"Daylight" - Matt & Kim

If you've caught the great ad that Bacardi is currently airing (you know where the guy is walking back in time) then you have already heard this song. If you haven't yet seen the ad, then I figured it's my duty to call it to your attention. Matt and Kim are a Brooklyn-based duo that plays stripped down tap your feet music that is about as refreshing as a cold mojito. This track is off of their second full length album, 'Grand', which was released in January of this year. Special thanks to Alan M aka The Daddy Mac for the recommendation.

"Yours Truly, The Commuter" - Jason Lytle

Once upon a time Jason Lytle was the lead singer for a band called Grandaddy. I was a big fan of them, and was disappointed when I heard the news that the band was dissolving back in 2006. At the time of their dissolution, many were unsure whether Lytle would continue to record music, as he decided to pack up and leave his hometown of Modesto, CA for the open plains of Montana. This week Lytle has emerged from the wilderness with the release of his first solo effort. This is the title track and first single off of the album. Though I don't think it holds a candle to his earlier stuff, I suppose it'll have to do.

Yours Truly, The Commuter - Ja...

"Sour Milk, Motheaten Silk" - Ed Harcourt

I remember the very first time I heard Ed Harcourt. It was the end of the spring semester of my second year of college. I was in the middle of a marathon study session cramming for finals, when WNRN, a great C'ville radio station, happened to play one of his songs. After that one listen I immediately stopped what I was doing and made a bee-line to Plan 9 to pick up his album. The following year I had the good fortune to see him in concert while studying in Copenhagen. That was all the way back in 2003, and for whatever reason I stopped following him in the years after. Fast forward to last week when I see that he had released a new EP on iTunes, entitled 'Russian Roulette.' I believe this track to be the strongest of the bunch.

Sour Milk, Motheaten Silk - Ed...

"Can You Tell" - Ra Ra Riot

If The Arcade Fire had grown up in the American suburbs, I imagine they'd sound a lot like Ra Ra Riot. Hailing from Syracuse, the band tragically lost its original drummer due to a freak drowning accident in June 2007. Despite this misfortune, the band vowed to remain together, and released it's debut full length album, The Rhumb Line, last August. The band is currently on tour supporting Death Cab For Cutie, and will be performing at the All Points West music festival in New Jersey on July 31.