Awesome Music

Miserlou was made famous by Dick Dale and Pulp Fiction. But it originated as a traditional mediterranean song. Here, the track both returns to its roots and gets a fresh coat of paint courtesy of violinist Caroline Campbell, pianist William Joseph, and cellist Tina Guo.

Love the music of Queen? Then tune in for the next 43 minutes and enjoy this epic compilation from the official Queen YouTube channel including 11 incredible live performances from their heyday, including Killer Queen, Somebody to Love, and Don’t Stop Me Now.

Enjoy some holiday classics with a little extra edge, courtesy of musician Richard Campbell, who infuses some hard rock verve into tunes like I Saw Three Ships, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, and Carol of the Bells with this fun and energetic medley.

A Very Spidey Christmas is an EP consisting of Spider-Man-themed Christmas songs sung by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse voice actors Shameik Moore, Chris Pine and Jake Johnson. We hope they release another one with Spider-Ham and Spider-Man Noir.

Ever wonder what it is about a song that makes it feel “Christmassy?” Vox explores how some secular Christmas hits share a common musical thread through the use of a specific chord progresssion. Guess we better get to work on our big holiday hit for next year.

Do you prefer your winters warm? Then you were probably rooting for the Heat Miser in the Rankin/Bass classic The Year Without Santa Claus. Now, enjoy the Heat Miser’s song like you’ve never heard it before, courtesy of the Ska Tune Network.

While it’s not quite the spectacle of 28 people playing Bohemian Rhapsody on trombones, musician Seb Skelly’s 10-part brass cover version of Queen’s 1976 classic Somebody to Love is still fantastically entertaining.

(PG-13: Language) Adam Sandler’s Netflix special 100% Fresh is filled with surprises – not the least of which being this heartfelt tribute to his friend, the late, great Chris Farley. It’s a cautionary tale filled with laughter and tears, and may just give you chills.

From pickle tubs to washing machines, there are lots of unusual ways to create percussive sounds. But this clip from Japan’s Open Reel Ensemble is definitely the first time we’ve seen someone using magnetic reel-to-reel tape as a drum kit. More here.

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? After amusing us with their performance of Don’t Stop Believin’, HarvardTHUD is back with another charming cover, this time taking on Queen’s Magnum Opus on their colorful plastic noisemakers.

(PG-13: Language) The Wu-Tang Clan celebrated the 25th anniversary of Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) with this live set at NPR Music. They performed a medley of their hits, both from their discography as a group or from individual releases.

Rather than using traditional instruments, performers Daniel Gourski and DJ Jonas Appel headed to an abandoned industrial compound, and sampled sounds of the equipment to create every sound you hear. The good old metal drum seems to be the most versatile.

If you haven’t heard by now, Captain Jean-Luc Picard is coming back with a new Star Trek series on CBS All Access. In anticipation of the show, we suggest taking in this hard rockin’ cover of the themes from TNG and First Contact by Captain Meatshield.

With lawsuits taking down musicians for sampling even the tiniest sound bites, remix artist Eclectic Method decided to see if YouTube’s copyright ID system would flag his video for including samples of less than 0.5 seconds each from more than 100 artists.

We know Melbourne, Australia pianist Josh Cohen from his fantastic Radiohead and David Bowie piano covers. His emotional cover of Pink Floyd’s 1979 classic is just as captivating, and will have you feeling anything but numb.

Vocalist Smooth McGroove takes a break from video game tunes to entertain us with Tame Impala’s catchy and crunchy little ditty. As much as we enjoyed the original, Smooth’s version delivers the positive message even better.

The Ska Tune Network’s peppy cover version of the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s classic piano track from A Charlie Brown Christmas is sure to have you dancing and tapping your toes at your desk. As an added bonus, you’ll enjoy a little extra holiday cheer along the way.

(PG-13: Language) Mylo the Cat is back with an epic new edit, re-voicing the 1970s Saturday morning classic with the sounds of ODB, Method Man, Inspectah Deck, Capadonna, U-God, The RZA, The GZA, Masta Killa, Ghostface Killah, and Raekwon.

Brice Dudouet turns the crank on a classic mechanical pipe organ called an orgue de barbarie as it whips through his spirited arrangement of John Williams’ classic Cantina Band, originally played by Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes in Star Wars: A New Hope.

From Black Sabbath to Metallica to Mastodon, there are lots of different sub-genres of heavy metal music. But where did it all start from? Polyphonic sets out on a mission to identify when rock and roll splintered off to give birth to an edgier and angrier sound.

Not to be outdone by bass player Davie504, guitarist Mattias Krantz presents a compilation of acoustic jazz styles performed masterfully as he advances level by level through an arrangement of George Gershwin’s 1935 classic Summertime.

YouTube’s resident metalnerd Leo Moracchioli takes on one-hit wonder Chumbawamba’s 1997 track Tubthumping, a song about getting drunk and in bar fights that will infect your ear by simply hearing “I get knocked down, but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down…”

Guitarist Alan Gogoll lets his fingers fly across the strings and frets of his acoustic guitar, cranking out a whopping 1000 harmonics in just under 90 seconds. Our fingertips developed blisters just watching this.