Awesome Music

The NetMusic YouTube channel specializes in isolating vocals from the music in various songs. This edit is a true gem, highlighting the amazing vocal talents of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush as they perform their 1986 duet Don’t Give Up. After listening to this, it feels like the music was almost unnecessary.

Z2 Comics offers a visual retelling of some of “Weird Al” Yankovic’s greatest hits. The book features 20+ songs, each interpreted by a famous cartoonist. An oversized Deluxe Edition includes art prints, a vinyl slipmat, and collectors cards, while the Super Deluxe Edition is signed by Weird Al and packs more bonuses.

’80s kids surely remember the Alphaville track Forever Young – as will fans of Napoleon Dynamite. Singer Marian Gold proves he’s still got it with this epic symphonic version of the track performed with the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg for the album Eternally Yours. Now enjoy some Big in Japan.

Can’t tell if this is true or dream… Bill McClintock’s latest musical mashup imagines what might have happened if Metallica and Men at Work were the same band and created this oddly pleasing combination of Down Under and One. Does anyone else have a taste for a Vegemite sandwich?

Anna-Maria Hefele has wowed us before with her polyphonic overtone singing. Her ethereal composition Andesana is given added impact through its performance in a space that encourages rather than cancels echoes – standing underneath a musical sculpture by artist Josef Baier. Here’s an explanation of how the technique works.

While touring to promote his hilarious biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Al stopped by The Tonight Show. While he was there, he joined musical forces with Jimmy Kimmel and The Roots to perform a medley of his hits on classroom instruments, including Another One Rides the Bus, White and Nerdy, I Want a New Duck, and Eat It.

Living Colour is one of those great bands that doesn’t get the kind of retro love that they deserve. The genre-defying group gave us songs like Love Rears Its Ugly Head, Glamour Boys, and their biggest hit Cult of Personality. 8 Bit Universe created this chiptune cover which gives the track a totally different and unexpected sound.

Because Leo Moracchioli needs to turn every possible song into a heavy metal version of itself, here’s his absolutely explosive cover of the Sir Mix-a-Lot track Baby Got Back. Next time you have a workplace party, be sure to crank this one up to 11.

Vocalist Jared Halley has wowed us before with his one-man a cappella songs. This time, he took on the 1992 Green Day track Boulevard of Broken Dreams, using his voice to layer together every track of the recording. Also, we can’t get that one a nunna, one a nunna, one a nunna out of our heads now.

The Dick Dale track Misirlou is known for its genre-defining surf rock sound. Musician Bloxsy transformed the track into something you might hear walking through a crowded market in India. He used the simplistic Ostritch tuning used by Lou Reed during his time with The Velvet Underground to create the mystical sound.

Guitarist Lucas Imbiriba brings his warm and soulful style to the Eagles classic Hotel California. His fingerstyle skills are truly impressive, and the track sounds fantastic in this stripped-down acoustic version. Check out his covers of Stairway to Heaven, Sultans of Swing, and Classical Gas for more delightful ear candy.

Here’s a silly video that reminds us of the simpler days of the internet. A couple of University of Wisconsin sousaphone players realized their brass instruments make a sound that’s a whole lot like the lightsabers from Star Wars, so they staged a duel. We loved the guy who chimed in with, “why are you filming vertically?”

What do Kenny G and bagpipes have in common? Well if you watch this video by science and nature vlogger Charlie Engleman, you’ll find out. Along the way, you’ll also learn how to make your own bagpipes from a latex glove, two straws, and some appropriately Scotch tape.

Looking for some weekend ear candy? Put on your headphones and crank it up the volume to 11 for Marcin Patrzalek’s excellent acoustic cover of Eurythmics 1983 hit Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), with a nod to Marilyn Manson’s dark and creepy 1995 version.

Engineer Linus Akesson shows off his typing and musical skills with a performance of Bach’s Prelude from Partita No. 3 on old Commodore 64 computers, along with a 1541 floppy drive which makes sounds with its motors. Stick around to the end of the video or visit his blog for details on the project.

Musician Ralf Bienioschek performed this cover version of the Queen classic Bohemian Rhapsody, replacing the band’s original operatic vocalizations with multiple tracks of recorders and other wind instruments. For a moment we thought we got shittyfluted, but this is actually an impressive performance.

Other than the fact that they’re both movies, A Few Good Men and Toy Story have nothing in common. But thanks to the warped mind of There I Ruined It, they now do. Click play and enjoy a new version of You’ve Got a Friend in Me, accompanied by the dulcet tones of Jack Nicholson’s famous “You can’t handle the truth!” scene.

Musician Timothy Fletcher is one of the most talented drummers we’ve encountered. Here, he shows off his mad snare drum skills as he juggles his sticks and swaps some out in the middle of the performance. Be sure to check out his TikTok or Instagram channels for more amazing drumming.

Known for its graphical and sound abilities, the Commodore 64 personal computer was home to some of the best games of the 8-bit era. Engineer Linus Åkesson took advantage of its audio capabilities to build this unique accordion which consists of two C64 computers connected by bellows made out of floppy disks and tape.

Our fingers are tired just from watching musician Alan Gogoll and his epic 14-minute acoustic solo. Click play and listen as he performs a hypnotic sequence of harmonics on his acoustic guitar. Is he a man, or is he a machine? You be the judge.

We already know that the theme song from Gilligan’s Island can be transformed into Stairway to Heaven. Turns out the trick works with other songs too. Cherokee Phil shows off more than 30 songs which can be sung to the tune of the Gilligan’s Island theme or vice versa, though the latter isn’t quite as effective.

The word “stop” has appeared in countless songs over the years, and musicians just can’t resist taking a breath after singing it. Todd in the Shadows put together this great compilation of songs that momentarily stop after the word, including tracks like U Can’t Touch This, Where Is My Mind?, I Try, and Suit & Tie.

The music from the first couple of Sonic the Hedgehog games is some of the best in the history of video games. Among our favorites is the music from the Chemical Plant Zone, which drummer gotobejake made even better by adding a live rhythm track. We also enjoyed Jake’s take on Duck Tales.