Laura Marling - No Hope in the Air

Part of a group of UK folk musicians affiliated with "Communion," an organization founded by the band Mumford and Sons.  "Peggy Sue", who I posted last month, is also associated with Communion.

Penn State: Redefining "to Tailgate" so you don't have to

Radiohead - Pyramid Song

More nostalgia.  Music: Radiohead.  Film: "Wings of Desire"

Lucy Rose - Place

Rose recently contributed vocals to Bombay Bicycle Club, only now touring on her own.

Sonic Youth - Superstar

Sonic Youth covering The Carpenters.  Inspired to post after today's Fresh Air, which featured an interview with Richard Carpenter.  He "doesn't like the cover."

Weird interview, though.  Terri Gross confessed that she once thought The Carpenters were corny, and Richard was not at all amused.  Come on, dude, this song debuted the same year as "Stairway to Heaven."  Still, I can't hear "Rainy Days and Mondays" without getting chills (probably because I saw Todd Haynes' barbie doll bio-pic at some point, but the whole pop sensibility of The Carpenters is haunting to one degree or another).

Hungry Ghosts - The Man Who Refused to Kill

Deep cut from Australia.  Post rock.  Ambient.  Minimalist neo-retro.   Not sure what to call it.  Perhaps "cinematic" would cover the its primary emotional effect.

Lou Rawls - Tobacco Road, with intro Southside Blues

Regina Spektor - Consequence of Sounds

A student pointed me toward Spektor, originally part of the "anti-folk" scene in NYC. Love the lyrics of the song. Ani DiFranco comes to mind, but I think Spektor has become a lot more commercially successful.

"And we keep on paying those freaks on the TV,
Who claim they will save us but want to enslave us.
And sweating like demons they scream through our speakers
But we leave the sound on 'cause silence is harder.
And no one's the killer and no one's the martyr
The world that has made us can no longer contain us
And profits are silent then rotting away 'cause

The consequence of sounds."

Tallest Man on Earth - Walk the Line

Folk phenom Kristian Matsson. Not a Johnny Cash cover.

Aloe Blacc - I Need a Dollar

As the song for the opening credits of HBO's "How to Make It in America," it seems to have become the most notable thing about the new show. Have not watched it yet myself.