My original plan was to feature Mos Def's new album but a quick listen to the first tracks left me a bit underwhelmed. I put up "Quiet Dog" as the Song of the Day since that was the only song that really jumped out at me. Maybe it'll grow on me but I thought the album was fairly average. I hope Mos gets back with Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek to get another Black Star album together. They are better as a team than as solo artists.

I'm not sure who writes the music for Dredj but they should get into film scoring. The riffs and instrumentals seem pretty good but the lead singer offers very little. In fact, he probably takes away a lot from the songs.  I wish we could see what other artists could do with some of the songs. Give a song like "Gathering Pebbles" to Radiohead and also to Timberlake/Timbaland and see what they come back with. Some interesting sounds here but no good songs, unfortunately.

Pitchfork loved Dirty Projectors' latest but I only listened to two songs and decided to look elsewhere.

I stumbled upon The Phantom Band and Balmorhea but I wasn't exactly sold on either.

In the end, I decided to go with Elizabeth and the Catapults. It's like School of Seven Bells meets Joni Mitchell or Edie Brickell.

EDIT: On second listen, I'm a fan. It's definitely a mish-mash of genres/influences but it's working for me this morning. Plus, it's only $6.99 on ITunes.