Awesome Bardcore

Nope, it’s not April 1 and this is a real product. Teenage Engineering has spun off their EP-133 KO II with the EP-1320, a sampler filled with medieval-themed instruments such as bagpipes, the bowed harp, and coconut horse hooves. It also has a library of sound effects such as swords, peasants, witches (two of them!), and a dragon. Demo on Gear4music.

The A-Ha hit Take on Me has been remade a million different ways, but once in a while we come across a new variant that’s worth a listen. Algal the Bard transported the pop classic from 1985 to 1485, conjuring images of burly men swigging down flagons of mead while a fight breaks out in the local tavern.

When it comes to bardcore covers of popular songs, Hildegard von Blingin’ is at the top of the game. Her interpretation of Chris Isaak’s 1989 hit Wicked Game is just as impassioned as the original, with Aaron Dolan’s uilleann pipes and whistle helping to set the medieval mood.

Bardcore musician Hildegard von Blingin’ is back with another great medieval interpretation of a popular song. This time, we’ve got The Rolling Stones’ 1966 classic Paint It, Black, which works incredibly well with the centuries-old instrumentation and revised Old English lyrics. Just wait for the choir to kick in at the end. You won’t be disappointed.

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.

The Johnny Cash version of Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt will go down in history as one of the greatest covers of all time. That version served as the inspiration for Hildegard von Blingin’s medieval take on the track. It’s every bit as much of a gut-punch as the previous versions, only with more harp.

Not every song translates well to medieval instruments like a lute, zither, and recorder. But this hardcore cover of the R.E.M. track Losing My Religion by musician Algal the Bard plays out perfectly. Perhaps the Athens alt-rock band was born in the wrong century.

Can you truly be Rickrolled if you know it’s coming? Well, either way, we enjoyed listening to Algal the Bard’s arrangement of Rick Astley’s classic Never Gonna Give You Up, performed on traditional instruments straight out of medieval times. We also recommend his bardcore take on Fear of the Dark.

The Eiffel 65 song Blue (Da Ba Dee) is one of the most infectious Europop songs of all time. Now, thanks to Cornelius Link, it’s been transformed into a catchy ditty befitting of a 15th-century banquet where a king’s court feasts on turkey legs and flagons of mead while bopping their heads to the beat.

Eminem achieved most of his popularity in the early 21st century. But what if he started making hits back in medieval times? Beedle The Bardcore has the answer with this hour-long, 13th-century performance of Slim Shady’s greatest hits including Lose Yourself, Without Me, Stan, Smack That, and Ass Like That.

Constantine Bard presents a sweeping medieval-style cover version of The Rolling Stones’ 1966 hit song Paint It, Black. While we love how the original adds so much depth with Brian Jones’ sitar playing, this version feels even more epic in its scope.

There’s been quite an uptick in musicians performing popular songs in a medieval style known as “Bardcore.” Algal the Bard shared this Bardcore version of the theme from The Mandalorian. It sounds great, but not all that different from Ludwig Göransson’s original, which incorporated some exotic sounds to begin with.

The bardcore genre has had quite the surge of popularity, with multiple musicians taking their cut at medieval cover versions of popular tracks. This trio of tracks from Constantine Bard envisions what Daft Punk might have sounded like in the 16th Century, and includes Get Lucky, One More Time, and Around the World.