Fun With Accordion Covers, Part 2: Revenge of the Accordions
September 12, 2012 12:47 PM   Subscribe

Accordion covers (previously) are no longer just for soloists. You've probably seen five North Koreans performing A-Ha's "Take On Me." (Previously.) And of course tango is ever-popular for the accordion. But have you heard Bach's Toccata and Fugue in d minor? Or a medley from "The Sound of Music?" Or the first movement from Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik? Or a choreographed routine for North Korean school children? Or the theme from E.T.?
posted by jph (8 comments total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
You've probably seen five North Koreans performing A-Ha's "Take On Me."

Sometimes one sentence reminds me this is a different world than the one I grew up in.
posted by Wolfdog at 1:08 PM on September 12, 2012 [5 favorites]


Accordion covers (previously) are no longer just for soloists.

I originally read that as "Accordion covers are no longer just for solipsists" and thought 'Huh, I had never heard that before'.

Nice links though.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:14 PM on September 12, 2012


I think Phyllis Diller said it best:

"the definition of perfect pitch is when you toss a banjo into a garbage dump and it hits an accordion"
posted by readyfreddy at 3:01 PM on September 12, 2012 [2 favorites]


Los Colorados, a Ukranian polka band, performed Hot n Cold (made famous by Katy Perry). This was mentioned in the previous thread. But now it looks like they have a whole album out, including Be My Lover, and Du Hast.
posted by demiurge at 3:57 PM on September 12, 2012


They all think these were written by Kim Il Sung.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:43 PM on September 12, 2012


Grieg: Butterflies and Illusions by Mie Miki is rather delightful
posted by drowsy at 7:16 PM on September 12, 2012


Wow! That Toccata and Fugue in Dm brought back memories of a busker playing it in the underground walkways of the Bastille metro station in Paris, absolutely faultless and from memory. He'd chosen a place where the accoustics made his accordeon sound like the organ of Notre Dame. I stood there transfixed, and gave him all the small change I had and wished I'd had more. I read somewhere that there's a tradition of buskers in Paris to assign a specific kind of music - classical, rock, country, etc. - to each Metro station, and kept going back to Bastille but never heard that guy again.
posted by aqsakal at 11:36 PM on September 12, 2012


I have a longstanding desire to hear Dvořák's American string quartet performed on four accordions. I think it's something to do with the slow motif sounding to me like it's imitating a harmonica.
posted by primer_dimer at 4:52 AM on September 13, 2012


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