"The Spins" by Potty Mouth

Song: The Spins
Artist: Potty Mouth
Album: Hell Bent
Also try:  Liz Phair, Speedy Ortiz, White Lung, Royal Headache
Commentary: At Pygmalion Music Festival, the schedule was wrong. The Potty Mouth show that was supposed to start at 10, ended at 10:08. As a result, I only saw 5 minutes of the show (I was 3 minutes late!). It was my favorite song and a half of the whole festival. Damien Jurado (who I love) played in the perfect auditorium for his echoing vocals and Youth Lagoon puts on a rad show, but Potty Mouth sounds even better in person than on their sweet new album, Hell Bent.

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"Reflektor" by the Arcade Fire

Song: Reflektor
Artist: Arcade Fire
Album: Reflektor
Also try:  Do you not know who Arcade Fire is? Okay, maybe try Vampire Weekend or something if you like this.
Commentary: New Arcade Fire. Fun. Seems like they have some fresh sounds too, which is exciting. Also, seems long. It's exciting that it sounds new (new electronic tinge?) and still awesome and still Arcade Fire.

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"Warm in the Winter" by Glass Candy

Song: Warm in the Winter
Artist: Glass Candy
Album: After the Dark 2
Also try:  After the Dark and After the Dark 2 are both excellent
Commentary: You don't even have to like electronic music all that much to like the After the Dark compilations, this song is a rollicking starter for the 2nd. The spoken word over the track may be too much for some people, but I think it goes well here and doesn't detract.

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"All I Know" by Big Sean

Song: All I Know (ft Wiz Khalifa)
Artist: Big Sean
Album: Detroit
Commentary: I should call this blog Cole's Earworms or something, because I just learned that word and mostly I post songs as they get stuck in my head. "All I Know" uses an excellent sample from Bloc Party's "Banquet", which I'm sure helped the catchiness. It also follows the whole mixtape's catchy raps (I'm afraid I don't even know the language one uses to talk about rap music...), especially as in "Woke Up", "I'm Gonna Be", and "Life Should Go On". Smooth.

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"Casper" by Daniel Johnston

Song: Casper
Artist: Daniel Johnston
Album: Yip/Jump Music
Also try:  the rest of the Kids soundtrack, Songs in the Key of Z
Commentary: The other Casper song (besides the friendly ghost) that Daniel Johnston contributed to Kids is this one, "Casper." It's a 1995 movie about what everyone was afraid of happening to "youth" in the city. Adding to a dope soundtrack, Daniel Johnston sings this little ditty about one of the main characters. With lyrics like "Casper lives in a world without promise" and "feeling like a bowl of spaghetti", Daniel Johnston paints his own picture of youthful angst and ennui.

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"Bouchraka Ya Kalbi" by Mohamed Effendi El-Achek

Song: Bouchraka Ya Kalbi (which can be translated as "Be Happy, My Heart")
Artist: Mohamed Effendi El-Achek
Also try:  the Syrian people
Commentary: I'm not trying to make a big political statement about Syria by posting a song from Syria. Or maybe I am... I do like Teju Cole's answer to the question "What's the right answer to Syria?" and he said, "I don’t know man. ... Somehow, we must keep the humanity of the people in Syria before us. Anything thing we do or do not do, or say or do not say, should be about them, not about us. We must live perpetually in hope of a negotiated settlement."

Note: I'm also not tryna romanticize some pristine, untroubled Syrian past by posting a song recorded in 1908.

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"Retrograde" by James Blake

Song: Retrograde
Artist: James Blake
Album: Overgrown
Commentary: Next time I'm hit with something I might say "SUDDENLY I'M HIT", like James Blake...
James Blake has released two excellent albums and you should probably listen to them both in their entirety. Make sure you have speakers that give you some good bass, especially for "Retrograde" here.

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