Awesome Music

R&B crooner Arthur Ashin made his alter ego Autre Ne Veut known back in 2010, but 2013 was his breakout year with the release of his stellar second album Anxiety. This is the music video for his wonderful single Play by Play.

Put on your hot pants, get up offa that thang, and crank up your speakers for the next 45 minutes to honor The Godfather of Soul in this great compilation of all of his performances from Soul Train back in the 1970s.

Dean Zimmer has faced physical challenges since birth, but that hasn’t stopped him from being an amazing rock drummer, having opened for acts like Styx, Kansas and Foghat. Documentary by Ross Harris and Stanley Gonzales.

Musician Austin Criswell delivers a soulful and bone-igniting performance of Coldplay’s Fix You, accompanied by his ukulele. A few of our other faves from Austin: I’ll Follow You into the Dark, and Build Me up Buttercup.

The Hellraiser, the Master of Puppets, the Iron Man, the Angel of Death and the Black Dog all pale in comparison to the Tiger Train. Kneel and headbang to Liam Lynch’s hilarious parody of heavy metal songs. #theturtletrucksux

Musician Greg Johnson of Acoustic Labs is back with another great arrangement, this time plucking a warm and soothing rendition of the classic Back to the Future theme by Alan Silvestri on his Alvarez acoustic guitar.

Fluids flow and rush to the beat of The Glitch Mob in the official music video of the electronic group’s new single Can’t Kill Us. The track is from their upcoming album Love Death Immortality. Video by beeple.

You can worry less now about having your holiday spirit attacked thanks to an easter egg from Google. From any mobile device, simply type “let’s go caroling” into Google’s search box and karaoke versions of several classics pop up.

(NSFW: Language) Melodysheep crafts a Holiday tune using samples from the Griswold’s Christmas misadventure, the 1989 classic National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Starring Chevy Chase and his crazy-eyed look.

To celebrate 100,000 followers on Twitter, electronic artist Four Tet scoured his computer to share some of his unreleased work, including the full version of this remix of Grimes’ Skin. Just look for the Sendspace links among his tweets.

Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball gets a haunting echo courtesy of British electronic pop band London Grammar, one of last year’s breakout bands. If you dig their sound, check out the band’s debut album If You Wait.

The last time we heard astronaut Chris Hadfield singing a tune, he was channeling David Bowie from the the International Space Station. He’s back on Earth now with another astronomical tune, joined by Toronto’s Wexford Gleeks.

After watching this clip of a Russian soldier spitting beats faster than an electronic drum machine, we almost felt the need to wipe his saliva off our monitors. Thankfully, YouTube hasn’t perfected SpitSurround technology yet.

Alex Boye’s energetic and intense rendition of Lorde’s hit track is further proof that cover versions can be better than the original. Though he’s a bit frightening in the Christmas wreath getup. Buy the track on iTunes or Bandcamp.

These screw-on plastic frames are designed for mounting vinyl LP jackets. They let you display your collection while still allowing easy access to the records inside the jackets. Available in black and white. You can also order them here.

Musician Chad Neidt returns to pay final respects to the 20 songs we heard more than enough of in 2013, but spares us from having to listen to them in their entirety by rushing through the most crucial bits of all of them in just one minute.

A minimal, round Bluetooth stereo speaker with a convenient wall mount accessory. The PA1 has a 52mm tweeter and two 20w drivers. You can also connect two PA1 units for stereo output. It also works with an optional speaker stand.

(NSFW: Lyrics) Our pal Jeff Wysaski of Pleated Jeans put together this mix of popular tunes from the past year, setting us straight on lyrics that we never quite understood in the first place – except for Daft Punk. We knew that one already.

The HiddenRadio2 is a significant step up from its popular predecessor. It now automatically raises and lowers its protective cap, has intuitive touch controls, better cones and drivers, support for NFC and an alarm function.

“Leaving in the morning what a pity, but for now let’s drink this down, I live to roam.” Ophelia Cache sings about settling for cheap kicks over The Kickdrums’ ice cold beat in this single from her upcoming EP Dolly & The Bull.

Instead of using reverb effects or a music studio, Audio Zero and Wikidrummers had drummer Julien Audigier play the same drum pattern in different environments to capture natural echoes and decay patterns.

Inspired by the Soundsticks, the Aura is a compact omnidirectional speaker. It has 1 30w and 2 15w amps, 6 1.5” high and mid drivers and a 4.5” subwoofer. Works with Bluetooth, AirPlay and DLNA. It also has 3.5mm and optical inputs.

Dark sci-fi visuals and an ambiance inspired by the emptiness of space are somewhat at odds with Jim Guthrie’s earthy sound but his music still works brilliantly with the video for this somber single off his album Takes Time.