• "Act of the Apostle" - The Life Pursuit, Belle & Sebastian

Bright vocals, slightly syncopated rhythm and the story of a morning spent with a girl in choir. It's a typical Belle & Sebastian jaunt. And of course there's a shady side to the feel good happy when the young girl sings, "Oh, if I could make sense of it all! I wish that I could sing. I'd stay in a melody. I would float along in my everlasting song. What would I do to believe?" Is it Christian rock? Not really, but Stuart Murdoch, the founding member of B&S spent most of the band's life as his local parish's live-in janitor. Blogger Alison Levy uses the descriptive "lilting" for the band's latest album and I think that fits perfectly. Read the full review of Belle & Sebastian's The Life Pursuit.

• "Tymps (The Sick in the Head Song)" - Extraordinary Machine, Fiona Apple

Fiona Apple is one of the very few female pianist/singer/songwriters that other female pianist/singer/songwriters are willing to openly admire. This is no small statement, as we are always most critical of those who do what we do. But Fiona's jazz-infused voice, great use of percussion, and unique songwriting skills are impossible to resist. My friends and I were once asked whose voice we would choose if we could steal one from any singer in the world à la The Little Mermaid, and the vast majority of us chose Fiona Apple. Beat that, Sarah McLachlan. Read the full review of Extraordinary Machine.

• "The Movers and the Shakers" - Scale, Matthew Herbert

Sometimes the electronica genre can get so full of monotonous, mindless beats fit only for the club scene that it's hard to find the gems among the rocks. But as soon as Neil Thomas and Dani Siciliano ask us how "those Christian bones can orchestrate shock and awe" it's pretty obvious that this song is more than worthy of your iPod. Besides, Herbert's anti-war lyrics and fabulous James Bond horns will sound much better playing in your living room than blasting over club speakers. Read Christina Nunez's review of Herbert's album Scale.

• "Work It" - Barrel Men, Native Guns

Although I don't particularly like to use the word "groove' in reference to music as it makes me feel older than I am (she just turned 21, harumph!), I have to say that the mellow, smooth bass line of "Work It" does fit the descriptive. But the main draw of Native Guns really has more to do with their socially relevant lyrics. The chorus of this song begins with the oft-repeated line: "baby work it..." and you think you're listening to another sex-infused and exploitative hip hop song until it is followed by "...til your fingers get bloody / baby work it, til your stomach go hungry." Our reviewer, Matthew Meschery, writes: "Native Guns powerfully link the real, physical exploitation of women in the Third World to the representative exploitation of women in our popular music." Read his full review of Native Guns' Barrel Men.

• "You May Be Blue" - To Find Me Gone, Vetiver

"You May Be Blue's" intriguing concoction of blues, classic rock, alt-country and folk makes me want to hop in a classic car, preferably open-topped, and embark on the proverbial trans-America road trip while listening to this song on repeat. Read the full review of Vetiver's latest.

• "Pretty Life" - Black Comet, The Heavenly States

Blogger Buzzy Jackson describes Oakland's Heavenly States as a "carriage house" rock band, a little more elegant than garage rock and a lot more polished. Pulling out all the stops, she also compares them to The Clash and lead singer Ted Nesseth's raspy vocals to Tom Waits. "Pretty Life" starts out sounding a bit like a rocking 80s new wave song, then kicks it up a notch. Great fun. Read the full review of their album, Black Comet.

• "Benton Harbor Blues" - Bitter Tea, The Fiery Furnaces

Benton Harbor Blues is easily one of the most accessible Fiery Furnaces songs I have ever heard, which is unsurprising since I'm fairly sure that the backing line of the chorus is taken from "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)." But despite its pop shine, there are still enough trills, bloops, and random detours from the progression of the melody that this is most definitively not the Four Tops. It's just as fun, but a little more inventive.

• "I Feel Like the Mother of the World" - A River Ain't Too Much to Love, Smog

Channelling Leonard Cohen and a hint of Willie Nelson (this album was recorded at Nelson's studio), Smog's acoustic backing floats on air and is grounded by Bill Callahan's deep voice. It took a few listens for this song to grow on me, but Callahan's conversational style makes the music seem so personal that even those who aren't into minimalist lo-fi or folk music should appreciate it.

• "Pumpkin" - Drowaton, Starlight Mints

Starlight Mints seem to use every available music-making device in their songs -- from the bizarre to the traditional. Between the manifold instrumentation, the singer's falsetto and the circus-romp feel of the song, you come out of listening to it with a little buzz... or in a daze... or hell, I can't decide.

• "If You Were Mine" - EP, Maria Photopulos

Tobin Mori, one of KQED Interactive's developers and a member of the band ee, recommended Maria Photopulos for the mix tape. CD Baby calls her the "musical love child of Lou Reed and Joni Mitchell." Her sweetly slurred lyrics on "If You Were Mine" include one of my favorite lines: "If you were mine I'd write you poems like this: Roses are red, but they are three dollars and fifty cents."