Bardcore, medieval musical fun

It can be a lot of fun to simply dig into piles of information in search of gems. This was the case for me the other day when I was playing with a music streaming service. Completely by accident, I typed my way into playlists of music called, “Bardcore”.

Just the name made me laugh out loud. After looking through the tracks, I only recognized a few songs, almost certainly covers. However, I still had no idea what bardcore was. A quick keyword search turned up a Wikipedia article, as reliable as anything else for a search like this. The definition there is basically just medieval remakes of popular songs. Sure, why not?

Remember ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ by Shakira? Well, here’s the bardcore version by Stantough.

Need something with a bit more edge? How about Gangster’s Paradise by Coolio, this time by Beedle the Bardcore. (What a fantastic alias for a musician, by the way.)

Then what list of cover songs is ever complete without someone re-creating the iconic music of the classic video game, Tetris? Have no fear! Bardcore delivers and there is a version of the renowned Russian folk song (Korobeiniki). This remake is by Magentium.

This one actually works pretty well because Korobeinki is itself a folk song. It doesn’t feel like it’s really reaching to make it fit the aesthetic the composer was going for. Regardless, it’s pretty outstanding.

So there you have it! This is a short post on a fun musical genre. If you’ve never heard of it before, I hope it makes your day a little brighter. However, if you knew about this stuff already, help me pass it on to others that might not be familiar with it. It was new to me, and it absolutely put a smile on my face. I hope it had the same effect on anyone else listening.