Sometimes my iTunes ends up on a song I don’t remember at all and I’m amazed at what I find. “Lunar Sea” from Camera Obscura’s Underachievers Please Try Harder is a beautiful song. It reminds me of the theme song played over the opening credits of a movie or TV show. Maybe it’s because the song feels like it belongs to another time.

From Underachievers Please Try Harder:

“Lunar Sea”

Admittedly, I was slow to warm up to MGMT. But now I think Oracular Spectacular is the best new album I’ve heard this year. The music is so eclectic; it’s kind of a jumble of the familiar (Prince, The Beatles, David Bowie, et al) and the strange. It has the youthful exuberance and humor of The Unicorns’ Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?, but it is much more accessible.

Last Friday night, I was in this bar. Some untenable hip-hop song with stupid lyrics like “Jesus may forgive you, but I won’t” or something was on the jukebox. The room was freaking languishing under the influence of this kill-joy song. I went to the jukebox and paid a dollar pick the next song. I played “Electric Feel” and the vibe in the room did a 180. People started dancing and laughing. It was great. I don’t know how the Summer Song is picked each year, but I think “Electric Feel” is a great contender.

From Oracular Spectacular:

“Time to Pretend”

“Electric Feel”

If you know the name of that Jesus song, please tell me.

Dolly Parton is playing Radio City Music Hall tonight. Frankly, I’m more excited than when the pope showed up a few weeks ago. (Who cares about the pope? Catholics?) I bet most New Yorkers would agree. What can I say about her that hasn’t already been written? She’s Dolly Parton!

To celebrate, here are some of my favorite songs by Dolly:

From The Rose and The Briar:

“Down From Dover”

From The Essential Dolly Parton, Volume 2:

“Here You Come Again”

“It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right”

From Halos and Horns:

“Stairway to Heaven”

Photo by Joel Didriksen for kingpinphoto.com

We saw Le Loup (think “lay loo”) at the Bowery Ballroom during CMJ. We were blown away. Tonight they are playing at the Mercury Lounge and we are ecstatic that we have tickets to see them. (They recently played in DC.)

If you have any interest in this band or great music, you should listen to the live performance they recorded for KEXP in October. They’ll knock your socks off. Their sound is rowdy and jubilant. Oh, and they have three guitarists and a banjoist! Unfortunately, the show doesn’t seem to be listed in KEXP’s archive as of today. But you can find the podcast if you subscribe to the KEXP Live Performances podcast on iTunes.

“I Had A Dream I Died” by Le Loup from KEXP’s Song of the Day

“Sea Took Me” by Le Loup from KEXP’s Live Performances

Honestly, we can’t say enough. Go see this band. One caveat: their album, The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations’ Millenium General Assembly, was recorded before the band evolved from one member to seven which is why it sounds very different — a lot of people are missing.

Yojimbo, which roughly means “bodyguard” in Japanese, is both a samurai movie and Mason Hedgecoth’s one-man, bluegrass band in Brooklyn. His American Primitive sound conjures the smoky songs of Wil Oldham, Gillian Welch, and others. Mason favors the acoustic guitar and the banjo, an instrument we believe is underutilized these days. His clear voice is so beautiful and earnest we could listen to him sing the phone book. Luckily for us, he has new material for download on his website. His first EP, Ether Laughter, is also available on iTunes.

From yojimbomusic.com:

“Dream Song”

“Drink from the Fountain”

“Spring”