Two classic Crowded House appearances from Letterman’s show this week. “Now We’re Getting Somewhere” Performed in 1987. Album one, side one, track three. In the heart of one of the all-time great opening stretches of any debut album. “Locked Out” From 1994. Most famous for its inclusion on the Reality Bites soundtrack. Funny to see the difference between the original…

“Under A Rock” – Waxahatchee Two weeks after Courtney Barnett dropped the first great album of the year, Katie Crutchfield drops one that is almost as good. I’ve been a fan of Crutchfield since Waxahatchee’s last album, and I love her mash-up of mid–90s college rock with a healthy dose of the more recent indie sound. Say a mid-point between…

Not one, not two, but three videos this week! The first two were ones I meant to share before we took off on spring break two weeks ago. Alas, that final Thursday was entirely too busy and I wasn’t able to queue them up. The first one seems appropriate for the Final Four weekend. “Dunked On” – Froggy Fresh &…

“The One I Love” – Big Country Odds are if you mention the band Big Country to most people in our generation, they immediately and only think of one song. Which makes sense, as other than that classic, Big Country was never huge in America. But they had a couple other smaller hits here in the States, including this gorgeous…

“Let’s Groove” – Earth, Wind & Fire EW&F was a big part of the broad musical education my parents gave me. I remember there being a couple of their albums in our record crate, and I loved flipping through them because of their fantastic, futuristic, outer-space themed covers and liner notes. The music was pretty solid, too. I found myself…

“Pedestrian At Best” – Courtney Barnett In terms of music, it’s been a slow start to the year. Some solid songs, but there has yet to be a great album. Each Tuesday I check the new releases, hoping for something exciting and amazing that I want to listen to on repeat for days. But each week I’m disappointed. Although it…

http://youtu.be/_oG1KMeZcuE “Turn Me Up” – Twin Shadow I’ve listened to a little of Twin Shadow’s music over the years. There’s a growing buzz for his next album, which will come out in March. Based on this performance on Letterman, and a quick listen to the three tracks available on Rdio, I’m really looking forward to it, too. I think it…

http://youtu.be/p7rGrcdnwh0 “Jungle Love” – Morris Day and the HAIM Jimmy Kimmel has been having #MashUpMondays, where he has two different artists cover songs together. Last week’s came a couple weeks too late for me. It would have been perfect while I was reading Let’s Go Crazy. And while it would have been nice for the Haim sisters to get more…

“Clampdown” – The Clash Joe Mick Paul Topper The Only Band That Matters Seattle radio station KEXP has declared today International Clash Day. Something I can obviously get on-board with.

“Shake It Off (The Perfect Drug)” – Taylor Swift vs. Nine Inch Nails The mash-up is not as common as it was 7–8 years ago. But the format still exists, and while the novelty factor has worn off, sometimes they can still be a lot of fun. This one is especially good with the videos of the originals cut together.