You know that thing where you go to a new dentist and while you’re filling out the medical forms and figuring out how you are going to make a pass at the receptionist when half your mouth doesn’t work? Yeah, this song is nothing like that. This is Hot Chip’s new hotness, Huarache Lights. Welcome to electrodome.

Jose Gonzalez has been a go-to source for well crafted and sparse odes dominated by his guitar and ghostly voice. He’s certainly not getting worse as time goes by, and with his upcoming album Vestiges & Claws he has a more rounded sound – likely courtesy of his time with side project Junip. Wherever this sound is being channeled from, as long as he keeps sharing it with us…

So. Death Cab for Cutie. Once upon a time they were great. Legitimately great. But you know the story’s next chapter – their popularity (deservedly) blossomed, and a hated part of our culture (EMO!) latched on and coopted the band, and we all ran away lest we be bundled in with the sad kids just for listening to them on a sunny afternoon. But now we’ve gone full circle. Emo is pretty much dead, lead singer Ben Gibbard has gone through a divorce (heartbreak=great songs), and their guitarist, songwriter, and producer Chris Walla departed the group. And now they’ve come out with this. Death Cab is back peoples!

Did you know that Rod Stewart actually used to rock? Like The Kinks level rock? Well he did when he headed up Faces. I mean he had help from future Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, but still good ‘ol Rod belted out some righteous tunes before he became a slightly upscale version of Tom Jones. Spin up the way back machine and enjoy this non-moldy oldie.

Owl John is the side project of Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison, and it is damn good. Written during his relocation from Scotland to Los Angeles – a move done for true love! – Scott lets loose on the city of angels and the feeling of alienation that comes when you not only skip town, but skip continents. More angsty than any Frightened Rabbit song, Red Hand shows what happens when Scott has nothing left to lose.

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A new episode comes out the day I am writing this, which I will definitely torrent, but if I’m being honest last week’s episode still sits on my harddrive unwatched. I just don’t care that much. Top Gear is shiny and well produced, and features amazing metal in jaw dropping locations. But I’ve moved on to a show that is none of these things. I’ve moved on to a YouTube series shot either on a handheld camera or gopros. I’ve moved on to a show that entertains AND educates me. I’ve moved on to Mighty Car Mods.

Like many people, you might stumble across Mighty Car Mods as a YouTube suggestion if you are looking for DIY car projects or performance enhancing myths. If you’re smart enough, or properly bored enough, to click through you’ll find a pair of Australian twenty-somethings, both with full-time real jobs, no budget, no enormous crew, and occasional focusing depth problems. And they are killing it. The show’s hosts/cameramen/producers/composers/caterers – Marty and Moog – will happily take you through any modification to your car – from touching up wheel scratches to full custom turbo system installations – on real world economy cars using real world tools.

Marty and Moog have a great dynamic that matches anything from May, Hammond, and Clarkson of Top Gear. And you actually learn something from these quick 8min videos as opposed to watching an hour of the BBC’s  “car review show” that is featuring less and less actual content. And of course Top Gear is just entertainment at this, but Mighty Car Mods is doing that AND teaching. Edutainment at its best.

I’ve got an hour of Top Gear waiting for me right now that I can’t make time for, but I’m watching several Mighty Car Mods episodes a day as I work through all the seasons. And I’m very happy with that choice. Here’s a great starter episode to try out, all about how one achieves “street cred”:

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