"No Banker Left Behind" Ry Cooder
Civil war march. Could be anthem for Occupy Movement.
"Scarlett Town" Gillian Welch
Old school appalachian music.
"Dimming of the Day" Alison Krauss
Great singer, great Richard Thompson song
"Synthesizers" Butch Walker
Wait for the chorus.
"Rolling in the Deep" Adele
She tends to be a bit saccharin for my taste, but not on this one.
"Let England Shake" PJ Harvey
Critics favorite, borrows from old movie tune.
"Satisfied" Tom Waits
Nobody growls better.
"Little Black Submarines" Black Keys
Old style blues updated.
"Weekend" Smith Westerns
Tuneful, nice fuzz guiter.
"Can't Keep Johnny Down" They Might be Giants
Wonder if they listened to The Smiths?
"North Hollywood" Van Hunt
From album with extreme diversity of styles.
"Cruel" St Vincent
It's all in the arrangement.
"I Am A Wanderer" Steve Earle
Old school, from versatile artist.
"Not Feeling Any Pain" William Elliott Whitmore
All you need is a song, a voice, a guitar (and crickets?).
"45 Miles" Todd Snider
Story teller only needs one chord.
"Since I Met You Baby" Black Joe Lewis & Honeybears
Thanks, James Brown.
"Rewrite" Paul Simon
Another great album by one of the greats. Spectacular arrangements.
"Harlan County Line" Dave Alvin
Retro rock and roll.
"The Alley" Devotchka
Eastern Europe meets America.
"Bizness" Tune-Yards
It's all in the percussion.
"Lorelai" Fleet Foxes
On the right side of the fine line between pretty and saccharin (sorry wb).
"Surfs Up" Beach Boys
From unreleased 1967 album, sounds like it could have been recorded this year.