Delving around YouTube, I have stumbled upon a few interesting adaptations of diverse songs. I thought “hey, this is cool”, and decided to share (and perhaps you can also share some suggestions of your own)
I find those adaptations interesting because, on the surface of it, they seem completely absurd. Let us begin with an Austrian choir singing (a cappella, of course) a version of… “Engel”, by, of all people, Rammstein (!)
And then let’s have a look at a band that I already knew but that definitely fits in this OP – Apocalyptica, playing “Metallica”… with 4 cellos (these guys were alumni of the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, professional cello players). Here is a sample:
Laibach doing the Rolling Stones’ "Sympathy for the Devi"l. They also covered the whole Let It Be album, minus two songs (“Let It Be” and “Maggie Mae,” although a track called “Maggie Mae” is on there, but replaced by the song “Auf der Lüneburger Heide.”) Here’s “Get Back”.
The Moog Cookbook has a lot of great Moog synthesizer covers of pop hits. Here’s “Hotel California” by the Eagles, for instance. “Whimsical” is a good way to describe it. The covers are cheesy, but the care taken to the sounds, the arrangement, and the articulation of the notes (these are synths played by humans for the most part, not sequencers or otherwise programmed, AFAIK) betrays what I would call a sophisticated musicality. They’re humorous interpretations, but very well done and “human.”
A band called Self put out an album created with children’s toy instruments. The album is called Gizmodgery. My favorite song from it is their cover of the Doobie Brothers “What a Fool Believes.”
Lol Coxhill’s delightfully strange version of “I am the Walrus.” Alas, there doesn’t seem to be a video of it except from some dodgy websites, but it’s chanted by preschoolers, as Coxhill bleats on a flute and plays random notes on the piano.
I see it’s available on Spotify. Search for “coxhill walrus” and you’ll find it. Trust me, you haven’t heard weird until you’ve heard this.
DJ Leibowitz - Holiday In Cambodia (Dead Kennedys song as solo piano piece; DJL has a repertoire of something like 2000 punk/new wave/rock songs he can play at a moments notice.)
