белый день

songs: Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Lady Madonna, Hey Jude, Can't Buy Me Love, Let it Be, Yesterday
performer: White Day

White Day is a long-running group headed by accordionist Valery Semin. I can't find out much more than what's at their website, but these clips are simply amazing. I'm not sure what to call it - Cossack Swing? Certainly a blend of traditional Russian music (and instrumentation, with the balalaika and domra) and jazz, with maybe a bit of bluegrass in there as well.

Beyond the wonderful arrangements and musicianship, they are fun to watch; Semin is in a constant state of ecstasy while he plays, and shares loving expressions with his bandmates when they solo. The balalaika player always gets this "who me?" look on his face when Semin looks at him. The woman wearing her percussion is wild too. You almost don't notice the subdued bass player, except that he's apparently also a 4-star Brigadier Bellhop.

In this first clip (skip to 0:30 to avoid intro stuff), they do Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Lady Madonna, Hey Jude, and Can't Buy Me Love:



Next they do Let it Be and Yesterday:



And here's the first set again, in another live performance (with a different balalaika player); the baffled/delighted looks in the audience are priceless:

брангуртысь песянайёс

songs: Let it Be, Yesterday
language: Udmurt
performer: Buranovskiye Babushki

The "Buranovo Grannies" were the feel-good story of the 2012 Eurovision contest, where they finished 2nd with their song Party for Everybody. An actual group of singing grandmothers from Udmurtia (a republic in the Russian Federation), they're all over 70 and are now bona fide pop stars. Certainly the novelty of a bunch of elderly women singing in a language most people (Russians included) had never heard (nor heard of) is a component of their celebrity.

But listen to them; they sing beautifully, honestly, with none of the glitz that surrounds them on stage. It's obvious it comes from somewhere culturally deep and rich (which makes the contrast at Eurovision all the starker).

So, here they are singing Let it Be (accompanied by a group called Sappy), followed by Yesterday.

가야금

songs: Hey Jude, Let it Be, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da
performers: Sookmyung Gayageum Orchestra

Here are some clips of instrumental covers, played on the traditional Korean zither (gayageum). The last two clips are by the Sookmyung Gayageum Orchestra, and the first may be as well, though the players aren't credited. The first clip also features a haegeum, a small violin similar to the Chinese erhu, taking the melody lines.

the cheatles

songs: Let it Be, Love Me Do
language: Chinese
performer: The Cheatles

Not to be confused with the British band of the same name, The Cheatles are a Chinese Beatles tribute band, made up of two German nationals and the two sons of one of them (awkward phrasing, but hard to put succinctly!). Here are two of their videos: Let it Be (with a bit of A Little Help from My Friends at the end), a proper music video complete with rooftop performance, and Love Me Do from a live show.

レット・イット・ビー

song: Let it Be
language: Japanese
performer: Shang Shang Typhoon

Their wikipedia page describes Shang Shang Typhoon's music as a "a blend of Okinawan music, min'yo singing and other Japanese elements, with some rock, pop and reggae thrown in." All in a highly theatrical presentation, if this performance is at all typical. Syncretism at its best.