1. We saw Future Islands earlier this week in D.C. We mentioned to a friend, lovingly, that their style was akin to Tom Waits singing “She’s a Maniac.” With songs like “Follow Me,” we could totally see this Wham City-tied band finding a much larger audience.

2. Tune-Yards, a.k.a. Merrill Garbus, specializes in a world-music-influenced low-fi. On “Sunlight,” the drums and bass and her wispy vocals mesh well with the settings.

3. Unsung psychedelic heroes, the United States of America (the band, not the country) had a delicate touch to their space-rock sound, as seen on “Coming Down.”

4. Fun fact: Before T.Rex became glam icons, they sounded just like Devendra Banhart does now. Glam ballad “Cosmic Dancer” is the bridge between their two incarnations.

5. Earlier this year, Serge Gainsbourg’s “Histoire de Melody Nelson” became one of just a handful of albums to get the hallowed 10.0 rating on Pitchfork. It deserved it: Songs like “Ballade de Melody Nelson” nail a cinematic heft perfectly.source