Miss Cellania
The Late Movies: Orchestras Go Pop
by Miss Cellania - July 16, 2010 - 10:00 PM
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I love when classical musicians play pop songs. It gives you a whole new perspective on the song itself minus the performing personality of the original artist.

We Will Rock You


By the Japanese orchestra Ooedo No Hikeshi.

Smells Like Teen Spirit


By the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.

The Final Countdown


Performed by the Latvian cello trio Melo-M and the the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra. See more rock and roll cello performances in this post.

Rude Boy


Rihanna’s hit song is performed by Aston.

Whole Lotta Love


The London Symphony Orchestra did a lot of Led Zeppelin covers.

Crazy


The Gnarls Barkley song is covered by violinist Jimmy Chaos. He did not use sheet music.

Poker Face


Dr. Bilderburger harmonizes with himself as a viola trio on split screens to perform Lady Gaga’s hit.

James Bond Theme

With a little Mozart thrown in, performed by Igudesmen and Joo.

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Comments (8)

  1. Oh God, why would they do that to Nirvana? It’s blasphemous on so many levels, and it doesn’t even sound good.
    It’s like…covering Can’t Get No Satisfaction with a choir of kazoos.

    posted by SarahofBorg on 7-16-2010 at 11:35 pm

  2. I’ve been reading _floss for a long time, but this post was the first that prompted me to comment! Thanks for the awesome finds, I really enjoyed them.

    posted by Kasra on 7-17-2010 at 12:07 am

  3. Was very surprised by Rude Boy, came out quite nice!

    Miss C! What happened to Neatorama? I haven’t gotten my fix all yesterday and now this morning too :( :(

    posted by John on 7-17-2010 at 8:39 am

  4. Neatorama is the victim of a power outage at the server location. I hope it is back up soon. Check back when you can!

    posted by Miss Cellania on 7-17-2010 at 9:12 am

  5. I got on an elevator once and they had Muzak, and the song played by the orchestra was oddly familiar but it took me a while to place it.

    Part of the problem was that in Muzak, the first thing they do is rip out the bass line.

    I finally ID’d it. It was Queen’s “We Will Rock You” in orchestral Muzak form.

    Very very frightening me.

    posted by Taz on 7-17-2010 at 12:33 pm

  6. I can’t hear “The Final Countdown” without picturing Gob Bluth.

    posted by Fruppi on 7-17-2010 at 10:55 pm

  7. Ahh! The second clip with the Ukelele Orchestra is the “Hootenanny”! It’s this thing in the UK that people watch during New Years’ Eve, a prerecorded taping of a washed-up pop star inviting other (mainly) washed-up pop-stars to sing/play music. Last year Boy George and Tom Jones featured prominently. Nice to see something really cool on there!

    posted by Jan on 7-18-2010 at 9:54 am

  8. oh Miss Cellania you always post the most amusing things… =)

    posted by jules on 7-18-2010 at 2:24 pm

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