Luluc - "Fly". Nick Drake's song from 1970, performed by newcomers in 2011. By the end it is over-arranged, but at the beginning it is close to perfect: an old tune just so slightly changed, sung in a room with different light. Luluc has a heavy heart, beginning this song; Drake did too. Each syllable seems to falls away. She finds strength as she goes on - but not too much, not too much. Despite all her companions on shaker, accordion and strings, despite music-making's small pleasure, "Fly" is still heavy-hearted. It needs to be, if rightly performed. It needs to be heavy-hearted, aspiring. [buy Joe Boyd presents: Way To Blue: The Songs of Nick Drake]

Mice Parade - "Do Your Eyes See Sparks". Whenever I think of Mice Parade, I think of the story I heard about the band Wolf Parade: that they chose their band-name when they were opening for Mice Parade, as a way to kind of bully them. This band, Mice Parade, bullied by their openers. Mice Parade, bullied by a gang of moody fellow art students. It makes me like Mice Parade more: that this is what they must weather, and that this is the music they make. Mice Parade will not lie down. They will hit their snares and toms and sing with soft voices loudly. They will will themselves into other seasons. They will tour till they can't. THey will outlive their enemies. [bandcamp]