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Awesome Music

Playing the Guitar While Tap Dancing

Playing the Guitar While Tap Dancing

This talented performer shows off his multitasking skills by simultaneously playing his acoustic guitar while tap dancing.  His unconventional flamenco performance has him strumming the fretboard while holding the guitar upright. Also, this man has some crazy long fingers.

A Ska Cover of the Tetris Theme

A Ska Cover of the Tetris Theme

The theme music from Tetris is a big part of what made the video game so popular. Musician JER of the Skatune Network and We Are the Union transformed the classic Russian chiptune into an energetic piece of ska, with its trademark quick beats, layered brass, and organ sounds.

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Everlong But It’s Jazz

Everlong But It’s Jazz

The Foo Fighters’ track Everlong is already a pretty emotive song. But vocalist Anthony Vincent has taken things to a whole other level, turning the tune into a smooth and soulful jazz ballad with the help of producer and pianist Joey Izzo.

The Kiffness x Oh Long Johnson 2.0

The Kiffness x Oh Long Johnson 2.0

This might not be the first cat to utter the words “Oh Long Johnson,” but this vocal kitty is even better thanks to added lyrics and music by The Kiffness. The track Hold Onto My Fur is a groovy earworm that will have you singing along with the talkative orange kitty from China.

Post Malone Tiny Desk Concert

Post Malone Tiny Desk Concert

Grammy Award-winning musician Post Malone and a dozen bandmates stopped by the NPR Music offices and turned in a wonderfully intimate acoustic set. The mini-concert includes performances of his multi-platinum hits Sunflower, I Fall Apart, and Circles, along with a new track, Enough is Enough, fresh off of his 2023 album Austin.

Performing on a Microphone from the 1920s

Performing on a Microphone from the 1920s

Recorded audio and radio programs from the early 20th century have a distinctive sound. Musician Sam Stafford got his hands on a vintage 1920s carbon microphone and shows how much of that sound was due to limitations in the era’s audio technology. When Sam gets out his banjolele and starts singing, it’s like he stepped into a time machine.

Thunderstruck on Tesla Coils

Thunderstruck on Tesla Coils

Franzoli Electronics rode down the highway, broke the limit, and hit the town with another electrifying performance by his Tesla coil band. This time, the high-voltage musicians added some lightning to the AC/DC classic Thunderstruck. The improved expressiveness and stereo capabilities represent a big upgrade from past Tesla coil concerts.

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AI John Lennon Sings

AI John Lennon Sings

Voice mimicry is getting easier and easier to achieve thanks to rapid advancements in AI tech. Musician Kid Klava shows just how impressive the technology has become by taking a Lennon-inspired song he wrote and programming the late Beatles’ digital avatar to perform it.

Saloon Music Medley

Saloon Music Medley

Pianist Vinheteiro demonstrates just how important it is to play music on period-correct instruments. Listen, and you’ll be transported to an old-timey saloon with this medley of Scott Joplin ragtime tunes, performed on a Barthol & Berlin upright piano that dates back to 1915.

Rock Solos on Harmonica

Rock Solos on Harmonica

Musician Will Wilde is an incredibly talented harmonica player. He’s especially adept at interpreting vocal and guitar solos from rock songs, including this jam from Pink Floyd’s The Great Gig in the Sky. His harmonica solos from Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven and Guns N’ Roses Sweet Child o’ Mine are equally compelling.

Harmonitree Inflatable Harmonica Instrument

Harmonitree Inflatable Harmonica Instrument

Composer and artist Sky Macklay shows off her Harmonitree, a wonderfully inventive musical instrument that plays harmonicas. It uses a tree-shaped inflatable airbag to push air through its harmonicas and can be left to make music on its own, but it is best when given a big hug for interactive sounds. She’s also built one that triggers with motion sensors.

10 Best TV Theme Song Bass Lines

10 Best TV Theme Song Bass Lines

Jonathan Wolff’s improvised bass riffs from Seinfeld are some of the most memorable in TV history. Bassist Paul Thompson says growing up on that and other TV theme songs inspired his music career. He performed his ten favorite bass lines from classic TV shows, including Northern Exposure, The White Shadow, The Wire, Barney Miller, and Night Court.

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’80s Singers Sing The Weeknd

’80s Singers Sing The Weeknd

Lebanese singer Tony Abou Jaoudeh, aka looneytony4 is a master of vocal impressions. In this video, he performs The Weeknd’s 1980s-style track Save Your Tears in the voices of artists who were popular in the 1980s like A-Ha, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, and George Michael. His Jimmy Somerville is spot on.

Geolocating Songs Based on Their Lyrics

Geolocating Songs Based on Their Lyrics

Song lyrics often refer to locations, but they rarely are specific and sometimes inaccurate. Jam2Go thought he’d nail down the exact places in songs, starting with the guy in the Plain White T’s Hey There Delilah, who mentions he’s 1000 miles away from Delilah. Then he travels to Ocean Avenue, Africa, Over the Rainbow, and Country Roads.

The Downward Spiral: Mario 64 Style

The Downward Spiral: Mario 64 Style

Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral is a dark industrial masterpiece. MawinSwag took the entire album and performed it using the sounds from Nintendo’s Mario 64. The Mushroom Kingdom descends into madness with tracks like Mr. Self Destruct, Closer, Reptile, and Hurt. Piggy got a copyright strike, so skip over that part and find it here.

GWAR Tiny Desk Concert

GWAR Tiny Desk Concert

(PG-13: Language) Opposites attract, so naturally, punk-metal band GWAR and NPR hooked up for a Tiny Desk Concert. Blöthar the Berserker held court, saying they brought maestro Wilhelm Fartwrangler along to class things up, then plunged into a surprisingly blood-splatter-free set of Sex Cow, I’ll Be Your Monster, Ratcatcher, and Phantom Limb.

A Relaxing Mario Medley

A Relaxing Mario Medley

The music from the Super Mario Bros. games can be energetic and uplifting. But it can also be quite relaxing. If you need to calm your nerves on a hard day, all you need is to hit play on this clip, and you’ll get 75 minutes of the chillest Mario music ever. This is the music that spas should play while you get a massage.

Pulp Fiction: The Musical

Pulp Fiction: The Musical

(PG-13: Language) Dustin Ballard of There I Ruined It says he’s been hearing music in everything these days. For example, Samuel L. Jackson’s wrathful rants in Pulp Fiction provide the perfect opportunity for Jules to break into song. Honestly, we’d pay good money to see a Quentin Tarantino Broadway musical.

Household Object Song

Household Object Song

Just about anything can make a sound if you hit, rub, or touch it just right. Songs by Spencer recorded a bunch of random objects around his house, loaded them into a sampler, and layered them together to perform an original song about overcoming his insecurities.

Under Pressure but Only the Gibberish

Under Pressure but Only the Gibberish

The David Bowie and Queen track Under Pressure is one of the greatest rock collaborations ever. But in the hands of There I Ruined It, it’s just a bunch of random noises, gobbledygook, and mumbo jumbo. He did something similarly silly with Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal.

Thunderstruck on Devices

Thunderstruck on Devices

The electromechanical band known as Device Orchestra returns with another fun cover song. They used just three instruments to replicate the AC/DC track Thunderstruck. This time, the electric toothbrushes and credit card terminal are running on battery power, so they really should just be called DC.

Super Mario Beatbox Remix

Super Mario Beatbox Remix

Beatboxer SO-SO presents a fun, multi-part performance inspired by the world of Super Mario. There are tributes to Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart, Luigi’s Mansion, Donkey Kong Country, and more. The energy level by the end of the medley is off the charts. It’s a must-listen for Nintendo fans.

Medieval Hot Chili Peppers

Medieval Hot Chili Peppers

Algal the Bard presents a bardcore cover version of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ track Under the Bridge. Anthony Kiedis’ vocals have been replaced with a penny whistle, with a lute-guitar, Irish bouzouki, and traditional drums taking on the instrumentation.

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