Spring is taking its time this year, teasing us with a few warm days. When the weather’s nice, I want to listen to HOT 97. My finger’s drawn to the pre-programmed rubber button on the hood of my radio. And three times in the last two weeks, when I dialed in, the “Official #1 Station for Hip Hop and R&B” was playing the same song: a ballad with Spanish guitar, a man singing falsetto, a great drum break. Then you reach the lyric: “U wanna roll with me / U wanna hold with me / U wanna make fires and get Norwegian wood with me.”

The mp3-blog snob consortium doesn’t approve of Robin Thicke’s “Lost Without You,” but YouTube is one with the people, it doesn’t care, it knows a perfect pop song when it sees it. So, instead of the song, a video to tease:




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As an obsessed podcasting fan of Mark Ronson’s “Authentic Shit” radio show (knowing my own trajectories, I should burn out in a month or so), I’m excited for Ronson’s new album, soon to appear, so I can toss my teased pirate version. His record is a pile of covers, and one I’ve liked the most is the roadhouse stomp “Valerie,” originally by the Zutons. Wino-house covers it for Ronson’s album in her best Vaughn tribute, but the original’s a keeper.

» Listen to “Valerie,” at snuh


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This first appeared on my radar yesterday, but it was a good companion for work, and it made me look up several artists: Counterstream Radio, music by American composers. Thankfully there’s an iTunes link so you don’t need to keep the browser player open.

» Listen to Counterstream Radio


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Pop pop pop pop new new new new: Fanfarlo, “You Are One of the Few Outsiders Who Really Understands Us.” I will have forgotten both the band and the song name by dinner.

» Listen to “You Are One of the Few Outsiders Who Really Understands Us” at Music For Robots