And I end with a trio of ukulele-playing (they don’t on this video though, they do here) teenage girls called Supercute, singing while doing the hula-hoop, in catsuits:

Here’s a Japanese band whose singing doesn’t have that distinct intonation we’re all familiar with, which is a big plus for the not so easily dissuaded. Perfect downtempo mood music.

If you existed back in the ’80s, this song is just so hard to miss.

My Saturday commute soundtrack on my way to a birthday party. His 80 TO 08 HAHA record is a most satisfying listen.

The sort of payday-Friday song you embrace when you realize your salary sucks.

A rough J-poprock gem, from my favorite, and hands-down prettiest J-poprockstar.

Here’s John Peel’s favorite band. Pavement ripped them off, too.

Really, this doesn’t need a blurb. Odd, but so awesome sauce, you cannot NOT watch it.

Frankly, I’m still wondering how big -big means music critic big- The Avett Brothers became last year. I get Wilco, they’ve been around long enough. I get Kings of Leon, as commercialized their most recent efforts are. I also get this soulful heaping of modern but familiar Americana from the brothers, but maybe not as to be with the likes of last year’s favorites, like Phoenix and Animal Collective.

Watch an intimately set gig by the band here: The Avett Brothers: Tiny Desk Concert

Not a music video, not even a normal gig recording, but a live performance piece set in an art space from the singer of the excellent Scottish rock band, Life Without Buildings. The video is in four parts, you can see the rest of it here. Short attention span people need not view.

I would highly urge the uninitiated to visit Life Without Buildings’s MySpace page right after (or before, your choice), and start with The Leanover, just to get why I’d bother posting.

Life Without Buildings 2001 record Any Other City is a lovely one, its ultimately refreshing to listen to a female vocalist talk-sing like this, minus all that punk male-angst, with a backing band that is neither distorted nor twee. Their Live at the Annandale Hotel album (released 2007) is equally energetic, and its hard not to just adore Sue.

Sadly, the band had a very short career, breaking up in 2002. Fans mourn the non-existence of any video uploaded online, and I guess we just have to make do with Sue like this.