Sera Cahoone — "Couch Song"

Here's her MySpace and SubPop artist pages.

Lily Allen — "LDN"

The Club Blue pick from 4/19/07.

Goldfrapp — "A & E"

An offbeat video for their new album. They seem to enjoy lyrics that really contrast their tunes. Here's their Wiki page and (pretty cool) website.

The Shins — "Phantom Limb"

The Club Blue pick from 4/12/07.

Sam Cooke — "A Change Is Gonna Come"

With all the great posts and discussions on Martin Luther King over the past two weeks (many of them heartbreaking), this song has been running through my head, and this fan video about MLK and the Civil Rights Movement is very well done. It's remarkable that MLK was only 39.

Cheap sentiment doesn't get me weepy. This does. It's one of the most soulful, moving vocals I can think of.

I think the only hope for the human race is in giving a damn about people who aren't us. Arlo Guthrie once said that we should push for loving one another, but settle for peace. That's not a bad sentiment, and probably a wise strategy, but I do feel the key to the most lasting, positive change lies in pushing for, developing, and showing compassion. There's a radical idea whose time has always come.

Peter Gabriel — "In Your Eyes" (Live)

The Club Blue pick from 4/5/07.

Alison Krauss — "You Will Be My Ain True Love"

Written by Sting for the film Cold Mountain, directed by Anthony Minghella, who died recently, and far too soon. You can hear Alison's other performance for the film, "The Scarlet Tide" (written by Elvis Costello), in a fan video here. Both songs were up Best Original Song Oscars.