[This weekly feature is a snapshot of what the Stranger Dance staff can't get out of our collective head each week. On any given week, we might be digging a new local act, French electro remix, old jazz chestnut, the newest Japanese electro-folk or whatever else we've got on the turntable/iPod that week.]

Our picks typically cover a good deal of ground each week, but there’s normally some overlap. But, try as I might, I can’t find any common bond this week. Not that that’s a bad thing. So, enjoy our mixed bag of goodies - we’ve got a remix from SD-favorites The Cool Kids, some indie-sugar from The Republic Tigers, Scottish post-rock from Mogwai and hypnotic bedroom weirdness of Grampall Jukabox.

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Vague Panther: Grampall Jookabox - “We Know We Might Be Fucked”

Anyone’s Guess beat me to the punch a few days ago for this song (seriously I was about to post it too!), but I guess I’ll go ahead and post it anyways. Grampall Jookabox is the nom de plume of Indianapolis native David “Moose” Adamson. In case the name didn’t give it away, he enjoys occupying a space between serious and not-so-serious songwriting. OK, maybe it’s a little more to the not-so-serious side of things – some of his better song titles being “We Know We Might Be Fucked” and “The Girl Ain’t Preggers.”

However, he’s definitely worth noting because of his bedroom production and experimentation. It’s really fun to listen to – some songs are clearly arranged, while others like “We Know We Might Be Fucked” are hypnotic repetitions. The only constant I can pick up on is the use of heavy bass line anchors, most of the time beating out the good ol’ six string as a feature. Fans of Coco Rosie have probably found a new American savior…

In case you need further endorsement, Jello Biafra (of Dead Kennedys fame) had the following quote about GJ which sums them up nicely: “I have no idea what you’re trying to do, and that’s either really good or really bad, I’m not sure.”

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Uncle Corey: Mogwai - “The Sun Smells Too Loud”

Mogwai is a great band that we woefully neglect here. I love instrumental music – and I’m definitely in the minority on this, I know – and Mogwai does it perfectly. “The Sun Smells Too Loud,” off their newest album The Hawk is Howling (which curiously has an eagle on the cover), is actually a departure from Mogwai’s typical dissonant, dark, thick sounds. It’s almost… happy. Not to worry, there’s plenty of songs like “I Love You, I’m Going To Blow Up Your School” on the album to get your grey cloud on with. This song is a cool little slice of melody though.

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Scooter: The Cool Kids - Delivery Man [9th Wonder Remix]

The Cool Kids‘ debut album, When Fish Ride Bicycles, is slated to drop before the end of the year (according to their Myspace page). Here’s a little something to hold you over until then, courtesy of producer, 9th Wonder. (Also, if you’ve had enough of Kanye and his Auto-Tune, check out 9th Wonder’s contributions to the his mixtape, The Graduate.)

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The Stranger: The Republic Tigers - “Buildings & Mountains”

I know this isn’t saying that much, but The Republic Tigers might be the best thing to come out of Missouri since… well, I can’t name anything else. (Surely there must be something I’m forgetting…) On another note, I’m not sure when it happened, but I’ve become totally at peace with pop-rock over the past few years, and this is just great indie-pop in the vein of Death Cab or The Shins. I’m not sure if I’ll be listening to this a year (or even a month) from now, but a little indie-pop seems just right for a Friday afternoon.

MP3:

Stereogum dug up a studio recording of a new Animal Collective track called “Brother Sport” today, that’s the final track on Merriweather Post Pavilion, Animal Collective’s upcoming album. I mentioned a bit ago that I’ve been totally obsessed with this band lately, mainly with a live show from NPR’s “All Songs Considered” that was posted on an excellent fan site. Go download this show if you’re a fan – it’s wonderful.

So is “Brother Sport.” If this is any indication of the tone of Merriweather Post Pavilion, that makes me giddy because I love this song. Here’s a full track listing. Have a listen to “Brother Sport”:

[Update: Our friends, the copyright cops complained about the track being posted – we mean no harm! So instead of the studio track, please enjoy one of the many live Animal Collective songs hosted on YouTube.]

Animal Collective - “Brother Sport” [Live Grrrnd Zero 2007]

You really have to love it when an obscure song from the past suddenly becomes a pop culture phenomenon. Remember when we kids who had never even listened to Queen before, fell in love with “Bohemian Rhapsody” because of “Wayne’s World”? Cool, right? And it introduced a new generation to a pretty cool band. But what happened to “Bohemian Rhapsody”? Right. You got unbearably sick of it.

This same thing is happening to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” – or already has happened. I don’t think I ever gave Journey more than a cursory thought past the age of eight until, suddenly, about a year-and-a-half ago, that song started popping up everywhere. It was on “Laguna Beach” (don’t you dare ask how I know that), “The Sopranos” finale, and soon every bar in the City north of Sutter Street had it in constant rotation while 20-somethings who weren’t even born when the song came out, sang their hearts out. I heard the song twice in a half-block walk in the Financial District earlier this week.

It’s time for “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” to end. First, it’s kind of become the de facto anthem for the self-important Silicon Valley cool kid set, which isn’t cool. Second, D.J. AM put out a club version of the song – the musical kiss of death. (Though, this is pretty cool.)

Sorry for the rant, but it’s got to be time to put this to bed. Please stop this song from disturbing my mental health. Stop believin’.

Just a quick reminder that we have a pair of tickets to give away to Thursday’s Anya Marina show at Café Du Nord. Drop a line (at Stranger@strangerdance.com) if you’re interested and we’ll announce the winner tomorrow. Check out our original post for more info.

MP3:

I’d thought I’d take a little time for this edition of Panther Picks to get up to speed on all these Wilco rumors concerning new material for their seventh studio album. I did some digging and found five new songs - two untitled tracks played at the Bridge School Benefit, “One Wing,” “Sunny Feeling” and a video of another untitled song. If you have any others please throw them my way…

MP3s:

I was just introduced to Anya Marina recently, intrigued by the knowledge that Spoon frontman Britt Daniel produced her debut album (along with Brian Karscig of Louis XIV), Slow & Steady Seduction, Phase II (due out Dec. 9).

The record evolved from a conversation with Britt:

“He was asking me about how I write and I told him I didn’t feel inspired to write much of anything. I had been listening to a lot of Peaches, LCD Soundsystem, and Public Enemy, and I was thinking about how their music has this rhythmic drive to it. I told Britt I felt frustrated that I couldn’t write that way.

A week later, a CD of beat loops that Daniel had created arrived in Marina’s mail. “Those loops ended up giving birth to ‘Move You,’ ‘Two Left Feet,’ ‘Cut It Out,’ ‘All The Same To Me,’ and ‘High on the Ceiling,’ ” she says. “It really changed the way I wrote.”

Marina plays at Café Du Nord (with Elisa Toffoli) next Thursday (Nov. 20) and we have tickets to give away to you and a friend. To win, simply send an email (at Stranger@strangerdance.com) explaining why you’re a worthy recipient. The winner will be picked on Tuesday.

MP3:

Fellow San Francisco music ‘zine, The Bay Bridged, just released their second compilation featuring exclusive new tracks from Bay Area musicians such as Rogue Wave, Two Sheds and Okay. I particularly like “Lightning” by Birds & Batteries. Purchase it here.

I don’t know much about Aries Spears apart from the fact that he was a cast member of (the wholly unfunny) MadTV. For all I know, he could be brilliant or terrible, but this video alone makes him A-OK in my book. From an appearance on the morning show at Live 105 in LA San Francisco, Spears performs dead-on impersonations of LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg, DMX and Jay-Z. Impersonations aside, if he’s actually free-styling, he should pack up the comedy gig and focus on hip hop.