iconic 1980s sounds. The song appears as a bonus track on the upcoming deluxe edition of Low in High School.

We already know that musician Davie504 is quite the capable bass player. But for his latest clip he shows us just how quickly his fingers can fly across the frets, with an electric bass cover of Rimsky-Korsakov’s high speed classical piece Flight of the Bumblebee.

This 72-LED fretboard connects to your guitar’s neck and shows you exactly where to place your fingers to play any song in their enormous library. Its low profile ensures that it won’t interfere with your fingers as you play. Save 15% in The Awesomer Shop.

Since it’s Christmas let’s be glad! Even if the year’s been bad! Asthmatic Kitty Records is releasing all of Sufjan Stevens’ Songs for Christmas – a collection of Christmas song covers as well as original songs. There is also a vinyl set, but it’s already sold out.

A demonstration of a rather ridiculous traditional Moldavian folk music technique in which the lead musician uses a leaf as a sort of wind instrument that couldn’t help but remind us of the hilariously endless balloon scene in Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday.

Musician Jamie Dupuis turns in a great cover version of the Rolling Stones’ Paint It Black, performing the 1966 rock classic on his carbon fiber Emerald harp guitar, which produces a wonderfully layered sound that combines both lead guitar and bass sustain sounds in one.

Musician Leo Moracchioli screams like a banshee and makes a scene, celebrating Halloween with a demonic, headbanging cover version of Danny Elfman’s holiday classic This is Halloween from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.

In a just barely Halloween-themed episode, musical expert 12tone walks us through the complexities of distortion, and what it is about such sounds that make them more creepy and off-putting than others – sort of like the way he draws from right to left across the page.

(PG-13: Language) Adam Sandler returns to what made us love him in the first place with his Netflix standup special 100% Fresh. This digital exclusive clip offers a taste of what to expect, a gem of a rap about a man just living an ordinary life like the rest of us.

Electronic musician Scandroid presents his take on Michael Jackson’s Halloween classic Thriller, applying his synthwave style to the track, along with a great ’80s-look music video, complete with a trio of awesome dancing robots.

Artist and musician Koka Nikoladze builds electromechanical objects which act like analog drum machines, producing unusual beats using bits and pieces of household objects and hardware to produce their rhythms. Be sure to check out Beat Machines No. 2 and No. 3.

Noiselab provides digital music recording and production courses taught exclusively by Ableton-certified trainers or industry-credentialed producers. Sign up today in The Awesomer Shop, and take an extra 15% off with code BOO15 (thru 10/31/18).

While Anthony Vincent of Ten Second Songs can’t quite reach the vocal heights of Freddie Mercury (or Marc Martel), his ability to mimic various musical styles is still quite a talent. Here, he sings Queen’s most iconic tune in three and half dozen ways.

Cellist Vesislava Todorova turns in a heart-wrenching cover version of Coldplay’s 2000 hit Yellow that perfectly suits the mood of the track. Be sure to check out her YouTube channel for more fantastic performances, including Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game.