Bardcore | Hacker News Reader

Bardcore

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454 pointsogogmad164 comments

Huh. That’s cool. Medieval music has been a thing in Germany for many years (with relatively few pop covers though). From pure market-music (the kind played at medieval fairs), to versions with metal and/or electro elements.

Ougenweide [0] was one of the earliest in the 70ies, Zupfgeigenhansel [1] from the same time did some covers (Bella Ciao in German here)

Die Streuner [2] are not as close to the pure-medieval style but use a lot of self-built instruments.

Satolstelamanderfanz [3] are mostly instrumental and traditional, Corvus Corax [4] are similar, but far bigger, drum heavier, and also have a few covers.

Tanzwut [5] is an example of medieval electro-metal

Schelmish [6] is party-medieval music with metal influences, In Extremo [7] is probably the most successful medieval metal band.

I could probably go on for hours, but I think this is already a bit much, so I’ll stop here ;)

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95EoHfFGBeU

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_loaZEwKkc

[2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOoIHHwjg-0

[3]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTJkp06x7EE

[4]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWruBwPNBOs

[5]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5fmbSnVQrI

[6]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIQiSZdX8vA

[7]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwcde8YTe2M

My first thoughts when reading the title jumped to In Extremo and Saltatio Mortis!

More party-medieval: Otava Yo's St. Patrick's Day performance, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghO5oPVtG_w&t=420

And even a Medieval-metal-comedy band ( Feuerschwanz )

they are moving away from medieval to more metal-like music tho

Thank you HN for pointing me to this! It still exists on the internet of 2020, innocent creative brilliance with a nice dose of humor, not spoiled by commercial interests. This almost feels like the internet of yore

Isn't it just!

Clear serious commitment on those making sure language is authentic.

Hearing some of the instrumental covers makes me fantasize about all the 'bands' of musicians & the songs they'd play live, never to be written down & back before music could be recorded.

I would love to imagine a group playing a song not quite unlike this in a tavern & people going wild...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5d8bnvO2JQ (System of a Down - Toxicity - Medieval Style - Bardcore)

After watching this video, I now get why this exists. That was pretty cool

My personal favourite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK7olFGxw3Y

It brought a rare smile to my face during the stressful times in March when COVID started blowing up.

Heres one of my recent finds: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhn_8OIMWFs&list=OLAK5uy_kEqS_...

Mispaste? That's an Ethiopique piano piece for me.

Probably. On the other hand, anything that links to Ethiopian music has my vote.

Yes

You might also enjoy this then: https://youtu.be/JoHDp8BK4JE

It seems to have been uploaded in June.

Let me contribute with this one please:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dywM446-vcE

Try this instead:

Özgür Baba - Dertli Dolap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIMKJ43TFLs

This is an absolute delight. Some of these do a good job of being authentic, too. Some use thee and thou correctly with the correct conjugations, use "mine" instead of "my" in front of a vowel sound, and so on. Truly a lot of fun.

You have watched a knights tale?

Well, there are ads on those videos, so it's not that they don't get anything from it. But for most, it's probably not enough to make a living.

PS: how do you feel about memes? They seem to fit into that niche that you describe.

Almost certainly the ad revenue goes towards the authors of the original song, due to how music licensing works.

The youtube "remix" videos almost all have a youtube-generated "music in this video" section pointing to the original. Maybe only revenue is redirected if such a section is shown? The bardcore videos I checked don't have such a section.

The lyrics and melody are probably so different that Content ID (the automated system) can't detect it's a cover of the existing songs.

Definitely. The automated system can’t ID covers.

These aren't samples or remixes, they're covers - which are handled differently in terms of music licensing.

And the author of the song is due any royalties for broadcasting, regardless of the performer.

David Paich gets paid every time a radio station plays wheezer's cover of Africa, while the wheezer gets no money for radio play of that song.

What about Born This Way? Does Madonna get the broadcast money, or Lady Gaga?

I think right now Lady Gaga, unless I missed something.

However, "Surfin' USA" goes to whomever owns Chuck Berry's rights to "Sweet little sixteen" -- those were much more similar than "Born This Way" and "Express Yourself" IMO.

But how does the money get directed to the original song creator? Can ContentID detect covers? Does the original song creator come by and flag the video?

Reputable musicians will pay the royalities anyway...

How do they go about doing that? Are there instructions from Youtube, or is it done through some other system?

Possibly also considered a parody.

At least in the US, parodies tread on thin-ice when they are done in any commercial setting, which collecting ad revenue implies. Fair use is complicated though.

Between the htop author's gracious response to his project having been forked, and now this, the internet has made me feel better about humanity twice in one week. That cover of Jolene is magnificent. This is how you keep old music alive!

Hildegard von Blingin’ is pretty good too.

https://m.youtube.com/user/9freakydarling9

Plus their name is unreasonably funny.

Those vocals wow!

Hildegard von Blingin' is the absolute #1 best.

From the Gotye "Somebody that I used to know" cover, modified lyrics?

"To send a wagon for thy minstrel and refuse my letters"

"Was there cause to cast me off?"

The absolute totally freakin' brilliance!

"All ye bully-rooks with your buskin boots"

"Best ye go, best ye go"

"Outrun my bow"

Oh god, I'm in tears. This is amazing.

I so wish she would descend from her cloister and grace us with more of her bangin' tunes.

There's nothing I love more than when exceptionally skilled people spend a ton of effort on what's essentially a joke. Her version of Jolene is crazy good, and all of her small changes to the lyrics and the music are absolutely perfect. Ridiculously accurate re-styling of the song!

I also like the_miracle_aligner[0], here's his take on Smells Like Teen Spirit in classical latin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbEKIW3pUUk

[0] - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbVcb9puAsOhXBT2_XPFf-A

> unreasonably funny

Why is it 'unreasonable' to be funny?

This has all the hallmarks of being terrible, yet it is not. I also felt that it was unreasonably good.

Or maybe you were trying to make a joke?

As in, it's both stupid and brilliant and never ceases to be amusing.

And she can sing. Really really well.

Not as new, but synthwave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthwave is a recent genre that has been gaining in popularity. Back before the complete consolidation of radio after the Telecommunications Act of 1996, there were a lot of local DJs who would find bands and promote them. The genres that were part of "popular" music changed over the decades. Now, on the other hand, if you turn on the radio, the music sounds roughly the same as it did 20 years ago.

Also Chillwave, which has made a bit of a resurgence on the back of the fabulous outro track from the recent Unhinged movie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_qE6RrkgJA

(Which, for those who don't recognise it, is a cover of a mid 70's Blue Oyster Cult song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy4HA3vUv2c )

An Art Bell bumper music classic; I enjoy the Chillwave version you've included. Thanks for sharing it

Glad it's making a comeback - basically 80's new wave making a comeback. Though I find a lot of the new stuff is cookie cutter, people just trying to recreate an exact Bladrunner/Outrun exact sound.

I make more of a new wave style sound - things like Thomas Dolby (she blinded me with science) and Gary Numan (cars), using synths to make something totally different. Hope this kind of creative stuff gets more popular.

My album: https://lostastronaut.ca

> Now, on the other hand, if you turn on the radio, the music sounds roughly the same as it did 20 years ago.

Twenty years ago rock was a living genre instead of something on life support from old geezers and rap and hip hop weren’t default music, rock was. Country has also gotten way less Christian and again, much more rap and hip hop influenced. If you listen to a years worth put number ones from 2002 it does not sound like 2022. The difference isn’t as great as 1960-1980 but “roughly the same” it is not.

Radio country ('that Nashville sound') is not for me. Everyone has their own tastes, for sure, but radio country is not mine.

The bro-country that has evolved (an iota) into the snaptrack country is basically unchanged since ~2012. The hick-hop influences are much different than Garth and the other 90's influences, of course, but they are unchanging mostly. For example: both Kasey and Taylor got their start in that sound (kinda), but quickly moved on.

For me, internet streaming saved country. The neo-rebel country you can find online is much better than the radio, to me at least. Acid-country, IPA country, Texas music, whatever the hell John Prine is, etc. are all online now and at shows (were, hopefully we can get shows back again). Granted, it's not as profitable (cheap and fast).

The Nashville Sound has been, is, and will be the same: ca-ching, ca-ching, ca-ching.

As for rock, I'm glad that it's been left behind. We're starting to get really good rock again as people looking for a buck have left and the enthusiasts have stuck around. At least, that's my feeling. Rock, as well, is splintering, but in a good way. It's become more international and those influences are fruitful. The artists are smaller, but the good ones that have made the digital transition have a deeper support network.

You speak truth. That’s all. Living in Oklahoma and Texas I learned many of the flavors - and it was a nice break from my hard rock days in the 90s and naughts.

the hip hop has changed too hasn't it?

I am no music buff and I do not follow the genre, but I feel 20 years ago sampling was much more relevant than it is today, while now it's mostly bum-chuck digital bases.

There have been some lyrical advances in novel combinations of the N-word, the F-word, and the B-word.

I think much of synthwave actually stems from Vaporwave which is probably the most interesting music phenomenon since hiphop imho.

Vaporwave - a brief history https://archive.org/details/Vaporwave-ABriefHistory

I wouldn't say 20 years but pop music has gotten extremely stale. The clubs/bars are playing the same exact songs since I moved here 5 years ago. Something is awfully wrong with the production line, or more so - people losing their ear?

My favourite album from that genre is Lazerhawk's debut album Redline, awesome for programming IMO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpDn4-Na5co

I recently discovered "Synthwave Metal". If you like synthwave and power metal, you might give it a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnd_h2GGtzU

In the RYM community we call this Shredwave: http://synthwavestyles.blogspot.com/2018/04/shredwave.html

On a related note, there's a great trend of high-quality remakes in altogether more recent historical styles. Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox is a great example.

This Frank-Sinatra-esque "Still Alive" (by "8-Bit Big Band") is really good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22vbhTi1ieI

the subtitles were a nice touch

Bardcore is arguably traceable to the "What Is Love?" meme which originated in 2005 on YTMND, based on a 1996 Saturday Night Live skit. It consisted of a short, repeated loop taken from the skit of the three "Roxbury Guys" (90s lounge lizards, basically) bobbing their heads to Haddaway's "What Is Love?" in their car. Endless variants and edits of the loop were made -- one of the most memorable being "What Doth Love Be?" which features a medieval-instrumentation version of the Haddaway riff and a Bayeux Tapestry style art work of three men in a boat:

https://youtu.be/3uHz0KdIbhY

Of course, the song "What Is Love?" on its own makes an excellent bardcore candidate:

https://youtu.be/Kbj4bulZX2Y

Always happy to see someone else remembering YTMND. I have a soft spot for the endless remixing with different video/audio influences. I guess it is a similar thing that people do now on TikTok, but maybe people were less inclined to use videos of themselves as source material in the early 2000s

My favorite of this style is honestly Nothing Else Matters by Algal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCUx9nOt9u8

He does a great job, plays the instruments on video too.

It would honestly be really cool to encounter this (or something like it) unexpectedly in some fantasy type movie. One of my favorite things of the new Westworld series was the Player piano openings of more recent hits.

I especially liked the western style of "Paint it Black" from The Rolling Stones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iZ9JRVmJ5o

Youtube linked this from that video, wow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTCiuTUaEvs

I love the Scala & Kolacny Brothers cover of this one too, featured in Zero Dark Thirty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SABPBly90Nk

Interesting that this trend is on wikipedia. Talk discussion about deletion and notability: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Bardcore

It's probably safe now after the (lightweight, it's just the entertaining Pass notes column) Guardian article¹.

1: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jun/24/never-mind-the...

Hildegard von Blingin's cover of Bad Romance is the anthem of Bardcore:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2zpbcW-h-c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvAEMz64O9c&feature=youtu.be

You're welcome.

Pumped up kicks 1066 A.D Cover in Old English (Anglo Saxon) Bardcore

https://youtube.com/watch?v=JcKqhDFhNHI

A few songs sung in Middle English: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bardcore+middle...

One commenter described it as sounding like English with Dutch pronunciation.

It's not Bardcore unless it's sung in period-correct languages ;-)

The slightly more recognisable late medieval English is more fun to play with for laughs e.g. 'I am but a girl, smaller than thee / Allowest me not from thy sight' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwFQnLwLyec and the 'and she calleth a horse' line in this :D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIKNi0Pk43c

Have been listening obsessively to this a few weeks ago, absolutely lovely (especially if you know modern french and can marvel at the pronunciation differences).

For anyone else curious about that part of it, an interesting little video [0] shows the evolution of French and its ancestors' phonetics from (reconstructed) Proto Indo-european to modern French.

It's fascinating to see especially how French spelling almost stopped evolving somewhere around Old French, while pronunciation changed dramatically.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD--OdhdJfg

https://www.youtube.com/c/AlgaltheBard/videos

https://www.youtube.com/user/9freakydarling9 (Hildegard von Blingin')

The inevitable:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP1QJguEJJc

The first two albums of Ritchie Blackmore's (of Deep Purple fame) project Blackmore's Night blew me away,

Debut album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3_Uo3mr30A&list=OLAK5uy_muz...

Check out Play for me Minstrel play, a duet with the singer of Jethro Tull on the flute. Starts quiet but later they start shredding on flute and guitar unisono.

Second album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttqnz-xnwWM&list=OLAK5uy_k7d...

Check out Spanish nights.

Y.M.C.A.:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl7zqpZBVrc

X-Files theme, discovered in a medley:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t8GFh7Fz5M&t=278s

30 seconds in, Gangsta's Paradise sounds like Anno 1502 background music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dywM446-vcE

Oh wow, now that cover of Gangster's Paradise could really use some lyrics.

Coolio's original song is a masterpiece. Especially looking back after the death of George Floyd and it's aftermath, that 1995 song resonates more than it has in the last 25 years.

It's words of the street and the oppressed are universal and timeless (unfortunately). Maybe take the bardcore cover and alter Coolio's lyrics to represent the lead up to the Peasant's Revolt of 1381?

Reacting to you saying "Coolio's original masterpiece":

Coolio actually sampled/covered the song "Pastime Paradise" from Stevie Wonder

https://youtu.be/_H3Sv2zad6s

There is a similar genre of groups doing Indian classical covers of songs e.g. https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqqiOgzFLmFeo3vB9jW_Suw...

I ... don't know ... what to say.

In theory anything that increases exposure to the glories of the Carnatic tradition is a good thing.

Whether or not this actually counts as that is open to debate.

I look at the playlist and don't know whether to laugh or groan.

Fitting musicke for these times of ye plague.

I wonder how much did Netflix's Witcher(or the game for that matter) contribute to the emergence of this genre?

Witcher is not the first medieval fantasy show or game.

Memes using the Bayeux tapestry were a reasonably active niche a few years ago, I suspect this phenomenon is derived from that.

The Witcher, the Netflix show, has a bard song which became a popular earworm. I'm confident it has played a part in the popularization of Bardcore as a meme/genre.

Pretty sure normies learned about bards from The Witcher and not, say, EverQuest.

Has Bardcore reached "normies" at all yet?

You're here arnt you.

Or maybe people with a regular western European education didn't wait for the Witcher to know what a bard is.

That's like... hundreds of millions of people. Most of them "normies" by your standards, certainly :)

I think the juxtaposition of modern writing and wit in Witcher with the not-really-medieval society stuck with pre-steam technology might be the catalyst for creating the Bardcore genre.

I'll admit I initially thought Bard was a derogatory term, from the way they were using it in "The Witcher"...

I haven't watched "The Witcher" but "The Bard" is a common, affectionate moniker for one of the English language's most quintessential and influential playwrights and poets.

If anything I'd considered that term to be flattering.

Just sounded derogatory, if you hadn't heard the term before... for example;

> "Stop following me 'Bard'!"

Google Trends search interest for 'Bard' has almost no spike for December 2019 when the Netflix Witcher series was released [1]

(It does show a spike for the Netflix series 'Bard of Blood' which is an 'Indian espionage thriller' but the marketing for that doesn't show any medieval instruments)

[1] https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&q=...

https://youtu.be/I5TB9DT6s-E

A fellow once told me the earth is quite unholy They call me slow of mind 'round the land And a maiden very cruel, wrote out I am a fool In letters spelléd out using her hand

- What Zit Tooya (in the comments)

Not sure if this fits the genre exactly, but here is Smells Like Teen Spirit in Latin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbEKIW3pUUk

Μα Τον Δια: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5fA6dTnyrE

(a musical accompaniment for the Odyssey thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24352463 )

I submit the possible Japanese inverse: Metal with traditional instruments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ponTbDDMYjw

related and similarly fun is the rather esoteric genre of "wizard disco". https://bandcamp.com/tag/wizard-disco

This is great.

I can picture a group of medieval brutes sharpening their blades around a fire listening to the toxicity version, getting amped up before a castle raid.

This is the one great thing that has come out from this cursed year.

Unfortunately, I think this is just how years go now.

Most of bardcore sounds too modern to me, likely because it is being done with modern equipment with certain modern expectations.

Contrast the bardcore version of popcorn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwLT2fNBSf0

with an version actually played with medieval instruments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNJ_mUap_2A

Another example is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAxjH2HCWzo This is a trailer for BBC4's Medieval Season. The music is Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze played on Medieval Instruments.

The one that made me smile the most is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkpxEezTu4s

The main melody and these cliché medieval chords are a fit made in heaven.

I find that most of the stuff on YouTube lacks this kind of cleverness though.

My favourite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxbufWzX1NA

I really like the bass.

The pirates of the Caribbean theme fits really nicely as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95M9UsQS2HI

Probably helps that the original music was made for and recorded on classical instruments.

If you like vocals in ancient english: https://www.youtube.com/user/9freakydarling9

Hildegard von Blingin doesn't do "ancient english", that's early modern English, c. 16th century. This account is the only one I have found using early medieval dialects: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbVcb9puAsOhXBT2_XPFf-A

I used the term "ancient" as an indication that it was older than the contemporary english because I didn't know which category it fell into, whether it was old english, middle english, or, as you say, early modern english. Thanks for naming the right category.

Just a shame there were no vocals for the almost-period-appropriate lyrics, (and they were a lot less inspired by medieval myths than some of the other English metal songs of the time)

No lyrics for the 'bardcore' versions of Stairway either: perhaps they could borrow them from this Gregorian chant version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKn5lydAZ6k

Back in 2003, Rondellus came out with "Sabbatum: Medieval Tribute to Black Sabbath". See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX2y51ixsu8 for their version of War Pigs, titled "Verres Militares".

In 2006, Richard Thompson included a short (30 second) instrumental riff on "Oops I Did It Again" in medieval style, titled "Marry Ageyn Hic Hev Donne Yt", as part of his "1000 Years of Popular Music" album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIMJDNQx0B4 . He jokingly referred to it as a "medieval ballad from Brittany".

I'm sure there are other precursors.

I've made a playlist of the few dozen youtube links posted here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL55akf--9BvWcN-V7M3z0...

No mention of Stary Olsa?

Death in Rome does neofolk covers of pop songs.

I do believe I actually stumbled across Stary Olsa playing at a Renaissance Faire in Texas. They blew my mind. I kept thinking, "how did they end up in Texas?" Nice folks, also.

rather adjacent to bardcore:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_Pjm_yq9V4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4p_yFsGyfM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3I7wT2U294

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bdT5Ov-AWQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HtvH34CmZY

edit: links added

When is a genre a -core and when is a genre a -wave?

If you just quiet down and listen it's a-core. If you take your hands and wave them like you just don't care, it's a-wave.

Just kidding, I have no idea.

I kinda like this bardcore version of Creep by Radiohead.-> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeFiIjMIlRw&pbjreload=101

Youtube hadn't shown me any of these songs yet, so this posting was my introduction. I watched a bunch and it's a fun trend--now I suppose I'll see them recommended.

My observation is that finally those history majors, English majors, and music majors in college (universities in the US) will pay off with a bit of attention. I often see some in the tech crowd dismiss the humanities, suggesting that non-STEM degrees that don't lead to a lucrative career are a waste. Well, I think this shows that having some people who know those things makes life a bit better for everyone.

Finally, something to go with my pirate metal.

thanks for the genre tip!

drum & bugle metal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td3c5rNFLew

too far inland to be pirates? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGko10RIGtY

that second song is dope. in regards to the genre of pirate metal this is my understanding to be one of the more popular bands (and a very fun song): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f55CqLc6IR0

I'm partial to Storm Seeker, which is more traditional folk metal combined with pirate metal. Their lyrics aren't really humorous, either. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCnttPJHt6s

I guess Versengold is more folk than metal.

good point. In that case, how about disco metal?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=787t4NZN0mg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdkBs0VCSX0

See also: The show Westworld's soundtrack. The show is set in western themed park in the near future, and contains several excellent remixes of others songs in a western style.

As enjoyable as this is, I still can't help but to worry that it's another imitation of something historical or traditional eclipsing the actual thing it is meant to pay homage to. Let's not forget the original, else we run the risk of forgetting, and the closest thing becomes and imitation of an imitation. I'll search medieval music and so often I find modern, original, creations. It can be great and sometimes I'm in the mood for it, but I want us to have as a culture a memory of our older arts.

> I'll search medieval music and so often I find modern, original, creations

While that can be frustrating, you're still far closer to finding what you want than in the pre-internet age.

That's more a search / trending issue I think.

Absolutely the best way to remember things through history and keep them alive is to keep making them.

The commitment some of these artists are showing to ensure the language & pronunciation is as accurate as possible is astounding. Really, this is a hell of a way to get kids interested in old languages when they're being taught at school.

Rather a cynical view you're taking I think.

My experiences with searching for older music precede this trend, a few years back I researched bardic tradition and that lead to me exploring traditional Welsh music and it really opened my mind to how much is out there. The internet helps enormously but even still things take digging, and get lost.

I hope that this style trending does lead to a renewed interest and appreciation of medieval music and history. It's a matter of how the seeds fall, so to speak. Many might just enjoy these modern takes, but then there are those who will take it further to learn about the old source.

A few years ago, there was a Westerner who got together with a couple of Japanese craftsmen and started producing ukiyo-e -- Japanese woodblock prints -- of Super Mario, Link, Samus, and other video game characters rendered in a traditional style with the hope of reviving interest in the style.

It turns out that ukiyo-e's popularity waxed and waned over two centuries, with art audiences getting bored of it until some new artist found a way to make the medium contemporary and relevant again with new subject matter. So, far from trivializing a great Japanese tradition by associating it with material from his vidya, he was keeping it alive the exact same way Japanese artists kept it alive over the centuries.

That's a great example.

Most great art takes from the past, I don't see any reason why music shouldn't take inspiration from styles or instruments from the medieval periods (or any other!)

https://ukiyoeheroes.com/

Also check out https://mokuhankan.com/ for the woodblock printer

Well, I mean, if you were on youtube in the past few months and outside of the default suggestion trashpile, I can't imagine how you'd manage to evade this phenomenon.

By having tuned home pages? I never see music suggested to me on YouTube (assumably because I don't listen to music on YouTube)

That's a bit of a loss on your part: Youtube has, ahem, a large music library—my favorite litmus test is the presence of Gruuthaagy's output. And secondly, Youtube's recommendations surface some great stuff once in a while, if you manage to teach it that your taste is not quite generic.

One of my musical pastimes formerly was searching for two disparate genres together on YT. (However, apparently either I've reached the limit of that configuration space, at least for now—or it's Google's algo killing the results by becoming too imprecise.)

YT is how I discovered techno contradance is a thing.

Still have yet to have had it turn up decent electro bluegrass, but it did find some album-oriented bluegrass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zLMsvaRWhY

Well, if I try to imagine electric bluegrass, I get rockabilly.

My favorite cover of DSotM is the meh-titled ‘Jazz Side of the Moon’ by Yahel, Moreno, Hoenig and Blake. More specifically, it's the only worthy cover so far imo (though the bluegrass one is a quite strong contender, yeah). Surprisingly ‘JSotM’ isn't on YT in entirety—which is the greatly preferred mode of listening to it—but some snatches can be had at https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Yahel%2C+Moreno...

P.S. As for techno contra dance: I like my techno on the harder side, so expected something in the vein of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep_35FTnYVA or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48laJC8wYl4. After seeing some fine synchronized pair dancing, of the jumpstyle-shuffle sort, it's quite conceivable for me.

Electro bluegrass to me wouldn't be rockabilly[1], but the high lonesome equivalent of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gApq7K78pbo complete with glitched hemiolas.

I'm trying to refind some of the better audio/video mashups I've seen, but fighting The Algorithm atm.

- BLM cupid shuffle video / audio: boot scoot boogie

- Footloose line dance video / audio: boom boom boom

- vertically spinning race car crash video / audio: lezginka

At least there's still jumpstyle hopak: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqEtq34dSUo

and (not even externally mashed up) bolly[wood] ciao: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2wahu8bDMo

[1] even "electric bluegrass" I'd put closer to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg1AD0GBii4

Bonus track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr7718xoeMI

I'm a big music fan, and I use YouTube pretty much all day every day with a front page full of all sorts of eclectic and eccentric stuff, and I spend a lot of time in alternative online music communities and follow a lot of independent and experimental musicians, but somehow I've never seen or heard of this until just now. Just goes to show how much algorithmic curation can vary from person to person.

If you're not really a music person you probably wouldn't get any music recommended by the algorithm, would you?

Forty Six & 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rauFQHnfDLc

I have also recently learned about "dungeon synth," which was a pleasant surprise. Plenty of compilations and examples if you do a YouTube search.

From just the name, I feel like it should resemble Burzum's prison years.

Edit: in practice, what I hear so far sounds more like a mod-tracker version of Summoning. Really, for actual atmospheric black-fantasy synth stuff, Summoning is the name to look up. (The old albums are greatly preferable: e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JgLFdNSwks)

I really like the "THE REAL SLIM SHADY" Cover from Beedle the Bardcore. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3okjFDo2aSU

EDIT: "WITHOUT ME" ist also great https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiV7hwfLXGE

Oh, that top comment[1] for the slim shady one is epic. I want to see that performed now.

1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3okjFDo2aSU&lc=UgxGPmAFigFUR...

This is great!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbEKIW3pUUk

This can make decent ambience for D&D, before the game starts at least. Sometimes in game as well in a tavern or some such place.

Interesting about two weeks ago I discovered Bardcore when I was looking for cues to use in online roll d20 games.

I am playing a PF2 gnome bard which is what triggered the search, though I was looking initially for circus style music and things lie the original intro to mack the knife (german version)

Oh, I didn't know. Nice genre. My favourite so far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCUx9nOt9u8

This one is quite incredible. System of a Down - aerials Bardcore https://youtu.be/tAVkuRKwuDI

Not bardcore, but I'll throw in some Norton Commander for my HN friends...

https://youtu.be/qmVeQEysvtk

The Putin propaganda[1] reply: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fix7P6aGXQ&t=100

[1] This clip is a Sotchi submarine. (We're in the alps and therefore don't have a real beach, so not only do we have artificial beaches, we're building an artificial surf pool near our slopes to stay competitive.) Natali's pop propaganda has been even less subtle in the past: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPdxUyUUhes

more factory girls in propaganda: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23741907

An example of Bardcore for any Code Geass fans out there: https://youtu.be/-6aUHWI13TM

Don't forget the oud!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsHeDpGcZVM

The Hurdy-Gurdy would also be interesting to see in such songs.

Thanks, now I know what the play on my next remote D&D session!

I wonder if someone mistyped "hardcore", and then thought "bardcore sounds like an interesting genre, I should make some".

This is great :D

Ha! I love it!

lit

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