Brass Band Covers of Daft Punk Songs

If you've already exhausted yourself listening to Random Access Memories, try this collection of interesting re-imaginations of past Daft Punk songs.  (Via Boing Boing)

Instantly Translate Any Song Lyrics into Klingon

With the new Star Trek opening this week, ST nerds (such as myself) are trembling with anticipation. And just in time comes an announcement from Microsoft that their Bing search engine's translation function now includes Klingon.  

This comes from a collaboration with the Klingon Language Institute.  Yes, such a place exists.

I look the liberty of translating "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails for you. The original English lyrics are here.  Try the translation function on anything you desire here. Qapla'!

Epic Rap Battles: Stalin vs. Rasputin, Skrillex vs. Mozart

If you haven't seen the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, it's time to start watching.  Begin with this report from the LA Times to explain what's going on.  

Now imagine Skrillex taking on Mozart.

(Via LA Times)

Business Lessons We Can All Learn from Slayer

Ruth Blatt is a Michigan-based academic who looks at rock'n'roll in intersesting ways.  She just contributed this article to Forbes magazine.

The rock band Slayer’s act combines the gory visuals of horror movies, the content of true crime documentaries, the antics of shock art, and the precision of military missiles into fast and angry songs that have been loved by a loyal following for more than 30 years. The band’s best-known album, Reign in Blood, is widely considered to be a thrash metal masterpiece. That was back in 1986, but the band’s trajectory since then has hardly been one of decline.

They won two Grammy Awards, in 2007 and 2008, and their 2006 album, Christ’s Illusion, debuted at number 5 on the Billboard chart, their highest chart position ever. All this without getting played on the radio. What’s more, they have mostly kept the same team since their formation in 1981.

Last week the band suffered a blow with the untimely death of their guitarist and key songwriter Jeff Hanneman. To a casual observer, Hanneman was a top-notch guitarist and the writer of controversial songs such as “Angel of Death,” a detached but vivid description of the deeds of Nazi doctor Josef Mengele.

But those who knew him personally describe him as a laid-back Californian with a playful side. His label mate Stephen Harris, former bassist for The Cult and guitarist in The Four Horsemen, had not spoken to him for two decades.

In 2011, Harris, by then a medical student, asked him to sign one of his ESP signature model guitars for a patient. “I told him the guitar is for a kid who has a really hard time socially relating to people,” Harris told me, “But he can play every Slayer song note for note.” Hanneman was moved by the request and happily signed the guitar.

Continue reading.

Learn Guitar from Ricky Gervais as David Brent: A Preview

Ricky Gervais has brought David Brent back, this time as a guitar teacher. The full series launches May 20. To subscribe, go here.