Awesome Music

Like a real harmonica, Lekholm’s musical tech senses its player’s breathing both in and out, but it outputs those modulations as MIDI signals for controlling synthesizers. The example performance is Cole Porter’s You’d Be So Nice to Come Home to, using a Yamaha VL70-m acoustic sound module.

Avast ye, and shiver me timbers! Musician Peter Bence is back with another rousing grand piano cover, this time taking on the familiar theme music from Pirates of the Caribbean, composed by Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt. This guy can tickle our ivories any day.

Mathieu Terrade is an expert at playing the Harpejji G16, a wooden string instrument with a flat backboard, 16 strings, and 19 ultra-wide frets. His YouTube channel is filled with great performances, but his cover of Eric Clapton’s Change the World is one of our faves.

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?

Swissbeatbox shared this footage of champion beatboxer B-ART at the 2019 Florida Beatbox Festival, as he captivated the crowd with his insane microphone and noise-making skills in a truly fast and furious performance. Who needs a drum machine with this guy around?

Back in 2016, musician Marcos Kaiser recorded this excellent cover version of Chuck Berry’s 1958 track Johnny B. Goode. As one of rock and roll’s seminal tracks, it sounds great in this acoustic fingerstyle arrangement. Just try not to get your groove on when he starts playing.

In POLY|C’s vibrant music video for Lusine’s smooth electronic track Not Alone, a young engineer works on an neural interface which transports her to a mysterious virtual world. But the lines between the real and imagined worlds blur the deeper she journeys. From the EP Retrace and featuring vocals by Jenn Champion.

Scary Pockets turns in another wonderfully funky cover of a classic tune, this time taking on Derek and The Dominos’ 1970 track Layla. Though this time, they left the comfort of their studio and recorded the performance live at DC’s Union Stage. That’s Jacob Luttrell kicking out the soulful lead vocals and keys.

We always enjoy listening to Ska Tune Network’s performances, and this might be our favorite yet. Crank up your headphones, and tune in for Jeremy Hunter’s smooth and jazzy ska cover of “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Classical pianist Martin Leung dropped by the University of Michigan’s Britton Recital Hall to perform a medley of tracks from the world of Mario Bros., kicking things off with the classic Super Mario Bros. theme – and just to show off, he did that first bit blindfolded. If it seems familiar, he first performed the medley back in 2007.

Reminiscent of the best in-camera visual trickery of the mighty Michel Gondry, director Oscar Hudson’s incredible music video for Bonobo and Nick Murphy’s chillwave track was created using forced perspectives with “a very small camera… and a very big set.”

The consistently entertaining and enthralling Pomplamoose presents a fun recording that seamlessly blends Smash Mouth’s unkillable hit All Star with the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ tracks Can’t Stop and Californication. That opening bass riff is still one of the best ever.

Remix artist Entyme mashed up Queen’s 1984 stadium anthem Radio Ga Ga with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s Oscar-winning track from A Star Is Born, combining two epic tracks into one, then accompanied them with a completely nonsensical video.

Zainichi Funk’s 2011 track Bakudan Kowai (“Scary Bomb”) showcases what James Brown might sound like in one of those ridiculously oddball alternative universes that turns up on Rick and Morty, in which James Brown is replaced with a diminutive Japanese man.

Ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro and his fellow musicians turn in an outstanding performance of The Beatles classic Eleanor Rigby, with the uke complemented beautifully by Jerry Douglas‘ artistry on the lap steel guitar. From the album The Greatest Day.

(PG-13: Language) Musician Cove AKA Covergeist is a master at creating acoustic versions of rap music. His interpretation of Eminem… er The Real Slim Shady’s Without Me is our favorite, but his versions of Lose Yourself and Snoop Dogg and Pharrell’s Drop It Like It’s Hot are also worth a listen.

The consistently awesome collective known as Brass Against cranks out another rollicking cover, this time taking on Jane’s Addiction’s 1988 track Mountain Song, this time lead by the ferociously soulful vocal talents of Maya Azucena.

On July 16, 1969 at 8:32 am Eastern Time, Apollo 11 lifted off and headed towards the moon. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of this groundbreaking mission, and astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, Eclectic Method created a track using sound samples from the mission and the events leading up to it.

From its wild popularity in the 1970s to its appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Electric Light Orchestra’s joyfully symphonic classic Mr. Blue Sky is an indelible part of our cultural history. Polyphonic dives into Jeff Lynne’s inspiration for the track, and how it fits into the bigger picture of Out of the Blue.

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 accident that you can’t look away from.

While Kaboom Percussion seems perfectly capable of playing songs without such trickery, they decided to skip a traditional performance for this clip, instead recording each note of Toto’s Africa individually, then chopping it all together in video editing software.

Musician Luna Lee is back to play us another wonderful interpretation of a rock and roll tune, this time taking on the 1970 Creedence Clearwater Revival track Have You Ever Seen the Rain. There’s just something so soothing about the sound of the gayageum.

Look at the stars. Look how they shine for you. Musicians Marnie and Patrick Laird aka the Brooklyn Duo are back with another heartfelt performance, this time bringing their piano and cello talents to the Coldplay track Yellow. Even if the original didn’t give you the feels, this version surely will.