Awesome Music

After the release of the archetypal rock opera Tommy, The Who’s Pete Townshend had a vision to create an even more ambitious concept album and movie. But his plans for “Lifehouse” imploded. Polyphonic digs into the story behind the album that never was.

While we’ve been enjoying Weezer’s cover of TLC’s hit No Scrubs, but it’s a little on the mellow side. For those of you who prefer your 1990s R&B with a harder edge, you’ll want to check out Leo Moracchioli’s metal-infused take on the track.

Musician DØVYDAS likes to take requests during live shows. But when he was asked to play All Along the Watchtower, he had apparently never played it before. So what’s a talented musician to do? Look up the tabs on his smartphone, then perform it anyhow.

Musician Marc Martel busts out another awesome one-take Queen cover, this time taking on their 1974 hit Killer Queen, complete with incredible falsettos, and an amazing whistle that will make all the dogs in your house perk their ears up.

(PG-13: Language) Netflix presents an over-the-top biopic based on the eponymous 2001 autobiography of Mötley Crüe, telling the wild and wooly story of one of the world’s most notorious rock bands. Directed by Jeff Tremaine of Jackass and Bad Grandpa fame.

Students from Bosnia and Herzegovina music school JU muzička škola Prijedor turn in an energetic performance of Michael Jackson’s 1983 classic, played on more than a dozen accordions. Just one question: are these kids all agents for the Men in Black?

PAB_Music pulls off a impressively accurate cover version of Radiohead’s 1997 classic, performing each of its instrumental and vocal parts, then layering them together. He previously worked his magic on Under Pressure and Where the Streets Have No Name.

(PG-13: Language) Punk rock shook up the music scene back in 1976, but “proto-punk” bands dating all the way back to the late 1950s defined the genre without even knowing it. Trash Theory looks back at the history of punk rock, and the roots of its anti-establishment sounds.

Danny Boyle’s new film starts out like 28 Days Later – with its protagonist out cold, waking up to a strange universe. But instead of zombies in London, he discovers he’s the only one who knows The Beatles. Naturally, when he sings, everyone thinks he’s a brilliant songwriter.

The music video for Weezer’s remake of A-ha’s Take on Me time travels back to 1985, with a young Rivers Cuomo portrayed by Finn Wolfhard, also known as Mike Wheeler on Stranger Things, along with the members of his band Calpurnia. From The Teal Album.

Musicians Grayson Erhard and Morning Bear present a powerful acoustic arrangement of Gnarls Barkley’s 2006 hit Crazy. Their arrangement changes things up a bit, but the perfect counterpoint to the lyrics about the protagonist’s mental instability.

Experimental band Hardcore Anal Hydrogen created a trippy and vibrant music video for their thrash metal track Jean-Pierre, created with the help of artificial intelligence tools like Deep Dream, Neutral Style Transfer, and DeepFlow. Read more about the project here.

(PG-13: Language) Songwriter and producer Dev Hynes and his amazing band prepared soulful renditions of Blood Orange songs for their NPR Music set. They started off with a chilling performance of By Ourselves before launching into a trio of songs from Negro Swan.

We’re off to Never-never Land with singer Anthony Vincent as he turns Metallica’s Enter Sandman into a totally different song by performing it in the a variety of unlikely styles ranging from The Doors to Haddaway to Owl City. The David Bowie version is our favorite.

If you ask us, Jonathan Coulton’s Still Alive is one of the greatest video game songs of all time. Now sit back, relax, and enjoy this vibrant and jazzy version of the track, performed by The 8-Bit Big Band, with singer Benny Benack III doing his best Frank Sinatra.

In 1976, just a few years after the Beatles disbanded, a British journalist published an article about a band named Klaatu. The writer was almost convinced that they were actually the Beatles. Even without today’s social media, the hype train left the station.

It Burns Burns Burns! Leo Moracchioli lights his studio on fire with his rendition of the Johnny Cash classic Ring of Fire. While he adds his typical growls and grunts, he preserves the song’s mariachi-inspired brass sounds.

Funkmasters Scary Pockets take The Police track Every Breath You Take and give it a fresh coat of paint with this wonderful rendition of the 1983 hit, led off by the soulful vocals of Sarah Dugas, and paying tribute to the syncopated reggae beats of the original.

Ukrainian band Brunettes Shoot Blondes found an old, broken down grand piano, and decided to partially gut it, filling its innards with a variety of analog instruments, mechanically connected to its keys. The resulting sound on their track Houston is remarkably rich and full.

The idea of an AC/DC tune being played on flute seems like an unnatural fit, but in the able hands and lips of musician Miquelmar, it works perfectly – with the help of a loop box to amp up his rhythm section. His Bohemian Rhapsody cover is worth a listen too.

The earliest forms of vocal amplification date back over 1000 years, but microphones as we know them are less than 100 years old. Cheddar looks at how mics changed the way vocalists perform when recording and in live shows, and how they put singers front and center.

Musical mashup maker Bill McClintock presents his latest masterpiece, combining Queen’s We Will Rock You, Sly Fox’s Let’s Go All the Way, The Temptations’ Shakey Ground, Metallica’s Sad But True, and The Jackson 5’s ABC into a single party anthem.

Filmmaker Pablo Mengin (aka Megalopolis) created this intense and surreal music video for NYC rapper Bashton by painting 2000+ images over the course of 18 months. Each of the video’s individual frames could serve as a framed work of art all on its own.