+ top 5 really great pop moments for today

1. beulah - emma blowgun's last stand. talk about a build up. 2 minutes of strings, a bit of tabla, a rolling kick drum, that organ and then.. what a release! fuzzed out guitars, and the greatest trumpet melody. and miles singing without his sneer and i'm a believer. dip my head in the waters of san francisco baby!

2. american analog set - come home baby julie, come home. i am struck. paralysed for 6 minutes by the hypnotic guitars and the bass groove and the sweet vibraphone and the incessant beat and the perfect harmony of man and instruments to create something so beautifully ethereal and yearning. amanset understand the effects of anticipation and delaying instant gratification, which are lessons i can stand to learn from time to time.

3. dan kelly and the alpha males - babysitter's of the world unite. a little bit sad, a little bit soulful, a little more rock, a whole lotta pop. what a combination. i don't think i've ever heard this song just once and stopped. always gotta be at least 3 times in a row. i can not get past that grooving bass. i imagine a good follow-up to this song would be titled "bad spellers of the world untie!"

4. acid house kings - do what you wanna do. oh my god, my heart wants to tear itself out of my body and do a little jig on the dancefloor whenever i hear this song. it's like they wrote this exactly to melt my stone cold exterior or something. how does the norsk gene produce such perfect pop moments?

5. aden - (swords and) falconry. i have never road tripped in new england but i always imagine i am whenever i hear this song. the song is all red autumn leaves, winding roads and jeff gramm's dulcet tones.

in other news, i'm reading "love is a mix tape" (by rob sheffield) at the moment. it is sad and beautiful, and altogether quite fitting because i'm in the middle of making the ultimate american road trip mix for myself and whoever my travel companions may be. also, the story is an inspiration for all those who harbour secret desires to unleash their inner appalachian punk rock girl.