MP3: k.d. lang – “I Dream of Spring”

London’s Blah Blah Blah firmly occupy a strange patch of musical turf somewhere in between Blur and Goldie Lookin’ Chain. Check out the oddly charming “Hopeless & Lazy”. Blah Blah Blah are on a UK tour and I bet they would be worth checking out live.

MP3: Blah Blah Blah – “Hopeless & Lazy”

I loved Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins “Rabbit Fur Coat” so much that I was thrilled to see that the Twins have a solo, er duo, record coming out soon. “Fire Songs” is due in June on Vanguard and, if this Cure cover is a good sample, will be a must.

MP3: The Watson Twins – “Just Like Heaven”

Brooklyn’s MGMT get the Best Lyrics of the Week award for…

“I’ll move to Paris, shoot some heroin and fuck with the stars.
You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars…”

…and Worst Website of the Week for this. “Time to Pretend” is off their debut “Oracular Spectacular”; it is synth heavy but fantastic.

MP3: MGMT – “Time to Pretend”

I’m really into lush folk-tinged indie music right now and Portland’s Loch Lomond really fit the bill. Their latest, “Paper the Walls” is out on CD or for download.

MP3: Loch Lomond – “A Field Report”

Frightened Rabbit is a Scottish quartet formed in 2004 by brothers Scott and Grant Hutchinson. “The Modern Leper” is from the forthcoming sophomore LP “Sing The Greys. “The Modern Leper” has got a building, driving tempo that makes it feel urgent – great vocals as well.

MP3: Frightened Rabbit – “The Modern Leper”

Nick Lowe has reissued his 1978 LP “Jesus of Cool”. It’s a record I’m not at all familiar with from an artist that, beyond “Cruel to be Kind” I’m not terribly familiar with. I hear bits of Jackson Brown, Brian Wilson and The Who in “So It Goes”. New to me – but great stuff.

MP3: Nick Lowe – “So It Goes”

Voice of the Seven Woods is Mancunian instrumentalist Rick Tomlinson. “Return from Byzantium”, which is featured on his new self-titled record, has a bit of a Western feel to it – reminiscent of Calexico. The new album is out and available from Twisted Nerve.

MP3: Voice of the Seven Woods – “Return from Byzantium”

More folk-tinged pop from These United States whose debut “The Three of Us at the Gates of Eden” was released earlier this month. The DC outfit’s “First Sight” is undeniably catchy.

MP3: These United States – “First Sight”

Number ten is a grower. Strangers Die Everyday, also out of Portland, is a strange post-rock instrumental act. Their debut full length ‘Aperture For Departure’ came out earlier this month on This Generation Tapes. One of the tracks off that LP, “Bicycle” really got into my head this week all the more upon repeated listens. It’s a slightly odd fusing of a string quartet with a rock band’s rhythm section, but I don’t think you hear enough music these days with a cello.

MP3: Strangers Die Everyday – “Bicycle”