When Norwegian artist Morten Traavik traveled to North Korea, he met students from the Pyongyang Kum Song School of Music and gave them a CD of Euro-pop group a-ha. The students surprised him by performing "Take On Me" on accordions.

From Korea Realtime blog over at The Wall Street Journal:

After giving the students the CD on a Monday night, they surprised him by playing their own improvised version of “Take On Me” on Wednesday morning. Mr. Traavik made a video of them and decided to post it on YouTube to promote the festival. Since he put it up on Thursday, the video has gone viral, passed along by North Korea watchers and others mystified or intrigued by the idea of musicians in a collective society with traditional instruments playing one of the classics of 1980s Euro-pop.

Mr. Traavik said he’s noticed the video has attracted the normal skepticism about its origins and whether the musicians were threatened to learn the music or secretly dislike it. He said he views them as normal artists who, skilled at their instrument, did what was natural when presented with something they liked – tried to re-create it.

“I think it’s quite evident from the video that you can’t accomplish that in such a time if you would suppose those young musicians actually hate what they’re doing,” he said.

Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]

They obviously appreciate a little culture out in the pasture. -via Arbroath

Don’t laugh.  This young man gives a remarkable rendition of the third (“Presto”) movement of the “Summer” concerto from The Four Seasons.

If you enjoy this, be sure to also view the accordion versions of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee and Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.

YouTube link.

Update 10/14/09 by Alex – the guy is Alexandr Hrustevich, and you can see many more excellent clips on his YouTube profile page.

Urlesque has compiled videos of unique accordion cover songs, including variations on the works of Britney Spears, Duran Duran, and Black Sabbath. Here’s a video of YouTube user mattdallow playing “Paint It Black” by the Rolling Stones.

Link

Previously, Neatorama reader Minnesotastan pointed out an amazing performance of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor as played on an accordion by YouTube user AccCam.

Though that was fantastic, Neatoramanaut Frau told us of one even better: Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee played on the chromatic button accordion by Alexander Dmitriev. Look at his fingers fly!

And while we’re at it, here’s Flight of the Bumblebee as played on a banjo by Ken Aoki:

Flight of the Bumblebee on a banjo: YouTube Link

If you are familiar with this piece performed on an organ, you may be surprised by this virtuoso performance on an accordion – especially at about the 5:40 mark.

– via b3ta

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Minnesotastan.

Hunter Hayes, born in 1991, is a singer-songwriter. He became a country music sensation at the tender age of three. He is also an accomplished diatonic accordion player, as well as a highly talented guitar player (from Wikipedia).

In this old 1995 video he plays "Jambalaya" with the famous country musician Hank Williams Jr.

Just because you need an emergency tent it doesn’t mean that you have to live in an unstylish one. Here’s the Accordion reCover Shelter, by designers Matthew Malone, Amanda Goldberg, Jennifer Metcalf and Grant Meacham:

There’s nothing flimsy about the intricate folds of the reCover Shelter, which can sustain a family of four following a disaster for up to a month. As you may suspect, the oversized origami structure can be entirely collapsed into not one, but two different shapes (either horse-shoe or flat) depending on which is easier to transport. Plus, it’s composed of polypropylene, meaning no harmful gases go into the production of the shelter and it is 100% recyclable after use. Set-up takes minutes and only requires one person on deck.

The Accordion reCover Shelter was designed as a first response shelter – “something that could be transported to the site when infrastructures such as roads were unusable”. Once the temporary residence is unfolded, the functional ridges can be used to collect drinking water, and local materials or even ground cover can be used to better insulate the structure and keep harsh weather at bay. As a sustainable and inexpensive solution to an unfortunate situation that seems to arise more and more often these days, the Accordion Shelter provides a quick roof over victim’s heads and lets them start planning immediately for better days to come.

Link – via oobject