A Baker's Dozen : Volume 8

01. Ford And Fitzroy - "The Weatherman's Refrain". It opens with an Explosions In The Sky-esque single-notes guitar riff then launches in with the lyric of the fortnight ("it was filled with B-flats and with F's"). If you don't dig this at first, then let it sink into it. It crawls through my head constantly (and I love those great bass runs). "And when, when he's feeling lonely, he remembers the Weatherman's refrain; he, he says that people only pay attention to you when it rains". | Website | Myspace

02. Cut Off Your Hands - "Expectations". A band from "Down Under" here with that British indie sound that I love. Keep the explosive choruses coming. | Myspace

03. The Wombats - "Kill The Director" (demo). More from The Wombats? Oh yeah. I heard this tune played at SXSW and it sounded huge live. In case you haven't noticed, these guys are amazing. | Website | Myspace | Purchase

04. Delorentoes - "The Basis Of Everything". An Irish band with catchy catchy catchy guitar riffs. | Website | Myspace

05. Get Cape Wear Cape Fly - "One More Time With Feeling". File under "Lighter Songs". This one has some refreshing optimism. | Website | Myspace | Purchase

06. LCD Soundsystem - "North American Scum". In my opinion, sort of a follow-up to "Losing My Edge" here, and yet not half as class as this (make sure you click that) (seriously, go back and click that). But, top notch or not, this is the requisite "walking into a house party" song for this batch. Some beats just make you feel cool (even if you are 10 pounds overweight and fast approaching 40 years old). | Website | Virb | Purchase

07. Amy Winehouse - "Rehab". Yeah, you've probably heard this 88 times already, but it's still scary catchy. Included for this reason: "I'd rather be at home with Ray... cause there's nothing you can teach me that I can't learn from Mister Hathaway". Genius. | Website | Virb | Purchase

08. Susan Tedeschi - "Tired Of My Tears". And, keeping that "neo-soul" (if you will and I don't blame you if you won't) vibe alive, here's an utter classic-in-the-making from what I expected to be some spicy urban girl from Brooklyn. Alas, it's a white girl (pardon the stubborn stereotypes). This is the closest thing to the Northern Soul sound released in the past decade. | Website | Myspace | Purchase

09. Let's Go Sailing - "Sideways". File this one under "Honestly, I had this song queued up for ABD Volume 8 long before Gray's Anatomy got to it first (I swear)". This song is gorgeous. | Website | Myspace | Purchase

10. Dear And The Headlights - "It's Gettin' Easy". And herein lies my personal fave of this set. Of course I'm utterly conflicted here seeing as this is an Arizona band (don't ask, too much baggage), but I LOVE this song. Love it. Moments to notice: at 0:41 when the tambourine comes in; at 1:14 when the high indie voice comes in; at 1:36 when the tension mounts and mounts; at 2:46 when (after establishing his vocal support) the dude cuts loose; at 3:00 when the trumpets soar. Yes, another exquisite lesson in dynamics. Well done, lads. | Website | Myspace | Purchase

11. Zykos - "Autographin' Bibles". Austin does it again. Weird chorus vocals aside, this song is so catchy. | Myspace

12. Frightened Rabbit - "Be Less Rude". I'm so bummed that I missed these Glaswegians at SXSW, but, alas (yes, I'm going to use it twice in one post), there was simply too much going on. If you haven't heard "My Backwards Walk" yet, do yourself a huge favor immediately. "Be Less Rude" pushes a solid Velvetsy drone right into you. "I'm afraid you've been misled, your high horse is in fact a pony". | Website | Myspace | Purchase

13. Priscilla Ahn - "Rain". File under "Lighter Song, part 2". I thought this was mushy garbage at first (yes, even sensitive ole me), but I've since come to frequently find it on repeat. It hits the spot with that "last song of the night" kind of feeling. | Myspace | Purchase