Awesome Covers

The Stylophone is a very basic analog electronic instrument that uses a conductive pen and a metal circuit board of “keys” as its input device. But with the help of a Digitech Whammy effects pedal and some quick pen play, maromaro1337 jammed out some iconic rock riffs on the monophonic keyboard. More here.

The Melodicka Bros. are back with another cool cyberpunk/synthwave cover version of a classic tune. Their synth-heavy cover of Pink Floyd’s Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) pays tribute to their supporters, who took on the part of the prep school chorus.

Cake already proved that the Gloria Gaynor track I Will Survive could do quite well with the addition of a trumpet. NYC bands Too Many Zooz, Lucky Chops, and the High & Mighty Brass Band teamed up to perform the disco classic primarily on brass instruments, and it sounds pretty stellar.

Franzoli Electronics is back with another great musical performance on his trio of tesla coils. This time the high voltage towers zap out an energetic cover of Koji Kondo’s oft-played theme music from Super Mario Bros. More of a Zelda fan? Be sure to check out his Tesla cover of The Legend of Zelda’s theme.

Musician Leo Moracchioli is here, there, and everywhere with energetic heavy metal cover of the Huey Lewis and the News 1986 hit Hip to Be Square, a song you might also remember from the novel and film American Psycho.

The always entertaining Cybertronic Spree is back with another awesome rock cover. This time, the musical Transformers took on the 1973 Sweet track Ballroom Blitz and peppered the music video with references to Wayne’s World, which featured a version of the song performed by Crucial Taunt.

Musician Alex Payler shows off the symphonic capabilities of Yamaha’s Electone Stagea ELS-02C electronic organ with an epic arrangement of Monty Norman’s James Bond theme music. The rich layering and realistic sounds really do make it sound like Alex has an entire orchestra right there with him.

During the Buckeyes’ game on 4.16.22, the Ohio State University Spring Athletic Band paid tribute to Van Halen with a half-time performance of the band’s hits “Runnin’ With the Devil,” “Dreams,” “Panama,” and “Jump.” We’re guessing “Hot for Teacher” would have been awkward at a college game.

Nataly Dawn and the talented musicians of Pomplamoose dance into the danger zone where the dancer becomes the dance with this awesome cover version of Maniac from the 1983 hit Flashdance. Michael Sembello’s synth-heavy track sounds as good as we’ve ever heard it here.

German band The Heimatdamisch is best known for their oompah-infused covers of rock songs. If you’re looking for a soundtrack to go with a stein of beer and some bratwurst, their ska-tinged version of Guns N’ Roses’ hit Sweet Child o’ Mine should do the trick.

Musician Alex Melton seems to have a thing for Blink-182. This time, he performs Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up in the style of the masters of pop punk. Next time you want to Rickroll someone, send them a link to this video.

Musician Luca Stricagnoli busts out his reverse triple-necked guitar yet again for an awesome fingerstyle cover arrangement. His performance of Foster the People’s Pumped Up Kicks is a delight for the ears that will have you bobbing your head to the beat, despite the song’s dark subject matter.

The members of the Harvard THUD percussion ensemble shake their plastic tubes like a Polaroid picture with this playful cover of OutKast’s 2003 hit Hey Ya! For more boomwhacker fun, we recommend their versions of the Charlie Brown theme, Eye of the Tiger, and the Mii Channel music.

Ein. Zwei. Drei. Vier… Hier kommt die Sonne. Guitarist Alexandr Misko gives the Rammstein song Sonne a totally new, yet awesome sound. He still manages to capture the aggressive energy of the original but still makes it all his own.

Louis Zong presents a magnificent medley of tunes from the world of Yoshi, performed in the style of jazz great Django Reinhardt. The tracks include music from the soundtracks of Yoshi’s Crafted World, Yoshi’s Island DS, Yoshi’s Cookie, Yoshi’s Story, and Yoshi’s Island. The EP is available for download from Bandcamp.

You know two things we don’t think of when we hear the Kelis song Milkshake? Norway and heavy metal. Yet, here we are with another vigorous rock performance by Oltedal, Norway’s resident metalhead Leo Morachiolli, and this time he’s here to bring all the boys to the yard.