Awesome Music

Jack Black posted this wonderfully wacky improv of Nirvana’s Polly Wants a Cracker – complete with mouth-sound rhythm section – which he sang Carpool Karaoke style while he was stuck sitting in traffic, . All we can say is… “Shikaflaow!”

“You had you some birthdays, could you prove it? Show me the wisdom in your movement.” Frank Ocean knows the world can’t go long without a new drop from him. In Provider, he’s singing as someone who’s ready to commit if the other party is up for it.

(PG-13: Language) NPR Tiny Desk Concert chose the perfect guest for its first DJ set. DJ Premiere and his live musicians The Badder Band performed some of the producer’s best hits, including tracks from KRS-One, his buddy Royce Da 5’9″ and of course Gang Starr.

(PG-13: Language) “I’m afraid to look at myself, be a dear, turn the light down.” See artists, this is why you never say you’re retiring. Emo band Rainer Maria gives it another shot, this time armed with sentiments and voices weathered by time.

One of the more entertaining robotic groups we’ve heard was built by FT Mechatronics, whose electronic band consists of a variety of stepper motors, solenoids, hard drives, oscilloscopes, a robot xylophone, nixie tubes, and a tesla coil. Here, it plays Hello by OMFG.

It’s far from a comprehensive collection, but ThePandaTooth’s arrangement of the Rick and Morty theme song, Goodbye Moonmen, Chaos Chaos- Do You Feel It? and Hurt is jampacked with emotion, and just might bring a tear to your eye. Here’s a little bonus from Evil Morty.

Polyphonic looks back at the groundbreaking features and the resulting legacy of the Yamaha GX-1. Intended to be a proof of concept, less than 10 units of the analog polyphonic synthesizer were made, put to good use by great artists such as Stevie Wonder.

Leo Moracchioli continues to rock it out of the park with his heavy metal covers – this time taking on R. Kelly’s 1996 hit ballad, turning it into a legitimate alt-rock track which could stand entirely on its own. Show your support for Leo by buying his tracks here.

Back when they were filming this season of Game of Thrones, actors Rory McCann and Kristofer Hivju took a moment away from their gruff but lovable characters Sandor “The Hound” Clegane and Tormund Giantsbane to serenade us with a little Yellow Bird.

(PG-13: Language) If you gotta spin DAMN. you should make it look sexy. Previously an Interscope Records exclusive, HHV got their hands on 2,000 copies of Kendrick Lamar’s instant classic album pressed on a pair of translucent red vinyl records.

Since we don’t speak Russian, we can’t vouch for the lyrics of 5’Nizza’s track, but we can stand up and applaud the frozen-in-time visual effects in this incredible music video from director Max Ksjonda. We’re dying to see a behind the scenes of how they shot this.

Just in time for the big Game of Thrones season finale, musician Luna Lee is here to perform a wonderful Korean-style cover version of composer Ramin Djawadi’s theme song from the hit HBO fantasy. We can imagine dragons flying overhead as this track plays.

“How does it feel, to be your own deceiver? Signals raised, then lost to the aether.” People hide from an omnipresent light before succumbing to it in the music video for Son Lux’s Dangerous, from their awesome post-truth protest EP Remedy.

Eclectic Method presents a house music remix created entirely from sound effects captured from the Indiana Jones movies, including burping up monkey brain soup. You can download an MP3 of the track here. Snakes… Why did it have to be snakes?

“Just an old fashioned kiss, it gets me hot even in winter. How can I resist? Oh, how you tease me.” British singer-songwriter ALA.NI’s voice is like a perfectly preserved antique from the 1920’s. Watch her perform songs from her debut album You & I.

If there’s one tune that’s sure to get stuck in your head and rattle around all day, it’s the classic Mahna Mahna. This early appearance of the track on a 1969 episode of Sesame Street with crawl into your ear like that creature from Wrath of Khan, and won’t let go.

Musician Leo Moracchioli of Frog Leap Studios turns in another fantastic heavy metal cover version – this time putting a razor-sharpened edge on the 1982 Toto pop hit Africa. This time, he’s joined by vocalist Hannah Boulton and guitarist Rabea Massaad.

Musician Luke Thering is a big Key and Peele fan, so he decided to take one of their classic sketches – in which Jordan sings an awkward song of friendship to Keegan-Michael – and added the instrumentation the song should have had from day one. Great job, Luke!

(PG-13: Language) “I was ravin’ in the desert til the sun gave me red skin, I told you that I’m no saint, I see hawks, I just spin…” Mac Lethal incorporates the names of every US pro football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and soccer team into a cohesive 3-minute rap.

George C Music has been creating alternative versions of the Doctor Who theme music, to approximate what it might have sounded like if created by other musicians. We can’t decide if we like the Kraftwerk or the John Carpenter version best. The swing jazz is cool too.

(PG-13: Language) A vinyl record release of Anomalisa‘s soundtrack. Limited to 1,000 copies, its pop-up-style jacket recreates the hotel rooms in the movie. Note that the music does not hold up on its own, as it is more of a way to remember the film.

Eighteen year old frontman Pablo Muñoz and the rest of Boy Pablo stupidly look into the sun in their silly music video for Everytime. The Norway-based band’s dream pop is as näive, chill, and effortless as their demeanor here.

The Beach Boys’ Good Vibrations was an outright hit and is an auto-include in best of lists. But Polyphonic believes that the song’s impact has flown over the public’s collective head. He sets out to correct that with this excellent deconstruction.