Awesome Music

NHK Blends presents another wonderful cross-cultural arrangement of a modern track played on classic Japanese instruments. This time, we’ve got the 1979 Police classic Message in a Bottle performed on gottan, shinobue, and jūshichi-gen koto.

When someone sends us a dance video, the moves are performed with legs and arms. Not so in this clip from StatusSilver, choreographed by XTRAP, which features a synchronized performance by three sets of hands. It’s like a Busby Berkeley musical, but for fingers.

Musician Davie504 presents a nifty cover version of the 1986 a-ha pop classic performed with an acoustic bass guitar taking on lead responsibilities. Now we want somebody to give The Sun Always Shines on TV some much-needed love.

Not only is the new Seaboard Block the most portable and affordable version of Roli’s revolutionary keyboard, it can also be used with the Lightpad Blocks or another Seaboard Block. It comes with hundreds of sounds and can also be used with DAWs.

Paper Forest’s music video for Alaska Pollock’s jangly alt-pop tune follows the story of a boy’s cardboard robot who leaves home and sets off on an adventure around Amsterdam. The animation style and storytelling is as charming and cheerful as it gets. BTS here.

This new bonus track from our favorite, ever-mutating cartoon band starts out slow and subdued, then kicks into high gear, as 2-D draws us in with his tale of drug addiction, and won’t let go. We’re only bummed that this track didn’t make it onto Humanz.

(PG-13: Language) We already know that rapper Mac Lethal has mad skills. Here, he takes on some of the many different sub-genres of rap and hip hop from the lighthearted braggadocio of the 1980s to horrorcore to Miami trap and everything in between.

A quartet of musicians perform a soothing cover version of Led Zeppelin’s 1971 classic in a classic Japanese style, played on 21-string Nijugen-Kotos and wooden flutes. It’s reminiscent of Regina Spektor’s fantastic cover version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

After giving us a gross, but fascinating view of his talented vocal chords using an endoscope, beatboxer Tom Thum subjected himself to a claustrophobia-inducing MRI tube and headcage to get a look at how things work inside his face, neck, nose, and throat.

If you follow The Awesomer, you know we’re huge fans of Puddles Pity Party. But, much like half of Penn and Teller, he doesn’t speak. Inside Joke got a rare opportunity to learn about Puddles from Big Mike Geier, the man behind the legend. Bonus points for the Yolandi shirt.

(PG-13: Language) “How y’all let a conscious man go commercial while only makin’ conscious albums?” Kung Fu Kenny invades Metro Boomin’s chill beat for Future’s mega hit song and quickly makes it his own. Damn. Just skip to 1:54.

We dare you not to do a little dance in your chair while you listen to Paweł Zadrożniak’s latest electronic cover track, as his orchestra of outdated computer hardware gets to work covering the 1985 pop classic by A-Ha.

Vocalist Mandy Harvey lost her hearing about 10 years ago, but she didn’t let that stand in the way of her passion. She recently stone the show on American’s Got Talent, earning a golden buzzer to the finals courtesy of Simon Cowell. Has someone been cutting onions in here?

Dave Grohl directed the bipolar music video for Foo Fighters’ latest track – a clip which stars the members of the band rocking a retirement home, aged to look how they’ll look if they keep performing for another 30 years or so. We love the Thriller-esque choreography at the end.

(PG-13: Language) From Biggie to Beasties, and KRS to Kanye, The Hood Internet presents a fantastic, but far too short tribute to the first four decades of hip hop music in just under four minutes. Stream/download available on Soundcloud here.

We dug up this little gem that dates back to a Halloween 2009 concert in Philly, in which Pearl Jam turned in a fun cover version of the 1980 Devo hit Whip It. There’s nothing quite like Eddie Vedder in a Devo dome warbling “Step on a crack, break your momma’s back.”

Musician Anna-Maria Hefele made a name for herself with her ability to do something called “polyphonic overtone singing. Here, she performs a very, uhm, unusual, interpretation of the classic from The Wizard of Oz. She’s kind of like a human theremin.

From dive-bombs to double-stops to finger-picking, there are tons of different techniques and flourishes that guitarists can incorporate into their jams. Music is Win did his best to incorporate all of them into a single 3-minute solo performance. You missed a couple, dude.

DJ and Producer Chris Read of the awesome website WhoSampled dropped by London’s Point Blank Music School to provide an in-depth workshop on the origins of sampling in hip-hop music, modern sound layering, and how music has been derivative for hundreds of years.

Scary Pockets shared this awesome funk arrangement of Radiohead’s 1993 classic Creep, brought to life by the smooth and soulful vocals of India Carney. If the guy on the Wurlitzer looks familiar, that’s Jack Conte, better known as half of Pomplamoose.

Animator Nicolo Bianchino provides a wonderful visual accompaniment to the Giorgio Moroder interview featured in Daft Punk’s track Giorgio, colorfully illustrating moments from the king of disco sound’s formative years.

“Even when the ship is wrecked, I promise. Tie me to the rotten deck, I promise.” A disembodied android head takes in the sights of the city from the back of a bus in the music video for I Promise, a previously unreleased track from OK Computer.

(Flashing images) “JVC is nice; I’ve been around Japan; It’s electronic, calls me Viktor; High on the scales, off the Richter.” Director Kris Merc’s dope visual feast is the perfect complement to hip hop legends Kool Keith and MF Doom’s track about a rapper with super powers.