“Eyes To The Wind” – The War on Drugs “I’m just a bit run down here at the moment…” Falling in the second half of their lovely Lost In The Dream album, perhaps no line sums up the disk better than this one. A weary proclamation of a man beaten up by the wallowing and self-flagellation that comes with romantic…

“Inside Out” – Spoon I have one rule when making general music lists: each artist/band gets only one entry. So whether it is a year-end list or a favorites-of-all-time list, I have to decide which song best represents a particular act. For my favorite songs of 2014 list, Spoon’s “Rent I Pay” checked in at #11. But it took me…

“She’s Not Me” – Jenny Lewis How many of you remember the 1989 movie Troop Beverly Hills? I’m 99% sure I never saw it, although I do remember the name. It was a Shelly Long vehicle, which right there should be enough to let you know it was terrible. It also was the feature film debut of the wonderful Carla…

https://youtu.be/daUyogS1wjM “Constructive Summer” – The Hold Steady A GREAT fan-made video that takes the words of a song and uses them in an unexpected way. Charming, funny, and inventive. Oh, and the perfect song for the unofficial start of summer. Let’s build something this summer!

“True Trans Soul Rebel” – Laura Jane Grace with Miley Cyrus Miley is doing some interesting things these days. I can’t say I’m on-board with, or understand, many of them. But her Happy Hippy Backyard Sessions are often fantastic. I highly recommend checking out the other performances. Here, she joins Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace for one of the best…

“Turn Around” – Mikal Cronin In the style of Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn.” Cronin’s new album, MC III, is one of my favorites of the year. As he did on his last album, he perfectly combines classic power pop with straight-ahead rock, and this time throws on some layers of strings to add a lushness to each song.

https://youtu.be/98AJUj-qxHI “Once In A Lifetime” – Talking Heads One of the oddest, and thus most memorable, videos from MTV’s earliest days.

https://youtu.be/jFvtMp7hRF8 “Street Fighting Man” – The Rolling Stones In honor of Yordano Ventura and the 2015 Kansas City Royals, who are apparently going to get into some kind of altercation with every team they play this season.

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…